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i made it back to sa after loads of traveling and not too much training
this week.its always hard to find motivation when i arrive home ,but not on this
trip.ive drawn alot form having a good start to the year aswell as getting
constant programs and feedback from dr jeroen swart at psience2sport.
this meant i was back in the saddle and smashing quality sessions in no
time.it feels like ive slipped right back into my pre season routine.eat, train
,eat and sleep,repeat.its been nice being home and sleeping in my own bed.the
weathr has been great so getting over jetlag was a breeze.cherise also gets home
this week so itl get even better.i have about a week more of training left
before leaving to czech rebulic next week for the next world cup.
cheers
burry
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back on the program
olympic training and sea otter
i just finished what felt like a whirlwind week.after the race in houffalize we drove straight to brussels where my japanese team-mate, kohei and flew to london on monday morning.we traveled there to train on the course set-out for the london olympics later this year.training went well and it was a worth while trip.on tuesday i headed back to belgium and got to spend a day with cherise and do some good training.
on thursday i was back in the air and on my way to california.it was a long trip and on friday i kicked off the weekends racing.first up was a 20min short track race and i managed to keep up with the leaders for around half the race before jetlag got the better of me.on saturday things went abit better and i managed to stay in the lead with eventual winner geoff kabush until about 20min from the end where i once again ran in fatigue.
the wwkend however was alot of fun and it was great catching up with the guys from specialized head office.this week i make my way home and reume some strucutred training to prepare for the next world cups,maybe ill fit in some golf.
chiao
burry
uci xco world cup 2,houffalize, belgium
its been a tough two weeks getting over the fatigue i aquired at the epic.even though we had an awesome week it still takes so much out of you and as if that wasnt enough i suffered some bad stomach flu followed by a head cold upon arriving in a chilly belgium.
weird thing was i was making pretty good power on the bike and just took a few extra recovery days.i also met up with cherise in houffalize and that was super good for my moral.
the course in houffalize was brand new for this year.it was super steep on the climbs and the descents and did i mention it was freezing!my weeks training went pretty smoothly and the team was great as always.
race day dawn quickly and we kicked of at 2pm on saturday.the start loop was brutal.500m on tar followed by a super steep and loose ascent.i managed a good start and sat in around 5th for most of the start loop.on the first full lap the gaps were opening and i got gaped alittle as nino schurter and julien absalon made their move.i was stuck in 4th with manuel fumic on my wheel.i had good power but not alot of snap to accelerate.this meant ui just rode steady and tried not to make any mistakes.on the last lap my legs realy came on and i almost bridged up to marco fontana who finished in third but it wasnt to be.i came in 4th 1min 2o down on winner julien absalon.
this week im doing some course recon in london for the games later this year and at the weekend ill be racing in california at the sea otter classic.
till then
cheers
burry
weird thing was i was making pretty good power on the bike and just took a few extra recovery days.i also met up with cherise in houffalize and that was super good for my moral.
the course in houffalize was brand new for this year.it was super steep on the climbs and the descents and did i mention it was freezing!my weeks training went pretty smoothly and the team was great as always.
race day dawn quickly and we kicked of at 2pm on saturday.the start loop was brutal.500m on tar followed by a super steep and loose ascent.i managed a good start and sat in around 5th for most of the start loop.on the first full lap the gaps were opening and i got gaped alittle as nino schurter and julien absalon made their move.i was stuck in 4th with manuel fumic on my wheel.i had good power but not alot of snap to accelerate.this meant ui just rode steady and tried not to make any mistakes.on the last lap my legs realy came on and i almost bridged up to marco fontana who finished in third but it wasnt to be.i came in 4th 1min 2o down on winner julien absalon.
this week im doing some course recon in london for the games later this year and at the weekend ill be racing in california at the sea otter classic.
till then
cheers
burry
absa cape epic
what a few week.i hardly know where to start.after a successfull world cup i flew down to cape town to start prep for this years cape epic.we had a solid week of training and resting in stellenbosch before heading to meerendal for the start of the race last sunday.
prologue 27km
the prologue has always been a stage we aim to win and this year was no different.chrsitoph and i were super motivated and went hard from the gun on the 27km course.i didnt have the best legs and had to let suzie do most of the pacing.in the end we won,but only 14sec seperated us from 2nd place.we did however go into the rest of the week with confidance.
stage 1 ,115km
stage 1 is always super hard as the route is traditionally a big tester and the field is still fresh and looking to make a hard effort at the front.we rode near the front for the first half the race and then the teams around us got swallowed by the heat and tough terain.by 45km to go we were alone and stretching a good gap and in the end we won by a few minutes.
stage 2 ,119km
the stage was an easier day after the first two days as it was quite fast and flat over the first half and had minor rough steepish climbs near the end.we made the pace hard there and got a small group away to the finish.we had a hard sprint for the win and came home safely in 3rd.but importantly losing no time on the overall gc.
stage 3, 147km
this was the longest day ever in cape epic and had a massive amount of climbing spread over 4 peaks.on the 3rd climb around 70km to go team 360life attacked in the feed zone and suzie had to work hard to come across the gap.from there on we shared the work with them until the last climbs where suzie put the hammer down and eventualy rode away.i was eager for the sprint and managed to stay ahead of the other team to take the win.
stage 4, 124km
this was a very underrated stage in the race booklet.after the big day before the legs were also rather tender.we climbed up to the famous charlies heaven peak and then faced a tough 30km stretch in a strong headwind home.at the front we were joined my multivan merida and 360life for the last 30km.everyone paced realy hard and we had stretched a good gap to the riders behind.with 5km to go we attacked hard leaving both 360life and merida behind.the end of the stage saw us riding some sweet singletrack through the caledon botanical gardens which was a real treat.
stage 5 ,115km
wet,wet,wet.the only real way to describe this stage between caledon and oak valley.the stage started pretty fast along winding jeep track and open gravel roads before we got to botrivier and the road started pointing skywards regularly.the main element of the stage though was the weather.over the last few kms it becme very cold agin and here suzie attacked yeat gain.with 15km to go only the team of bulls2 remained at the front with us and we eventualy outsprinted them for the stage.now tied with our most stage wins in an epic and a time gap of around 27min to the second team on gc.
stage 6,85km
it might only have been 85km but it was hard and had the most amazing terrain.we decided to have an easier day and team 360life capitalized by taking the win.we followed a few minutes behind and it was a stage which i realy enjoyed.the views and singletracks on this stage put a smile back on everyones faces.
stage 7,64km
the grand finale sees the riders head from oak valley to lourensford via the sir lowrys pass and the famous "wagon trail" that lies there.after an easier day on the previous stage we attacked the stage from the gun, setting a hard pace at the start.our goal was defend our big lead by heading into the last 30km at the front of the bunch,however our pace was good enough to win the telkom hotspot and head into the last 30km with a good lead.we didnt want to just give it away and kept our heads down to try and secure the stage.this was quite a chellnge as we wanted to stay cautious on the rough stuff.luckily we could keep opening the gap on the climbs and held on to take our 6th stage win on the fields at lourensford infront of an electrefying crowd!!!
it was an awesome week in which we had a great time.the team pulled together and we delivered.thanks to all our sponsors and supporters who make the racing possible for us.thanks also to suzie for a great 8 days!
i now go home for a few days before heading to belgium for the next world cup
ciao
burry
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