An amazing adventure it was for me- my second world championship, but my first one away from home, how exciting! I had thousands of images and ideas about how this trip was going to be, and it was exactly that: AMAZING.
Leading up to the world champs my preparation was going very well, and then unfortunately my Momsen bike was stolen. For a few days there I lost my motivation and focus; I was in the middle of semester tests at University and couldn’t train for a week without my bike so it just wasn’t a great week. But I told myself this is just another hurdle, I have come too far to give up now. Once I got myself together I got my old bike from DMA and Shaun Peschl and Hot Spot Cycles helped me get it ready; then off to Norway it was.
I got to meet the SA team, a group of rock stars, they made it very easy to feel welcome and involved. I went to ride the world champs course with James Reid and two of my team mates, Brendon and Alan. It was amazing to ride with them and just observe how they do things, especially young champ Alan. The track was great, but very demanding with amazing climbs, rock gardens, and jumps- all the things I love! It took me three days to finally feel comfortable on the course; but I felt prepared and legs felt awesome thanks to Stefan Legavre.
Waking up on race day, it was the most complex feeling ever- excitement, nerves and the waiting… I started visualising, maybe I over did it, ‘cause I saw a top 20 haha! I did my last checks, warm ups and then I was in the call up box at 84th. Two minutes to start, nerves tingling, heart beating, gun goes off and there we went. The start speed was high, my chest was burning and my lungs felt like they were popping up. I was last but I had to stay with the group.
I was debating whether to go hard from the start or save some for later; made a huge mistake choosing to save, forgetting about the 80% rule. I was catching up to 4-5 riders each lap and feeling good, but then going into the finish of my 4th lap I was pulled off by the 80% rule.
Overall it was an amazing experience, and I definitely won’t mind doing it again next year. But until then, preparations for next season as an elite rider start now.
Thanks to Cycling SA for this great opportunity, Oom Brian and Yolande for preparing the team and taking care of us, Chris for making sure my bike was 100% ready and helping me on technical sections, Stefan and Nico for the leg rubs, and to the SA team- besides for training, think we also became chiefs.
What an amazing year so far, thanks to Kargo National, Kargo MTB Team, Momsen, 32Gi, Diepsloot Mountain Bike Academy, Cycling SA, Kali and Nike Vision.
#happiness #breathe
Leading up to the world champs my preparation was going very well, and then unfortunately my Momsen bike was stolen. For a few days there I lost my motivation and focus; I was in the middle of semester tests at University and couldn’t train for a week without my bike so it just wasn’t a great week. But I told myself this is just another hurdle, I have come too far to give up now. Once I got myself together I got my old bike from DMA and Shaun Peschl and Hot Spot Cycles helped me get it ready; then off to Norway it was.
I got to meet the SA team, a group of rock stars, they made it very easy to feel welcome and involved. I went to ride the world champs course with James Reid and two of my team mates, Brendon and Alan. It was amazing to ride with them and just observe how they do things, especially young champ Alan. The track was great, but very demanding with amazing climbs, rock gardens, and jumps- all the things I love! It took me three days to finally feel comfortable on the course; but I felt prepared and legs felt awesome thanks to Stefan Legavre.
Waking up on race day, it was the most complex feeling ever- excitement, nerves and the waiting… I started visualising, maybe I over did it, ‘cause I saw a top 20 haha! I did my last checks, warm ups and then I was in the call up box at 84th. Two minutes to start, nerves tingling, heart beating, gun goes off and there we went. The start speed was high, my chest was burning and my lungs felt like they were popping up. I was last but I had to stay with the group.
I was debating whether to go hard from the start or save some for later; made a huge mistake choosing to save, forgetting about the 80% rule. I was catching up to 4-5 riders each lap and feeling good, but then going into the finish of my 4th lap I was pulled off by the 80% rule.
Overall it was an amazing experience, and I definitely won’t mind doing it again next year. But until then, preparations for next season as an elite rider start now.
Thanks to Cycling SA for this great opportunity, Oom Brian and Yolande for preparing the team and taking care of us, Chris for making sure my bike was 100% ready and helping me on technical sections, Stefan and Nico for the leg rubs, and to the SA team- besides for training, think we also became chiefs.
What an amazing year so far, thanks to Kargo National, Kargo MTB Team, Momsen, 32Gi, Diepsloot Mountain Bike Academy, Cycling SA, Kali and Nike Vision.
#happiness #breathe