Caveman at Urban Rage 2010

After fighting the 9hr time change and jet lag that comes with it, I think I’m ready for XTERRA Las Vegas, the USA Season opener. The form is good, I had great legs and won the Vigne a Vigne MTB race in South Africa on sunday, (despite a puncture and a bit of a tumble) but the question is, is 5 days enough time for acclimatization?

I was stunned by the number of 29ers on the course today. The kiddie wheeled bikes make up maybe 25% of the people pre riding today. I’d like to think I put the 29er ball on the roll (I raced on a Stumpy 29er for the first time 4 years ago). Of course the Specialized 29ers are head and shoulders above the rest- you just cant argue with the level of engineering that went into the Epic. Speaking of which, I ordered a set of race wheels and was going to race on my Maui Swork Epic, but when Fedex came, the box looked a bit big, and contained an brand spanking new Sworks 29er, All built up with my favourite parts, the right tires, so sweet! Thanks to Garth and the crew at Specialized HQ.

How sweet are these Avia AVI STOLTZ‘s?! They look wickedly fast – even in the box.

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2010 Urban Rage: a 2km downtown Durban course with natural and man made obstacles. A lot of them quite intimidating- skinny bridges over water, a 6m high BMX style start ramp, a BMX track,  a  big drop and some serious berms. And not a single rock. The Caveman loves rocks. (Will have to make do with the ones rolling around in my head.)

Yesterday we had a 2hr Enduro race on the course to practice your lines and grow some (bigger) balls.

Today was 2 heats of the 2km course.(2 riders in the gate at a time) My 2nd run was 12 sec faster, but I had to throw some elbows with 14 year old Alan ? for the 3rd fastest qualifying time. Philip Buys is ina class of his own- 20 sec up.

The finals is today, Sunday 12 Dec 5.15pm SA time. Its live on the interwebs, thanks to organizer’s Max Cluers’ genius. Watch the live video here: www.UrbanRage.co.za