Greg Minnaar/Mongoose DH series #5 - Giba Gorge - 17 July 2011

Over a month had past since the national at cascades and it was now the turn towards provincial series again. The track at Giba Gorge had gone under some renovations and the super fun track was now looking sweet. Myself and some friends traveled down from Pietermaritzburg to Giba Gorge the day before the race and got some good riding in on the new track. It was flowing a lot better than before and I was loving every moment of the time spent on the course.

Switch Back corners during practice

When race day arrived on Sunday, the vibe was awesome. The last provincial of the year and a lot of work had gone into the track. Nigel Hicks and his team of guys fixed up the track and made sure it was race ready. I squeezed in a good couple of practice runs before racing started, found some sweet lines and was ready to race. Practice did claim a few riders though, some nearly escaping what Giba can throw at them and some having to unfortunately abandon the race.

The entrance into the last flat rock garden

When the race runs started, it was back to the usual at the top of the track. The jokers of the downhill fraternity always causing trouble and giving us a good laugh, and some have their game faces on. As we watched some of the downhillers ride the first section time past rather quickly and before I knew it I was warming up and getting ready to race. Sitting in the start gate waiting for the count down seems like a life time, but when the gate drops its as if your run goes by in a split second. My first race run was not a good one, I was bogged down in a rock garden and lost a second or two. I pushed on to be placed 3rd junior.

The entrance into the last flat rock garden

My second race run started off super pinned. I was feeling a lot better than my first run but still had some problems on the super tight corners. I lost valuable time and came down to the finish line to still finish 3rd junior but my time had still improved. I was less than a second off second place, but I was still very happy to finish the Greg Minnaar/Mongoose DH series on a good note.

The step up in the Quarry

A big thanks must go out to Nigel Hicks and Dave Dinkleman and their team of guys that helped build the tracks this season. The tracks were awesome. Another thanks to Morne Odendaal for putting the season together.

S.A national Cup #3 - Pietermaritzburg - 5 June 2011

After a proud result at the last provincial, it was now time for the third national to be held in Pietermaritzburg on the world cup track. The course was hard pack, rolling EXTREMELY fast and it was a real bundle of fun! After a long awaited time off of the national scene, almost a month, I was excited to do some racing.

Corkscrew Gap

After getting sick just after my previous race, training posed a problem. I still wasn't hundred percent better but I needed to do well in order to try get selected for world champs. Practice arrived on Friday and I got straight into it. The track was feeling awesome and I was super stoked to be riding my Morewood Kalula, it was the perfect bike for the job and it was handling really nicely. The track Started just below cloud nine and just before the big rock and pebble beach. I couldn't wait for race day! Saturdays practice was awesome. Mother Nature finally decided to make up her mind and keep the weather nice and hot.

Berm after A-frame Road Gap

Race day had arrived and I was super keen to race, first up we had the seeding runs. My seeding run wasn't bad at all but I wasn't happy with it, I had no energy to pedal the long flat section and to keep a constant pace through the flat section. I was seeded as third junior and was eager to see if I could keep the same pace in my race run.

Hip Jump into a rock garden

After I had refueled, relaxed a little bit and done a warm up I was in the start gate and ready for my race run. The run started off really well, I was keeping a good pace and hadn't made any mistakes. I then reached a section called driftage, the name gives it all away and you can guess what happened after that. I drifted off course and lost all speed that I needed to get up a short little hill. Through the flat section I just didn't have the legs on the day and i was struggling to keep my speed constant. At the end of the day I was still third junior, and happy with what I had achieved.

Junior men podium: 1st - Alasdair Fey. 2nd - Adi Van Der Merwe. 3rd  - Kyle Davids

Thanks to the race organizers, Morne Odendaal and her crew for putting on the event. It was awesome!

Greg Minnaar/Mongoose DH series #4 - Rico Racing Track - 22 May 2011

Myself and a few other local riders put in some effort to build this super fun track a few weekends before the race took place. Super short shuttle meant we could ride a lot, get in the good practice and have an absolute blast! The track was flat out, it had some blew out berms, fast sweeping course and was really dry. It was a tough track to try and keep it all together on. I had done all the practice needed, and all that was left was to do was to let it all lay down on the track.

First Practice Run

My first practice run down the track on race day was solid in all sections except one. A long sweeping left hander caught me out when I came in to hot, I hugged a baby Gumtree and snapped it in half. A bit rattled after that I sat back and relaxed with the rest of the guys down at the bottom. It was then time to start the race run, I made my way to the top found some shade and about 20 minutes before my start I started my warm up.

Feeling good and in the start gate, the countdown started. I put in a few big pedal strokes, got my momentum and started to hit the fast open corners. I got to the corner where I had crashed earlier and backed off, I really didn't want to throw away a good race run. I got down to the bottom, my run had a few small mistakes and they all added up. I was in the top 5 overall and the 4th junior-a very good result for me, but I was determined to finish 3rd junior and I had a solid time on the board so decided to push it around the long sweeping left hander and try to correct my mistakes.

Second Race Run

We were on our way back to the top of the track for our next run. I found my chill spot in the shade again and relaxed,supported some fellow riders then went to warm up again. I was a few minutes later back in the start gate. The gate dropped and I sprinted my way down towards the sweeping corners. I fully committed and trusted my bike to handle the fast growing breaking bumps, and it did. I railed the corners and berms and soon found myself at the bottom sections where spectators were flocking. The Morewood Kalula took the last rock garden with ease and I was across the line. I moved into 3rd junior after beating team mate Sam Bull and I moved into fourth overall. I was over the moon with my first top 5 finish.


A big thanks must go to Dave "Rico" Dinkleman and everyone else who helped make the awesome track. To Andre from Rush Sports for helping out with the last minute bike fixing, thanks so much!

S.A national Cup #2 - Port Elizabeth - 8 May 2011

The second round of the 2011 national cup series was held in Loerie, about 70km outside of Port Elizabeth. Another rainy race except this time it actually didn't stop raining. Fridays practice was relatively wet and it showed when I committed to a rock drop at the finish area, slipped on something and ended up on my head. I used the tuck and roll method, and it worked when I narrowly escaped being whacked in the head by my bike.

The course was a fun one! It had a few small jumps, some off camber corners with a few protruding Allow trees that were close to your head on every corner. It had some sweet rock gardens that were tricky too, all in all I enjoyed the track, but unfortunately the rain carried on all through Friday night, all through Saturday night and it was said that it was the most rainfall they had had in over 10 years. So the race organizers announced that the race would be cancelled because the medics couldn't access the area if anyone was to get hurt. Sad faces everywhere, we made our way back to P.E, packed up and made our way home.

UCI World Cup Round One - Pietermaritzburg - 22 April 2011

My dream of racing against my hero's of Downhill Mountain biking had finally arrived and with it, some awesome weather! The sun had been out the entire week while the course was busy getting rebuilt and when it was time for the track walk on the Wednesday my excitement levels were sky rocketing. I had never been in such a state of excitement, and I'm sure many were feeling the same way as me. With all this excitement I still somehow spotted a line or two and was super amped to start practice.

Thursday had arrived and it was time to live my dream. I managed to get in a few solid runs and in the mix of it all I had Patrick Morewood tweak my rear suspension between my practice runs. The bike was feeling super smooth down the course and was taking the forming braking bumps with absolute ease. I finished all my practicing in the morning and went home to get prepped for the qualifying the next day.

Bike washed, looking brand new and feeling brand new I was confident for the qualifying run that was dawning on me. On the shuttle up to the top, it was absolute silence. I was keeping hydrated and keeping cool and in a few minutes I was going to let it all loose on the track, but a run down Cascades World Cup Track is one that definitely needs a warm up. And so I warmed up on the district road running through Garlington, nerves were overwhelming but I was ready.

Warmed up and in the start gate, I put my goggles on waited for the countdown and when I was ready I left the gate. I pedaled to my needed speed and into the first corner I felt my front wheel catch one root, a second one, and third one and then I eventually washed out and slammed into the ground. Covered in dirt, chain off my chain ring and deraileur slightly bent I got up ran with my bike and jumped on. I pedaled a few times changing gears to try and put my chain back on properly, it worked and I was on my way. It didn't really seem to me that anything more could go wrong, so I pinned it as fast as I could. I reached the pedaling section and tried to keep my momentum up. Barely holding on down the last few sections of the track with the big jumps and feeling the cramp in my hands I hit the finish line jump and sprinted my way through to the finish line. Was that as far as I would go in this years world cup? The time showed it, and I was 91st.

Riding in the World Cup with my hero's of the sport was definitely the highlight of my career. Even though I didn't qualify I had never had such an experience on my bike. I really wish I could have qualified but I will have to give it another try next year!

HUGE thanks to Andre from Rushsports  and to Patrick Morewood for helping me out with all the suspension set-ups, fine tuning of the brakes and for being there to support! Your support goes along way.  

S.A national Cup #1 - Cascades World Cup track - 17 April 2011

The first of the National series races was to be held at Cascades, on the World cup track. To make things even better, it was only a week before the World Cup and so there were a lot of international riders. Most of the being the ones who want to take the win in the final at the World Cup, so they were all riders I look up to. I was excited to get back on the Morewood for another muddy race, Yip... it was raining all week and the course got trashed.

The weekend started off with rain, some mist, professional athletes and A LOT of mud. My first run up was with Arron Gwinn, and it was so surreal to be talking to him! Pedaling became the biggest task to do on the track. The thick mud didn't make for easy riding, but I always enjoy the mud. I managed to get in a few solid runs and decided to pack up and get my stuff ready for race day.

The rain continued all through the night and in the morning it was a little drizzly, but mostly just overcast. The race organizers decided it was going to be safer to call off the full track scheduled to be raced and only race from just above the gully. Seeding runs started and it was now pouring with rain. I managed to stay on my bike and get seeded as 3rd junior, ahead of team mate Sam Bull and a number of other juniors who along with myself, really struggled to keep momentum down the track. It was time to grab some food, get some juice and relax a while before the race. We got up to the start point after a rally car session and then it was decided to call the race off. One by one we rode down the track, and formed a train just after the 2 table tops and then rode down the rest of the track from there.

Results were on everyone's mind. And it seemed like they were going to take the seeding runs times which I wasn't to phased about as its in the rule book and so it stood. I couldn't wait for the following weekend. The UCI MTB World Cup!

Thanks to Adrenaline Cycles and Andre from Rushsports for helping out at the race!

KARKLOOF CLASSIC DH RACE

The Karkloof mountain bike festival held in the picturesque area of Karkloof, just outside of Howick is one of the  biggest MTB festivals in South Africa. With its beautiful setting of flowing hills, green grass, awesome cross country trails and now for the first time-a downhill track! We didn't really know what to expect until we actually rode the track, and it wow'd a lot of people.

A few days before race day, and nature decided she was not going to let us not have the mud factor to deal with. So on came the mud spiked tires and out came the rain jacket, for yet another race. The rain carried on until the night before race day,  and when race day finally dawned, out came the sun!... Yup, the weather man was stuffing us around BIG TIME.

I decided to leave my mud spiked tires on for my first practice run, and the track was becoming so tacky and awesome to ride. The series of 15 or so corners in the open area were running good and the only moderately slippy part of the track was in the pine forest section. So on came my dry weather tires and I headed up for one last run before I had my timed seeding run.

My seeding run was super fun, it was a clean run without any problems so I was stoked about that. I was keen to race but wasn't phased about what my result would be because my main goal for this race was just to have fun and finish without any injuries before my biggest race yet. The UCI MTB world cup held in Pietermaritzburg.

So with that in mind, I started my race run and just had a good time. Railing the burms at the middle bit of the course, doing the big road gap and hitting the rock gardens was all just a lot of fun. I finished my run and was a little surprised when Steve Jackson had crashed out and I was the first junior.

1st : Kyle Davids
2nd : Sam Bull
3rd : Gregg Brown

All in all, it was a great event and I hope they have it again next year.
A big thanks to the race organizers and Adrenaline Cycles for everything!