Stoltz Racing’s 1st XTERRA training camp…

“It was a dark and stormy night…”

No, just kidding!

“It was a bright and sparkly morning… Six of us – all friends and family- got together for a little informal XTERRA training camp on our farm near Lydenburg, Mpumalanga. Uh, thats South Africa.

These guys are all relative newbies to sport. Sorry Gustav- rugby (even provincial rugby) is still a “game”:) Over the past few months while I was in the US I have been peppered with training questions, equipment questions, diet questions, I instructed on converting tires to tubeless and I even ferreted some Suunto t6 watches out from the US. These guys had a thirst for knowledge even the Encyclopedia Britannica couldnt quench. So once I landed on the farm they were onto me, and we had this fun impromptu training camp. It went so well, we’ll have some more in the future. (MTB camp end of Feb 09) Check www.StoltzRacing.com shortly

L to R: Gert Stoltz (aka Tarzan)- also my dad. Werner van der Merwe,  Johan Pieterse, me (aka Caveman), Shelly van der Nest, Gustav Klingbiel.

I did quick bike fits, suspension tune ups, lectured on tires (a dangerous topic!) and helped one person put their gloves on the right way out. (its ok, your identity is our little secret!) Then I taught a quick skills class– turning, braking, reading trail and demonstrating bunny hopping over a twig, then a water bottle and then up a 2ft stair before we set off in the harsh African sun. It was boiling at 8.30am!

Smiles all around. Johan Pieterse- my good friend from Lydenburg rolled off the couch earlier this year, (for the 1st time since high school) he has already lost 17.5kg (35.5lbs) and he and his friend & training partner Werner (an avid dirt biker too) will be racing their 1st XTERRA at Buffelspoort, 24 Jan 2009. If only we could bottle and label the excitement!

We went on a 2hr 15 ride & along the way tamed the Wheel Grabbing Sand Monster. (my camera hand wasnt quite quick enough to capture Johan firmly in its jaws!) We also conquered rocks that will rattle your fillings loose, and in the pic above we did a tame little river crossing. For once, my dad wasnt burning rubber! Because, once we hit dry land, he would take off in a dust/smoke cloud and the stronger riders would try to hang onto his mirage. For a while…

Once back on the farm, we relaxed on the shady lawn with beer (s) in hand, discussed racing strategy, the new Specialized Epic  and my swimming pool in the making. (pic below) Once refreshed, we did the South African post training recovery meal thing. BRAAI! Goes great with beer. See pic above. Other countries may call it BBQ, but they use dainty little mystery sausages or ground animal in flat lumps. Or worse-  chicken! Which is actually a vegetable.

Johan keeps a close eye on the pudding: Pork chops.

After a snooze in the shade (I had to explain again why training slow makes you race fast) we tackled the Afrikaners’ Achilles heel: Swimming. We set off to our neighbour Lambert’s pond and gave the resident frogs the fright of their lives!

The guys were ecstatic when I explained my (very) low volume, low intensity, high technique ideology. They also quite liked the “kicking is for frogs” mantra.

Here I video’d Gustav’s stroke, to help him understand what he was doing wrong. (Places hands too shallow- should be stabbing towards the bottom at a 45deg angle) The great thing about helping rookies is that results are almost instantaneous and very gratifying- after 20 years of a bad stroke, it took me 18 months to learn to stab at 45deg.

Seeing the smiles on their faces when they conquer fears and “master” techniques is priceless. Giving sure feels good. (It was a free camp)

The reason we swam in Lamberts’ pond is because my pool is um, er still under construction.

The much talked about “Conrads’ Swimming Pool.” Its nearly done. Really!