After a night of sleeping in the sprint position so I could wake up every hour and run to the portaloos, I started today feeling understandably anxious. The prospect of 122km with the squirts wasn’t filling me with my usual enthusiasm for a day on the bike. Although, let it be said that if there […]
Archives for April 2012
Stewart, Rossouw snatch one back at joBerg2c
Brandon Stewart and Jacques Rossouw came good on the first of the climbing stages when they snatched the win from overall leaders Kevin Evans and David George on day four of the nine-day Old Mutual joBerg2c on Monday. The 122km stage from Sterkfontein Dam to Winterton in KwaZulu-Natal came down to a nail-biting sprint finish, […]
A softer punishment
Well, I like the new head torturer at Capital Punishment. The buxom blonde in knee high boots with a soft leather whip is much nicer than the rotted tooth, red hot poker wielding weasel of previous years. It was even a pleasurable experience this year. The sun was shining, the track at optimum moisture level […]
XCM Two. Punished.
The second instalment of the Real Insurance XCM powered by Cyclenation series took riders to the sweet trails of Sparrow Hill, Kowen Forest, Majura Pines, and the world class Mt Stromlo Mountain Bike Park. There was much discussion before the race on expected temperatures on the start line and what the best strategy for clothing […]
A summer of Stage Racing
The summer is slowly but surely approaching in the Northern Hemisphere. Not only does this mean longer daylight hours, receding snow from the high alpine trails, and the Marathon season – it also means there are a lot of Stage Races on the horizon. Mountain Bike Stage Racing seems to occur almost year round now, […]
Adelaide ready to serve up a mountain bike treat
South Australia’s growing reputation as a focal point of Australian cycling will continue this weekend with the 2012 Kona Dirty Weekend NiteFLUX 24Hr, 12Hr and Roof Rack City 6Hr mountain bike endurance challenge, which gets underway at Cudlee Creek on Saturday. And with $18,000 worth of prizes up for grabs for the top spots in […]
Champs suffer heartbreak at joBerg2c
Overall leaders Kevin Evans and David George were gifted the third stage of the Old Mutual joBerg2c when defending champions Neil MacDonald and Waylon Woolcock suffered mechanical problems in the final kilometre of the 125km ride between Reitz and Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State on Sunday. The RE:CM duo looked set to challenge Nedbank […]
Heading home for ‘my local’
Everyone has ‘a local’ that they go to. More than just a fallback option, I hold some pride in going to my local. It matches up well with where I live and where I train – and getting to it and back home again doesn’t require too much thinking ahead. I’m not talking about a […]
Lewis, Fay win Capital Punishment and extend lead in XCM Series
One of the biggest mountain bike events in Australia, the 2012 Capital Punishment, was blessed with the perfect autumn day. Blue skies, warm basking sun, light cool breeze, beautiful groomed (and dry) tracks was a big relief for event organiser Aroc Sport, and caused a smile of satisfaction on just about all of the 2,000 […]
Nic Lamond’s JoBerg2C: Making a dash for the singletrack
The first day of racing proper, and the promise of new singletrack sections throughout the 93km route had the start line pumping at 7am this morning. I’m pretty sure the enthusiasm for a pre-dawn wake-up and freezing start line will start to wane at some point… But for now, 500-plus riders fueled by free Seattle […]