Posts Tagged ‘specialized’
Secret Trail riding. Grabouw, South Africa.
The climb was brutal, but once we disappeared into the clouds and the trail leveled out, it was as if we were in heaven. Trail riding heaven that is! The trails were tricky, rocky and scary at times.
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
York Timbers Sabie Experience mountain bike race. 2008
I just got back on the farm after riding 3 of the 4 days of Sabie Experience. Sabie is only 80km from our farm and when my good friend (and Specialized Factory team damager) Bobby Behan said we were invited to ride, we couldnt say no. Despite still being in the midst of “ice cream and beer season”.
Turns out were were guests of Ian van der Walt and his newly formed DCM racing team. What a fun group of characters. After 3 days of hanging with these guys my voice box hurt more than my legs. Not they they are slow – its just that the amount and intensity of chatting, cajoling and prank playing was significant.
Visiting Specialized Bicycles in Morgan Hill, California
Checking my flexibility, Scott Holz, bike fit guru at Specialized’s OSBU headquarters in Morgan Hill, CA.
Jan Frodeno in Beijing 2008
Lastly, congratulations to Jan Frodeno for winning the Gold in the Olympic Triathlon. What an amazing race. His played a perfect poker game and surely was unbeatable in the sprint. I saw Jan grow up in South Africa. (his folks live in Llundudno outside of Cape Town) He used to be more interested in surfing than triathlon, but the last few years he really improved as he is obviously very very talented. Last November I bumped into Jan in Stellenbosch- he was on his way to swim practice (I was in the middle of my 3 month holiday) and I asked him what he was training for in November. Jan said in a fake German accent: “For zie Oelympics” Well there you have it. Tons of talent, huge work ethic and fierce self belief. Good stuff bru.
I’m also very happy for long time friends (and previous medalists) Simon Whitfield and Bevan Docherty for their medals. Old men Rock! Simon was perfect tactically (for the amount of tiger he had in the tank) and Bevan is a beast all around. He raced XTERRA Worlds last year. Great people. I’m happy with the mens podium and wished i was there. Its not my game or passion anymore- I had my innings.
Missing my mom and the SA team out there
