Off to the Cederberg Escape!

I'm off to go and ride the Cederberg Escape (http://www.cederberg-escape.com/). 3 Days of tough riding in the hot and dry Cederberge.  

If you want to follow some insane mtb stage racing go check out (http://www.crocodile-trophy.com/index.html). Its day 3 of 10 today and these guys have been averaging over 30 km/h, off road, during the first two stages of 80 and 107km! Freakin insane!  

Have a great weekend! I'll have a ride report for you on Monday  

Later  

Nico

Bring it!

It was asked for and it was given! Word is out there that the ABSA CAPE EPIC 2009 will have kilometers and kilometers of single track. This excites most people out there training for the event. It should excite them too as the Epic in the past mostly consisted of long farm road stretching over rolling hills and mountains.

Concern was raised in the past that the event was not technical enough, that it did not test the all round mountain biker. Now in 2009 the race will undergo a complete facelift. Starting in Gordonsbay it will still be a grueling marathon but with the added spice of testing the riders technical skill.

The 2008 event claimed to be the toughest one yet. Kevin Vermaak said afterwards that we can rest assure it wont be as tough again for some time to come. I am very curious to see what distances we will cover in the 2009 event. Mentally and physically technical terrain takes allot more out of you. On a long open stretch of road you can afford to “switch off” mainly concentrating on the wheel in front of yours. However, on a rocky little mountain path you must be switched on and be very alert. For me personally, not the smoothest rider on the downhill, it could be more challenging. I discovered this again this past weekend when I fell and bent my back rotor (only our second major technical hiccup in 3years of cycling) on a rock. Nico will eat it up, he gracefully glides (like a ballerina) over the rocky sections.

With the entire race being so close to Cape Town there will be much more spectators along the way. This would be fantastic as you really do benefit from support along the way. Plus, it sucks pushing your bike when people are watching!

One thing is certain. There is something in the air. This will be a special race. You notice it when talking to people involved. Nobody really knows what to expect. Those who in the past have said that they are not doing the Epic again is now all of a sudden scrambling to get in.

Epic 2009 will see us and we very much look forward to it!

Jaco

200 Strong!

Our Facebook group is now 200 Members strong! Thank you everybody!

We just can't take the suspense anymore so all sponsors start throwing your money at us........NOW! OK lets try that again 1,2,3..............NOW!

Maybe its because its Friday, we will try again next week!

Quin is down for the week so we will be taking our loyal Jo'burg apprentice for a few rides to check if the force has grown strong within our young padawan.

Have a great weekend!

Later

Nico

What a suprise!

I had a feeling today would be a good day. It started this morning when the blaring of my alarm clock at 4:30 didn't have the usual affect on me. Instead of the usual cursing and stomping about trying to finish my now well oiled routine of getting into my cycling kit, having breakfast, feeding the dog and getting on my bike in less than 10 minutes, I felt great! I felt alive, ready to hit the road and get those cranks spinning. What a great ride! The air was crisp, a near perfect day with just a hint of a breeze. I slipped through Stellenbosch at day break feeling utterly content for some unkown reason, strangely happy to be alive, happy to be riding my bike!

This euphoric feeling lasted throughout my commute and as I reached our workshops and clicked on my computer, I still had had this strange feeling of expectation. And then suddenly it all became crystal clear as if I had climbed up and out the mist on an epic early morning accent of Groenlandberg...........Kevin Vermaak, the godfather, the visionary, the founder of the Cape Epic had joined Cranks of Glory! 

Kevin welcome! Thanks for creating this great event and inspiring hundreds like ourselves to switch to light beer, get of our butts and ride our bikes........allot! 

Back to our weekly update, we had our first proper week of training, I managing to tear myself from bed without too much hassle and logged some decent hours during the week. I think the fact that at least half of my morning rides are not in the dark anymore helps with my motivation. Everything seems to be clicking back in place again as we start breaking out of our winter hibernation.

As the weekend drew closer and the forecast for fine spring weather become a reality I was ready to put in some big hours as I am desperately trying to get myself into shape for the looming Cedeberg Escape (http://www.cederberg-escape.com/) in two weeks time.

Saturday went as planned with Jaco putting in 3 hours in and around Paarl and I rode to Jonkershoek to log my hours. Sunday we were invited for a BBQ in Onrus and Jaco and myself headed there by bike. We went over Sir Lowry’s pass through Elgin, then took the gravel road over Highlands and down to Arrabella and then took the tar rode to Onrus. The weather was perfect and we managed to log some descent kilometres.

Jaco reckons we need to start doing some “core” exercises. As I’m writing this I’m staring at funny pictures of a grown man rolling around on a big ball with dumb bells in his hands………..weird! Apparently with the Epic being more “technical” next year we now need tight ass abs? I just think he is trying to get rid of the beer gut he managed t0 have aquired during the winter! 

Welcome to all our new members and thanks for the support!

Keep the rubber side down.

Later

Nico

Go check out our facebook site I have uploaded some new pics!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3021328637

Christoph Sauser joins the family!

“Thanks buddy for waiting for me”. With a blank stare on his face Nico mumbled back to me; “I’m just looking for a spot to throw up!” Just a couple km’s later I was feeling exactly the same. We came close to “hitting the wall” last Saturday in a muddy and wet Lourensford Classic. In cycling terms this means we nearly reached a stage where we thought that we cant give any more. Nausea and just plain tiredness had set in towards the end.

We ended up riding the 62km race in a time of 4h24mins. That’s not so good you would say, but this is one hell of a tough race and hats off to those who goes out there to race it all out. In the 1st 44km’s we climbed 1300m’s. That in short is remarkable! I can also confirm that the hills were definitely NOT “alive with the sound of music!” Battle we did, but all in all we can be happy with how it went considering where we currently are in training.

On Sunday we enjoyed some fun riding in Jonkershoek with Hein, Jan, Werner and Isak. I say fun because it is always fun riding with friends. Hopefully we can fit in more casual riding this year in our training schedule. I also had another awkward yet graceful crash/fall to the amusement of all.

For the past few weeks we have welcomed a “famous” person to Cranks every so often. This week I welcome Mr. Christoph Sauser. He joined our facebook group over this past weekend. You don’t get much more famous than this guy in the sport of mountain biking. He is an 11 time WORLD CHAMPION! His career achievements are endless and he is a TRUE LEGEND in our sport. Please go to his website if you would like to learn more about this man: http://www.sauserwind.com/

Hope you all have good week. Get out there and enjoy the weather!

Jaco
PS. Happy Birthday to Danie, my brother!

Stepping up a gear!

So I am extremely dissapointed with the scale at my gym. Last week it said I weighed in at 77kg's. I was quite pleased! Turns out the scale was faulty and Im actually on 82kgs! BUGGER! You see its much easier on a bike when you are lighter...just ask Rob Kempson.

This coming weekend we will be working on our lovely cycling tan again! (seriously, this tan can only be described as a white wrestling suit!) We are racing the Lourensford Classic in Somerset West. I should put less emphasis on the word "racing" as I think we will be taking it easy. No doubt Nico will throw himself into the race early on leaving me behind to ride a more sensible race offcourse. That said, I predict him to beat me by atleast 25mins over this tough 64km race.

Sunday we will be doing a group ride with Helderberg Cycles. I expect this ride to be atleast 5hours. So we are looking at abouts 9hours of riding this wkend.

Id like to welcome Mr. Dan Nicholl to Cranks of Glory. Dan is the co-editor for iafrica.com and also their former sports editor. He is well known for his "mock" interviews and witty presenting skills. Further more Dan is also associated with the ABSA CAPE EPIC. In short...Dan is a very entertaining guy. If you dont know him go check out this "interview" with Pieter de Villiers: http://www.sarugbyblog.com/2008/09/08/dan-nicholl-interview-with-peter-de-villiers/

One person I should also mention is Amilcar Rodrigeuz. Amilcar is true enthusiast when it comes to cycling and outdoor adventures. He is from Venuzuela and joined Cranks some time ago. Since then he has "recruited" quite a number of people for Cranks giving us a bit of a international following. Thanks Amilcar!

I will let you know if I survive this wkend!

Jaco
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3021328637