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
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
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