KZN Provincial #4 - Giba - 8 July 2012

It was the last provincial of the 2012 season and doing relatively well on the Giba track last year I was excited about racing! SA champs was the race to follow this one and I went there with a mindset of wanting to stay positive, regardless of my result and keep myself in one piece before SA champs!

All our prayers were answered on Saturday night when the heavens opened and soaked the desperate dry course with a lot of water, the perfect amount of water. I was feeling awkward on my bike... but was really enjoying myself after a couple of runs.

My first race run was safe but I wasnt very happy with the outcome. I was lying 4th junior and after a little rest I headed back up the mountain, knowing If I took some risks I could get a decent time and contest for the podium!

The second race run started off really well, but I made a rookie error and decided to take a risky line which cost me. I found myself skidding with one foot on the bike, and one off and really out of control. I finished my run a bit slower than my first and had to settle for 4th junior and 8th overall.

With the KZN DH series being over, a big thanks must go to Greg Minnaar Cycles and Mongoose and everyone else involved in this years series! It was awesome to see so many new people joining our downhill family!

SA DHI National #4 - Worlds View - 24 June 2012

The week leading up to a race I was really excited about was ruined and my confidence was smashed after I sprained my wrist. Thinking it was broken again, I went to the hospital, did x-rays and was givin the "all clear". Three days later it still wasnt feeling any better and there was talk that my bone could be slightly cracked or bruised. With it already being thursday, and practice starting the following day, I was really worried about how I was going to perform on the weekend.

Fridays practice arrived and I wasnt feeling good on the bike, I could barely hold on to my handle bars, I decided I should rather rest before the next day of practice. I went to physio that afternoon and iced my wrist before saturdays practice!

Saturdays practice was just as bad as Fridays, but I strapped my arm up and hit a couple of runs down the track, all of which were painfull, I was having fun atleast. Before I knew it, it was the end of the day and race day was tomorrow.

Before my race runs I decided to get in 2 practice runs, I crashed in both of them and got really rattled up. My first race run also didnt go very smooth. I had a massive crash in a rock garden and managed to get down the track in one piece after that. My second race run was a lot better, I didnt have any crashes and when I got to the bottom I was stoked to hear my time. I was only 5 seconds off the winning time, not where I wanted to be, but I knew I had some form and I just needed to heal up before the next race!

A big thanks must go out to all the organizers, the track was fun and a different sort of course than what we are used to! Also a thanks must go to Andre from Rushsports for helping me with bike repairs!

S.A National #3 - Addo - Hayterdale Trails

After a bit of a break since the last race I put in some solid training hours and made some gnarly adjustments to my bike, with thanks to Conrad Davies. I was really looking forward to the Port Elizabeth National. I was hoping that this year the weather would play its part! Myself and Alasdair Fey along with our driver, my dad, made the trip down to Addo in a little under 10 hours. I was really keen to see what this years track was going to look  like and was super stoked when I saw what I did. Tight, twisty, and some rad fast sections. The corners were awkward and there were a couple little jumps. Needless to say I was pumped to thrash some runs on the new set up.

My first practice run down the track was way too much fun, and I guess I got a bit carries away when I decided to huck one of the tricky jumps and about a split second later, found myself lodged in a thorn tree. I couldn't get out by myself and I was seriously stressing out because Hayterdale trails and the world spider population are best friends! Duxbury came to my rescue and I was really shaken up after that. My shoulder, elbow and lower calf were pretty sore, but at least there were no spiders on me. The rest of the days practice was relatively good, I was feeling comfy on the bike but I just wasn't having such a good day on the hill. So I packed up, headed back to the accommodation and prepared for day2 of practice on the track.

When Saturday dawned, I was up and about... really beaten up and still pulling thorns out of my wrist, shoulder and fingers. I suited up and headed out to the track! We were there early so I decided to let some of the other riders go down first to clear all the spiders out of the way, and in the mean time I watched fellow team mates destroy the XC discipline! But eventually I hit the track, and wow! Once I found my rhythm, I loved every part of the track! I did so many runs and was just having so much fun. I got all my lines dialed, found myself a couple tiger lines too and was feeling confident and ready and Sundays race.

It was an early morning for us Downhillers, and a cold morning too. Abit of rain on the track made the conditions PERFECT, and I did a solid 2 problem free runs down the track! By the time it was time for my seeding run, I had refreshed with my GU Energy product and headed to the top of the hill. Did a little bit of a warm up and waited in the start gate for the countdown to begin. Once on track, I just had fun with it, didn't nail all my lines and stalled a couple time in a few corners, I got down to the bottom in a time of 2min59sec...  a few seconds off the pace. I knew I could go faster though. So I refueled once more and made my way to the top for the last time! Sitting in the start gate, I knew what I had to do... and when the gate dropped, I went crazy. I was stoked to smash all my lines, still not getting every corner dialed but was over the moon when I heard my final time at the bottom. It was a 2min54sec! I was second junior and fifth overall!



A really good weekend for me, and well done to everyone who raced! A big well done to the organizers for putting on such a sick event and track! Next one is KZN provincial here in Pietermaritzburg! A huge thanks must go to Conrad Davies for all the last minute prep on my bike... It rode like a dream! 

USA TRIP - Friends, Family and Unforgettable experiences

So after racing the PMB world cup, I packed my bags, drove up to Johannesburg(stuffing my face with every bit of biltong possible before I hit beef jerky country) with my dad and met up with my uncle at the OR Tambo airport. Needless to say I was REALLY nervous! This would be my 1st international flight ever so I didnt know what to expect! but climbing onto the plane and saying goodbye to South Africa was far to easy... I was SUPER keen on visiting my brother and experiencing USA.

The flight to London heathrow was long. I sat next to a pretty good looking woman which was nice, I tried conversing with her... but all I got was such a thick british accent that I couldnt understand a word she said. That was the end of our conversation until we landed in London! Being in Heathrow was pretty amazing, I took a 25 minute bus trip from where I landed in one terminal to the other terminal where I was going to take off towards Los Angeles... and then got onto a bullet train for a minute or two to get to the other side of the terminal. It was overwelming! The size of this place was unbelieveable, but more unbelievable than that was my excitement. I had a 5 hour lay over so I bought some food and bought a camera so that I could document my entire trip. The 5 hours went by real fast and with 1 hour until take off I made my way to my gate. Next stop? LAX international airport!!

My flight from London to LAX was delayed by two hours, and to make it worse... someone stole my seat next to the window and my two free seats next to it. I ended up cramped behind, next to and under a fat American man. This flight to LAX was REALLY REALLY long! Once I was landed in LAX I went through customs and met my big brother, Brendon Davids with a huge hug and a smile that went on for days! I was beyond stoked to see him again. First American dinner was Subway... It was so good that it was dinner for the first week I was there! The first weekend I was in California I went up to Fontana with Brendon and his team to watch how things are done in the professional world. I was Brendons tech helper guy and was feeding him in the feed zone. That was a surprise for both of us that I didnt drop any bottles!!

Week two dawned and it was time to head over to Ventura, the city where my brothers girlfriend lives. I had met Kendall(Brendons Girlfriend) over the weekend and it was hilarious... I came over to give her a hug hello and tripped and fell onto her, not my smoothest moment but it was enough to break the ice haha! Being in Ventura was absolutely amazing! The weather was awesome, people were friendly and the riding was even better. We rode to Santa Barbara along the coast the one day and my word was it awesome! It was a 4.5 hour ride... almost enough to kill me, but awesome enough to keep me alive too! I did a lot of training up in Ventura and at the end of the week it was time to head back to Santa Ana and spend a bit of time with John Muller, my brother and a few others from the sho-air team.

Brendon and I at 6 flags!

I spent the next week in Santa Ana and my trip was coming to an end pretty soon... too soon in fact! So with my last week flying by we got a surprise when Kendall's mom, Mary, stopped at the house and was giving us a lift to Ventura for Easter weekend and to hit up a session at the famous or to many, the infamous "6 flags Rollercoaster Park"... So on my last friday in the states we made the drive to 6 flags and needless to say, I was silently crapping myself! The first ride we went on was something that would definitely stay locked in my memories for ever... it was a ride that was really fast, but also really old! So the fear factor was tripled! Well, for me it definitely was... Alexis(Kendall's sister) who sat next to me on the ride said I turned really white... I didnt know what colour I was turning, all I knew was that while everybody was putting their hands up and enjoying the ride, I was keeping my hands locked on the safety bar and pulling faces I knew were nothing short of hilarious! I was definitely a bit rattled up after my first experience at 6 flags... but the next ride we were going on was, uhm, retard-idly insane! I seemed to be the only one that was scared? So being the only downhiller alongside a bunch of road cyclists I knew it was time to man up. I eventually found myself loving every moment spent with my brother, his girlfriend and her family but the day was coming to an end. One last 6 flags experience was funnel cake... I cant describe it in any other way than amazing!

On the beach with Mary

Saturday morning I slept in while Alexis, Brendon Kendall and their brother, Morgan went out on a ride. I was woken up by Mary washing dishes, first thing she said to me was "get dressed, I'm taking you to breakfast at the beach" ... STOKED!!! I got ready and we headed off to Ventura beach front and ate a good breakfast at a diner called "Dukes" Myself and Mary then took a walk of the beach and WOW, it was honestly breath taking... we watched a couple seals doing their thing and then headed back home! That night was far too much fun, we went and saw "American Pie, The Reunion" and oh my word was it funny! I really enjoyed spending all this quality time with my brother and the Ryan family!

Outside Dukes Diner

The Cappuccino

Sunday was probably one of the most fun days I had while in the States. Not only was it Easter Sunday but Mary Ryan hooked me and Brendon up with soooooo many Easter eggs! It was then an early start and that morning we rode to Santa Barbara with a group of about 25 people. Now try and imagine a Downhiller, a rider who rides by himself ALL the time, having the track ALL to himself, now having to share the road with a bunch of roadies... I was nervous haha, really nervous! Brendon was nervous too haha, he told me to ride right at the back of the bunch, so if there was a mstake to be made... no one would be behind me to crash! I understood that completely... but I decided that I could manage being at the front, and so it was the front for me! I even put in a little attack to beat my brother, Alexis, Kendall and Morgan up a climb... they were just chilling and I was out of breath but I silently kept that to myself! The rest of the ride was awesome! I took tons of photos and when we stopped off for coffee half way home, Brendon and I ordered THE biggest bowl of cappuccino, yeah thats right... it was HUGE. I had to stop to make a toilet stop on the way home! When we stopped for the toilet break, the Americans got into ripping our South African accents. After a good laugh we hit the road once again and made the final stretch back to Ventura. It was a long day in the saddle and all I wanted to do was enjoy the last two days of my trip with everyone, but everyone, including me was down for the count. So that night we chilled out, watched some movies and then hit the hay.

Bike Path with Brendon, Kendall, Morgan and Alexis

My trip was coming to an end and I really didn't want to go home, I was having far too much fun and when it was time to head back to Santa Ana for the last time emotions were running high! I can't thank Mr Ryan and his family for making me feel right at home and lending me a bike to ride. To Alexis, Kendall and Morgan for being the three there to point out that I truly am a hacker on a road bike! To Mary Ryan for making myself and Brendon feel at home with all the Easter eggs, it was the best! My stay in Ventura was absolutely awesome! But the ones who I really need to thank are the guys from Sho-Air, To John Muller and Mari Feazel for hooking me up with a place to stay and carting me around! it was awesome, thanks guys! And to Ty Kady for hooking me up with a xc bike to ride. But especially to R Scott Tedro for allowing me to head over to the states to visit my brother. It was honestly so much fun and I cant thanks you enough! I hope I can see all of you in the near future! but for now... Peace and Keep it real!

2012 UCI DHI World Cup Round 1 - PMB - 18 March 2012

My favorite event of the year was back again! The 1st round of the UCI MTB World Cup made its way to my hometown of Pietermaritzburg and I was stoked to see my Idols shredding down the hill. It was probably one of the biggest surprises to get an email from the South African Cycling federation to tell me that I was selected to represent my country! What a thrill it would be to get another chance to race against the best riders in the world, I couldn't wait for the track walk to kick off the DHI event!

Thursdays practice didn't go well for me at all! I was having trouble getting the speed I needed to clear the N3 table top jumps, and all in all just wasn't feeling good on the bike. I put it all behind me, and managed to get in a couple solid runs and felt good on the track and decided to rest up before Fridays qualifying race run!

Friday morning I put in 2 or 3 solid runs together. I still hadnt done the n3 tables but I focused on being faster in other parts of the track! I busted out the HUGE hip jump at the end and was feeling pretty confident on the track! By the time my qualies run came around I was excited to throw on my South African shirt and head up to the top of the hill!

At the top I wouldn't have been able to put together a solid warm up without Andre Van Aarde! He was constantly giving me advice and I cant thank him enough! Sitting in the start gate all that was on my mind was a clean run down, no mistakes! By the time I got to "Cloud 9" I was having the run of my life, nailing all my lines but as I was exiting cloud 9 I tagged one of the padded trees and stalled, losing valuable time! Coming into the middle section of the track, the n3 tables I was nervous about still not hitting them! but even worse, I messed up and didnt clear the step down before the table tops. I rolled both tables and sprinted the gumtree flats section. Hit the rest of my lines but by the time I was at the bottom I was off the pace by a couple seconds! My world cup was over, but I was stoked on my result! 

A huge thanks must go out to Andre van Aarde for all his help with everything! Conrad Davies for being that guy with the Fox apron working on my bike to make sure its all good for the race run! To Grant Dinkel from Adrenaline Cycles for all his help! and everyone from Team Jeep South Africa for all the support! It was unreal!

SA DHI National #1 - Contermanskloof - 12 February 2012

The first BIG race of the year had made its way to Contermanskloof, Cape Town, South Africa. A course which hosted the 2011 SA champs, and a course which I really enjoyed! Practice on the Friday was cancelled for unknown reasons and so it meant that Saturday would be the only day where we could get our practicing dialled! I got in a total of 5 runs in on Saturday and was feeling really confident, I couldn't wait to race!!

Race day arrived and in the morning it seemed like it was gonna be an awesome day, I smashed out a solid run and then waited at the bottom for my seeding run. My seeding run went from awesome to face plant to a few cartwheels down the hill, followed by my chain falling off... in that order! I got up as quick as I could, but with my crash being in the fastest part of the track and my chain not operating, I was constantly loosing time. I got down to the bottom with a time of 2min30secs which I was super stoked with, I was only 12 seconds behind my main competition and so I was confident that I could put together a solid time in my race run!

When my race run came around and it was time to sit in the start gate, nerves were running high! I knew what I was capable of, all I had to do was keep it all together until the finish. The time keeper counted me down, 5...4...3...2...1... GO!! My first pedal stroke didn't even manage one revolution and then all of a sudden I was lying on the ground next to my bike. My chain had snapped, I ripped the chain out of my bike and ran with my bike, jumped on it, and started the most agonizing DH run of my life. I nailed every line perfectly, got to the bottom pedaling section where the wind had picked up by a large amount and got myself into timetrial aero mode. My peak of my helmet was rested on my handle bars and I crossed the finish line with a time of 2mins38secs! Only 15 seconds behind my competition.

Although I didn't manage to get any podium results, I was still super stoked with my race. I know that my technical skills are where I want them and I really look forward to my next race!

A huge thanks to Faith Wear and Leatt for the awesome new kit! and to the organizers for the awesome track!

KZN Provincial #1 - Top Section of WC Track - 29 Jan 2012

The race to finally kick off my soon to be extremely busy 2012 season had arrived! I was super excited to see where the rest of the riders training has brought them, in comparison to where mine has taken me.

I couldn't have had asked for better weather conditions or for a better track to start the season off on! Work had been done on the track and only one thing was on my mind, all I wanted to do was just race! I had practiced the course well enough to feel good on it, but practiced a bit more because i was having so much fun! When it came to practicing on Sunday before the race, I could feel that I had over ridden the track on Saturday!

My first race run was good! I managed to stick all my lines, but when it came to the pedaling bit in the middle... my legs weren't agreeing with what I wanted them to do! I pedaled as hard as I could and reached the bottom of the track being the 3rd fastest junior. I knew I could do better, so down went the refreshments and down went the Gu Energy Roctane gels!

In my second run I was feeling a lot stronger! I had a super solid run, but still battled to have the legs to pull through the run I wanted! I fined 3rd junior and 7th overall which I was still very happy with! I however learned from my mistakes and was ready and well prepared for the first national in 2 weeks time!

A huge thanks to Team Jeep SA and to the organizers for the awesome event, also to Morewood Bikes and Rushsports for hooking me up with the new steed to shred on during 2012!!

PHOTOS

• Darren Goddard
• Conrad Davies