Blogs by Professional Cyclists - Professional Cycling Unplugged™

Downhill is what we do. But from the get go this weekend I hadn’t expected it to go as far downhill as it did… and then make a complete u-turn.
I was having a great week at practice. At times I was feeling really good on the downhill track and pretty confident in my ability to qualify this week.
The track was dry when we inspected it and by the morning of practice it had completely changed with the downpours that ensued. But that’s racing… rain or shine I try to face the day with every intention of riding to the best of my abilities and beyond. One spill in practice and I was feeling focused for qualifying. I had a pretty good run but after last weekend I was definitely a little cautious, which I couldn’t afford when I hit a rock and my chain came off my chainring. Luckily I was able to spin it back on just in time and made it into finals.
Racing Saturday morning was met with sunny, beautiful skies. And the track was drying out again, except for a few sections that got so soaked they wouldn’t dry out soon. The Bromont course is a very rocky track, one particularly fast rocky section I felt very confident in was my quite literally my downfall during my race run. I was seen by many on freecaster.tv, spinning and sliding out of control down the rocky face, lost my goggles (which someone was kind enough to return) and managed to turn my bars so far sideways I had to stop and fix them after getting out of the rock section. I lost so much time in the process I finished last, much to my disappointment.
I couldn’t believe it.
I took my frustration and decided to let go of expectations and just ride my bike. Mountain Cross remained for the day’s competition and I needed a little redemption. I was asked during practice what I wanted from the day and I answered honestly, to have fun riding my bike. And that’s what followed. My first heat was challenging with Mio Suemasa, Anneke Beerten, and Neven Steinmetz in the gate along side me. I came across the line in second to Anneke and was into the round of eight. In a dramatic second heat, I battled for 2nd and came out on top. I was into the finals for the second time in 2 weeks.
I was up against the same three women in the final as I was last weekend in Mont Ste Anne. It was Jill Kinter, Anneke Beerten, Fionn Griffiths and myself lined up for the start.
I had a pretty good start from lane 4 and held my line, managed to get past Anneke and Fionn for a brief moment when Fionn shot in front on an inside line and took first. It was a great race and I finish 4th. I also walked away with the pride of knowing I was one of the only women to attempt the pro line of challenging doubles. That was one of the highlights for me.
This week I am in Vermont for the Mount Snow Mountain Bike Festival. Looks like it’s going to be a busy weekend!
Thanks again to everyone for the support and mostly, for believing in me.

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Posted under MTB: GRAVITY

Mont Ste Anne is the stage for the 2010 World Championships and in preparation for the event the organizers have spent a lot of time on all the race tracks. The DH track had extensive time and energy spent on it, with some great new changes, fun sections and more jumps. 4X was redesigned from top to bottom and now includes two good rock sections.
I started the weekend on my new 2010 SuperTeam frames, making a change to how I set up the DH bike I was feeling good in DH and felt strong heading into qualifying. As it seems to go for us this year, it started raining half an hour before our qualifying began. My run began a bit on the cautious side to feel out the conditions, but after a few moments I realized it was still pretty tacky so I let the brakes go a bit and hit my lines. But as it goes, in a really fast section I ended up losing my traction in a fast berm and completely came off the bike. I jumped up and grabbed my bike, straightened my bars and headed back on track. I had broken a pedal though and my foot came unclipped in the rock section, losing more time. From then on I knew I wasn’t going to make the cut, but I pushed as hard as I could and crossed the line without qualifying for finals. In the process I managed to sprain my wrist. So for 4X I was taking it easy to see if I was able to hang on. Good thing I did. Racing started Saturday with a round of 16 for the women, 4 heats. My first heat I was 2nd to Anneke Beerten, and the next heat was going to be a challenge. I was up against Anita Molcik, Anneke Beerten and Melissa Buhl. Taking outside lane choice I had to find a passing opportunity. In the first turn I was in 4th just looking for a pass, Anita slid out and I passed her on the first berm. Following Anneke and Melissa I took the outside through the rock garden while Melissa took the inside. Unfortunately for Melissa she went down hard in the rock section and I passed her there.
I had made it to the finals with Anneke, Jill Kintner and Fionn Griffiths. Again, I had the outside lane choice so passing would be my only opportunity for finishing better than 4th. We started and headed down with myself. I followed the pack looking for a pass. Anneke and Jill took the inside line on the jump section and Fionn and I headed outside for the big double. On the lip of the jump, Fionn slid out with a rear flat and I narrowly avoided her clearing the jump, pulling into 3rd. Ahead in the berm Jill had crashed and I wasn’t able to pass her, so Fionn snuck around us and I was back into 4th. Jill and I pedaled for the finish and I was again unable to pass, when Jill had another painful sounding crash and I pedaled hard to get around her, finishing 3rd overall.
The racing was great and everyone needs to be congratulated on a great course and some really fun competition. Thanks to everyone for their continued support. Now I’m after No.1
Check Out http://www.freecaster.tv for the footage

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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Posted under MTB: GRAVITY

The World Cup season kicked off in a country I haven’t had a chance to visit since I left when I was 13. Despite the fact we left such a long time ago I can still proudly represent South Africa while competing world wide. I spent a few weeks prior to the event visiting family and it was a bit of an emotional roller coaster but part of me felt very much at home. Kauai is my home but SA still has a part of me. Something that I can’t really explain but I am sure you are all familiar with.

So, onto the most important part for you all, the story about racing.

The 4-cross track was a great effort on the part of the builders, longest in history but also a bit stretched out. It was a good track with just a little too much space in between the features of it. It had a few good sized jumps that I was able to enjoy before qualifying and unfortunately between practice and the start of my qualifying run I made a few changes and ended up being 1/10 of a second off the 8^th position and was cut. There was a great group of girls in attendance though, so riding with them was really my benefit from the weekend. And not making the final eight just gave me little more energy for the long pedal in Sunday mornings DH.

Being a town with no snow, therefore no ski lifts and therefore a truck uplift for Downhill this had to be one of the most odd experiences for all of us. We loaded into moving trucks, sat on bubble wrapped hay bails strapped to the walls and got driven to the start of the DH. The truck meandered through the streets, drove onto the freeway for about 3 kilometers filling our air space with noxious exhaust and then proceeded to exit and drive through some more neighborhoods, past some farms and through the cane fields lining the top of the hills. We got dropped off and rode down the hill a bit to the start line.

The track consisted of a steep rock section at the top and then gradually made its way through the beautiful eucalyptus forest to the base of the hill. It had quite a few pedal sections, some good sized jumps and a challenging gap jump that had me off at quite a high speed on my first attempt. But I was just a little bruised and ended up clearing it in my final and making up a few seconds instead of going around. The crowd in South Africa was great! People attended practice and qualifying and cheered all the way down. When I crossed the finish line the crowd was so loud and electrifying. A few people even told me they got goose bumps when I finished. My run was good and clean from top to bottom and I needed a bit more gas in the tank though and finished up with a time of 4:42.48. I gave up the hot seat to Sabrina Jonnier and was thrilled to have gotten there. The day ended with me in 9^th. I am happy about the event and my position and currently stand in 9^th overall in the World Cup Standings.

It’s a good season ahead.

Next stop is Belgium from April 29^th-3^rd for the next World Cup 4X race.

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Posted under MTB: GRAVITY

Fast is the thing we focus on, how to ride fast, smooth and consistently. At times, I find myself trying to do everything fast from packing to emails to eating! Now, typing a blog is a different story. I have to think again and again before I can bring pen to paper to describe a day in the life of a gravity racer. What do people want to know about racing in the gravity world? What do people think about racing downhill and mountain cross? One thing is certain, you need a whole lot of skill and tenacity to navigate your way down a track faster than your competitors. We race in the rain, in the heat, in dust and mud. When the clouds turn dark and the mountains growl with thunder, our hearts race and we turn our wheels downhill. The time clock doesn’t stop, till we cross that finish line. Like time it’s self, we never get away from the ticking of the clock and are governed by the second, tenths of a second and hundredths of a second. Traveling thousands of miles, spending hours on planes in airports, in cars, trucks and transporters to race for 3 – 6 minutes. To practice our lines and take our chances, to hold onto the dream, we go on. I race because I love it. There are people out there that don’t understand what we are doing or why, and to be honest at times, I don’t actually know. All I do know is that I am driven to follow what I love. And follow what I dream. I hope to inspire people to do the same, because in my opinion life without a dream will just tick by without you. 

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Posted under MTB: GRAVITY