Nissan Trialseeker 2 #hakahana

With only one rest day after the tough USSA student tour it was time to get back on my mountain bike and head to Hakahana for the 2nd race of the very popular Nissan Trialseeker. I finished 15th overall and 2nd U/23 at the 1st race of the series and with my main goal to finish 1st U/23 in the series my goal is still well in sight. I was a bit unsure what my legs would do on race day after some hectic road racing the whole week before the race. It was a freezing start and took my legs a long time to warm up again, by that time a got drop by the leading group, luckily I got myself back after a few tough sections that warmed me up. It is always great to race against riders like Nico bell, Lourens Luus and Brand Du Plessis and throughout the series there will be pro riders. It was not long before the climbing started and everyone tried to grab the wheel in front of them as the pace got very high. I settled in the 2nd group on road alongside 4 other riders. About half way in the race I found myself in the middle of nowhere on my own, chasing a two man group in front of me, I was to scared to look back and just focused on the group in front. All the steep climbs suited me well with a very low body weight it was a bit easier for me up there. I caught the two riders and not long after that we dropped one and it was Myself and James working our way to the finish line.



I was unsure about my position in the race so I just kept fighting to get a respectable position at the finish line. The race had some very technical rocky downhills and just the opposite some tough rocky climbs. Luckily there is that saying for every uphill there is a downhill and we were not disappointed with some nice single track sections taking us down. Arriving at the finish someone told me I got a top 10 finish and I did I finished 8th overall and 3rd U/23. I am very happy with my performance throughout the week into the weekend from road bike to mountain bike. I just want to thank everyone for all the support I am getting I really appreciate it. And most important I want to thank The Lord for the opportunity to race and live my dream #livewithoutlimits

Keep warm and safe out there.
See you guys at the next race

And to all the sponsors thank you for all the support and making sure we train and race with the best.

Student USSA Tour

About a month ago North West University asked me to join their team to race the student tour this upcoming holiday, At first I was a bit unsure cause this is some serious road racing and I am a mountain biker. I only raced one road bike race like 2 years ago and it was a small local one. After a few thoughts I agreed and prepared myself for this tour. To give you guys some info on the stages,this is not a walk in the park on day one we had the mountain biking leg a 50km XCO race starting at rosemary hill. I knew I had to give everything cause this is my territory the rest of the week I will be in their territory. It was tough racing cross country again but I enjoyed it a lot and got myself a 2nd place overall and it took some pressure of me for the rest of the week. It was a nice track with some awesome singletrack and technical sections and I enjoyed every moment of the race.

Day 2 (stage 1) was the start of the road tour and we started with a 80km short stage in the morning. everyone was a bit nervous in the group and was a bit unsure what to expect from one another. Soon after the start the attacks began and it was full throttle all the way. I was a domestic(worker) in the team so I had to do a lot of chasing and pace making at the front of the race. There were no surprises and most of us finished in the peleton. Only a few hours after the short stage we started stage 2(still day 2) with a 20km individual Time Trial. This was my first TT ever and I really enjoyed it. I got myself a top 10 finish not bad for a mountain biker. Day 3 (stage 3) was the long stage a 140km ride just outside Pretoria. The first half of the race we kept a nice steady pace with one or two individuals trying to break away. The action started with about 40km to go and we had to cover a lot of attacks from the other varsities, and we did a good job nobody got away and we (NWU) controlled the pace at the front again. 10km to go a guy from NNMU attacked and nobody responded and he got a gap of about 25 seconds when I decided it is my turn to attack. I chased him down and we worked well together to keep the peleton of our backs with about a 40sec gap. With 1km to go we realized we can actually survive and suddenly we were enemies again and it was a bit of a cat and mouse effect,but I had to settle for second place. Still a very good achievement for the team and myself.

After stage 3, I was 9th place on the GC(general classification) day 4 (stage4) was a short but hard stage we did a 2.4km hill climb. My legs were a bit heavy after the effort of the previous 3 days and I struggled on that hill but everyone felt that way and I climbed up there in the 7th fastest time. That same afternoon the last stage was in sight a 45min + 1 lap criterium. It was a very short course of only 500m with about 40 cyclist, it had trouble written all over. It was full gas from the word go and it was not long before the riders crashed one by one and after about 10 minutes more than half of the field were eliminated.
With all the crashes a gap opened up in front of me and it and it was not to long after that and my race also ended, only 6 riders managed to complete the 45mins. I finished the tour in 10th place overall. I am really happy with my performance in the tour. I just want to thank Team Jeep and all the sponsors GU Energy, Salomon, Jeep Apparel for all the support they gave me throughout the week. It was a great experience for me to race on the road and it was great training for the rest of the season.