The fifth round of the GregMinnaar/Mongoose DH series was held on the 25th April on the top half of the new course. The track had been compacted and rutted out from the national 2 weeks before so conditions were prime and all the riders were loving one of our best DH courses in pmb. After the two table tops on the flat N3 pedalling section the track turned right down an access road, it was really fast and twisty, very retro but loads of fun. My first run was way too conservative, was clean but just way too slow. Finished that run in 6th overall so was a bit of a wake up call for me. Went back to the drawing board and planned my next run in the start gate. Second run was way better, carried speed well and forced myself off the brakes in the final fire road section which payed off. Went four seconds faster too place me 3rd overall.
Results for the day were:
1) Tim Bently
2) Hayds Brown
3) Travis Browning
4) Kelvin Purchase
5) Simon Dinkelmann
Been training hard and looking forward to the next DH!
Ride safe,
TB
Monday, May 3, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Round #2 MTN National DH series
The second round of the MTN national series was held in our hometown of pietermaritzburg on one the best courses we have had to date. There was such a good mix of pure technical sections, flat out pedalling to test the fitness and then fast flowing single track with loads of jumps and corners to the finish. The event was a huge success, firstly the race organisers did such a good job in putting the event together and making sure it ran smoothly. Secondly from a rider’s point of view, there were no problems the whole weekend, we got nothing but good reports from all who rode the track and the shuttle system worked out really well. And thirdly from a spectators point of view, there were large crowds lining the course which is what we need, the more people see the sport and realise that there’s more to Downhill than just putting your brain in a bucket at the top and going balls to the wall, the more people will get involved and help our sport grow.
I changed my approach to the weekends racing, instead of competing against the other riders and aiming for a good result, I focused more on pushing myself to reach a personal goal I had set in my mind for the weekend’s race. My first run went well, I pedalled hard where I could and managed to keep it clean. I finished with a 4:28 which placed me 7th overall and 3rd elite men. I was happy with that, but again wasn’t racing for positions, I was racing against myself and the clock. My goal sitting in the start gate was to knock 2 seconds off my previous time. So I left the gate and pushed it to the edge, got super loose down some of the fast sections but it was the best feeling ever. I have never been so happy with a run, it came together better than I thought and I managed to knock those 2 seconds off which satisfied me more than the 4th overall and 3rd elite.
It was an awesome weekends racing, I finally got the podium finish that I’ve been chasing for so long, so now just gotta keep it up! Well done to Tim on an amazing run, and Hayds for coming so close to that second place! Thanks to My dad and Brian for putting an incredible national together.
Overall results for the day:
1) Tim Bentley
2) Johann Potgieter
3) Hayden Brown
4) Travis Browning
5) Tiaan Odendaal
Will post some pics as soon as I get them.
Ride safe,TB
I changed my approach to the weekends racing, instead of competing against the other riders and aiming for a good result, I focused more on pushing myself to reach a personal goal I had set in my mind for the weekend’s race. My first run went well, I pedalled hard where I could and managed to keep it clean. I finished with a 4:28 which placed me 7th overall and 3rd elite men. I was happy with that, but again wasn’t racing for positions, I was racing against myself and the clock. My goal sitting in the start gate was to knock 2 seconds off my previous time. So I left the gate and pushed it to the edge, got super loose down some of the fast sections but it was the best feeling ever. I have never been so happy with a run, it came together better than I thought and I managed to knock those 2 seconds off which satisfied me more than the 4th overall and 3rd elite.
It was an awesome weekends racing, I finally got the podium finish that I’ve been chasing for so long, so now just gotta keep it up! Well done to Tim on an amazing run, and Hayds for coming so close to that second place! Thanks to My dad and Brian for putting an incredible national together.
Overall results for the day:
1) Tim Bentley
2) Johann Potgieter
3) Hayden Brown
4) Travis Browning
5) Tiaan Odendaal
Will post some pics as soon as I get them.
Ride safe,TB
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
GregMinnaar/Mongoose DH series #4
Hey everyone, been a while since I updated my blog been a bit busy and slack at the same time. On the 28 March the fourth round of the GregMinnaar/Mongoose DH series was held at Ferncliff on our national course. The track was super long and tough on the body. There's a steep first section with loads of off camber that flows along the road leading into the new pine section. There's a few switch backs before hitting a step down leading into the final pine section that flows parallel to rut hill road and joins onto the world cup table tops and follows the same route all the way down.
My first run went well until the pine forest where I unclipped and slid out around one corner. I held it together and tried to finish strong by pedalling hard along the N3. I was happy with my time of 4:33 considering I didn't have the cleanest run. that put me 3rd overall with Tim and Tiaan in front of me. My second run was good at the top, held all the lines and carried speed well. I tried to pedal harder on the N3 but that run went a second slower. Guess I ran out of legs on the pedalling bit. Hayds went faster in that run placing me in 4th position and 2nd elite.
Overall results for the day were:
1) Hayden Brown 4:27.81
2) Tiaan Odendaal 4:27.91
3) Tim Bently 4:28.12
4) Travis Browning 4:33.03
5) Kelvin Purchase 4:37.55
Thanks to my dad and Brian for an awesome course, I think the national this weekend is going to be a huge success for all taking part. Well done to Hayds, Tiaan and Tim for a super ride.
Ride safe,
TB
My first run went well until the pine forest where I unclipped and slid out around one corner. I held it together and tried to finish strong by pedalling hard along the N3. I was happy with my time of 4:33 considering I didn't have the cleanest run. that put me 3rd overall with Tim and Tiaan in front of me. My second run was good at the top, held all the lines and carried speed well. I tried to pedal harder on the N3 but that run went a second slower. Guess I ran out of legs on the pedalling bit. Hayds went faster in that run placing me in 4th position and 2nd elite.
Overall results for the day were:
1) Hayden Brown 4:27.81
2) Tiaan Odendaal 4:27.91
3) Tim Bently 4:28.12
4) Travis Browning 4:33.03
5) Kelvin Purchase 4:37.55
Thanks to my dad and Brian for an awesome course, I think the national this weekend is going to be a huge success for all taking part. Well done to Hayds, Tiaan and Tim for a super ride.
Ride safe,
TB
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Round #1 MTN national DH series
On the 5th February the KZN downhill troops travelled to Skeersport in the Magaliesberg, Northern Province for the first national of the year. We didn’t know what to expect as the venue was originally scheduled to be held at krugersdorp, but access to that venue was denied last minute by the landowner. This left François and his crew with three days to build a course from scratch on the side of a farmers mountain in the middle of nowhere (seriously, it was a long drive off the main road to get there!) After 6 ½ hours of driving we finally arrived at the track, it was extremely hot and dry but excitement was high to do some riding!
For the time the guys had to design and build the course, I thought they did an awesome job. It took a few runs to get used to but turned out to be loads of fun. The fast flowing first section was littered with rocks and sweeping turns that lead into a road gap and fast off camber section. The next forest section had a 180 degree corner that caught a lot of guys out, this was a real momentum killer so it took a bit of practice to get right. The next few turns you could either lose a lot of time or make it up as it was quite flat and rocky so if you got through smooth you were on a good run. From there you went down a fast straight with a few ski jumps into a blown out corner that lead into a slight uphill with a few rocks to manoeuvre around. The next section was a spectator hotspot, there were two consecutive rock drops that lead into a right hand rock turn, left hand dry and dusty turn, and then a sprint to the finish around a few more sweeping turns and ski jumps.
The KZN guys were there in full force, Team Maverick were rolling in style with a couch under their tent for the riders to chillax between runs. The Greg Minnaar team were relaxed as usual, fresh from a night of XBOX and ready to ride. If that were a national sport Dave “rico” Dinkelman would be team captain for sure. According to Greg team Fox/Morewood had moved the whole of Howick city hall to the track because of the size of our pits…but that’s how we role in Howick. People need to know this. There’s always such good camaraderie between the KZN downhillers on and off the track. I think that’s what attracts a lot of people to come back after their first event. Everyone is keen to get involved and help out where they can, just look at some of the parents who help make our local Downhill series such a huge success. As for the riders, there’s respect between everyone no matter what skill level or what bike you ride, we all there because we share the same passion for cycling and are just looking to have a good time on the bike. If someone needs help during practice there will always be guys willing to show the fastest line or show them down the track, really awesome to be part of such a great bunch of people.
Race day arrived and it was go time. All the riders would now see weather the time spent practicing and training was going to pay off, weather they would be disappointed, or stoked with the final result. The Sub junior boys kicked off the days racing, Chris Rigbey rode extremely well to finish 1st in his class, he has been getting faster every ride. Youth men were next down the hill, this class was littered with KZN riders. Tiaan Odendaal shocked a lot of guys, his first run was slow due to a crash in the end section of the track, next run he came freewheeling past us with a broken derailleur, this didn’t stop him from posting a time that would place him 10th overall and 1st youth men, he has upped the pace big time this year and shows loads of potential for the future. Pinner Kyle David’s finished 2nd to Tiaan, followed by “Cooba” Peaty Bently in 3rd. Shane Martin and Raymond Acutt did well for their first national and finished 4th and 5th respectively. Tim “Ginga” Bentley by far had the best ride of the day, he rode super smooth and consistent and showed what hard work, determination and training can do for your racing. He smashed the competition and finished 1st in the junior men and an impressive 2nd overall. Alasdair Fey has stepped it up a notch this year and had a good ride, he finished 2nd behind Tim. Simon “hovercraft” Dinkelman rounded off the KZN guys in the junior category finishing 3rd for the day. It’s really cool to see our elite ladies class getting bigger, Tayla “toto” Brown looked pro on her new bike and finished 2nd with Vicky Philips following closely behind to take 3rd. Greg “G-unit” Minnaar had two clean and fast runs as expected to finish 1st elite men, really awesome to see Greg coming back to his routes and riding some SA races. Coolest dude on the circuit Hayds Brown had an awesome ride as usual to finish 4th with Ex Moto-star Justin “guru” Cope finishing 7th. I finished 11th with Doug “big ring” Do Plessis in 15th. Mark “veld fire” malherba rode with an injured shoulder from the 2nd round of the GregMinnaar/Mongoose series, he finished 23rd closely followed by XBOX enthusiast Dave “rico” Dinkelman in 24th. There was some fierce compo in the Sub-vet class with Norman “thunder calves” Hatherly finishing 6th, Devlin Fogg in a close 7th, Conrad “C-rad” Davies in 12th and Mark “trout” Sydney bringing up the rear in 14th.
What an awesome weekend of riding we had, thanks to all the guys for making the effort to attend. We are hoping to see our regional races grow from strength to strength in the future, the next event is on the 28th February at Cascades so bring your friends. Thanks to Steph Davies for taking all the awesome photos, they can be seen on my blog, which is http://www.travisbrowning.blogspot.com/ or Stephs facebook page, here’s the link to that: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Falbum.php%3Faid%3D145788%26id%3D104470867534%26ref%3Dmf&h=4f8575e814d84d8da2feb7d80494f2b6... you can email her if you would like any of the photos, her address is stephanie@radiate.co.za... hope we got everyone!
Ride safe,
TB
For the time the guys had to design and build the course, I thought they did an awesome job. It took a few runs to get used to but turned out to be loads of fun. The fast flowing first section was littered with rocks and sweeping turns that lead into a road gap and fast off camber section. The next forest section had a 180 degree corner that caught a lot of guys out, this was a real momentum killer so it took a bit of practice to get right. The next few turns you could either lose a lot of time or make it up as it was quite flat and rocky so if you got through smooth you were on a good run. From there you went down a fast straight with a few ski jumps into a blown out corner that lead into a slight uphill with a few rocks to manoeuvre around. The next section was a spectator hotspot, there were two consecutive rock drops that lead into a right hand rock turn, left hand dry and dusty turn, and then a sprint to the finish around a few more sweeping turns and ski jumps.
The KZN guys were there in full force, Team Maverick were rolling in style with a couch under their tent for the riders to chillax between runs. The Greg Minnaar team were relaxed as usual, fresh from a night of XBOX and ready to ride. If that were a national sport Dave “rico” Dinkelman would be team captain for sure. According to Greg team Fox/Morewood had moved the whole of Howick city hall to the track because of the size of our pits…but that’s how we role in Howick. People need to know this. There’s always such good camaraderie between the KZN downhillers on and off the track. I think that’s what attracts a lot of people to come back after their first event. Everyone is keen to get involved and help out where they can, just look at some of the parents who help make our local Downhill series such a huge success. As for the riders, there’s respect between everyone no matter what skill level or what bike you ride, we all there because we share the same passion for cycling and are just looking to have a good time on the bike. If someone needs help during practice there will always be guys willing to show the fastest line or show them down the track, really awesome to be part of such a great bunch of people.
Race day arrived and it was go time. All the riders would now see weather the time spent practicing and training was going to pay off, weather they would be disappointed, or stoked with the final result. The Sub junior boys kicked off the days racing, Chris Rigbey rode extremely well to finish 1st in his class, he has been getting faster every ride. Youth men were next down the hill, this class was littered with KZN riders. Tiaan Odendaal shocked a lot of guys, his first run was slow due to a crash in the end section of the track, next run he came freewheeling past us with a broken derailleur, this didn’t stop him from posting a time that would place him 10th overall and 1st youth men, he has upped the pace big time this year and shows loads of potential for the future. Pinner Kyle David’s finished 2nd to Tiaan, followed by “Cooba” Peaty Bently in 3rd. Shane Martin and Raymond Acutt did well for their first national and finished 4th and 5th respectively. Tim “Ginga” Bentley by far had the best ride of the day, he rode super smooth and consistent and showed what hard work, determination and training can do for your racing. He smashed the competition and finished 1st in the junior men and an impressive 2nd overall. Alasdair Fey has stepped it up a notch this year and had a good ride, he finished 2nd behind Tim. Simon “hovercraft” Dinkelman rounded off the KZN guys in the junior category finishing 3rd for the day. It’s really cool to see our elite ladies class getting bigger, Tayla “toto” Brown looked pro on her new bike and finished 2nd with Vicky Philips following closely behind to take 3rd. Greg “G-unit” Minnaar had two clean and fast runs as expected to finish 1st elite men, really awesome to see Greg coming back to his routes and riding some SA races. Coolest dude on the circuit Hayds Brown had an awesome ride as usual to finish 4th with Ex Moto-star Justin “guru” Cope finishing 7th. I finished 11th with Doug “big ring” Do Plessis in 15th. Mark “veld fire” malherba rode with an injured shoulder from the 2nd round of the GregMinnaar/Mongoose series, he finished 23rd closely followed by XBOX enthusiast Dave “rico” Dinkelman in 24th. There was some fierce compo in the Sub-vet class with Norman “thunder calves” Hatherly finishing 6th, Devlin Fogg in a close 7th, Conrad “C-rad” Davies in 12th and Mark “trout” Sydney bringing up the rear in 14th.
What an awesome weekend of riding we had, thanks to all the guys for making the effort to attend. We are hoping to see our regional races grow from strength to strength in the future, the next event is on the 28th February at Cascades so bring your friends. Thanks to Steph Davies for taking all the awesome photos, they can be seen on my blog, which is http://www.travisbrowning.blogspot.com/ or Stephs facebook page, here’s the link to that: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Falbum.php%3Faid%3D145788%26id%3D104470867534%26ref%3Dmf&h=4f8575e814d84d8da2feb7d80494f2b6... you can email her if you would like any of the photos, her address is stephanie@radiate.co.za... hope we got everyone!
Ride safe,
TB
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Round #2 GregMinnaar/Mongoose DH series
On Sunday the 31st of January I had my first race back after a month and a half break from cycling due to my broken finger. I was a bit shakey the first couple of runs down the hill, when you haven’t ridden for a while it’s not as easy as climbing back on the bike and going fast straight away as I soon found out Sunday morning. The track at worlds view is awesome, very fast and has a lot of natural obstacles that make for a fun course. My first run was ok, a bit conservative but I was happy to get a solid time. My feet blew off the pedals when I landed from jump in the forest which killed my momentum a bit, so I was hoping to have a clean second run. Next run came and the same thing happened down the first straight before the main rock garden, I managed to keep it together and finish the run a second and a half faster. I was happy with the race, gonna take a bit more practice to get up to speed and some training to get some fitness back, but I’m more than willing to do the work.
Overall results for the day were:
1) Greg Minnaar 1.26.21
2) Tim Bentley 1.27.11
3) Tiaan Odendaal 1.30.69
4) Justin Cope 1.31.21
5) Travis Browning 1.32.08
Thanks to Brian and my dad for setting an amazing course, looking forward to riding there again! Thanks to Lloyd for the photo. See a write up on the event at http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/
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