Category: Story time
18 races, 1 World Title (ITU Cross Tri), my 10th XTERRA USA Series title, 10 victories, 16 podiums and many many special memories.
My sporting highlight was winning my 2nd ITU Cross Triathlon World Title in Pelham Alabama, USA.
a Personal highlight was sharing the entire year and all the remarkable experiences with my gorgeous wife.
2012 also marked the comeback of the Caveman the roadie. More bike course records to fall this year…
Finally we found the cause my injuries, after more than 3 years of struggling with calf and Achilles injuries due to the cut foot. I used to run a painful 0 to 30km a week, and now I can finally start proper running again.
Hats off to my rocket scientist coach- Ian Rodger, who custom makes my training program every day-
in memory of my dad
My dad and my hero passed away after a long battle with cancer.
Liezel and I are flying home on Sunday for his funeral.
Words fail me.
Here are some fond memories…
Braai lessons on a hiking trip- a skill every South African boy must have. (BBQ)
Our bike trip after he beat cancer for the 1st time.
“He had to bribe Liezel to marry me” was their joke. We’re so happy he was there for the moment, even though he was really sick
My parents lived an amazing life
Going swimming with the Caveman
When I visit my parents on their farm in Mpumalanga South Africa, going swimming does not happen very often, – for reasons you’ll soon find out- but going swimming is usually a lotmore fun than it should be…
While the Caveman built 25m home pool is under construction, swimmable water requires travel….
A funny broken arm story from way back
Heavily modified Caveman cast
My 2005 off season reading was Brian Lopes’ book on mountain biking skills. As a fairly competent mountain biker, I was amazed at how much there is still to learn about the art of making an off road bicycle go fast.
My favorite quote from the book was: “if you are not pedaling, you should be pumping*”
I was practicing my pumping through a particularly technical section near Stellenbosch. Specialized had their Team Camp here in January. (www.iamspecialized.com ) I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in the camp and the main reason for the camp: Tire testing.
On the very first group ride with the Team I pumped and pedaled all I was worth. Pushing the limits through a long technical section, going faster and faster. I pumped through a rock garden and the next thing I knew I was on the ground, tangled with my bike. I never saw the fall coming, and instinctively I must have put my hand out to protect my face. (In hindsight, it wasn’t worth it)
I bled like a pig, but didn’t hurt too badly and carried on with the ride. However, about an hour later, holding the bar on the downhills became quite painful.
Getting technical- bike set up for XTERRA Waco
I’m very lucky to have a full quiver of Specialized bikes to chose from!
After watching a few youtube videos on the Waco course, I decided to travel to Waco with my 29er Epic (Aluminium)- it loves rocky, rooty and twisty. But 30min into pre riding the course on wednesday I had to call a friend to ship me a kiddie bike. (with 26inch wheels) Its true, TV (and youtube) makes courses look flat! OK, my legs were also seriously dented from training, but this course has about 20 short, granny gear climbs and I think the number of times your speed falls below 5mi/h was a lot, a lot. In other words, there was a lot, a lot of acceleration from almost stand still– the one 29er drawback. The (only) other shortcoming to this 29er is weight- the white bike is 5 lbs more than the one in the white wrapping. For now…
