Wednesday, March 13, 2013

African continental championships - 10/03/2013



This year Cascades mountain bike park hosted the African continental champs which saw around 55 riders take on the world cup course from top to bottom. This is definitely one of the most physically demanding courses on the circuit with about 55 seconds of flat out pedalling half way down. Rain on Friday night made for prime riding conditions on Saturday with everyone having a great time on the course. However heavy rainfalls Saturday night turned the course into a slip and slide near the top steeper sections. With a different format of racing seeing as though it was a UCI sanctioned event saw the Elite riders seeding early. The track had improved since practice but was still rolling very slow. Tiaan Odendaal seeded 1st, myself 2nd, and Louis Smith 3rd.
 
As soon as we got to the bottom we barely had time to clean our bike before we headed straight to the top again for the final. My run was very conservative at the top, thinking back now a little to conservative so I had to push hard on the pedaling section. Overall I was happy with my ride but looking to improve. Overall results for the day were as follows:
 
 
1) Hayden Brown
2) Tiaan Odendaal
3) Stefan Garlicki
4) Tim Bently
5) Travis Browning
 
Thanks to Max cluer sports marketing, KZN MTB and Greg Minnaar cycle store for putting on a great event. Looking forward to South African champs on the same course in a few weekends time.
 
Ride safe,
TB
 



Tuesday, February 19, 2013

KZN provincial series - round 1

The first round of the Kwa Zulu Natal Provincial Downhill series took place at Cascades mountain bike park. It was a short but challenging course with no room for error. Rain from the day before made conditions perfect on Saturday morning. I started off practice a bit rusty as I haven't ridden a Downhill bike for around 7 months due to a broken wrist last year, but soon got back into the swing of things. I had alot of fun and very excited for the rest of the Downhill season abroad my new GT Fury. Overall results for the day were as follows:
 
1) Tim Bently 1:30
2) David Hogan 1:33
3) Travis Browning 1:34
 
Ride safe,
TB
 
 





Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The Cycle fest 11 - 13 January

With a new year comes a new season of racing. This past weekend saw the first event for 2013 held at Cascades mountain bike park. Rain for 2 solid days before the event saw it being an absolute mud bath. I took part in the Enduro event held on Saturday. This consisted of 3 timed runs down 2 separate courses. The times were added together which gave your overall result. This makes for an exciting format of racing as it suites both Downhill riders and cross country riders as there is a good balance between technical riding and pedalling. Overall results for the day were:

1) Greg Minnaar
2) Tiaan Odendaal
3) Alan Hatherly
4) Travis Browning
5) Craig Paul

Overall it was a great event and very well organised, big thanks to KZN MTB and Max Cluer sports marketing.

Pics of the mud fest to follow!

Ride safe,
TB