Round 1 GregMinnaar/Mongoose Downhill series

A broken finger forced me to spectate at our first DH race of the season. The day started off really wet from 3 days of rain. Mud tires were essential for the parts of the track I saw and the feed back given by the riders. The track looked awesome, it was marked from top to bottom with tape and had been prepped really well, a big thanks to race organisers Brian Dinkelman, Morne odendaal and my dad Gary Browning. Unfortunately i witnessed a bad crash at the top of the track over the first rock garden. Young pinner Alan Haterly gapped the rocks and slipped out just afterwards, he went down landing on his shoulder first which broke his humorous and did some other damage I'm not to certain about. Wishing him a quick and trouble free recovery. I was blown away by the spectator and rider turn out for the first race. For the first time in our regional history the track was lined with loads of spectators cheering and supporting the guys. It was really cool to see so many new young faces on the bike, I hope these guys stick around and progress with the sport heading into the future. Racing was super fun to watch. Hayds was on top form knocking seconds off his last run time setting a fast pace for the riders after him. He finished third for the day. Greg was back on the bike for his first time after his injury so he was looking smooth and stylish as ever. He had two clean runs and finished second for the day. Timmi B was pinned as always sending that GT flying down the mountain and just kept it super smooth. He finished a well deserved first for the day. Thanks to the sponsors Greg Minnaar racing and Mongoose and all the spectators and riders that made the event such a success.

Next race is on the 31 January at worlds view, see you all there!

Click here for a full report and more photos...http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/kzn-regional-dh-series-round-1-race-report/

Ride safe,

TB

Broken bones...

For me 2009 wasn’t one of those years that you look back on and think, "wow I wish I could do it all over again." In March I had the biggest crash to date at our regional event on the world cup track. I ended up plowing into the floor head first at about 40kmh over a big gap jump. It left me with a concussion, broken humorous, cracked shoulder blade, and compressed vertebrae in my spine. After a long wait on the mountain I finally got into an ambulance and headed to medi-clinic. After being wrestled off the X-ray bed by only one employee I was taken into theatre where they operated on my arm putting A stainless steel plate with six screws holding the two bones together. I have never been so uncomfortable in my life, for the next few weeks I was walking hunched over and every muscle in my body was in pain. Sneezing was something I tried to avoid for obvious reasons.

Then in December I found myself heading to medi-clinic again after a crash on our pump track in Howick left me with a broken index finger at the joint. Two pins were inserted just above the knuckle which poked out the bandages like a TV antenna. So that was another forced break from cycling for me. I went back to the doc on the 21st January where he used the "grip and rip" technique to get the pins out. Another momento to go with the plate from my arm. I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike end of this month just in time for our second regional event. In our sport It’s so important to be on medical aid, breaking a bone is expensive nowadays.

Ride safe,
TB