.

after racing in the first round of the sa xco series i decided to stay in stellenbosch to do some solid training and race the second round of the national marathon series in the small town of tulbagh.the weeks training went great and i managed to put out some great numbers.i was realy tired mid week and in need of some serious recovery.our teams sougneur(physio) put me back together and my legs were feeling better on friday.unfortunately i had contracted a slight head cold so i was spending most of the day drowning myself with vit c supplements.as the race would start around 7am on saturday it meant a 4 am wake up so i tried to get to bed early but my sleep was interupted by drug free sport.the did a blood and urine test and as i had too much water during the day i needed to provide another sample.this meant i finaly got to bed at 11pm...

everything went smoothly on saturday with dylan(specialized mechanic) picking us up from the guest farm and making sure we got to tulbagh on time and ready to rock.the race kicked of pretty easy as we followed the epic route from last year.as we hit the first climb at around 10km in the pace heated up quickly.over the top of the climb it was max knox (decca-ghost) leading the race with myself and kevin evans(360-life) trailing a few seconds back.alittle further back david george,adrien niyonshuti and jaques rossouw also chasing hard and getting back to us.at around the 40km mark we all regrouped and the paced eased until 40km to go.kevin and i drilled it at this point and only jaques and david followed suit.as we hit the last climbs which i totaly underestimated,kevin upped the pace and i struggled alittle with cramp at first before finding my legs on the second climb of 4.soon it was just kevin and at the front and with 10km to go it was going to come down to a sprint.in the last few kms jaques was closing in.kevin lead out the sprint and i only just managed to come by him at the end and take the win.thanks to dylan for all the support out there.my bike worked awesome.

im now back at home and doing my last bit of tuning up for the season ahead.

ciao

burry

after racing on pretoria last week i had an easier week of training with some long rides and an wesome restday on tuesday.awesome because i attended an audi high performance driving course at kyalami.its something ive wanted to do for somewhile and something that every driver on the roads should do.

later in the week i headed down to pmb for a recce of the world cup track.the course is totally different to last years event and will now include even more climbing.its going to hurt!!!

i noticed below average power when i was training the course and a stomach bug serfaced over the weekend,.this meant i spent some quality time resting and recovering.

last week was also a big one as i decided to open another Concept Cyclery bike store,this time right in Shelly Beach.We hope to kick off in a months time and will also roll out our mtb and road club across the South Coast!

till next week

keep safe out there

cheers

burry

this weekend saw me racing my mtb for the first time this year at a brand new event on the calendar.the series named xcosa is just that,a series focusing on the development of cross-country mountain biking.a discipline which lacks attention in south-africa.

the course was set in the picturesque fountains valley which borders on the groenkloof nature reserve.its a venue ive raced at for years and one which i always thoroughly enjoy.

as it is a development series the aim is to build fun courses and encourage newcomers to the sport.this meant the course on saturday was flat,fast and the racing super close.hometown favourite phillip buys was in great form and i knew with that type of track it was going to be hard to drop the team contego rider.at the start of the race it was brendon davids(sho-air specialized)who set the pace until james reid (team 360) put the hammer down.it wasnt long before only james,phillip and i remained at the front.at the end of the second lap i had a loose piece of mud fling up under my eyewear and hit me in the eye,worst still was that i was in the middle of negotiating a slippery corner and went completely of course.after composing myself i chased back and as i latched onto james' wheel the flying youngster unfortunately suffered a cut tyre.this meant that for the remainder of the race it would be me vs phill and man did i try everything to drop the local man.the climbs were just not long enough for me to get any sizeable gap and at the end it was quite tactical.i knew going into the last singletrack was vital and put in a big effort on the last rise to do so.i managed to win but only just.im excited to see other younger riders working so hard at xc and hungry to up the level of racing.

this week is a busy one for me training wise and ill get to do some work on the world cup course in pmb mid weak.it will be good preperation to fine tune my form over the next month.

till next week

cheers

burry

its been awhile...

after last years season came to an end,cherise and i had a awesome time in mauritius before returning home and resuming training in december.its been great to work with our new coach jeroen swart aswell as getting in the gym with richard woolrich,something ive never realy done before.training went well and we had a blessded festive season with friends and family.this past weeknd we got back to racing...

kzn road championships

for the second year now, ive used kzn road champs as my season opener.its always nice to see what all the training over december amounts to in a race and i was quite happy to see how my form has come along.

this years race saw us tackle a loop on the m19 road that runs between westville and hillcrest.the road was fully closed for the race and the organisers did an awesome job in setting up a safe but challenging route.the elite men were up for 126km and with team 360 life up form cape town i knew it would be a hard tactical battle.

on race day the weather was pretty typical for that part of the world as it was rainy but still very hot and humid.the race started fast with the first attacks going on the first few laps.the pace remained pretty hard for the whole race but it all came down to the last two laps.i was waiting for 360 life to make the first move as they were represented by 3 riders and had the advantage.kevin evans made the move with around 20km to go and i reacted immediately and got on the wheel.we worked well together until 1 lap to go when david george and james reid also escaped from the bunch.this put kevin in a nice position as he was happy to sit on and wait for his team mates.i wasnt going to let that happen and just put my head down.i figured second was better than having to cover three guys on the last lap.i managed to open the gap enoug to be able to sit up and recover on the last climb.evans allowed me to recover alittle too much and as he kicked for the finish climb i still had enough to get back to his wheel and come around him at the line to take my second kzn title!

cherise had a stormin ride in the tt and won the ladies.she opted to race our cat on sunday to get some hard training in as she leaves for quatar pretty soon.

this weekend sees us racing up in the highveld.

till next week

cheers

burry

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

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