The Lourensford mtb race came and went over the weekend. Like I said last week it is a special race for Cranks of Glory, as it happens to be in Somerset West, our hometown. There were the usual faces, some seriously fast and some simply they’re to conquer this mighty beast of a race. It really is a privilege to ride in Lourensford wine estate. There is so much history within the borders of that farm.
Earlier this year rampaging fires caused havoc on the farm. The farm still carries the scares and it will do so for quite some time. Even so, with the backdrop of the Helderberg mountains, seemingly unending vineyards on rolling hills and water streams its beauty is very striking indeed. It is a very fitting finish for the ABSA Cape Epic!
Coming back to the race, what a dynamic sport don’t we have!?! One moment you may feel as strong as Mr. Armstrong himself cycling like a demon and then later, maybe not even 5minutes later, feel as if all the power has been drained from your body. It humbles you. In this sport you reap what you sow. That is the beauty of cycling…and it seems I need to sow a little more.
Nico had a fantastic race. His time 3h33min, and from what I heard on the day 16th overall. Truly a very good result! Hein, my cousin, also had a very impressive outing finishing only 7minutes behind Nico. Myself though, managed to NOT finish the race. A first for me. Maybe I needed my coffee last week after all OR make it an espresso next time? : ) At 38km’s I was struggling and fighting to stay positive. Soon after I got a flat on a downhill. I tried fixing it…but I couldn’t manage.
I then walked for little over 20minutes before Jane Seggie and Henning (from Merida) came to my rescue. He got his hands “dirty” on my Trek and sure enough, I was mobile again. “MAGIC” I thought, only to remember that I needed to take my parents to the airport at 13:00pm. By now it was 11:25am and we had about 700m’s of climbing left. To tell you the truth…I was “gatvol”. I slowly cycled to the next water point and from there I got directions on the shortest possible route to the finish. Disappointing all in all for me…but still a great day out! Thank you to Jane and Henning for helping out, I owe you!
Even though I didn’t finish the race I now have a clear idea of what to work on over the next few months. I need to do LOTS and LOTS of base. NO, not the Mitchell’s Plain Taxi type of base… I’m talking long slow miles in the saddle. So YAY for me…. Ha! It’s officially October and now we start training specifically for the Epic. This will be our third and I can’t believe it’s that time again.
For those embarking on their Epic adventure for the first time I want to say ENJOY it. The Epic itself is the tip of the iceberg…its your “holiday” and “reward” after months of gruelling training and sacrificing. See these next few months as EPIC. You will meet many interesting people on your journey to the Epic…one always do. When you lose a bit of heart along the way, remind yourself how fortunate you are to be able to do this race. Many dream of doing it but never gets the opportunity or cant be it physical reasons, financial etc. So give it your all!
Cranks of Glory will be stepping it up in training now. Bring on the mountains!
Jaco
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Coffee drought...
It has now officially been 30hours since my last cup of coffee. I’m hurting.
You see I love my coffee. There was a time when I loved all five my cups of coffee per day. However, after reading that going without caffeine for a set period can boost your cycling performance up to 6%, I was all ears. Who knows, maybe it improves performance all round? ; ) Anyhoo, apparently its been proven that going without caffeine for seven days and then having that one cup race day morning can achieve such results. I’m going to go without for three days… so I’m hoping for a improvement of 3%! : )
This coming Saturday we are doing the Lourensford Classic MTB race in Somerset West. Its our “home race” for the year and one we always look forward to. Normally its a tough 58km’s but also a rare opportunity to experience the beauty of what Lourensford Farm has got to offer. I do hope the wind dies before then. This week it has been rather tough training and I literally got sandblasted yesterday in the mountains.
It has been quite a while since we last updated our blog with a proper entry. However, those following our “new” twitter account will know that we, particularly Nico, have been very active in updates ranging from us to cycling in general. I you haven’t visited our Twitter page you can find us at: http://twitter.com/CranksofGlory
I hear and see that guys are in full training for the Epic 2010. We clearly are still very relaxed about it all… but the upside is that we are enjoying our riding at the moment. It can become very mundane putting in all the hours and luckily for us we know what is required.
All the best for you guys out there training, and if you see us on the trails say hi! Epic 2010 promises to be another special race…and the excitement is growing!
Jaco
You see I love my coffee. There was a time when I loved all five my cups of coffee per day. However, after reading that going without caffeine for a set period can boost your cycling performance up to 6%, I was all ears. Who knows, maybe it improves performance all round? ; ) Anyhoo, apparently its been proven that going without caffeine for seven days and then having that one cup race day morning can achieve such results. I’m going to go without for three days… so I’m hoping for a improvement of 3%! : )
This coming Saturday we are doing the Lourensford Classic MTB race in Somerset West. Its our “home race” for the year and one we always look forward to. Normally its a tough 58km’s but also a rare opportunity to experience the beauty of what Lourensford Farm has got to offer. I do hope the wind dies before then. This week it has been rather tough training and I literally got sandblasted yesterday in the mountains.
It has been quite a while since we last updated our blog with a proper entry. However, those following our “new” twitter account will know that we, particularly Nico, have been very active in updates ranging from us to cycling in general. I you haven’t visited our Twitter page you can find us at: http://twitter.com/CranksofGlory
I hear and see that guys are in full training for the Epic 2010. We clearly are still very relaxed about it all… but the upside is that we are enjoying our riding at the moment. It can become very mundane putting in all the hours and luckily for us we know what is required.
All the best for you guys out there training, and if you see us on the trails say hi! Epic 2010 promises to be another special race…and the excitement is growing!
Jaco
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Its about time we sent a update out…atleast a short one will do for now. Some of you might think we have dropped of the face of the planet. We have not sent an update out since the Cape Epic, and we apologise for this. Life after the Epic has been quite eventful. Nico and Lisa got married to name but one. Congratulations to them both! What a party we had and I even got to karaoke Roxette! GREAT SUCCESS! WHOOP!
How did we do in the Epic? We came 95th overall and are quite chuffed with this as a top 100 position is always something special to achieve in this race. In my opinion the race this year was more enjoyable and dare I say it…easier. Easier but certainly not easy! The race organisers did a great job in putting this route together and I think it will only make the race more popular with riders.
Just so you know, Cranks of Glory is still spinning. We have managed to put in a few hours in the saddle this year following the Epic. I am doing a 100mile ride with the Paarl MTB club this Saturday and Nico has also managed to do the “Sani2C non-stop” early in May. So fitness levels aren’t looking to bad and I look forward to riding in Knysna next month.
Id like to thank our sponsors again. Adidas, Bemer and Supersport Cycles, thank you very much for your contributions, excellent products and amazing support. To all the friends we made again, we hope to see you more than often out there and perhaps again next year at the Epic. Thank you to our support team, our families, Lisa and Anika… we love you and owe you allot.
Jaco
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
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
Monday, March 16, 2009
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… : )
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
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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 21st, 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
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