2015 UCI MTB World Championships, Andorra
So it's a week since I’ve been back from world championships; I’m still getting flash backs of riding up and down the hills of La Massena and feeling my chest burn. This year’s MTB World Championships where held in La Massena, Andorra, a beautiful, quiet, green country just outside Spain.
After having a bad race at the South African MTB Championships, I was very honoured to make the team for world champs and I knew I had to use the three weeks I had to prepare carefully to recover well and be in the best shape I could be for the big race.
The South African team’s trip began two weeks before world champs, a great way to prepare and get used to the high altitude. It was very sunny the first week and then on racing week, Bam!!! - it started raining hard. The track was a perfect natural cross country course- not too technical, amazing climbs with enough space to overtake and great easy flowing single track. Then the rain happened and made the steep downhill section almost impossible to ride.
I was seeded right at the back of the pack, so my plan was plain and simple- ride yourself to the ground from the gun. I did a bit of visualisation where I rode behind Nino and Absalon for two laps (yes I'm a big dreamer and if I'm going to visualise, it will be being amongst the best. I know some people will say dream big but be realistic haha and I was being realistic a bit, because why dream and limit your thoughts to what you expect is normal.
Well, my visualizing was perfect until I got to the top of the first climb. I gave it everything the same way I saw it in my head, but this didn't include the altitude factor. I pushed to be at least 20 positions from where I started and it happened, but what didn't happen was breathing and recovering after that effort. It felt like there was no oxygen to my brain which was a first and a funny experience for me, but turned to the worst when I got to the steep downhill without enough air in my lungs and brain leading to no focus at all.
Unfortunately I was out with -3laps to go in 95th position. Normally I beat myself up when I didn't do as well as I’d hoped for, but this time around I gave it everything, I just wasn't smart enough to know what to do when faced with this kind of situation.
I walked away with a great experience and yet another lesson in the bag. I guess the older you get, the wiser you become.
Now I'm going to be married to my books until exams, get divorced, and then remarry them again in January haha. There are a lot of great things I'm working on, will keep you all posted.
A great thanks to Cycling South Africa for yet another opportunity to represent our country at World Championships, to Kargo and all the sponsors for the support and a chance to keep living my dream, and to the HPC for making sure I'm ready to compete.
#TheWILL
So it's a week since I’ve been back from world championships; I’m still getting flash backs of riding up and down the hills of La Massena and feeling my chest burn. This year’s MTB World Championships where held in La Massena, Andorra, a beautiful, quiet, green country just outside Spain.
After having a bad race at the South African MTB Championships, I was very honoured to make the team for world champs and I knew I had to use the three weeks I had to prepare carefully to recover well and be in the best shape I could be for the big race.
The South African team’s trip began two weeks before world champs, a great way to prepare and get used to the high altitude. It was very sunny the first week and then on racing week, Bam!!! - it started raining hard. The track was a perfect natural cross country course- not too technical, amazing climbs with enough space to overtake and great easy flowing single track. Then the rain happened and made the steep downhill section almost impossible to ride.
I was seeded right at the back of the pack, so my plan was plain and simple- ride yourself to the ground from the gun. I did a bit of visualisation where I rode behind Nino and Absalon for two laps (yes I'm a big dreamer and if I'm going to visualise, it will be being amongst the best. I know some people will say dream big but be realistic haha and I was being realistic a bit, because why dream and limit your thoughts to what you expect is normal.
Well, my visualizing was perfect until I got to the top of the first climb. I gave it everything the same way I saw it in my head, but this didn't include the altitude factor. I pushed to be at least 20 positions from where I started and it happened, but what didn't happen was breathing and recovering after that effort. It felt like there was no oxygen to my brain which was a first and a funny experience for me, but turned to the worst when I got to the steep downhill without enough air in my lungs and brain leading to no focus at all.
Unfortunately I was out with -3laps to go in 95th position. Normally I beat myself up when I didn't do as well as I’d hoped for, but this time around I gave it everything, I just wasn't smart enough to know what to do when faced with this kind of situation.
I walked away with a great experience and yet another lesson in the bag. I guess the older you get, the wiser you become.
Now I'm going to be married to my books until exams, get divorced, and then remarry them again in January haha. There are a lot of great things I'm working on, will keep you all posted.
A great thanks to Cycling South Africa for yet another opportunity to represent our country at World Championships, to Kargo and all the sponsors for the support and a chance to keep living my dream, and to the HPC for making sure I'm ready to compete.
#TheWILL