Pre ride XTERRA Grabouw route with the Caveman. Learn stuff. Share a laugh and a dip in the dam.
When: This Saturday.
Where: Grabouw Country Club gate.
Cost: R400 pp
Room for 3 people & bikes in my bakkie, leaving from Caveman Cafe Stellenbosch at 1pm.

Please RSVP on FB ConradStoltzcom or twitter @ConradStoltz
BOS Sport & Squirt lube freebees

#StoltzTraining XTERRA South Africa ‪#‎XterraGrabouw‬

This is my last year racing as a professional. I’ve known it for a few months, but somehow avoided putting it on paper or ether. It all started with sponsorships imploding, but that is a story for another day.

Our next chapter is very exciting: A baby girl – any day now!

Also, a unique new online coaching business, a unique racing series, Caveman Racing & Adventure training camps, Caveman Skills Clinics, an autobiography, building pump tracks, single tracks, riding motorcycles, less travel, more family time, more home time, (even) less swimming,  slower lifestyle, training for fun. And my first winter home.  More about that later.

Missing XTERRA Grabouw due to a lung infection was a great disappointment. Watching my last “home” XTERRA from the sidelines was really really hard.  If you’re not in the know, XTERRA in South Africa has really taken off in a big way. The Grabouw race has become a significant global event, with a legion of foreign athletes, big prize money, big media, and for a home boy, big King of the Hill points.

My most memorable experience at XTERRA Grabouw was during course practice. Watching a rare Berg Adder eating a mouse. (easily confused with the more lethal and much more common Puff Adder)

In the weeks after Grabouw,

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On race day you only want to pump your tyres, fill your bottles, and if you’ve been practicing- clipping your shoes in and lacing them up with elastics. (Seen here at XTERRA Worlds in Maui 2013) Pic Nils Nilsen.

Now that its too late to do much training, I’m going to help guide you- over the next 6 days- with different race preparation tips to help you prepare for XTERRA Grabouw.

Race day minus 6. Check bike and equipment: 

We’re doing this 6 days out, so there is still time to run out and buy stuff,(and try it out) and your bike shop dont want your “problem” on friday afternoon.

For some athletes some of the info my be XTERRA 101, but if you’re a newbie, some may be Greek. But everyone can learn. I’ll try my best to have this post apply to a broad spectrum of people.

If you’re new to the sport, or a roadie who’s borrowing a mountain bike, or an old hand, but your bike has been gathering cob webs in the garage, the following point will help.

1) Check your whole bike over so that it is 100% mechanically sound. If you’re not mechanically minded (its actually quite easy to get the basics) you should ask a friend or take it to a shop asap.

– Suspension pressure. If you’re an experienced rider, you’ll know your pressure settings or have them written down somewhere. Double check fork and shock pressure and add presuure if you need to. If you’re a rookie, go to a good shop TODAY and have them help set up your suspension properly. Good suspension set up is THE most important part of setting up a dual suspension bike. This is where the magic of the Brain technology in the Specialized bikes really shine.

– Tyre choice varies depending on the terrain, your skill level and your budget.

This Grabouw course is loose, sandy, rocky and has a few sections of dry loamy pine forest single track. A wider tyre run at lower pressure will help you float on top of the loose stuff, and will also give you better traction in corners and up hills.

I put fresh rubber on my bike before just about every race. Square knobs turn better. (Knobbies lose their edge with use) If you’re using “old” tyres, put the freshest one in front and look for cuts. (save dodgy tyres for training)

Tubeless is the only way. Put fresh sealant in wheels- it dries up quickly in dry climates. I like Stans sealant.

A tyre with bigger knobs (tread pattern) will also give you more traction, but the trade off is increased rolling resistance and added weight. This course has some hair on it, so dont come with skinny little bald “Europe tyres.”

This is an Africa tyre. Front: Specialized Ground Control 2.3.  In the Control casing. (stronger than Sworks casing) Wide, grippy, big air volume. Running at 22 psi.

Rear. Specialized FastTrak 2.2 Control casing run at 25 psi. As you can see, this tyre has seen better days (edges of center knobs are roundish and indentations are faint) I’ll ride on it once more and replace it tomorrow.

– Bolt check. Check all bolts for proper tightness. Remember to check cleats on shoes- it they’re not rusted tight already, tighten them till snug. New cleats need a 2nd tightning. Same with a new bike. Not all bolts are supposed to be tight, so dont just blindly tighten bolts…

Water bottle cages. If you can take 2 bottles- do so. Or carry a Camelback Its “only” 28km, but its a long, hard and possibly hot 28km. And then there’s the 11km run…

– Spares. Tyre plug, Tube, CO2 or pump, Allan keys. Know how to use it. If you’ve been training, you’ll know…

What to wear in the swim?

– Goggles. Duh. But do they fog up? Rinse them out with Baby Shampoo now and again 2 days before. Do they leak? Are tight enough? Maybe the wrong fit? – rush to the shop tomorrow. For this course tinted lenses are best- you’ll be swimming into the sun and there nothing to see under the Coke coloured water anyway.

The XTERRA “full” distance will almost definately be no wetsuits. Last saturday the water temp was 25.1C- and that was before the heat wave.  I cant see the Lite being wetsuit legal either.

Here is what to wear in order of speed. (and expense)

– Swim skin over your race kit. Take swim skin off after swim. (Swim skins are typically too hot and constricting to do the whole race in) I use the BlueSeventy product range and like the speedy Nero suit.

– Swim in Tri shorts or bikini/swim suit for ladies.  Put your top on in transition. Not recomended as dry top over wet shoulders results in wrestling match. But not everyone is in a hurry…

– Board shorts the whole way. Give or take a T shirt or “wife beater” vest. Rapidly becoming the new cool- (often by older sporting hard men making a comeback) demonstared at XTERRA Buffelspoort by Specialized’s Peet le Roux and this coming weekend by my coach Ian Rodger- who is doing his 1st XTERRA Lite…

“What?! I AM wearing my fast skin!”

Running shoes.

This run course is hectic. Long sections of loose rocks. Sections of sand. Single track. A river crossing- hip deep for most. Big climbs, a loooong downhill. Some shoe sucking mud and yes, wet quicksand, which had me sucked in above the knee! (thats almost a meter deep!)

Better to bring burly trail shoes with real traction and real cushioning. And tighten those laces properly or you’ll be finishing in 1 shoe!

I’m gooi-ing my Hoka One One “Rapa Nui” trail racers. “Yebo” for all of the above. #TimeToFly

Tomorrow we talk “the course”…

After working on your bike, you need at least an hours’ ride, to make sure all is good.

Caveman wins XTERRA Grabouw.  2012 is looking good so far. 4 races, 4 victories. (some small and some lucky but a win is a win)

The biggest XTERRA in the world! 2000+ participants. Had to be held over 2 days (Lite and Full distances) to fit everyone in! Testament to great organization, sponsorship and media coverage but also South African’s love for adventure, nature and suffering…

Believe it or not, Caveman 1st individual out the swim. Must be that hectic swim training-click for blog.

Stunning bike course. Other than the all rocks and single track, I really like the Fynbos here. (Indigenous Western Cape vegetation) Checked it out on the pre rides as, there are more rocks and sand here than on the back of the moon.

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Pre ride some the best  parts of  the 2012 XTERRA Grabouw bike course with the Caveman.

Click HERE for the fun to start…