final event for 2010...
the final event of the year took place in johannesburg on the weekend.the 94.7 cycle challenge that started in 1997 has grown to be the worlds 2nd biggest timed cycel race behind the cape argus.
for the last few years now a mtb race has been incorporated and has enjoyed alot of success.i always fit it in at the end of the year to give my sponsers one more good batch of publicity.this year i also tied it in with the launch of the first cycling concept store in south africa.concept cylery in melrose arch,a specialized concept store is the first of its kind in sa and ill soon be opening my own in waterfall,kzn.congrats to all involved,the store is spectacular!
joining me for the mtb race was cherise and specialized team mates dan hugo and conrad stoltz.conrad set a blistering pace from the gun but was soon slowed by a slow puncture.i dropped him my spares and tried to get a big lead as i knew the flat and fast nature would suit the powerful and inform "caveman"!around the halfway mark stoltz got back to me and i hung on for aslong as i could,in the end the 4times and current xterra champ powered away to take the win.i was happy with 2nd and look forward to gwetting fit again.cherise won and has shown awesome form over the last few weeks.
on sunday it was the big day for 24000 roadies as they took to streets of jhb.i followed the womans race as usual and witnessed cherise winning it for the first time.its a great way to end the season and payback usn who has realy backed her this year.
tommorow im back at home and will stay put until next year.cant wait!
cheers
burry
for the last few years now a mtb race has been incorporated and has enjoyed alot of success.i always fit it in at the end of the year to give my sponsers one more good batch of publicity.this year i also tied it in with the launch of the first cycling concept store in south africa.concept cylery in melrose arch,a specialized concept store is the first of its kind in sa and ill soon be opening my own in waterfall,kzn.congrats to all involved,the store is spectacular!
joining me for the mtb race was cherise and specialized team mates dan hugo and conrad stoltz.conrad set a blistering pace from the gun but was soon slowed by a slow puncture.i dropped him my spares and tried to get a big lead as i knew the flat and fast nature would suit the powerful and inform "caveman"!around the halfway mark stoltz got back to me and i hung on for aslong as i could,in the end the 4times and current xterra champ powered away to take the win.i was happy with 2nd and look forward to gwetting fit again.cherise won and has shown awesome form over the last few weeks.
on sunday it was the big day for 24000 roadies as they took to streets of jhb.i followed the womans race as usual and witnessed cherise winning it for the first time.its a great way to end the season and payback usn who has realy backed her this year.
tommorow im back at home and will stay put until next year.cant wait!
cheers
burry
wines2whales
another busy week in the books...after two days at home cherise and i headed down to cape town for the songo.info ride and dinner on wednesday nite.the event was a great success and thank you to all those who attended and showed their support.
on thursday i spent most of the day shooting in jonkershoek for the march issue of bicycling in which ill be the guest editor.gary flipper was behind the lens and did an awesome job as always.i also got to enjoy some singletrack which was in great shape.in the afternoon the songo.info group and i made our way to erinvale hotel in somerset west for the start of the wine2whales at lourensford.i was partnered up with johan roos and was looking forward to sseing the bunch from a difirent side.thanks to johan for putting up with me and supporting our cause.
the weekends riding was awesome and i got to enjoy all the cape epic routes without the pain.cherise and her usn team mate killed it in the womans section,winning overall.
on monday i met up with jeroen swart who put me through some paces.got some realy clear and helpfull feedback.im realy looking forward to working on my form for the upcoming season,but i have one more busy week and then a holiday one before i get going.
cheers
burry
on thursday i spent most of the day shooting in jonkershoek for the march issue of bicycling in which ill be the guest editor.gary flipper was behind the lens and did an awesome job as always.i also got to enjoy some singletrack which was in great shape.in the afternoon the songo.info group and i made our way to erinvale hotel in somerset west for the start of the wine2whales at lourensford.i was partnered up with johan roos and was looking forward to sseing the bunch from a difirent side.thanks to johan for putting up with me and supporting our cause.
the weekends riding was awesome and i got to enjoy all the cape epic routes without the pain.cherise and her usn team mate killed it in the womans section,winning overall.
on monday i met up with jeroen swart who put me through some paces.got some realy clear and helpfull feedback.im realy looking forward to working on my form for the upcoming season,but i have one more busy week and then a holiday one before i get going.
cheers
burry
a big week...off the bike
this week i didnt get up to much riding but it was a very big week in my life.i did alot of work for my new concept cycling store in jhb which meant being stuck in traffic alot of the time.i did manage one or two very hot rides and a couple of runs.wow running hurts!
on friday we celebrated cherises 21st birthday with her family as we had to travel to bloemfontein for the ofm cycle classic on saturday which was realy on her birthday.i had a bit of a surprise up my sleeve and booked us into a serious hotel with all the romantic extras.i did all this as i proposed to cherise as we got there.to my excitement she said yes and is now my beatiful fiancee.
this week im back home for two days before heading to cape town for the wine2whales race.ill be riding in the colours of songo.info for another time this year.
ciao
burry
on friday we celebrated cherises 21st birthday with her family as we had to travel to bloemfontein for the ofm cycle classic on saturday which was realy on her birthday.i had a bit of a surprise up my sleeve and booked us into a serious hotel with all the romantic extras.i did all this as i proposed to cherise as we got there.to my excitement she said yes and is now my beatiful fiancee.
this week im back home for two days before heading to cape town for the wine2whales race.ill be riding in the colours of songo.info for another time this year.
ciao
burry
asishova
after a fun weekends road riding it was time to get back onto the dirt.cherise and I did a couple of good training rides this week and got dirty on most occasions.unfortunatly i was struck down by a cold mid week and this not only made training hard but also slowed down my preperations for my new specialized concept store.
on saturday i felt a whole lot better and got my s-works 29er into race dress.cherise's bike also needed some love and i managed to get a spin in before we left to pmb. on the way there we stopped at the new store premises to do the final measuring,i think its going to look spectacular.i couldn't help checking out the pet store next door where i found the newest member of our familly,a boerboel who is now named "boet". it was perfect timing as we need a watch dog for our new house.
after some heavy rains we woke up to an overcast morning on sunday. the race kicked off pretty early and i was still strugeling to wake up on the start line around 8. i was pleased to see that cherise was prob gona be my bigest competition. it was an awesome day out with a great course good marking and awesome prize money. thanks to all involved. cherise did come in 2nd so i am going to have to start whatching my back.
i hope this week serves up some better weather and better health.
on a final note well done to fellow country man and specialized rider conrad (the cave man) stoltz for winning the xtera world championships for a record 4th time.
cheerio
burry
on saturday i felt a whole lot better and got my s-works 29er into race dress.cherise's bike also needed some love and i managed to get a spin in before we left to pmb. on the way there we stopped at the new store premises to do the final measuring,i think its going to look spectacular.i couldn't help checking out the pet store next door where i found the newest member of our familly,a boerboel who is now named "boet". it was perfect timing as we need a watch dog for our new house.
after some heavy rains we woke up to an overcast morning on sunday. the race kicked off pretty early and i was still strugeling to wake up on the start line around 8. i was pleased to see that cherise was prob gona be my bigest competition. it was an awesome day out with a great course good marking and awesome prize money. thanks to all involved. cherise did come in 2nd so i am going to have to start whatching my back.
i hope this week serves up some better weather and better health.
on a final note well done to fellow country man and specialized rider conrad (the cave man) stoltz for winning the xtera world championships for a record 4th time.
cheerio
burry
amashova-shova
after a quick visit to jhb on my way back of france i got back home on wednesday.ive been pretty busy lately with setting up a specialized concept store in kzn.it is all starting to materialize and concept cyclery powered by burry stander will open its doors on dec 1st.
this weekend saw the running of the annual amashova cycle challenge.it kzn's biggest road race festival and is always a must do.on friday night i headed to moses mahbida sccer stadium for an indoor criterium.the race was super fun as we did 70 laps of a 700m odd technical circuit under the stadium.the racing was hard as we had sprint primes every 5laps which counted for points and the race would was to be decided on points only.i had some good sprints and ended in 3rd behind christoff van heerden(mtn) and arran brown(medscheme).well dont to the organizers for hosting the awesome event.
on sunday it was road race time.as always the route follows the legendary comrades marathon between pmb and durban.the race got off to a slow start and the real racing only started ant inchanga.i got involved in a few moves but they were all in vain as we knew 35km of downhill waited towards the end.the race came down to a bunch sprint and i managed a 5th place.well done to medscheme for their one-two.
this week ill have more relaxing time at home so i hope the weather is better and allows me to do some riding.on the weekend is the mtb version of the amashova.its the asishova and takes place at midmar dam in pmb.
cheers
burry
this weekend saw the running of the annual amashova cycle challenge.it kzn's biggest road race festival and is always a must do.on friday night i headed to moses mahbida sccer stadium for an indoor criterium.the race was super fun as we did 70 laps of a 700m odd technical circuit under the stadium.the racing was hard as we had sprint primes every 5laps which counted for points and the race would was to be decided on points only.i had some good sprints and ended in 3rd behind christoff van heerden(mtn) and arran brown(medscheme).well dont to the organizers for hosting the awesome event.
on sunday it was road race time.as always the route follows the legendary comrades marathon between pmb and durban.the race got off to a slow start and the real racing only started ant inchanga.i got involved in a few moves but they were all in vain as we knew 35km of downhill waited towards the end.the race came down to a bunch sprint and i managed a 5th place.well done to medscheme for their one-two.
this week ill have more relaxing time at home so i hope the weather is better and allows me to do some riding.on the weekend is the mtb version of the amashova.its the asishova and takes place at midmar dam in pmb.
cheers
burry
roc d'azur
back to racing,even if it is considered holiday racing...after suffering badly in last years roc i wanted to realy prepare well for the event this year.unfortunately after world champs i just didnt have the time i needed.about a week ago i started doing some good rides and decided to focus on the event anyway.sometimes fresh legs go suprisingly well!
i got into nice on wednesday,met claire and lene and we were off to frejus.the town of frejus is alittle harbor town just about twenty km from st tropez.now ive lived on the coast my whole life and even so the beaches here are awesome.the weather unfortunately only played along for a few days before heavy winds came in and spoiled our party.
i did a few hard rides on the course to prepare and get used to my 29er again.the course was similar to last year,very rocky!i alos opted out of the marathon to save all my energy for the xc which is the main event on sunday.suz represented and got 2nd in a sprint.
it felt quite strange be nervous again on sunday morning.a serious field had turned up for the event and so did the spectators.the course was lined at the start and along most of the route aswell.speaking of starts,this course has my least favourite one of the year.we start on a 50m wide grass field for the first km and its absolute pain!!!the big wheels did make it somewhat easier over the bumpy tuffts tho
after just 10km we were a group of around 8 riders at the front and i managed to go with all the samll moves after that.it definitely wasnt a repeat of the suffer fest that was roc 2009.at around halfway we split into a group of five with marathon world champ alban lakata just howevering on and of the rear of the group.as we hit the beach florian vogel and i got a small gap on a chasing alban which wasnt long lived as the guy has imense power on the flat.it came down to a long power sprint in which alban got me by about half a wheel.with very little training over the last month i was stoked!!!
this week ill be back home and doing some road racing at the amashova crit and road race this weekend.
cheers
burry
i got into nice on wednesday,met claire and lene and we were off to frejus.the town of frejus is alittle harbor town just about twenty km from st tropez.now ive lived on the coast my whole life and even so the beaches here are awesome.the weather unfortunately only played along for a few days before heavy winds came in and spoiled our party.
i did a few hard rides on the course to prepare and get used to my 29er again.the course was similar to last year,very rocky!i alos opted out of the marathon to save all my energy for the xc which is the main event on sunday.suz represented and got 2nd in a sprint.
it felt quite strange be nervous again on sunday morning.a serious field had turned up for the event and so did the spectators.the course was lined at the start and along most of the route aswell.speaking of starts,this course has my least favourite one of the year.we start on a 50m wide grass field for the first km and its absolute pain!!!the big wheels did make it somewhat easier over the bumpy tuffts tho
after just 10km we were a group of around 8 riders at the front and i managed to go with all the samll moves after that.it definitely wasnt a repeat of the suffer fest that was roc 2009.at around halfway we split into a group of five with marathon world champ alban lakata just howevering on and of the rear of the group.as we hit the beach florian vogel and i got a small gap on a chasing alban which wasnt long lived as the guy has imense power on the flat.it came down to a long power sprint in which alban got me by about half a wheel.with very little training over the last month i was stoked!!!
this week ill be back home and doing some road racing at the amashova crit and road race this weekend.
cheers
burry
enjoying spring at home
man its been a long time since ive been home and had absolutely nothing to do!!!i was however carrying somke flu for most of this week wich was abit of a bummer.never the less i got to do all my favourite things.i drank huge loads of coffee,hung out friends,hit the beach,ran and even did some solid rides.
the coolest of these rides was on sunday.it was a pretty cool over cast day with minimal wind which made it perfect for some hard trail riding.i decided to ride the old hibiscus classic route which first took place in 1998 if i remember correctly.i was about 10 years old and it was our little clubs first attempt at putting on a race.on the morning of the inaugural event the rain came bucketing down and we figured it best to just cancel.little did we know that real mountainbikers dont cancel just because of alittle rain and the riders showed up in numbers at my parents farm.we had no choice but to forge ahead with myself and brother competing in the race aswell.it wasnt the norm for me to ride in wet conditions yet so i was suited to the max and even sported some tracksuit pants!
riding the route again after so many years ended up being such a cool experience and took me back to the days when the going in my opinion was realy hard!i couldnt think that a 10 year old could and would want to ride up and down some of those hills.the infamous "firebreak" section which was basically like a two wheeld version of russian roulette is now a sweet singletrack paradise due to some major quad bike excavating.i had loads of fun exploring those valleys and cant wait to spend more time out there in the summer!
tommorow(tuesday) i head out to my last event of the year.the roc d'azur festival in france.its a super cool race right on the beach,what more could i ask for?another higlight is the bmx supercross race race that takes place there aswell.acording to siphis nhlapos twitter its going to be the biggest supercross race ever.ill be in the stands cheering him on for sure!
also happening this weekend is the lake eland classic at oribi gorge.good luck to all the competitors.mind the elands!
cheers
burry
the coolest of these rides was on sunday.it was a pretty cool over cast day with minimal wind which made it perfect for some hard trail riding.i decided to ride the old hibiscus classic route which first took place in 1998 if i remember correctly.i was about 10 years old and it was our little clubs first attempt at putting on a race.on the morning of the inaugural event the rain came bucketing down and we figured it best to just cancel.little did we know that real mountainbikers dont cancel just because of alittle rain and the riders showed up in numbers at my parents farm.we had no choice but to forge ahead with myself and brother competing in the race aswell.it wasnt the norm for me to ride in wet conditions yet so i was suited to the max and even sported some tracksuit pants!
riding the route again after so many years ended up being such a cool experience and took me back to the days when the going in my opinion was realy hard!i couldnt think that a 10 year old could and would want to ride up and down some of those hills.the infamous "firebreak" section which was basically like a two wheeld version of russian roulette is now a sweet singletrack paradise due to some major quad bike excavating.i had loads of fun exploring those valleys and cant wait to spend more time out there in the summer!
tommorow(tuesday) i head out to my last event of the year.the roc d'azur festival in france.its a super cool race right on the beach,what more could i ask for?another higlight is the bmx supercross race race that takes place there aswell.acording to siphis nhlapos twitter its going to be the biggest supercross race ever.ill be in the stands cheering him on for sure!
also happening this weekend is the lake eland classic at oribi gorge.good luck to all the competitors.mind the elands!
cheers
burry
up in jhb
i managed to put in a few good three hour rides at the start of this week and on wednesday said goodbye to cherise who flew to australia for the road world championships coming up next weekend.also on their trip is the commonwealth games in india which at this stage looks shaky.
i then booked into a hotel in sandton with oakley for the onesight clinic.onesight is an international organisation partnered with oakley to bring vision care to those in need around the world.i joined many of sa and the worlds top athletes to help out in the clinic for two days.
on thursday morning we headed into mamelodi(a township just outside pretoria)and arrived at a hospice hospital built by and amererican church.the rows of people were stagering and the enormity of the project was obvious.the goal was to provide 10 000 mamelodians with eye tests and then the appropriate spectacles aswell as a set of very fashionable oakley sunnies.
we got a crash course on every station inside the clinic and got to work.per day we had to try and move 1500 people through the building which meant that efficient flow was key.onesight has realy perfected the prosedure to such and extent that we were able to many many of the testing stations with no problem.by the end of the day i was rather tired.it is incredible that the volunteers there were up for 8days of the same.
after a great bon fire dinner among some wild cats in the bushveld i headed to oscar pistorius' house for a drink.the guy is truly and awesome athlete and an inspiring person.i was alo very impressed by is automobile collection including a prestine 67 mustang complete with chip fuse wheels!
on friday we hit the test stations again before heading into the township to do hospice visits.we got a taste of the many issues these hospice workers overcome to provide much needed care to those in need.it is realy awesome to see what a difference these people make and the passion with which they do their job.after we did some more work at the clinic before heading back to the lodge.we had another great dinner and even got to pose with a cheetah.
thanks to oakley sa and onesight for letting us help out,also thanks to davey weare for rooming with me over the few days.davey is a surfer from durban who has spent many years on the world tour.much respect.
this week i get back to training full on for a couple of days,or trying atleast.ive got a slight cold which im trying to shake which isnt ideal when you only have 8 days to get some form back.the event i need some of the form for is the roc d'azur bike festival in france coming up...
till next week...
burry
world travelling
had a blast the last week after world champs.first i got to see specialized team mate sam hill win the world downhill champs and end off the world champs meeting.the party was also pretty good!
christoph,sam and i then all headed to montreal and spent a day checking out the city and doing some shopping before flying out at 5pm on tuesday afternoon.a 6hour trans-atlantic flight took us to zurich in switzerland where we took trains to christophs house in the swiss alps.we picked up some sweet specialized stumjumpers and spent the whole day on thursday freeriding.the downhills were incredible and sam couldnt get enough of all the steep climbing!haha
on friday we were back to flying,this time the destination was madrid,spain.we spent the weekend at specialized days.the event was organised by specialized spain and was basically a huge expo with us doing mtb and road group rides with the public.alberto contedor tagged along for the road ride aswell.the people of spain treated us so well.they are so psyched on racing and specialized there!on monday morning i flew home at 1 30am and am now looking forward to alittle rest and recovery before joining oakley and their programme called onesight to bring much needed spectacles to some disadvantaged communities in sa.
cheers
burry
christoph,sam and i then all headed to montreal and spent a day checking out the city and doing some shopping before flying out at 5pm on tuesday afternoon.a 6hour trans-atlantic flight took us to zurich in switzerland where we took trains to christophs house in the swiss alps.we picked up some sweet specialized stumjumpers and spent the whole day on thursday freeriding.the downhills were incredible and sam couldnt get enough of all the steep climbing!haha
on friday we were back to flying,this time the destination was madrid,spain.we spent the weekend at specialized days.the event was organised by specialized spain and was basically a huge expo with us doing mtb and road group rides with the public.alberto contedor tagged along for the road ride aswell.the people of spain treated us so well.they are so psyched on racing and specialized there!on monday morning i flew home at 1 30am and am now looking forward to alittle rest and recovery before joining oakley and their programme called onesight to bring much needed spectacles to some disadvantaged communities in sa.
cheers
burry
bronzin it...
it wasnt long ago that i stood next to the track in amzament staring at the pro riders flying by at the world champs...this years world championships has been a very exciting proposition for me ever since an after winning the u/23 world championships in canberra last year i set two optomistic goals for the 2010 season.i wanted to win a medal at both the marathon world championships and the xco world champs a month later.
last month i managed to achieve my first goal,however i knew i wasnt going to be as lucky at the xco champs with that sort of form.i went home,got re-focused and set about making it happen.after last weeks dissapointment in windham i knew i had some good shape and the motivation was sky high.
i have raced at mont st anne for a couple of years now and i think they did a great job of the course for this years worlds.the loop was shortened somewhat which meant we would do the two big climbs more often than before.the course also had the sweetest bridges ive ever ridden over.it was like a skatepark out there!
the specialized team did an awesome job again this week.our bikes had to be race ready not once,but twice this week as we had team realy on wednesday.i had a pretty solid lap in some traffic as sa had a third row call up.the rest of our sa team did a good job and we just missed the top 10 and ended 11th.
for bike setup this week i went for a single ring in the front.a 34tooth rotor ring mounted to a specialized carbon road spider did the job perfectly.i was again aboard my 2010 stumpjumper 29er.i ran a new prototype mud tire on the front dubbed "winston" by the team.on the rear i ha my fast rolling renegade setup.sram hooked us up with some new xx world cup edition black box brake last week which rounds of the package superbly.the bike weighed in at 8.2kg and handled the rough and technical track like a dream.
in the morning of the race it had rained quite heavily but it was drying out alittle whilst the women were fighting it out on the course.we started at 2pm and the clouds were threatening.i had a great jump of the line and got through the first turn in the lead.i held onto the the front until the first climb where i settled into the lead group before dropping into the first single track.we did two start laps which comprised the half of the full lap with the most climbing.after the two laps i was in third trailing by around 10 sec.i had settled into my own pace on a track that offered very little drafting.with riders positions swapping for most of the race i just tried to stay relaxed as i knew it was going to be very tough at the end.by midway through the full laps of which we did 6 i hit the front of the race again.on my heels tho was jose hermida from spain and jaroslav kulhavy from check republic.it was indeed a tough battle at the end in which i had to settle for second bronze medal of the year!it was an incredible feeling to end the season by achieving the goal i wanted most!
heres some pics from the race courtesy of gary perkin at http://www.flipper.co.za/. rights reserved.
the race got off to a flyer as always...
our soineur doing a great job as always.thanks claire!!!!
the most techincal section on course...
psyched to get third....
sharing the podium with czech specialized rider jarosalv and the king of spain "mr meximoustache" jose hermida!!!thanks to everyone for the support,i look forward to some time off now before racing roc d'azur in october...
ciao
burry
world cup finals
world cup finals,albany,new york
i had my best travel to the usa ever last week and a pretty smooth few days of practice leading up to the race.it was the last world cup of the season.a season in which i had a few up and downs and i was realy focused on a big result this weekend.
i got a new 29er hardtail bike on tuesday and it is awesome.the bike weighs only 8.3kg and rolls super fast.the geometry is also slightly different to the old one which meant i could drop my goofy looking 24 deg negative stem.an interresting fact is that suz ,todd and i all rode different model bikes on the weekend and we all loved them.
the hot weather turned up for our race that kicked off at 2 30pm on saturday.the suz ,todd and i all had good call ups.i had a great start and just followed wheels on the first lap while sitting in 5th.on the second lap i started moving up the group as it kept breaking up and coming together.at the front it was myself,nino shurter and florian vogel,both from the scott-swisspower team.on the 4th lap we descended realy slow down to start the 5th lap which saw a group of 3 riders rejoin.one was my team mate christoph.as that happened i suffered my second flat of the year.i had to stop to re-inflate the tire and try and get the sealant inside to work.it did after some time and i got back on the road in 8th.i had to stop once more for some air on the last lap and just maintained that position.suzie road well upfront attacking on the last climb,but was unable to shake the group.he ended up 4th and was right up there.
this week we head to world championships in mont st anne,canada.the form is good so im realy excited for it as the vorm seams good.
happy trails
burry
i had my best travel to the usa ever last week and a pretty smooth few days of practice leading up to the race.it was the last world cup of the season.a season in which i had a few up and downs and i was realy focused on a big result this weekend.
i got a new 29er hardtail bike on tuesday and it is awesome.the bike weighs only 8.3kg and rolls super fast.the geometry is also slightly different to the old one which meant i could drop my goofy looking 24 deg negative stem.an interresting fact is that suz ,todd and i all rode different model bikes on the weekend and we all loved them.
the hot weather turned up for our race that kicked off at 2 30pm on saturday.the suz ,todd and i all had good call ups.i had a great start and just followed wheels on the first lap while sitting in 5th.on the second lap i started moving up the group as it kept breaking up and coming together.at the front it was myself,nino shurter and florian vogel,both from the scott-swisspower team.on the 4th lap we descended realy slow down to start the 5th lap which saw a group of 3 riders rejoin.one was my team mate christoph.as that happened i suffered my second flat of the year.i had to stop to re-inflate the tire and try and get the sealant inside to work.it did after some time and i got back on the road in 8th.i had to stop once more for some air on the last lap and just maintained that position.suzie road well upfront attacking on the last climb,but was unable to shake the group.he ended up 4th and was right up there.
this week we head to world championships in mont st anne,canada.the form is good so im realy excited for it as the vorm seams good.
happy trails
burry
traveling...to the us an a....
im back on the road this week.i had some good training days and rest early on in the week before embarking on my trip to the usa on saturday.usualy i fly through europe and spend alot of time sitting around due to layovers.this time round i made a direct flight from johannesburg to atlanta followed by a short hop to albany which is only an hours drive away from this weekends world cups site in windham.total travel time was cut from around 25 hours to 18hrs.thats pretty neat in my books.
windham seems to be a very small ski-town that only booms in the winter as i havent seen too many people and the town stretches for only about 1km.as is the norm for east coast towns its been raining since i got here but still warm due to the humidity.sandy and dylan our mechanics arrive today so ill be able to drive to the nearest grocery store which i hear is 12miles away...froot loops just aint going to cut it for breakfast,americans seem to like eating sweets early in the mornings?
im looking forward to the world cup this weekend.the form seems good and im highly motivated.its crazy how fast this season has gone this year.i cant believe its over in two weeks...
the site has been hurting for pics lately,i wonder if i can find some good stuff in the next few days?
ciao
burry
windham seems to be a very small ski-town that only booms in the winter as i havent seen too many people and the town stretches for only about 1km.as is the norm for east coast towns its been raining since i got here but still warm due to the humidity.sandy and dylan our mechanics arrive today so ill be able to drive to the nearest grocery store which i hear is 12miles away...froot loops just aint going to cut it for breakfast,americans seem to like eating sweets early in the mornings?
im looking forward to the world cup this weekend.the form seems good and im highly motivated.its crazy how fast this season has gone this year.i cant believe its over in two weeks...
the site has been hurting for pics lately,i wonder if i can find some good stuff in the next few days?
ciao
burry
recharge
after a successful weekend at world marathon champs and an exciting monday racing around the nurburgring in karl platts porche gt3 i headed home for 12 days of recharging.i got home pretty spent so it was quite easy for me to spend three days of the bike.i spent most of that tiem getting stuff at home sorted and house hunting.after loads of searching i found what i was looking for.i cant wait to move in!
heres what i found,i could get used to that view...on saturday i caught the bundu bashers club ride which was loads of fun as always and spent some time at the shop after setting up my new specialized chainguide.im running it with a 40 tooth rotor ring on the front and so far its performed perfectly.
on sunday i got to race on of my favourites,the singletrack fest that is that is the cowan house classic in hilton.this year was realy tough though.loads of climbing and deep sand meant that the riders would have to earn their finish in the 40km event.i felt good after some good rest and managed to move clear of brandon stewardt(dcm) on the first long climb.i built up a good lead but had to stop to reinflate my rearwheel as i had a torn valve.i managed to catch up again and then stayed smooth all the way to the finish.craig paul finished in third.
this week ill do some proper training before heading off to the usa on saturday.im realy excited and the form seems to be good.
happy trails
burry
marathon world championships,st wendel,germany
i was very nervous and excited going into my first marathon world championships this past weekend.there was a strong field lining up and i hadnt raced a 107km mtb race since the epic.my legs were good leading into the event and my stumpjumper 29er was super light at 8.4kg so i knew id have the speed.the course was realy fast so there was a big group for most of the first lap of 52km before the many attacks that followed.the pace never realy relaxed for the entire race.
on the second lap of two we starting realy driving the pace hard.suzi attacked numerous times but to no avail.we headed into the last 10km with a 10 man group.alaban lakata had re joined the group and with 3km he attacked with huge momentum.i tried going across the move but cramped halfway across.didnt make it and decided to hang onto the now down to small 6 man group.i timed my sprint for the line alittle late and didnt count on the unknown italian in the group being an ex road sprinter.i still got third and was very happy.after a mediocre middle part of my season this made up for it! thanks for all the support from my team and friends over the last few weeks,it realy does help the motivation.
im now on my way home for the last preperation before xc world cup finals and world championships.looking forward to some sunshine!
ciao
burry
on the second lap of two we starting realy driving the pace hard.suzi attacked numerous times but to no avail.we headed into the last 10km with a 10 man group.alaban lakata had re joined the group and with 3km he attacked with huge momentum.i tried going across the move but cramped halfway across.didnt make it and decided to hang onto the now down to small 6 man group.i timed my sprint for the line alittle late and didnt count on the unknown italian in the group being an ex road sprinter.i still got third and was very happy.after a mediocre middle part of my season this made up for it! thanks for all the support from my team and friends over the last few weeks,it realy does help the motivation.
im now on my way home for the last preperation before xc world cup finals and world championships.looking forward to some sunshine!
ciao
burry
another world champs comin up...
this time around im trying my hand at the world marathon championships.ive raced the xc world championships since 2004 and in 2003 i raced the downhill wolrd champs.last year i gave the road world championships a go.maybe ill hit some cross next year?
benno gave my 29er some love and got it into its marathon atire and some new carbon wheels which saw the weight drop to just under 8.4kilograms.the course is quite fast with no major climbs or descents.it however is up and down and almost never straight or flat.it will be atough race for sure but the stumpy is the perfect tool.
this was the view from my hotel room in suziville.the guy has a good deal between this place and the bosch.
it wasn't long before we were back to this though.two days this week was spent on the road.the rest on watching mtv and riding alittle whilst trying not to eat the whole of germany.
we had alot of gear to cart between italy,switzerland and germany.good thing suzi loves vans.
cherise just left for france with the national team to prepare for commonwealth games.she is pretty pumped.i hope it goes well for her and the team.hats off to csa for making the right moves towards the games prep.
bobby is arriving tommorow to watch the worlds en route to an itu world cup next week.we dont see him that often as he now manages the mtn and tri scene between moving from sa to the us and a.as he is an ex triathlete he has shown some tendancy to be boased towards the triathlons.this means we have to give him alot of shit whenever we see him.speedos come up quite often...
i need to go work on some material before he arrives...
cheers
burry
race report
world cup round 5,val di sol italy
val di sol was the venue for the 2008 world championships.it wa here that i first medaled at a world championship race getting the silver in the u/23 section.christoph won the elite men here and secured his first xc world champs jersey.
the course was similar to the past ,but had a few key changes mostly in the form of leg crushingly steep ascents.in the days leading up to the race i enjoyed riding the track and i was hoping for a big result.
we kicked of at our regular 2 30pm start time with temeratures soaring to as high as 33c on the track.i had a steady start coming round the first lap in around 7th just 4 sec off the lead group.i chased hard on the second lap to close to the leaders but caught them and hit the wall almost simultaneously.i started sliding back alitlle and was soon riding with jaroslav kulhavy for a couple of laps.with around two laps to go i had to let go and then it was my team mate christoph and german rider moritz milats who joined me for awhile before attacking me halfway round the penultimate climb.i was having a mediaocre day on a course where you were looking for your best.
i suffered on as best i could,in fact i dont think ive dug that deep in a couple of years!i came in ,in 10th 4min down which was satisfactory and i was pretty happy to make the pain stop.the bike worked great again this weekend.the boys at specialized are doing a stellar job at looking after us.
im looking forward to some better recovery this week.last week i did some mileage for marathon worlds coming up this sunday.maybe not the best thing to focus on between world cup races.
till next week
cheers
burrry
val di sol was the venue for the 2008 world championships.it wa here that i first medaled at a world championship race getting the silver in the u/23 section.christoph won the elite men here and secured his first xc world champs jersey.
the course was similar to the past ,but had a few key changes mostly in the form of leg crushingly steep ascents.in the days leading up to the race i enjoyed riding the track and i was hoping for a big result.
we kicked of at our regular 2 30pm start time with temeratures soaring to as high as 33c on the track.i had a steady start coming round the first lap in around 7th just 4 sec off the lead group.i chased hard on the second lap to close to the leaders but caught them and hit the wall almost simultaneously.i started sliding back alitlle and was soon riding with jaroslav kulhavy for a couple of laps.with around two laps to go i had to let go and then it was my team mate christoph and german rider moritz milats who joined me for awhile before attacking me halfway round the penultimate climb.i was having a mediaocre day on a course where you were looking for your best.
i suffered on as best i could,in fact i dont think ive dug that deep in a couple of years!i came in ,in 10th 4min down which was satisfactory and i was pretty happy to make the pain stop.the bike worked great again this weekend.the boys at specialized are doing a stellar job at looking after us.
im looking forward to some better recovery this week.last week i did some mileage for marathon worlds coming up this sunday.maybe not the best thing to focus on between world cup races.
till next week
cheers
burrry
chamery wc
on tuesday evening i rolled up to the jhb airport with an expired schengen visa,needless to say i didnt make it to europe on wednesday.instead i was camped outside the swiss embassy on a freezing morning by 8am.i had a stack of papers and letters as i needed a visa...fast! luckily for me they do express visas but even this procedure takes 5 days.i only had one day!i managed to wangle it somehow and flew out on thursday night.the trip actualy turned out fine,i got to do some easy road rides with a few intervals and hang out with cherise alittle longer.i got to zurich very early on friday and was met by the ever friendly benno willeit(manager) even though he had to get up at 4am and drive 3 hours to come and get me.
it rained most of the way to champery and when i wanted to take my new 2011 epic out for a burn it was bucketing down.i rode on the rollers for a few minutes until it subsided,fit a storm mud tire on the front and headed onto the most technical course we race all year.i worked my way around slowly but managed to ride most of the course.the specialized storm tire is incredible when the weather forces its use.the course didnt dry much on saturday and practice along with a few hundred other riders was pretty crazy.in the evening the organizers layed down some gravel as the course had become too unrideable.
perfect blue skies greeted us for our race on sunday.the course was still mucky but not nearly as bad as it had been.we were onto intermediate tires(fasttrack lk) and very excited to race.i had my best start of the year from the second row and along with florian vogel lead the first start lap.on the second lap we were joined by vogel's scott team mate nino schurter and julien absalon (orbea).after the first full lap the group satyed the same with riders just gapping off when making mistakes in the difficult conditions.on the second lap nino dropped off with just before the start finish.on the third lap i started lacking some consentration and had my first crash on the last downhill section.i got going pretty quick but the gap was afew seconds to the front.i chased back at the star of lap 4 but made some more mistakes shortly after and ended up crashing about 4 times!somehow i got it together over the last two laps and held on to finish in 6th place 1min 23 seconds down on winner florian vogel.it was a satisfying performance for me as my last two world cups havent gone my way at all.
this week we are racing in val de sol so yesterday was a long road trip.as if the drive wasnt long enough we extended our trip by getting rear-ended in suzi's ne multivan.after a lengthy visit to the carbinerri and a cheese and wine picnic outside,we made it to val di sol in one piece.
till next week...happy trails
burry
it rained most of the way to champery and when i wanted to take my new 2011 epic out for a burn it was bucketing down.i rode on the rollers for a few minutes until it subsided,fit a storm mud tire on the front and headed onto the most technical course we race all year.i worked my way around slowly but managed to ride most of the course.the specialized storm tire is incredible when the weather forces its use.the course didnt dry much on saturday and practice along with a few hundred other riders was pretty crazy.in the evening the organizers layed down some gravel as the course had become too unrideable.
perfect blue skies greeted us for our race on sunday.the course was still mucky but not nearly as bad as it had been.we were onto intermediate tires(fasttrack lk) and very excited to race.i had my best start of the year from the second row and along with florian vogel lead the first start lap.on the second lap we were joined by vogel's scott team mate nino schurter and julien absalon (orbea).after the first full lap the group satyed the same with riders just gapping off when making mistakes in the difficult conditions.on the second lap nino dropped off with just before the start finish.on the third lap i started lacking some consentration and had my first crash on the last downhill section.i got going pretty quick but the gap was afew seconds to the front.i chased back at the star of lap 4 but made some more mistakes shortly after and ended up crashing about 4 times!somehow i got it together over the last two laps and held on to finish in 6th place 1min 23 seconds down on winner florian vogel.it was a satisfying performance for me as my last two world cups havent gone my way at all.
this week we are racing in val de sol so yesterday was a long road trip.as if the drive wasnt long enough we extended our trip by getting rear-ended in suzi's ne multivan.after a lengthy visit to the carbinerri and a cheese and wine picnic outside,we made it to val di sol in one piece.
till next week...happy trails
burry
sa championships
shew what a week its been!cherise and i drove to pretoria on monday with a brief stop at usn's warehouse in durban to stock up for the coming weeks.we got to our destination pretty late and by then it was realy cold.it was a rather unwelcomed surprise after enjoyin the warmth at home for the last few weeks.
we checked out the course on tuesday after it warmed up to a reasonable temp which was only around mid day.the combined cold with the thin air made going tough for the first few practice sessions.the course was pretty standard for a fountains course with loads of tecnical sections and not alot of ascent.i was on my 29er stumpy for most of the week and only tested the epic out once or twice.as the course was short,quite sandy with minimal climbing. the 29er felt good.it was a bit bumpy at the start of each lap but once in the wooded sand sections and tight turns the bike came alive.i was also on some beefier pedals this weekend.i usualy run with the eggbeater 11 pedal from crankbrothers but since they have an awesome new candy with loads of platform ive been swapping back and forth between training sessions.i finaly decided on the candy 11 as it has more power transfer and only a 40gr weight penalty over the eggbeaters.
on thursday we checked out "the big 5" at the barnyard theatre.it was a musical production featuring mj,rod stewardt,elton john,maddona and tina turner.it was a great show with a cool vibe.the singers played the roles perfectly so it was rather funny.
race day dawned pretty quick as the course was fun to ride and i was having a good time in pretoria.cherise had a good race on saturday morning ending up 3rd in u/23 and 5th overall in the womens race.our race started at 12 45 which suited me as i could use the hour ride to the track from cherises' house as a warm up without er... cooling down.the crownd that came out was the biggest ive seen at a sa xc for years.that got me psyced for sure.as the gun went phillip buys moved into the lead with his trademark kick off the line closely followed by matthys beaukes with me riding in third.after the first singletrack i moved past matthys as he slowed and i moved onto phillip's wheel.i stayed there as passing on this track was tough and settled in before making a move at the end of the first lap.i got a small gap and then set about keeping those big wheels turning.once i was off the front i could ride much smoother and limit the big accelerations which is realy the best way to ride a 29er.i felt strong all race and i sense that all the xc specific training paid off in the last laps as the course was very demanding on the upper body.
i took my 8th national title on the trot infront of many friends and family including my grandma who got to see me race for the first time ever.it was very special and i cant wait to rock the national jersey at next weekends world cup in switzerland
team mate todd wells did a stellar job in the us champs to win the xc title for the first time in his carreer which is about time as he is no spring chicken,ha!
cherises' aim has realy improved...till next time...
burry
conclusion to a great time at home...
the past few eeks have been incredible on the south coast.the weather is magnificent even though its the middel of winter and the soccer world cup vibe that swallowed the whole of sa was so intense.
last week was a realy hard week for me training wise,i had to start turning the screws to get my body in shape for the most important time of my season.i start of this weekend with the sa championships in pretoria and then i leave for europe to race two wolrd cups and the world marathon championships all on back to back weekends.
as a good leg opener i decided to race the toti 69'er road race in amanzimtoti.the club there does a great job at hosting the event and the route is a mostly coastal route that goes all the way down to pennington and back.i had some tired legs leading into the race but when the racing started felt pretty good and very excited.a group of 8 riders got away early with the house of paint pro team represented well with 4 riders.in the end it came down to a sprint which i managed to win ahead of dean edwards with some smart menouvring rather than all out power.
i write this as im already up in pta for the race this weekend.it is absolutely freezing.we definitely have it good on the coast!for all those close to pretoria on the weekend,stop in and check out the racing at the fountains nature reserve.
happy trails
burry
the past few eeks have been incredible on the south coast.the weather is magnificent even though its the middel of winter and the soccer world cup vibe that swallowed the whole of sa was so intense.
last week was a realy hard week for me training wise,i had to start turning the screws to get my body in shape for the most important time of my season.i start of this weekend with the sa championships in pretoria and then i leave for europe to race two wolrd cups and the world marathon championships all on back to back weekends.
as a good leg opener i decided to race the toti 69'er road race in amanzimtoti.the club there does a great job at hosting the event and the route is a mostly coastal route that goes all the way down to pennington and back.i had some tired legs leading into the race but when the racing started felt pretty good and very excited.a group of 8 riders got away early with the house of paint pro team represented well with 4 riders.in the end it came down to a sprint which i managed to win ahead of dean edwards with some smart menouvring rather than all out power.
i write this as im already up in pta for the race this weekend.it is absolutely freezing.we definitely have it good on the coast!for all those close to pretoria on the weekend,stop in and check out the racing at the fountains nature reserve.
happy trails
burry
shaping up
theres only one spot to get reception at the s/lesotho border post...it feels like forever since i last borded a plane to europe and im not complaining.over the last few weeks ive done some of my best mid season training ever and after three hard weeks of long hours i even got to take alittle holiday.cherise and i joined some good friends for a stay in underberg last week.we left the bikes at home and decided to explore lesotho by 4x4 instead.the weather was great and we got to hike in the snow when we got to the top of black mountain.
this is the pub at the top of sani pass 2973m absl
this was cherises' first time in the white stuff
the pass was pretty icyafter returning on thursday ive been shaping up my form for the next few world cups coming up.this is the more painful part of training as i start pushing way above my lactic threshold.basically it means im doing efforts where i ride in the "burn" zone for most of the time.atleast i get to ride less and have more time to watch the tour de france which started on the weekend.the prologue was interesting with mr amstrong sending a strong message to contador.fabian cancellara did his normal thing and rode his specialized time trial bike straight to the top of the podium.i think we are set up for some awesome racing over the next three weeks.
this weekend ill take part in the toti 69er road race before heading to pta for the sa cross-country championships next weekend...
happy trails
burry
happy trails
burry
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