So close

Another Volvo Challenge under my belt and this time I had a strong partner. I quickly realized that a podium finish was out of the question as there were some seriously strong riders and our slower start wouldn't push us to far up. You also don't know during the race where you are at because all the categories are mixed and there are three different length's so trying to keep track while keeping focused was out of the question.
Had a fantastic start and didn't get stuck in the masses that normally eats not only time but also energy. The legs were cold as you can't get a good place on the line and warm up. They started us off on a hill that didn't help the cold legs but after working them loose we were on our way. Our slower start was fine because it was not too slow that we fell behind but rather a leg saving pace. Had a close encounter with a ditch that "burped" my front tire but luckily the tubeless setup negated a definite snakebite and just soaked it up.
By the second lap the legs were starting to feel the pain but I was munching on Hammer Gel all the way. Started with one at 20 minutes and was planning to take one every forty minutes afterwards. I realised that the pace was high so was taking in one every half hour. This kept off the cramps but created a whole different stomach problem. Luckily they had some banana's at the water point and I got some real food down.
We were cruising at the end and really burying ourselves to make up as much time as possible. This seemed to work as we were not passed by anyone and rapidly made up some places. The laps wall to the finish line we spotted so other competitors who we thought were in the same category as us. I urged Tamir on as we cranked our way up the sharp incline. I was on the wheel of the guy in front and had just past the other rider who had slipped off his bike. I was hoping Tamir was on my wheel but unfortunately as I got to the top I realized that Tamir and the other guy were coming up together. We arrived just behind them and finished in 11th overall and four place in our category. Not a bad result and my best so far. Tamir was brillinat and I'm super happy to have found a parnter that in at a similar pace as me.

Race Day

Done and dusted. First race of the season is done, unfortunately I have some serious work to do if I want to turn this little piece of silver into gold. Had a great race and finished 2nd in the Sport category. I will be sorting out the signing up to the Israeli Cycling Federation in the next week or so and then its up to the Expert level. Think i will suffer plenty with the big boys but I'm not doing this for the medals(although they are nice). I really want to push myself but because the season is long, I mean the peak need to be in October so I will concentrate getting some base training in for the next few months. Told my coach I want to sit with him and go over what I need to do to accomplish my goals.

Done and dusted

Back now from the weekend at the Dead Sea. Great weekend and had some good racing, most importantly had a fantastic time with friends.Took some pics but not many. Full report to follow.

The pinacle of the season

Finished reading the article on the patron saint of cyclist on the cyclingnews site. Great story about the church that has hosted so many a Giro d'Italia and Giro di Lombardia. I then came across the picture of the statue that is outside this hillside chapel. It summed up my season so well I had to include it in my race overview from yeasterday's Championship. This season I started with some highs and ended off with more challenging lows. Call it beginners luck but my season start in the Sport Category had me thinking that this sport was easy. And thats exactly where I made the mistake, this sport is everything but easy. My first season saw me go from winning my category to suffering in the Expert category. Did I jump to quick? Its something that I couldn't and don't want to answer because I had a challenge in the last half of the the season that can only build character. The injuries in the later part of the year probably didn't help but might point to the fact I was pushing a bit too hard too early. So my season like this statue had me practising victory salutes and also grovelling asking why I was putting my body through this medievil torture.
Yesterday however ended in a mediocre finish. I started the race too hot. I burned myself in all the hype of the race and trying to get a good position in the start. I blew after the first long climb and the single track swallowed me up to the back markers. I was down and out thinking that this was not the way I wanted to end my season. I kept the pedals turning and the energy levels slowly returned although I had by this stage kissed away podium chances. Then I saw one of my rivals up ahead, he became the mark. I got into a rythm that was strong enough to be catching other riders and not to fast to burn myself. I gave it stick in the hills, my strongest area, and then recovered somewhat on the technical singles track leading back down. By this stage I had made it up to sixth and all I kept in mind was that if a rider came undone I could still land somewhere near the top. No one ended bailing out but by pushing on I had a real race on my hands for fourth place who went into the penultimate lap about two hundred meters ahead of me. I clawed up the wall of a climb and was only about fifty meters behind him at the top, I could smell fourth place. I pushed on and we came down the hill almost together but that final thirty meters wouldn't come down . In the end I sprinted my heart out but missed the first loosers spot by ten meters. I was dissapointed but looking back at my season I think its a fair result and it gives me something to aim for next year.
The next week will see some easy pedalling and then the bike goes into storage for three weeks. You may have to look fowrd to sorry-lame-arse-looking-back-at-the-season posts. It might also give me a chance to get my blog looking like something a bit more personal. I hope everyone had a great season of racing and those in the southern hemisphere keep their blogs up to date to give us some much needed inspiration for the winter months.

Keeping it going

So this weekend saw another race in the searing mid summer. To make things worse the start was 13H30!! That got me a bit worried after last weeks heat wave that took its toll on me with cramps being the eventual result. I woke up yesterday morning to a wonderful sight though, clouds. At this time of the year its almost unheard of and there is never rain this early so you could call it a sort of miracle. No rain fell but the cloud cover made this a whole lot more comfortable than my previous mid-summer baking contest.
Onto the race. It was great to get out there and the pressure of my first race at the new level was off the shoulders. I knew who the main competitors were, this week amounting to a grand total of four. I just concentrated on keeping up with the guy that beat me last week, did some pre-race chatting and found out he has dominated the expert level the entire season. That gave me a bit more of a boost as he apparently was pretty much doing the same thing last year. this being my first year racing makes finishing second behind him quite encouraging.
Some how my start I go stuck behind all the clumsy riders. Keeping Matan within my sights I set off trying to not push too hard but keeping contact as last week I over did the first lap and that was the race over basically. Like I said though the clumsy riders seemed to sneak in front of me at every corner just as I was making up ground and then go down in the turn. Hobbling around the donwed rider having lost all my momentum saw me loose about a minute in the first lap. I eventually saw him again on one of the switchback climbs but he must have noticed me coming and put donw the gas. That was the last I saw of him as I spent the rest of the race just riding at a competitve pace not loosing any places.
In the end I managed a second for the second week in a row. Not a bad start to my new level of competition but there will need to be a bit more work in the begining of the race to keep up with the faster guys.

Club League - Misgav

Race day. Went all out but start a bit too fast in the first lap. There were not that many people who showed up so they decided to start the expert and the elite riders together. Being my first race I didn't know what to expect but went off like a rocket because I wanted to get into the single first. Came in with a super time but set me up for some pain in the next three. as i had over cooked it and the heat was baking my heat. The second lap also saw me loosing my concentration and flying on the downhill part of the course a bit too fast. Went into a corner to hot and paid the price. Counted at least two guys go past as I got my chain back on and luckily it was the ego that got dented and not the bike. I was filled with sand that turned to mud with all the water I was pouring over myself. The first dreadful thoughts of throwing in the towel for getting myself in to deep. It lasted only two minutes as I entered the next downhill piece and the cramps were moved to the back of my head as I tried to keep my beast under control. I was really starting to enjoy the race as i got into a sort of painful rhythm, keeping the pace as high as possible without falling off the bike in spasms of pain. The last two laps I found my rhythm and also got better after taking in the gels. I think next time I will rather skip the before race gel and rather take it after the first lap. I had used this in the first races but i don't really think its helps to such an extent, rather keep a bottle of isotone on hand for the first bit as the pecking order is sorted out. All in all a great intro into the expert level taking second place although it must be said we were only five riders. Look forward to the next race and more experience. Pictures to follow as soon as i find them online.

Race telegram

Late dot Pain dot Will have further report dot Need sleep dot

Cape Epic - Stage 5

Two day special today due to me being up to my ears in work and simply passing out when I got home. I literally collapsed onto our couch after sitting in traffic for two hours. I need to get something closer to home, must bike to work!! OK now onto a more positive note, the Cape Epic. Stage 5 was supposed to be an easier day after leaving the hectic climbs of the garden route behind. Unfortunately 146km is never going to be easy. ALB went head to head for the stage spoils against Bull's Team mates Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm who would take the win for the first time this year. The longest ride of the this years race also saw the tightest finish with the top four finishing within 4 seconds of each other. MTN Energade came in fourth and amazingly Roel Paulissen came in with no rear tire, riding only on his rim as punctures hounding the leaders. The leaders still held a comfortable lead of 18 minutes but then again nothing is comfortable on the world toughest MTB stage race. The leaders did get some help though as bad luck stuck them in the stage today. Their pump adapter was not working and after two failed attemps and one cartridge left Etto Hoydahl 2 came to their rescue. After inflating the tire they discovered that the tire itself was torn so more repairs were made. This all happened at the 40km mark, that means there were still 100 to go. The effort to get back to the front must have taken it out of them as they finished 8 minutes down. Team BBB's take on the day, seems as the days go by just staying in the race is impressive.Jerimiah Bishop and Chris Eatough fell out of top ten contention today finishing 11th. There is still time in the race as these hardy competitors know but they will need to put in some monumetal effort to get to there.The Specialized Team riders are not having so much fun as their partners seems to be much the worse for wear after the grueling stages of the Cape Epic. After Christoph Sauser's exit his team mate Rebecca Rusch suffered similar although more dramatic effects. Christina Begy suffered a fall on one of the steep rocky section's and seems to have broken her collarbone. Luckily medical assistance was on the scene fast enough so we hope she'll recover quickly. Team BBB coming through again with some inside information on how their day went. May be slightly behind but always a good read.

Cape Epic - Stage 4

Yet another epic day;) Sorry its April Fool's and the silliness has infected me quite badly and been jack assing around all day. Relaxed day for me but not so for our front runners. The Dolphins have arrived and took the lead early on never to look back. Their lead went up to three minutes at one stage but the chasers took up the slack again today to close the gap in the end down to just a minute and a half. Yesterdays sprint finish was repeated again this time for second by the same two teams as yesterday, MTN Energade and Cannondale Vredestein. However roles were reveresed today as Kevin Evans and David George got their own back again only a second separating these two teams. Although not as demanding as yesterday's ride, today's ride saw rolling hill's where the boys with power could show their prowess. A day without hills in this part of the country would be sacrilegious so two lovingly named hills, Heart Break 1 & 2, are thrown in for good measure. If you think that bike racing won't change you then take a look at this article. Thys Dullaart an avid vegetarian has sen his diet altered by this race to no extent. Trek seems to be keeping updated photo's on the race on their team website, I must add that these photo's are of real quality and could be considered art. Links to the regular guys who make this race possible can be found here, team BBB suffering from mechanical problems that we all love so much. Velowoo also seemed to have run into problems but then they did spot an ostrich.

Cape Epic - Stage 2

Waited a bit too long today for the results to come through from the Cape Epic's toughest day in history. I think it took out more than I thought and the riders were tending to themselves rather than their admiring public. I can't blame them after seeing the graph of the route they took yesterday:I've been up that first "small" climb and trust me it is not that small and also nowhere near as short as it looks on that graph. A challenging 8% average gradient the Montagu Pass is nothing to be scoffed at esspecially when you have a 140km to undertake on the day. Yes I will repeat that for those of you who thought I may have mistyped that: 140km!!!! Ouch!!!! I think the liberal use of explanation marks is completely justified once you re-read that last sentence. As you can see in the picture the second killer is even longer and steeper and I will not repeat it becasue once should be enough to make you cry, 18% gradient's. Even the pro's were forced to push their steed's up these loose, rocky cliff's. What made matters worse was tip-toeing your way down the other side where had you had the abilities of a mountain goat you may just have been able to manage. Did I mention that the baking Karoo desert peaked at 39 degree's... centigrade. Roel Paulissen and Jakob Fuglsang made a miraculous comeback after the dissapointing start to this year's edition. They finished almost five minutes ahead of yesterday's winners, who managed to hang onto their yellow jersey. Burry Stander reflected on the past two days with grimace saying he had never hurt as much in his career. “I thought the Giro del Capo was tough, but this has been a nother level.” In third place was the German Alb-Gold Mountainbike team, Hannes Genze and Jochen Kaess. Pictures of the last two days can be found here and here. Also from the Trek Team a take on the race so far take a look at Jeremiah Bishop and Chris Eatough. these are two of the best in the world and to hear how difficult the race is from these guys can only mean that this is not a race for the timid.

On Fire

You'll have to excuse this post as I blow my own whistle a bit. I've worked hell of a hard this season so far and it has come off this weekend and I was on fire not just becasue of the sweltering heat. Well this weekend saw the third of the UCI Israeli Cup events and probably my best so far this season. I must say that I've been preparing really hard and working most cold mornings to get the hours in. Ofir my coach has also really helped fantastically with everything as well as the team trainings twice a week. Everything just came together to culminate in a brilliantly executed run on what to me was the most difficult race of the year. The climb in the beginning was long, steep and crazy with some slippery sections. After reaching the top completely over heating becasue of the 30 degree heat, I could only manage to take two deep breath's while gearing up and then the technical descent that went up and down on some really tight corners and little sharp climbs.I was loving it though although I had a bit of a rotten start only managing to get to the top of the climb in fourth behind my rival who was just in front of me. I tried to regain my composure and get the heart rate down becasue the start really was a little crazy with the other guys flying. So from about fifty meters off the front I started to work the descent with my technical skills and the fact that gliding beneath me was the perfect machine, a Specialized Epic S-Works. Basically a full blown racing beast with BRAIN technology, put simply it only works when you need it to work.

By the end of the first lap I had made my way back up to the front lying just behind the leader saving some energy for the climb that was coming up. It's amazing how much pressure you release sitting on someones wheel and letting him take you around. It also puts more pressure on them to choose their line and try to push a bit harder. After getting out of the single track i made my way to the front and didn't look back. I had plenty of power still left and put in a big dig to the top of the hill increasing my lead by a few more psychological meters. Ido was with me by now but I decided to not wait for the end but opted for the mid race push, especially after the climb it would test the fitness. I managed to drop him and he actually fell out the race completely after that, in the end not even finishing.

The rest of the race I tried to concentrate on the five meters of track in front of me and pushed hard all the way. The last lap saw the last challenge come in on the start, about half way up Dav put in a big effort but just as he was coming onto my wheel I stood up, geared to a bigger gear and put all those interval trainings to good use. Good might miss Johnson. I made it to the top with ample distance and basically just push all the way to the end. The heat did make things difficult but I was absolutely loving the ride becasue it was so technical. In the end I came over the line a minute ahead of Nir who eventually finished in front of Dav, unfortunately he got a puncture at on one of our rather nasty pieces of volcanic remains jutting out the ground. We all shared a well deserved beer after the race and enjoyed the first days of summer. So all in all it was a great day and the best way to start the summer marathon series that we'll be getting under way. As for insight which might help, I started drinking protein powder mix after tough workouts. Not to bulk up but rather to recover. Last week I was far from home and didn't take any with. I think this had something to do with my rather lack luster week last week. Yesterday I remembered to stick some in my bag and today I feel fine. So it may not be connected but the only big difference other than the trek across the country was also the missed protein to aid recovery. Hope it might help.

UCI Marathon World Cup Report

Well this weekend saw the start of the UCI World Cup circuit, at least for those with some endurance in their legs. The Marathon race took place in Manavagat, Turkey on Sunday drawing teams like Dolphin-Trek and Team ALB Gold. Velonews has a really good write up on the race, mentioning that it was the specialists that came through with the wins. 90km is no laughing matter but for these professionals it was a great start to the season. Esspecially in the women's race where it came down to only 5 seconds. That's nothing if it comes down to the line probably no more than ten meters. If you want to see pic's of the racers going through some of the major points look here:

• Naras Bridge
• Aqueduct
• Seleukeia ruins
• Singletrack
• Oymapinar Dam
• Finish area
• Ceremonies

Top three places for the elite men and women respectively are as follows. For full race results available follow the links on either:

• Thomas Dietsch 3:38:54
• Alban Lakata 3:39:15
• Karl Platt 3:41:13

• Pia Sundstedt 3:28:16
  
• Annabella Stropparo 3:28:21
• Esther Suss 3:35:39

If you're looking for some of the team reports and how they found the race Team Dolphin-Trek were very happy with their early season podium finish of Alban Lakata. Will Bregfelt gives us an in depth idea of the excitement and pain of racing in the pack. Bad luck unfortunately ruined a possible top ten finish but hopefully after three events of not wearing the lucky rabbits foot he'll have learnt his lesson and we'll wee him finishing higher.