the 2011 running of the 105km marathon running between hilton and hilcrest took place in very hot conditions over the weekend.although my training has started to slip alittle as we near the end of the season and i have a proper break.i still have good shape from the training i did for world champs and was eager to put it to good use.
my shop concept cyclery was also a sponsor of the event so it was an important weeknd for me all round.i travelled up n saturday to get my bike tuned at the shop and then on to pmb as the race was kicking off at a very early 6am on sunday morning.
the route was pretty similar as in the past but with alot of added singletrack.the first long descent from hilton to pmb is now all singletrack and alot of fun.from pmb there was some easy roads to get the avg speed up before the hard work starts around the halfway mark.
at the front of the race we were a group of around 8 for most of the day untill we hit the notorious batletts climb from with 30km remaining in the race.i knew this would be a realy decisive part in the race and stayed very attentive.brandon stewardt made the first move and then i sort off countered on top.only the 360-life guys stayed with us untill we reached the singletrack descent.on the steep rise as we entered the singletrack i made a move and got a small gap which i stretched from there on out.i had great legs for the last hour and just my head down to win in 3hrs 55min and 43 sec.its been a long time since ive raced for that amount off time and i defnitely relied on my usn bcaa vitargo heavily as it was super hot out.
this weekend ill be racing in hilton again.this time in the last round of the mtn series.i hear the 110km route is very tough so it should be a good one.
cheers
freeriding in zermatt
after world champs i had the opportunity to ride in the swiss alps,in the small villag eof zermatt to be exact.upon arrival it was clear that the town was rather special.the only way to get there was by taxi or train as cars arent allowed,well no petrol ones.the town is littered with little electric boxes with wheels that zip up and down the narrow streets carrying everything from bulding supplies to tourists.the main attraction offcourse has to be the matterhorn peak that forms a magnificent backdrop.the surrounding mountains werent too shabby either and i was excited to get out there and ride!
i did however still have a very swollen and cut arm from the world champs and i had to nurse it through the trip which was a small hurdle in an otherwise perfect week.specialized braught a whole range of the new stumpjumper bikes and set us up in a super lux hotel.we were up early in the mornings to do some filming for the new bike and then spent most off the day at altitude ripping down all the technical tracks.
i even got in some pretty decent training which is good as i am racing the hill2hill this year and its coming up this weekend.on sunday gone past it was the lynford classic and i just made it home in time to take part.the course was quite hard but had alot of fun singletrack.the heat was quite a shock to my system as temps rose to 38c!
its great to see so many guys out riding on the tracks and roads.its a good sign for the summer ahead!
till next week,keep it safe out there!
cheers
burry
i did however still have a very swollen and cut arm from the world champs and i had to nurse it through the trip which was a small hurdle in an otherwise perfect week.specialized braught a whole range of the new stumpjumper bikes and set us up in a super lux hotel.we were up early in the mornings to do some filming for the new bike and then spent most off the day at altitude ripping down all the technical tracks.
i even got in some pretty decent training which is good as i am racing the hill2hill this year and its coming up this weekend.on sunday gone past it was the lynford classic and i just made it home in time to take part.the course was quite hard but had alot of fun singletrack.the heat was quite a shock to my system as temps rose to 38c!
its great to see so many guys out riding on the tracks and roads.its a good sign for the summer ahead!
till next week,keep it safe out there!
cheers
burry
world champs 2011
the world champs took place in the small alpine village of champery in switzerland over the weekend.its a venue that i have enjoyed in recent years and the track is awesome.
in the relay i had a great ride with team sa and i anchored us home with the fastest full lap of the course of the event.we ended up 11th,just 2 sec of 10th!this gave me great motivation for my race on saturday.
the weather looked grim as we took to the line on saturday afternoon and kicked off at 4 30pm.i had a bad start and found myself mid twenties after the start loop.i did however have great legs again and soon moved into 7th.there was a lead group of 6 that got away while i was stuck in the pack but as they were fading i was realing some of them in.at the end of the third lap it started to rain quite heavily.at first i wasnt affexcted on the technical stuff in the woods but as i crossed a bridge on an open section of the track i made a huge judgement error.i slid on the slippery wood and hit the metal side of the bridge realy hard.
i injured my arm quite badly and broke the cockpit in the process.my race was over...
its been a hard few days for me to get over the dissapointment.the whole season just didnt seem to go my way,however hard i tried.i learnt alot and im still motivated as ever.
pietermaritzurg wc is lest than 6 months away...
cheers
burry
in the relay i had a great ride with team sa and i anchored us home with the fastest full lap of the course of the event.we ended up 11th,just 2 sec of 10th!this gave me great motivation for my race on saturday.
the weather looked grim as we took to the line on saturday afternoon and kicked off at 4 30pm.i had a bad start and found myself mid twenties after the start loop.i did however have great legs again and soon moved into 7th.there was a lead group of 6 that got away while i was stuck in the pack but as they were fading i was realing some of them in.at the end of the third lap it started to rain quite heavily.at first i wasnt affexcted on the technical stuff in the woods but as i crossed a bridge on an open section of the track i made a huge judgement error.i slid on the slippery wood and hit the metal side of the bridge realy hard.
i injured my arm quite badly and broke the cockpit in the process.my race was over...
its been a hard few days for me to get over the dissapointment.the whole season just didnt seem to go my way,however hard i tried.i learnt alot and im still motivated as ever.
pietermaritzurg wc is lest than 6 months away...
cheers
burry
world championships prep and bern night race
bern night race and worlds prep.
for the last week and half weve been staying in champery,the venue for this years world championships.weve been staying together as a team and the accomodation very comfortable.after a good few days training,cherise joined me aswell.
for the last week and half weve been staying in champery,the venue for this years world championships.weve been staying together as a team and the accomodation very comfortable.after a good few days training,cherise joined me aswell.
on thursday we decided to do the swiss bike trophy in bern.the course was alot more technically and scarier than we thaught it would be.the race took place around the parliament building and comprised mostly urban features.add to this torentual rain and darkness at 8 15pm.
i took it easy at the start and rode mid pack for a few laps before finding a comfortable grip limit.i moved up all race and eventualy finished 3rd behind tomas litcher(felt/x-bionic) and florian volgel(scott-swisspower)
after the race we drove home and got to bed at around 2am.it was a good training ride and man the prize money at the race was good!
we got some brand new bikes for the world championships coming up this saturday and everyone on the team is super motivated.
till next week
cheers
burry
i took it easy at the start and rode mid pack for a few laps before finding a comfortable grip limit.i moved up all race and eventualy finished 3rd behind tomas litcher(felt/x-bionic) and florian volgel(scott-swisspower)
after the race we drove home and got to bed at around 2am.it was a good training ride and man the prize money at the race was good!
we got some brand new bikes for the world championships coming up this saturday and everyone on the team is super motivated.
till next week
cheers
burry
world cup finals,val de sol,italy
for another weekend things didnt go my way.finally i felt strong all race long but unfortunately snapped my chain right off the startline and conceded 3min to fix it.i got going quite nicely and faught past as many riders as i could to finish 23 rd after rolling through the start finish 121st on the start lap.
the course in val de sol fortunately had alot of climbing and with some good shape and a superlight specialized stumpy 29er i managed to pass guys frequently througout the race.jaroslav proved too strong for the field once again onboard his epic and powered to his 5th race win of the season.
this week we head to champery in switzerland to do 2 weeks of prep for the world championships on the 4th of september.
ciao
burry
nove-mesto na morave,czech republic
the brand new venue on this years world cup calendar welcomed us with some pretty awesome hospitality.the organisation was serious and so were the fans.not only where they there to get behind their local hero jaroslav but they were also super supportive of every rider out there.
the course was also a highlight.it was super rooty the whole way round with some steep climbs and big rocks thrown in for good measure.at only 4.2km and loads of turns it made for a great spectacle.
i had a pretty smooth trip over from sa and had a good week leading up to the race.i was onboard my trustee specialized epic 29er and i was feeling solid on the track.
we kicked of at 2pm on sunday with a very long start lap.i had a good pull and was sitting in around 5th-10th and moving up ahead of the first singletrack.unfortunately tow guys hit the deck right infront of me forcing me to stop and get passed by 10 riders.i didnt panic and was soon back into a good rythm.meanwhile jaroslav had already attacked off the front and was opening up a lead.
on the first full lap i pulled back some good places and got into a group that was fighting for 5th through 13th.on the second lap i got past these guys mid way through and feeling comfortable whilst moving cloaser towards the top 3.at the end of this lap however i made a slight mistake and ended up dropping my chain.it got alittle stuck and meant i was in 12th after i got it going again.i was still focussed and started moving up yet again until i got some bad signs midway through lap 3.my body started to shut down and there wasnt anything i could do.i limped home the rest of the race and just tried to stay as high up as i could eventualy ending in 19th.
ive been trying to figure out what happened and still have no clue.atleast i have a shot at redeeming myslef this weekend before we head to the world championships in two weeks time.
jara had the support and delivered on his 2012 epic 29er!
no 1 team !
pics courtesy of countryman garry perkin at www.flipper.co.za
as always a big thanks to team specialized and my other sponsors for the support!
ciao
burry
the course was also a highlight.it was super rooty the whole way round with some steep climbs and big rocks thrown in for good measure.at only 4.2km and loads of turns it made for a great spectacle.
i had a pretty smooth trip over from sa and had a good week leading up to the race.i was onboard my trustee specialized epic 29er and i was feeling solid on the track.
we kicked of at 2pm on sunday with a very long start lap.i had a good pull and was sitting in around 5th-10th and moving up ahead of the first singletrack.unfortunately tow guys hit the deck right infront of me forcing me to stop and get passed by 10 riders.i didnt panic and was soon back into a good rythm.meanwhile jaroslav had already attacked off the front and was opening up a lead.
on the first full lap i pulled back some good places and got into a group that was fighting for 5th through 13th.on the second lap i got past these guys mid way through and feeling comfortable whilst moving cloaser towards the top 3.at the end of this lap however i made a slight mistake and ended up dropping my chain.it got alittle stuck and meant i was in 12th after i got it going again.i was still focussed and started moving up yet again until i got some bad signs midway through lap 3.my body started to shut down and there wasnt anything i could do.i limped home the rest of the race and just tried to stay as high up as i could eventualy ending in 19th.
ive been trying to figure out what happened and still have no clue.atleast i have a shot at redeeming myslef this weekend before we head to the world championships in two weeks time.
jara had the support and delivered on his 2012 epic 29er!
no 1 team !
pics courtesy of countryman garry perkin at www.flipper.co.za
as always a big thanks to team specialized and my other sponsors for the support!
ciao
burry
final prep
final preperations.
the hard training continued this week with alot of focus on intensity.my big races start next weekend with a world cup in the czech rebublic.the weather has been a bit challenging still and i realy had to force the motivation some days.nevertheless im happy with the work ive done.
on sunday i headed to eston to do a smaller training race and get some suffering done as my legs were realy tired from the hard training.the race was only 60km long and very fast.the pace was realy good and our local sa pros are at a high level right now.we were a group of three heading to the finsh at 5km to go.i felt better and better as the race went on and was trying to break clear on the last 10km.at 5km to go however i struck something in some tall grass we were riding through and and went down fast.my handlebar stuck into the ground and snapped from the impact.i picked myself up and decided to just consolidate to the finsh and ended up 3rd.the victory was taken by brandon stewardt and phillip buys sprinted ahead of me for 2nd.
golfing on the south coast was pretty challenging too last week and i only got to play twice in some knarly wind to boot. ill now have to pack the clubs away with all the racing over the next month.
i have a good recovery week leading up to the world cup now and fly to europe on tuesday evening.
cheers
burry
the hard training continued this week with alot of focus on intensity.my big races start next weekend with a world cup in the czech rebublic.the weather has been a bit challenging still and i realy had to force the motivation some days.nevertheless im happy with the work ive done.
on sunday i headed to eston to do a smaller training race and get some suffering done as my legs were realy tired from the hard training.the race was only 60km long and very fast.the pace was realy good and our local sa pros are at a high level right now.we were a group of three heading to the finsh at 5km to go.i felt better and better as the race went on and was trying to break clear on the last 10km.at 5km to go however i struck something in some tall grass we were riding through and and went down fast.my handlebar stuck into the ground and snapped from the impact.i picked myself up and decided to just consolidate to the finsh and ended up 3rd.the victory was taken by brandon stewardt and phillip buys sprinted ahead of me for 2nd.
golfing on the south coast was pretty challenging too last week and i only got to play twice in some knarly wind to boot. ill now have to pack the clubs away with all the racing over the next month.
i have a good recovery week leading up to the world cup now and fly to europe on tuesday evening.
cheers
burry
training in the cold
now i know the last week hasnt been cold and miserable at all,when it comes to european standards but it still wasnt exactly pleasant.i dont mind rain too much and i dont mind wind to bad either,but combine the two and id rather be in bed than out on my bike training.
as world championships is fast approaching i put my head down and got some great training done despite the climate.most days,once you get going its not too bad and over the weekend the weather improved.this week will have some more intense days for me followed by some major resting and hopefully a few rounds of golf.ill do the illovo eston mtb race this weekend as a warm up before heading to europe next week.
cheers
burry
as world championships is fast approaching i put my head down and got some great training done despite the climate.most days,once you get going its not too bad and over the weekend the weather improved.this week will have some more intense days for me followed by some major resting and hopefully a few rounds of golf.ill do the illovo eston mtb race this weekend as a warm up before heading to europe next week.
cheers
burry
getting back to work
last week was a good one for me,training wise.the weather was awesome and my motivation got better as the week progressed.i feel like im now totally over the usa trip and my last couple of races.
on saturday i had a groupride at my shop.we bui;lt a new xc track in waterfall and will be using it for most of outrides.the course is a fun,twisty trail that runs continualy up and down a forested hillside.it is well suited to every skill level but has some optional sections for those wanting to push themselves alittle.for those wanting to check it out contact the shop concept cyclery at 031-762 1416.
the rest of the week was spent on the golf course.the courses around the south coast are perfect right now.the greens are rolling super quick and our fairways dont seem to die out in our moderate winter.we shall see what happens after the big rains this week.
this weekend i have more hard training to do before i get ready for my last big races of the year.ill do the illovo eston race as a warm up race next weekend before heading to europe.
cheers
burry
on saturday i had a groupride at my shop.we bui;lt a new xc track in waterfall and will be using it for most of outrides.the course is a fun,twisty trail that runs continualy up and down a forested hillside.it is well suited to every skill level but has some optional sections for those wanting to push themselves alittle.for those wanting to check it out contact the shop concept cyclery at 031-762 1416.
the rest of the week was spent on the golf course.the courses around the south coast are perfect right now.the greens are rolling super quick and our fairways dont seem to die out in our moderate winter.we shall see what happens after the big rains this week.
this weekend i have more hard training to do before i get ready for my last big races of the year.ill do the illovo eston race as a warm up race next weekend before heading to europe.
cheers
burry
back
that was one hell of a trip getting back to the rsa.my flight from atlanta to o.r tambo which is already 16hrs long got delayed on the runway for 4 hours after which we had to disembark and try again another 6 hours later.the saw mwe landing in jhb at 2 am on wednesday morning.luckily i had cherise waiting for me and i was in bed soon after.
on wednesday we decided to drive down to the south coast as i had just had enough of airportsand planes.it always makes one realize how incredibly lucky we are to live in such a picturesque country when you take a long drive.
ive been suffering from jetlag quite badly this week so im taking it easy on the training front for now.i did however make the trip to pmb to race the kzn champs.the course layout was realy cool.we rode most of the stuff from the world cup backwards,except for the rockgardens offcourse!i had a slow start but got firing about midway through the race.cherise raced her mtb for a change aswell.as we didnt pre ride the course she unknowingly launched a big drop and picked up a few bruises moments later...
i have another easy/transition week and then i get back into serious training for the last important races of the season.im hoping i can work on my golf game in the meantime.
cheers
burry
on wednesday we decided to drive down to the south coast as i had just had enough of airportsand planes.it always makes one realize how incredibly lucky we are to live in such a picturesque country when you take a long drive.
ive been suffering from jetlag quite badly this week so im taking it easy on the training front for now.i did however make the trip to pmb to race the kzn champs.the course layout was realy cool.we rode most of the stuff from the world cup backwards,except for the rockgardens offcourse!i had a slow start but got firing about midway through the race.cherise raced her mtb for a change aswell.as we didnt pre ride the course she unknowingly launched a big drop and picked up a few bruises moments later...
i have another easy/transition week and then i get back into serious training for the last important races of the season.im hoping i can work on my golf game in the meantime.
cheers
burry
world cup round 5,windham ny
windham again played host to our american round on the uci world cup tour.the venue was great as it was last year and coupled with great weather,4th of july celebrations and a good vibe in the team we, we had a great week.the course had the same layout as we raced on last year aswell.a 3km stretch of mostly uphill saw us ascend 200m per lap and then followed by a 2km downhill section that popped in and out of some technical,rough and slippery singletrack.
we kicked of at 2 30pm on saturday which meant on the first lap we felt allittle heat.i had a bad start as there was some confusion with the starters gun at the start.i rode most of the first climb in the 20s and making sure to not go too deep in the red.this payed off as i moved rapidly forward on lap 2 and by lap 3 i was up with the chase group fighting for second.jaroslav proved once again that he is the man of the moment and lead from the front for the entire race once again.
christoph and i fought out the other podium positions with nino schurter and marco fontana in the end.christoph attacked super hard on the last lap and i just could hold the wheels.i had to settle for 4th as he raced on for 3rd.
it was an incredible team for our team after all the hard work the mechanics and sougneurs put in.we once again won the team competition and leave north america with jara in 1st,me in 4th,suzi in 8thand todd in 16th on the world cup rankings.its now back home as i prepare for the last few world cups and the big one which is world champs in switzerland.
for pictures and videos of the race check out www.i-am-specialized.com
cheers
burry
we kicked of at 2 30pm on saturday which meant on the first lap we felt allittle heat.i had a bad start as there was some confusion with the starters gun at the start.i rode most of the first climb in the 20s and making sure to not go too deep in the red.this payed off as i moved rapidly forward on lap 2 and by lap 3 i was up with the chase group fighting for second.jaroslav proved once again that he is the man of the moment and lead from the front for the entire race once again.
christoph and i fought out the other podium positions with nino schurter and marco fontana in the end.christoph attacked super hard on the last lap and i just could hold the wheels.i had to settle for 4th as he raced on for 3rd.
it was an incredible team for our team after all the hard work the mechanics and sougneurs put in.we once again won the team competition and leave north america with jara in 1st,me in 4th,suzi in 8thand todd in 16th on the world cup rankings.its now back home as i prepare for the last few world cups and the big one which is world champs in switzerland.
for pictures and videos of the race check out www.i-am-specialized.com
cheers
burry
world cup round 4,mont st anne
since the long arduous travel to canada i spent most of the week recovering and getting familiar with the wet and technical course that we were to race on over the weekend.the weather all week was pretty gloom but it was fun riding on the course.the lap was similar to last year,it was just abit rougher and more slippery.
the sun came out and i was expecting the course dry up immensly for our race,in the woods however,it stayed supper boggy.i made a slight judgement error and went for our fastest,smoothest tire on the rear.
at the start i had great legs and lead up thefirst climb on the start loop.before we entered the first singletrack jaroslav,florian vogel and nino schurter snuck by me entering the woods.jaroslav killed the first section and soon had a gap on us as we rode into each other a few times.
i was feeling great on the climbs and pedalling sections,but somehow unbalanced and wobbling on the technical stuff.on the third lap i was riding up the first big climb in 5th and making up good time before sliding out and crashing on the beatrice drop.i slipped down to 7th and would have to make up lost time agian.i never quite found my rythm on the technical but climbed well to end up in 6th,its not what id hope for but promising coming into windham this weekend.
jaroslav smashed the field to win by close on 2min.definitely inspirational for me going into the rest of the season!
cheers
burry
the sun came out and i was expecting the course dry up immensly for our race,in the woods however,it stayed supper boggy.i made a slight judgement error and went for our fastest,smoothest tire on the rear.
at the start i had great legs and lead up thefirst climb on the start loop.before we entered the first singletrack jaroslav,florian vogel and nino schurter snuck by me entering the woods.jaroslav killed the first section and soon had a gap on us as we rode into each other a few times.
i was feeling great on the climbs and pedalling sections,but somehow unbalanced and wobbling on the technical stuff.on the third lap i was riding up the first big climb in 5th and making up good time before sliding out and crashing on the beatrice drop.i slipped down to 7th and would have to make up lost time agian.i never quite found my rythm on the technical but climbed well to end up in 6th,its not what id hope for but promising coming into windham this weekend.
jaroslav smashed the field to win by close on 2min.definitely inspirational for me going into the rest of the season!
cheers
burry
back on the road...
its only been two weeks since i arrives home from a month long european campaign and im already on the road again...after another good week at home with mild weather and good training i caught my best friends wedding on the weekend.i was honoured to be craig pauls best man as he wed meghan.his childhood sweetheart!
on sunday i caught a flight to the usa and then onwards to canada on monday.the total trip was 33 hours and i was pretty shattered as i arrived on monday night.atleast the team spirit was high as christoph and jaroslav went 1 and 2 at sundays world marathon championships in italy.well done boys!
thsi weekend is the 4th round of the uci world cup xc series and the reason for all our serious travel.my season has been improving all the time and im looking forward to some good suffering on saturday...
cheers
burry
on sunday i caught a flight to the usa and then onwards to canada on monday.the total trip was 33 hours and i was pretty shattered as i arrived on monday night.atleast the team spirit was high as christoph and jaroslav went 1 and 2 at sundays world marathon championships in italy.well done boys!
thsi weekend is the 4th round of the uci world cup xc series and the reason for all our serious travel.my season has been improving all the time and im looking forward to some good suffering on saturday...
cheers
burry
sa xco finals,jhb
this weekend saw the rounding up of the sa xco series that started back in february this year.it was a good way for me to stay racing sharp admist all the hard training ive been logging recently.
jhb greeted us with some cool weather on thursday evening and things didnt seem to hear up much over the weekend.i got to ride the course abit on friday afternoon and it was one with many turns.it wasnt the hardest track but with so many blind corners you realy had to know what was coming up.on one section we even had to dodge "cane-rat-like" creatures running all over the course.as the course wasnt the toughest i knew it would be close racing and with my tired legs,very testing.
on saturday we kicked of at 12 and i had a great start.it wasnt long before marc bassingthwaite set the tempo with garmin-addidas team-mate hot on his heels.on the first single track climb phillip snuck by marc and i had to watch as he slowly pulled away.after the first tight descent i got around marc and used my swork 29ers big wheels to roll up to phillip on a fast bumpy section.towards the end of the lap james reid (mr price-bmc) joined us for a brief period.phillip and i took turns in leading and on a flattish course i knew it was going to be hard to get away from the ever improving garmin rider.the altitude was hurting aswell so i decide to make a move around midway through the race once i had found some comfort in my pedal strokes.at the start of lap 4 i surged on the climb and with some good pressure i got a small gap on phillip.i had to push realy hard all the way around to make sure it stuck.once the elastic snapped on the 5th lap i could get back to enjoying some hard training on the twisty singeltracks.
the event was well run and id like to send a big thank you to wendell,usn and all the sponsors,spectators and riders for turning up and making the event possible.
after the race we headed home as i love sleeping in my own bed mid-season.we got to listen to the sharks winning and i got to rub it in my bulls-supporting fathers face.speaking of which,i hope all the dads out there had a great day,mine was looking for his golf ball most of the day!
ciao
burry
jhb greeted us with some cool weather on thursday evening and things didnt seem to hear up much over the weekend.i got to ride the course abit on friday afternoon and it was one with many turns.it wasnt the hardest track but with so many blind corners you realy had to know what was coming up.on one section we even had to dodge "cane-rat-like" creatures running all over the course.as the course wasnt the toughest i knew it would be close racing and with my tired legs,very testing.
on saturday we kicked of at 12 and i had a great start.it wasnt long before marc bassingthwaite set the tempo with garmin-addidas team-mate hot on his heels.on the first single track climb phillip snuck by marc and i had to watch as he slowly pulled away.after the first tight descent i got around marc and used my swork 29ers big wheels to roll up to phillip on a fast bumpy section.towards the end of the lap james reid (mr price-bmc) joined us for a brief period.phillip and i took turns in leading and on a flattish course i knew it was going to be hard to get away from the ever improving garmin rider.the altitude was hurting aswell so i decide to make a move around midway through the race once i had found some comfort in my pedal strokes.at the start of lap 4 i surged on the climb and with some good pressure i got a small gap on phillip.i had to push realy hard all the way around to make sure it stuck.once the elastic snapped on the 5th lap i could get back to enjoying some hard training on the twisty singeltracks.
the event was well run and id like to send a big thank you to wendell,usn and all the sponsors,spectators and riders for turning up and making the event possible.
after the race we headed home as i love sleeping in my own bed mid-season.we got to listen to the sharks winning and i got to rub it in my bulls-supporting fathers face.speaking of which,i hope all the dads out there had a great day,mine was looking for his golf ball most of the day!
ciao
burry
stairs of prague
http://www.ceskatelevize.cz/ivysilani/10110938667-cyklistika/21147129184-prazske-schody/
last week i made my first trip to prague and i have to say it was very much worth it.its an amazing city and a the race course they set up for us was very cool.we raced down the stairs infront of the prague castle and then up the cobbled street through the old town.the race kicked of realy fast on monday evening and it wasnt long before we were a group of 5 racing around the 3minute circuit.the race comprised 60minutes plus one lap of maimal effort.after half way it was down to myslef,jaroslav kulhavy and jan skarntzl.in the end it came down to a long sprint in which i just got the better of specialized team mate jarosav and czech specialized rider jan.
on thursday cherise and i got to check out prague properly and we were joined by dylan and peter our team mechanic and soigneur.we hit all the tourist sights and lunch at the hard rock cafe.it was a serously good day and a nice way to take a day off.
on friday we were back on the road and started our journey back to sa.first a 5hr drive to frankfurt and then an 11hour flight which was delayed by 2hrs.once back in sa,we boarded our last flight to durban and made it home by 3pm on sat.
on sunday we lined up at the sardine mtb classic in port edward.it was super muddy but the weather on the day was great.the only thing better was the course.awesome job done by the bundu bashers.everyone had a blast.i had fairly decent legs and managed a comfortable ride to take the win ahead of james reed(bmc) and andrew hill.
this week is a big training one for me.im also hoping to have some legs left for saturdays sa xco leg at rietvlei,jhb.
cheers for now
burry
swiss cup,granichen
i decided to stay in europe after the world cups to race in the stairs of prague race coming up this week.as it was near the last world cup cherise and i made the trip to granishen in switzerland aswell.ive always heard great things about the swiss cup so i was excited to give one a go.
we stayed in a town called aarau and wow the riding around there was incredible.after a few days of cold and wet conditions the skies cleared up and our stay became even more comfortable.
the course in granichen was harder than i expected.definitely on a much higher level than our national cup series back home.it was 4.5km long with 170m altitude gain per lap.we had 9 laps on the cards so that meant alot of steep climbing and alot of good tecnical descending mostly characterized by tight turns,drops and roots.
we kicked off at 2pm on sunday and i got of to a great start,heading into the single trail first at the top of a long pavement climb.soon we were four riders at the front,florian vogel(scott),balz webber(bmc),mathias stirneman(thomus).i was happy to try and lead all the dh sections and vogel paced alot on the climbs with me.at the end of the second lap we dropped balz but i had a small problem with my saddle coming loose.it kept moving forwards and backwards.at the end of the second lap i stopped to tighten it somewhat in the tech zone.i dropped 30sec behind and had a hard chase for three laps which included a tumble whilst taking some risks on the descents.i got back with less than three laps to go and vogel started testing us on the steep ascents in his home town race.mathias cracked first while i held on alittle longer.with a lap and a half to go i couldnt follow florians pace and settled in to my own rythm.on the last lap i closed back up to him and started the last half lap just 8 sec down,before having more trouble with the seat sliding the whole way back.i settled for 2nd and was happy with another solid result in europe.thanks to all the organisers and fans of the swiss cup who were so helpfull over the weekend.
on monday cherise and i drove 750km to prague and upon arrival walked around for about 4hours.a realy interesting city on which ill elaborate more later.im realy looking forward to the stairs race on wednesday before flying home to do the sardine classic back home on sunday!
till next week...
burry
world cup 3,offenburg,germany
photos courtesy of gary perkin, flipper.co.zathe third round of the world cup took place in germany this past weekend.the course is one of my favourites as i got my first top 10 ever here 3 years ago.the week started with a huge travel so that we could ride the olympic track so on tuesday i had a proper rest day.no training,lunch pool side and lots of sleep made sure i was energized for the rest of the weeks preperations.
the course was the same as in the last 5 years.it has numerous legendary sections like "the dual track" ."wolf drop and the "snake pit".these are all tied together by some tough climbs with loads of switch backs.in total the course was 6.4km long and we had 7 laps plus one start loop on the cards.
i started on the first row this week but had the last call as to where i wanted to start on it.this meant i had a garden to race through before getting onto any sort of racing line.my starts arent realy my strength and this didnt help.after the start loop i came through in about 20th position and had lots of work to do on the first lap.i was making good ground on the downhills aboard my new stumjumper 29er with on the fly brain fade adjust.a great feature on the long rough sections.as i came through the start/finish i was in 10th just 14 seconds off the lead group.i pushed hard and joined the group at the end of the 2nd lap and we were now 9 riders at the front.i went to the front and tried to set myown pace for a lap.this was good as it allowed me to recover from my bad start somewhat.this was short lived as absalon attacked on lap 3 and made the decisive move.in the end it was absalon setting the pace.jaroslav 30 sec behind with myself and maxime marotte fighting for third over the last two laps.on the last lap i had to concede and rode home in 4th.a good day for me and a big confidence builder.im getting back to full health and feel faster everyweek.
this week i head to zurich for a swisscup with cherise before tackling the stairs of prague next week.
cheers
burry
world cup round 2,slightly better
the winning machine.well done jara!
specialized racing,winners of the team comp...again!
thats a good line-up!dalby forrest,uk played host to the 2nd round of the uci mtb world cup this weekend.specialized racing was there in full force and after a smooth trip from sa on tuesday evening i met up with the team.
the weather was typically uk in that it was pretty freezing for a kzn boy.i also soon developed a head cold wich wasnt fun.luckily for me we got some great winter gear from specialized so was keeping warm during training.the team worked hard all week and our bikes were dialed on race day.i chose a 7.2kg specialized stumpjumper on renegade tread for the weekends battle and felt good on the track leading into the race.
on sunday we kicked off in what felt like gale force winds.team mate jaroslav kulhavy piloted his 29er s-works epic off the front off the lead group immidiately while the rest of team specialized were hanging around 10-15th.suzie ,todd and i soon moved up and found ourselves in the group fighting for third place.i was feeling pretty solid but felt i lacked max breathing capacity.on the courses many technical descent kulhavy kept stretching his gap while we kept fighting hard in the group.
on the last lap i started to feel the pace alittle and lost the group.i dug deep and manged to hold onto 7th.it wasnt a great day for me but it wasnt the worst.for our team however it was an awesome day!thanks goes to benno,dylan,peter,sandy,jhonny,claire and myron for supporting us althrough these tough weeks.the moral in the team is quite incredible and were all pumped for this weeks upcomin wc in offenberg,germany.
after the race,todd and i drove down to the olympic mtb course in essex.i wasnt expecting much from the videos i had seen before but was pleasantly surprised and with a bit more natural deterioration of the surface,its going to be a great olympic course.once we were done training we caught three trains to heathrow,a flight to frankfurt and then a 2hr train to offenburg before finaly ending the roadtrip at around 12pm.it was a day to remember...
cheers
burry
world cup round 1,pmb
world cup round 1,pietermaritzburg
over the last few weeks,it seemed my whole life was geared towards this weekends world cup opener in pmb.its is the only home round of the series and i was eager to perform.preperation went realy well and i had recovered from epic.
the team arrived early this week and the vibe between the team with a few new additions was great.i did my normal pre world cup routine and had a good time hanging with my team mates.
the elite men kicked off at 2 30pm on saturday with a very strong field.the first round is important as it dictates the starting grid at round 2.i started on the second row and got off the line great.my 29er stumpy rolled straight past a few riders before the first turn and i was up into 4th early on.i stayed there for almost the entire first lap before sliding out on an easy corner just before starting lap 2.i was up quick and back with the leaders very soon.unfortunately i soon realized my deraileur was bent realy badly and i couldnt use my top three gears.i stopped and tried to bend it straight which helped alittle and i mostly had trouble with the top gear.this was an issue as i only run one ring on the front and this meant i had to run up the steepest climbs on every lap.i lost time from here on out and on the last lap was sitting comfortably in 9th.however a judgement error on the last tricky rock garden sent me flying over the handlebars.i eventualy limped home for 11th.
it definitely wasnt the race i was hoping for,i felt i had great legs and should have pulled of a good result,but thats mountain bike racing.i now have three weeks to prepare and re focus before round 2 in england.
thanks to the team and all the supporters out there!
ciao
burry
over the last few weeks,it seemed my whole life was geared towards this weekends world cup opener in pmb.its is the only home round of the series and i was eager to perform.preperation went realy well and i had recovered from epic.
the team arrived early this week and the vibe between the team with a few new additions was great.i did my normal pre world cup routine and had a good time hanging with my team mates.
the elite men kicked off at 2 30pm on saturday with a very strong field.the first round is important as it dictates the starting grid at round 2.i started on the second row and got off the line great.my 29er stumpy rolled straight past a few riders before the first turn and i was up into 4th early on.i stayed there for almost the entire first lap before sliding out on an easy corner just before starting lap 2.i was up quick and back with the leaders very soon.unfortunately i soon realized my deraileur was bent realy badly and i couldnt use my top three gears.i stopped and tried to bend it straight which helped alittle and i mostly had trouble with the top gear.this was an issue as i only run one ring on the front and this meant i had to run up the steepest climbs on every lap.i lost time from here on out and on the last lap was sitting comfortably in 9th.however a judgement error on the last tricky rock garden sent me flying over the handlebars.i eventualy limped home for 11th.
it definitely wasnt the race i was hoping for,i felt i had great legs and should have pulled of a good result,but thats mountain bike racing.i now have three weeks to prepare and re focus before round 2 in england.
thanks to the team and all the supporters out there!
ciao
burry
world cup round 1,pmb
world cup round 1,pietermaritzburg
over the last few weeks,it seemed my whole life was geared towards this weekends world cup opener in pmb.its is the only home round of the series and i was eager to perform.preperation went realy well and i had recovered from epic.
the team arrived early this week and the vibe between the team with a few new additions was great.i did my normal pre world cup routine and had a good time hanging with my team mates.
the elite men kicked off at 2 30pm on saturday with a very strong field.the first round is important as it dictates the starting grid at round 2.i started on the second row and got off the line great.my 29er stumpy rolled straight past a few riders before the first turn and i was up into 4th early on.i stayed there for almost the entire first lap before sliding out on an easy corner just before starting lap 2.i was up quick and back with the leaders very soon.unfortunately i soon realized my deraileur was bent realy badly and i couldnt use my top three gears.i stopped and tried to bend it straight which helped alittle and i mostly had trouble with the top gear.this was an issue as i only run one ring on the front and this meant i had to run up the steepest climbs on every lap.i lost time from here on out and on the last lap was sitting comfortably in 9th.however a judgement error on the last tricky rock garden sent me flying over the handlebars.i eventualy limped home for 11th.
it definitely wasnt the race i was hoping for,i felt i had great legs and should have pulled of a good result,but thats mountain bike racing.i now have three weeks to prepare and re focus before round 2 in england.
thanks to the team and all the supporters out there!
ciao
burry
over the last few weeks,it seemed my whole life was geared towards this weekends world cup opener in pmb.its is the only home round of the series and i was eager to perform.preperation went realy well and i had recovered from epic.
the team arrived early this week and the vibe between the team with a few new additions was great.i did my normal pre world cup routine and had a good time hanging with my team mates.
the elite men kicked off at 2 30pm on saturday with a very strong field.the first round is important as it dictates the starting grid at round 2.i started on the second row and got off the line great.my 29er stumpy rolled straight past a few riders before the first turn and i was up into 4th early on.i stayed there for almost the entire first lap before sliding out on an easy corner just before starting lap 2.i was up quick and back with the leaders very soon.unfortunately i soon realized my deraileur was bent realy badly and i couldnt use my top three gears.i stopped and tried to bend it straight which helped alittle and i mostly had trouble with the top gear.this was an issue as i only run one ring on the front and this meant i had to run up the steepest climbs on every lap.i lost time from here on out and on the last lap was sitting comfortably in 9th.however a judgement error on the last tricky rock garden sent me flying over the handlebars.i eventualy limped home for 11th.
it definitely wasnt the race i was hoping for,i felt i had great legs and should have pulled of a good result,but thats mountain bike racing.i now have three weeks to prepare and re focus before round 2 in england.
thanks to the team and all the supporters out there!
ciao
burry
karkloof classic
this weekend saw the running of the annual karkloof mtb classic.with some weary legs i decided to only race the xc race and thus kick my legs back into action without fatiguing them further. i had a great start and rode away with phillip buys at the end of the first lap.we stayed together for most of the very technical and challenging race.with two laps to go i got a small gap and held it to the finish.i was quite spent at the end and realy had to reach for some usn bottles after. this week ill try to recover and eat some more,my mouth is finally allowing me to do so.at the weekend our specialized team will race in the sa cup run on the same track as next weekends opening round of the world cup in pmb, hope to see you there cheers burry
absa cape epic 2011
the biggest mountainbike stage race in the world takes place right here in south africa.the race kicked off in 2003 and in the last 8 years has caught peoples attention around the world. due to the fact that this race has become so big it has become a big goal for me to win the race.christoph sauser and i returned for our fourth try this year after we have been so close to winning it in the past before seccumbing to bad luck and incident. this year we were again in the coulours of songo.info and specialized bikes we got an added boost in a new sponser 36One Asset management,just days before the event.
prologue,tokai forrest,cape town 27km position 1st the race once again kicked of with a prologue on the mountain slopes of the tokai forrest in cape town.the course had some major climbing coupled with super fun and technical singletrack.we had a great day out and managed to secure the win and a time gap of 1min 40 going into the first long stage. stage 1 tulbagh-tulbagh 89km. the first stage may not have been the longest ever but wow was it hard.with steep technical xc type riding for the first 70km it was hard going .as the course suited us very well suzi and i pushed the pace for most of the day.on the last hard climb with 20km to go we rode away alone and held a minute lead to the swiss stockli team on the finish line.
stage 2 tulbagh-tulbagh 119km stage 2 started just a fraction slower as by now the legs were truly in recovery mode.once the sun came out and we hit the first climb with 1000m of vertical ascent we were back on the gas.at the top we were a big group with around 10 teams setting the pace.the day was charactarized by a bunch of short steep climbs from here on and it was on these that more and more teams fell off the pace.by the time we hit the last climb we again rode away.on the long tretcherous descent back to the lower valley we rode cautiously and got joined by two teams.merida biking and trek world racing joined us briefely before we attacked them again towards the end.we secured our 3rd stage win and alos stretched our lead.
stage 3 tulbagh-worcester 115km by far the hardest day in this years absa cape epic.altough we didnt have the biggest climbs to contend with we did have the roughest terrain.the specialized epic 29ers we were riding helped us tremendously on the stage and in the end rode away from the field with merida biking the only team to hang to the finish.we gifted them the stage win and consolidated our lead.
stage 4 time trial worcester-worcester 32km my favourite stage of the epic is the time trial and this year was no difference.i had great legs on the day and we managed to catch aal the teams starting ahead of us who were still in the fight for the overall.we secured our fourth stage with no mishaps and again stretched our lead.
stage 5 worcester-oak valley 145km so the longest stage this year turned out to be one of the easiest.for the first ime in this years epic we cruised along in a big bunch for the first 100km.the trek-milka team were off the front in a break away and at one stage the gap was up to 4min.however at the 100km mark we hit the notorious groenlandberg climb and the race exploded.first the bulls put the hammer down followed by the merida biking riders.christoph and i bided our time well and when the other riders slowed we hit the front.we got over the front with merida and then were joined on the long descent by trek-wc.we then attacked the rest with 5km to go and won our 5th stage.our total lead was now up to over 8min.
stage 6 oak valley-oak valley 127km stage 6 was the stage with the most climbing in this years race.with a total of 2700m.this meant a very hard day out and after 5hours of very hard racing we managed another 2nd place.world champion jose hermida and swiss tem mate ralph naef of multivan merida got a gap on us in the last 10km but we still managed to extend our overall lead to just under 11 minutes! the climbing was definitely worth all the climbing on day 6 and it was a day to remember.
stage 7 oak valley-lourensford 65km the final stage is usualy seen as a bit of a celeblatory ride to finish of the tour.however with 1800m of climbing suzi and i remained very focused.it was a good thing too as we had our first flat tire of the race very early on and had to chase back to the lead group for most of the days climbing.as we reached the group we realized that our main rivals,the merida biking team had attacked and were still 4min ahead.we set off after them again and managed to get them within sight with 20km to go.thats where we decided to relax and enjoy our achievement.cruising into lourensford and finally winning the epic was one of my career highlights.the south african support behind this race is tremendous and im very proud to have become the first south african to win. our specialized team crew worked realy hard this week and id like to say a big thanks to dylan van der merwe and pieter wehmeier.you guys carried us through!
cheerio
burry
sa marathon champs
sa marathon championships,inanda dam kzn
racing an important race close to home is always great.this week i got to do just that as the 2011 sa marathon champs were held in the inanda valley and i only needed to spend one night away from my own bed.
on monday we did some important tire testing n stellenbosch before cherise and i may the big trek back home.flying the day after the cape argus is not the most pleasant thing ive ever done.we landed late on monday night but only received our bikes on wednesday.
i drove up to the valley on thursday to ride the course and after a long 6hours of riding we made our way around.the course was going to be tough ,but loads of fun.with loads of climbing and fast,flowing singletrack it was going to be a real mtbikers course.
the race kicked off quite steady on sunday with a few of the younger guys pushing the pace early on.the lead group formed after around ten kilometers with just 7 riders.it stayed similar until the halfway mark when the real singletrack sections started.the race the split for good and soon it was myslef,phillip buys and kevin evans at the front.with about 30km to go we dislodged phillip buys and the fight would remain between myself an kevin.i felt realy comfortable and had great legs on the day.my beefier specialized control renegade tires seemed to be rolling amazing aswell.
i was hoping to try and attack kevin near the end but it seemed the finish just came too quickly.i shifted my focus to winning in the sprint and after 3hrs 25min i managed do just that.it felt great to win my second sa title in alittle more than a week.
the cape epic starts this weekend and the form seems to be good.im realy looking forward to racing around the cape with team mate sauser.
cheers
burry
racing an important race close to home is always great.this week i got to do just that as the 2011 sa marathon champs were held in the inanda valley and i only needed to spend one night away from my own bed.
on monday we did some important tire testing n stellenbosch before cherise and i may the big trek back home.flying the day after the cape argus is not the most pleasant thing ive ever done.we landed late on monday night but only received our bikes on wednesday.
i drove up to the valley on thursday to ride the course and after a long 6hours of riding we made our way around.the course was going to be tough ,but loads of fun.with loads of climbing and fast,flowing singletrack it was going to be a real mtbikers course.
the race kicked off quite steady on sunday with a few of the younger guys pushing the pace early on.the lead group formed after around ten kilometers with just 7 riders.it stayed similar until the halfway mark when the real singletrack sections started.the race the split for good and soon it was myslef,phillip buys and kevin evans at the front.with about 30km to go we dislodged phillip buys and the fight would remain between myself an kevin.i felt realy comfortable and had great legs on the day.my beefier specialized control renegade tires seemed to be rolling amazing aswell.
i was hoping to try and attack kevin near the end but it seemed the finish just came too quickly.i shifted my focus to winning in the sprint and after 3hrs 25min i managed do just that.it felt great to win my second sa title in alittle more than a week.
the cape epic starts this weekend and the form seems to be good.im realy looking forward to racing around the cape with team mate sauser.
cheers
burry
african champs,jonkershoek,stellenbosch
african cross country championships
the past weekend saw africas best line up in jonkershoek,stellencosch in a fight to secure vital points for the london olympic games next year. for me it was important to secure maximum points as it will determine my starting point in that same race.
as i arrived in stellenbosch on thursday i got to meet up with some of the factory specialized crew for lunch before a much needed massage.in the afternoon dylan(mechanic) and i hit jonkershoek for some practice laps on the newly built circuit.i had received my new 29inch wheeled specialized epic and wow was it the perfect bike for this ultra rough track.the course was mostly uphill and rough for the first half and mostly downhill and rough for the rest.and i mean to say it was rough was an understatement!nevertheless i thaught the course was awesome and i looked forward to the race.
on friday anthony sinyard and i headed to the track for some laps.anthony is visiting in sa and doing some training before tackling the usa pro xct series this year and got to do the citizens race on sat ahead of the championships.also in the citizens race was merida pro ralph naef.
the pro men kicked of at 2pm and as it was last week,super hot!the pace was furious from the gun with renay groustra(gt-mr price) and phillip buys(garmin-addidas)sprinting up the road.i managed to tag on and get into the first singletrack in second.the pace dropped and i worked my way past renay in the first sandy/steep part.i pushed hard through the rocky singletrail to get a gap before the steepest climb.the course had gotten much rougher through the day racing and by the time we hit the climb it was almost unrideable.on the first lap i got up and solidified my gap.on the second lap the heat got to me alittle and i backed of alot.from lap 3 i was back on the gas and kept it smooth and steady to the end.i was having a great time on the epic 29er and letting it hang out in the turns.
after 1hr 42min i crossed the line and took my third african title.marc bassingthwaite(nam-garmin) took 2nd and phillip buys(rsa-garmin)3rd.thanks to everyone who came out and supported.we had some great riders and athletes supporting out there and the whole crew from www.songo.info.
on sunday i had a nice recovery ride with bobby(manager) the irishman and my dad in jonkershoek.we checked out some of the downhill before bobby dragged his stumpy over some rocks.the bike was fine,bobby was bruised...
im back in kzn for two weeks of hard eipc training right now,hope to see alot of people on the roads!
cheers
burry
the past weekend saw africas best line up in jonkershoek,stellencosch in a fight to secure vital points for the london olympic games next year. for me it was important to secure maximum points as it will determine my starting point in that same race.as i arrived in stellenbosch on thursday i got to meet up with some of the factory specialized crew for lunch before a much needed massage.in the afternoon dylan(mechanic) and i hit jonkershoek for some practice laps on the newly built circuit.i had received my new 29inch wheeled specialized epic and wow was it the perfect bike for this ultra rough track.the course was mostly uphill and rough for the first half and mostly downhill and rough for the rest.and i mean to say it was rough was an understatement!nevertheless i thaught the course was awesome and i looked forward to the race.
on friday anthony sinyard and i headed to the track for some laps.anthony is visiting in sa and doing some training before tackling the usa pro xct series this year and got to do the citizens race on sat ahead of the championships.also in the citizens race was merida pro ralph naef.
the pro men kicked of at 2pm and as it was last week,super hot!the pace was furious from the gun with renay groustra(gt-mr price) and phillip buys(garmin-addidas)sprinting up the road.i managed to tag on and get into the first singletrack in second.the pace dropped and i worked my way past renay in the first sandy/steep part.i pushed hard through the rocky singletrail to get a gap before the steepest climb.the course had gotten much rougher through the day racing and by the time we hit the climb it was almost unrideable.on the first lap i got up and solidified my gap.on the second lap the heat got to me alittle and i backed of alot.from lap 3 i was back on the gas and kept it smooth and steady to the end.i was having a great time on the epic 29er and letting it hang out in the turns.
after 1hr 42min i crossed the line and took my third african title.marc bassingthwaite(nam-garmin) took 2nd and phillip buys(rsa-garmin)3rd.thanks to everyone who came out and supported.we had some great riders and athletes supporting out there and the whole crew from www.songo.info.
on sunday i had a nice recovery ride with bobby(manager) the irishman and my dad in jonkershoek.we checked out some of the downhill before bobby dragged his stumpy over some rocks.the bike was fine,bobby was bruised...
im back in kzn for two weeks of hard eipc training right now,hope to see alot of people on the roads!
cheers
burry
sa road and time trial champs
this week i got back to some real racing.cherise and i made the trip downto pe on monday with alot of luggage.its always hard to fly to an event like this as we had four bikes with us and loads of wheels,helmets etc.
on thursday the racing kicked off with the time trial and cherise had a cracker,winning the womans national title by 70 seconds over the 30km distance! i had a solid ride to place 5th,just 20seconds of the silver medal on a pan flat and windy course.
on saturday we took to a very hard road loop with 2 very steep 500m climbs.the loop was only 8.6 km long but had around 150m of verticle ascent per lap.the womans race was contested over ten laps and at the end it was cherise and team-mate merissa van der merwe against two girls from nashua-toyota.merissa won the title with cherise tacking the bronze medal for team usn.
our race kicked of at 1 30pm with the mercury hitting around 40c!after the first two laps it was obvious that the race was going to be one of attrition.the bunch witled down very quickly.after around 6 laps there were only about 40 guys left in the race and a break of 5 were up the road.as we approached lap 10 i was worried that the break was going to stay away and i made the racing hard on the climbs.it wasnt long before we had a select group going and the break came back with around 5 laps remaining.the real battle started with around 4 laps to go and i could feel the earlier efforts in my legs.the group split again and we were now 4 upfront.myself,christoff van heerden,darren lill and johan van zyl.we entered the last lap of 18 together and it was darren lill who made the first move.johan dropped first as christoff and i tried to respond.in the end darren got the best of us by 3 seconds and i managed to just edge out van heerden for the silver medal.
im realy happy with how my form is after just 6 weeks of training and i feel inspired for what lays ahead.i traveled back home on sunday and get to prepare my mtb for this weekends african continental champs in stellenbosch over the coming weekend.
cheers
burry
kzn road and tt champs
this weekend was the first time i realy had to stretch my legs,i must say it felt great.training went well last week for most part and i was feeling good leading into the weekend.first up was the tt on saturday.we raced around the toyota test track close to eston for 40.5km.i started off realy fast and payed for it midway through before recovering and surging again near the end.my equipment worked great and ive realy been enjoying my tt sessions aboard the new specialized shiv 3.i finished the 40.5km in 52min 30 seconds giving me an average of 46.5kmh and my first tt win.
on sunday we arrived in eston with the rain pouring from the skies.with low moral i took to the start line for the 120km race.we were a good sized bunch with kzn's only pr team tasol/gt lining up with a full compliment of riders.in the first 30km there were loads of attacks as it kept pouring but everything seemed to stay together.i was determined to not let anything get away ans i was up for some good training so i made sure to set a high tempo at the front of the race.at around the 50km mark there was 2 riders off the front and with no one else willing to close the gap i drove hard on a long climb.by the top the group was split to just five and we soon joined the two up front.along umbumbulu road i gain forced the pace on a long climb and we entered the 10km van der merwes circuit with just four rider.myself,luke roberts,brandon stewardt and richard baxter entered the last 40km together and i could sense the fatigue in the group.as we hit the hard climb on the circuit i attacked and managed to open a gap on the other three.i slowly opened the gap until the elastic finally snapped and i got a good gap.i time trialed the last 35km to win my first kzn road champs.
thanks alot to westville cycling club for an awesome event!
ciao
burry
on sunday we arrived in eston with the rain pouring from the skies.with low moral i took to the start line for the 120km race.we were a good sized bunch with kzn's only pr team tasol/gt lining up with a full compliment of riders.in the first 30km there were loads of attacks as it kept pouring but everything seemed to stay together.i was determined to not let anything get away ans i was up for some good training so i made sure to set a high tempo at the front of the race.at around the 50km mark there was 2 riders off the front and with no one else willing to close the gap i drove hard on a long climb.by the top the group was split to just five and we soon joined the two up front.along umbumbulu road i gain forced the pace on a long climb and we entered the 10km van der merwes circuit with just four rider.myself,luke roberts,brandon stewardt and richard baxter entered the last 40km together and i could sense the fatigue in the group.as we hit the hard climb on the circuit i attacked and managed to open a gap on the other three.i slowly opened the gap until the elastic finally snapped and i got a good gap.i time trialed the last 35km to win my first kzn road champs.
thanks alot to westville cycling club for an awesome event!
ciao
burry
a new year...first blog
man this site has been hurting,in a nutshell ive had an awesome off-season so far.i moved house,got my bike shop (concept cylery powered by burrystander)off the ground and training is going well.im now missing racing though and cant wait to get going with some road stuff soon.
happy new year to all,hope its a cracker for everybody
another solid week in the books...
rain,rain,rain and some more rain.my mtb got alittle dirty this week and i even had to sit out a few training sessions due to bad weather.rest is always good though and after some good rebuilding ive done some power workouts over the weekend.
this weekend sees the start of the racing calender in kzn.the first round of the lassen road series will kick off at van der merwes garage on sunday.also on the calendar is the kzn road and tt champs next week.for more info go to the kzn cycling website.
for the kzn tt champs ill be on a new shiv machine and also a new co-sponser from usn nutrition.the guys have realy come on board to support me this year.my specialized shiv 3 is currently stuck in customs but i hope it arrives soon as i have some work to do on it. big thanks to specialized for always hooking me up with the best gear.
thats all for this week.let hope the sunshine continues!
cheers
burry
happy new year to all,hope its a cracker for everybody
another solid week in the books...
rain,rain,rain and some more rain.my mtb got alittle dirty this week and i even had to sit out a few training sessions due to bad weather.rest is always good though and after some good rebuilding ive done some power workouts over the weekend.
this weekend sees the start of the racing calender in kzn.the first round of the lassen road series will kick off at van der merwes garage on sunday.also on the calendar is the kzn road and tt champs next week.for more info go to the kzn cycling website.
for the kzn tt champs ill be on a new shiv machine and also a new co-sponser from usn nutrition.the guys have realy come on board to support me this year.my specialized shiv 3 is currently stuck in customs but i hope it arrives soon as i have some work to do on it. big thanks to specialized for always hooking me up with the best gear.
thats all for this week.let hope the sunshine continues!
cheers
burry
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