Hot Stuff!

I expected the international super starts to set the prologue course alight but this is insane!

Last night a massive fire broke out on Table Mountain. It looks like it's under control now but a lot of damages has been done. So far very little information is available.

Here's what the Epic had to say  (http://www.cape-epic.com/news.php?news_id=106&title=/Fires_on_Table_Mountain_-_Latest/)

Read more on news24 (http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2487231,00.html)

We will keep you posted.

Later

Nico

Its GO time!

I cant quite put it in words what you feel when you line up to start a race like the Cape Epic. You are filled with emotion…excitement, anxiousness, fear and a strange hunger to demolish everything and anything it can throw at you. Rest assure the Epic will bombard you with hundreds of kilometres of loose rock, sand, mud, mountains, river crossings etc… But that is all ok; after all you knew this when you signed up.

Saturday we, team ADIDAS BEMER (race number 102), start our second ABSA CAPE EPIC on the slopes of Table Mountain. We will start the prologue (time trial) at 9:26am. This time round we are stronger and more experienced. It has yet again been 7months of hard training for this event. I will not lie, if you want to do something like this it will take LOADS of commitment and sacrifice from oneself. We have stuck to our guns, gritted our teeth and now we are definitely ready!

On a lighter note…. I keep wondering about a few things. Like what music will they be playing on route this year? Hmmm…maybe Nico will get to hear his beloved Jonas Brothers. : ) What food will we be on the menu? I’m quite fond of those low fat yoghurts. What will the colour of our tents be and will this clash with our teamshirts? Haha…I try to occupy my head with these thoughts so that I don’t have to focus all my energy on the race itself. I remember last year on Day3 I started singing to myself just to keep my thoughts from dragging me down. My singing ended up dragging everybody down around us…great race tactic! : )

The last few weeks we really have been spoiled so much. Not only are we now officially sponsored by Adidas and Bemer, but Supersport Cycles have also come on board supplying us with top of the range MET helmets. Thank you to Natasja Halley for sorting us out in record time. I asked Nico last week…is there anything we must take with for the Epic, his answer to me was “only your bike, your toothbrush and a couple of undies”. We really do look like the professional outfit now and cant thank our sponsors enough for their contributions. Photos of our team gear have been posted so feel free to have a look.

I want to urge people out there to go see the race for yourself this year. It starts in Cape Town on Saturday and will be going through Gordonsbay, Villiersdorp, Greyton, Grabouw and lastly Somerset West. It is CLOSE to Cape Town this year…so try to make it for atleast one day and soak up the atmosphere of this world class sporting event. There is special spectator viewpoints set out on route and you can find more information by following this link: http://www.cape-epic.com/content.php?page_id=41&title=/Spectators/

Thank you again for all the support we have been getting…locally and internationally. It helps to keep the tank fuelled! We really hope to see you on route. Best of luck to all our fellow Epic riders. James and Simon, Noel and Louise, Nico P and Alison Sydor…enjoy and have fun. To Burry and Christopher…GIVE THEM HELL! To Hein my cousin, YOU CAN and WILL DO IT!

Lastly, to Nico… thanks for sticking by me. I will give this my all and hope to do you proud!

Later… : )

Jaco

Christmas in March!

We have been very quiet the last few weeks but we have been out there packing in the miles. Since our last post allot has happened. We both are rolling around on new steeds. I’m the proud owner of a Santa Cruz Superlight. The bike is incredible, it just rips down singletrack. I’m now finally converted! The days of hammering away on a hardtail are gone forever. Jaco’s cruising around on a new Trek Top Fuel, although it was not exactly a planned purchased! Jaco’s bike was stolen out of his car!

 

February saw us doing some big miles and my body is definitely screaming for it all to stop. Luckily this week is our last big week before we begin our taper towards the start on the 21^st, just 18 days away!

 

We have been doing allot of riding in Jaco’s home town, Paarl. I must say the Paarl mountain biking community is very well organised, go check out www.paarlmtb.co.za.

 

Yesterday we tackled the Boschendal MTB Challenge, a tough 55km race. It was a hot, dusty day in the saddle and my legs definitely felt the last months of training. I started of conservatively but managed to finish strong. Jaco put in a solid performance but the tough ride on Saturday and the big miles put in during the month left him a bit flat on the day.

 

Yesterday we went to pick up our kit that adidas had sent over from Europe. WOW! I felt like a kid at Christmas rummaging through the piles of kit and casual wear that they sent us. The riding gear is awesome, super tech fabrics, awesome bib shorts, amazingly stiff carbon soles shoes, Gore Tex ski jackets, the list just goes on and on! So if, in the next few weeks, you spot a couple of guys kitted from head to toe in adidas gear with goofy smiles, riding their bikes, it’s probably us! Thanks so much to everybody at Bemer and adidas for making it happen!

 

I will try and post some pics of us in our new gear!

 

Later

 

Nico

Give me Ace of Bace...

This past week I managed to take my stupidity to another level. Some might say I do that on a weekly basis…I wont argue with those some. However it became quite clear to me that I really should try to think things through more often before acting OR even opening my mouth.

I received an email from a certain Christa Koekemoer, a student doing her Masters in Biogenetics at the University of Stellenbosch. She was looking for volunteer cyclists to take part in a study she is doing regarding recovery after intense endurance rides.

To cut this story short I volunteered and ended up doing THREE 100km time trials, a 40km time trial, a VO2max test and TWO windgate tests in the space of a week. All this is done inside a room on a stationary bicycle with a complimentary fan in front of you to cool you down. Come to think of it, if that fan blew from behind I might have finished in faster times. In between all that Nico and Hein dragged my deflated body out for a long ride.

During these tests you are not allowed to eat or drink anything BUT water. During each time trial I lost more than 1kg in weight. It was quite tiring and yup…. VERY boring. However, Christa did a great job at motivating me with ACE OF BACE blaring through the lab! Anika also came through to support me on day 2. I have to admit that the results of all these tests will definitely help in preparation for the Epic. I am definitely in better shape than last year and I think it is safe to say that Nico is too.

Those who have seen the photos posted by Nico lately would have noticed that he is parading around on a flash new ride. It is called the Santa Cruz Superlight… it is also called “Jaco’s Dream Bike”. As far as Mountain bikes go this bike is a true classic. News just in is that my cousin Hein will now ALSO be getting his Superlight next week. Oh… I am just so ecstatic for these two boys to be riding these superdooper bikes. I am not…I repeat…NOT jealous at all. Who am I kidding; I can’t say that with a straight face!?!?!

On a side note, this morning I went for a ride with a number of guys from Paarl. This group of riders included Andrew Patterson and Fritz van Heerden, both ex Western Province and Springbok rugby players. To me, a sports fan, I find it incredible that I get the opportunity to meet people like this who share a common love for mountain biking.

Lastly, our group is growing at a steady rate and I find it… to be quite honest astonishing! What I mean by this is that us Cranks are by no means professional cyclists. (Sure we are now big time Adidas sponsored athletes but…. Nah, I’m just joking!!! I’ve just been waiting to use that line!) We are really just two best friends who enjoy riding their bikes! So to all out there following our posts on our blog and on Facebook we thank you. We cannot do it enough… it is fantastic to get support from all over the world.

48days…17hours to go to EPIC 2009!

Jaco

Missy Elliot, The Royal Tenenbaums & David Beckham

This weekend saw the Cranks making light work of one off the toughest one day races in the country when we traveled to Outhshoorn to do the Attakwas Extreme Mountainbike Marathon! We both managed to smash about 30min off our times from last year, making light work of the 126km and 2600m of climbing! 

We are both extremely happy considering that this years route was allot tougher and technical than last year. I also managed to cut open my back tyre and had to stop three times to plug the damn thing before it sealed properly! Jaco clocked a 7:32 and I rolled in in 6:54 and collected my silver medal (sub 7 hours) which I am extremely chuffed with. 

Congratulation to Nico Pfitzenmaier who again had an awesome race. He finished 3rd overall in 5:48 only minutes behind 2nd place Kevin Evans. Francois Theron managed to pull off a surprise win after an early breakaway with David George in a blistering 5:36. Our new traing buddy, Hein, also had a very impressive ride, finishing in 7:47. 

So the big news……………… 

What does Missy Elliot, The Royal Tenenbaums, David Beckham and now Cranks of Glory have in common? 

Easy…..we all roll in super fly adidas tracksuits! Yes the rumour is true! Bemer, our main sponsor, have given as the awesome news that adidas will be providing us with riding kit for the 2009 Epic! We are extremely exited and can not wait to get our asses into some silky smooth adidias spandex! Thank you Werner for all the effort you put in and congratulations buddy! Werner dropped the bom on all of us last week when he got enaged to his long time girlfriend Ute! 

I’m not sure how to end the update so I’ll do it in the words of Missy…………… 

“Is it worth it, let me work it
I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it” 

Later 

Nico

Racing Snakes and Crazy Countdowns!

Congratulation to Nico Pfitzenmaier for winning the Terra Firma at this weekends Total Sports challenge! The Cranks was part of his support team for the day and it was awesome to see him and all the other competitors in action. 

We met up with the German Multi-Sport legend at last years Epic were he won the Mixed category with Ivonne Craft. Since his move to Stellenbosch we have had the opportunity to get to know him allot better and have even dragged him along on some Cranks training rides just to ensure that he gets some higher intensity rides in every now and then………….just kidding! There is some big news regarding who Nico will pair up with to defend his Mixed title this year! Be sure that you will be the first to get the breaking news as soon it is made official! All I can say is that the other mixed teams thinking of taking the title is: be afraid, be very afraid!  Go check out Nico's website at www.epix-sports-tours.com.

Although we got to see “The Sauserwind” race at the Total Sports challenge it ment we missed seeing Burry Stander blow they local XC racing field apart at the first National in Jonkershoek, winning by over 7 minutes!. It was his first race on his new Specialized Epic sporting his all new, all red, all Specialzed kit! I think the “Specialized” combinations of local boy Burry Stander and legendary Christoph Sauser is going be a very marked team at this year Epic!

On Sunday Somerset West hometown hero Andrew Neetling, racing for the international Trek DH team this year, took top honours in the Downhill racing. He was on his all new Trek Session 88 (It was only released from customs on Wednesday!). Best of all he won it by 5 minutes on his “feeler” run as he made a bit of a hash of his final run.

Don’t worry the Cranks did managed to get in some riding this weekend. After the Total Sport challenge Jaco, Hein and myself went out and battled with the legendary south easter wind for just over three hours, great fun!. Sunday morning we drove out to Grabouw to tackle Groenlandberg. I love this ride! I don’t think there is a more scenic ride in the Western Cape.

This weekend we tackle the Attakwas (www.dryland.co.za), a 126km race from Outshoorn to Klein Brak. With 2616m of climbing its sure going to be a tough one and a good way to gauge how our Epic preparation is going!

So with less that 5 days to Attakwas, less than 70 days to the Epic and less than 100 days before I get married I think I have a couple of crazy months ahead............wish me luck!

One more thing I want to mention…………..

For the last few years I have been trying to find a way to fit my prescription into sunglasses for riding. About two months ago I was up in Pretoria and was strolling through Menlyn Shopping Mall when I saw some Rudy Project banners outside an optometrist. Trying my luck, I started to chat to the representative about prescription sunglasses, after some consultation between him and the optometrist they had come up with a solution! I couldn’t believe it!

Less than two weeks later I received my pair of awesome Rudy Project Rydon’s with Photochromic lenses and RX insert with my prescription! Even more incredible if you think I live 1600km from them. What a difference to finally be able to ride with sunglasses! The Photochromic lenses are awesome, they transition from clear to dark according to the light intensity within a few seconds, I am even able to do night rides with them!

A big thanks to Simon Edmons (simon@rudyproject.co.za) of Rudy Project and Bernadine Flynn from Melins I-Style in Menlyn. If you need prescription sports eyewear give these guys a call! 

Stay jolly...

This is the season to be jolly….ehhhr… or it was! We sincerely hope that each of you gained at least 5kg’s over the festive season, were spoilt for Xmas and that 2009 greeted you with a bang! If you are still on holiday… keep it to yourself! Ha! We have been slack in updating you with how things are progressing with the Cranks. We apologise as this was a bit of a silly season for both of us regarding work etc.

What have we been up to? Well, in between gathering with friends and family we have been training believe it or not. In two weeks time we are doing a race called the Attakwas. It starts in Oudtshoorn and ends in Greatbrak. The distance of 126km has 2612m of vertical ascent and features rolling gravel roads, rough jeep track, many river crossing and washed out rocky descents. Oh did I mention that they threw in the Outiniqua Mountain range for good measure? It is arguably the toughest one day mountain biking event in South Africa…ok enough of that, I get nervous and sweaty thinking about it. It is going to be a good 7 to 8 hours in the saddle.

This past weekend we went riding with our friend Nico Pfitzenmaier, 2008 Cape Epic Mixed winner. By the way, this prestigious pro athlete has joined Cranks of Glory recently. Anyways… in our attempt to keep up with mr. Pfitzenmaier, Nico van Zyl managed to break his saddle post. Obviously this would be a quite an awkward moment for any guy, but it was a clean break and luckily he escaped serious injury to his… well, you know what I am getting at. In the end Nico did 3hours with a shortened saddle post putting his knees and quadriceps through some serious hard work!

Lastly it has to be said that we officially welcomed Nico to the 30’s on the 27th December. His party was on the 26th, but the less I say about that the better. Shaggy says it best…”it wasn’t me!” Anyhoo… it has been said before, we have known each other all our lives. We share a special bond. Not as special as some would believe though. However you are my best friend… and the best one could ask for. 2009 will be a great year for you my friend… enjoy it all the way! (Ps…can you please stop with the fat jokes???)

Later everybody!

Jaco