Up close and personal!

Luckily he wasn't looking at me!

My New Camera!

I bought myself a Xmas present. A Nikon D60 DSlr. Manged to put it to good use at Umzolozolo Game lodge this past week. Here is a pic of one of the many Kudu's

SIMONSVLEI LEAGUE RIDE

Written by Neil:

 

It was cold and windy as day broke on Sunday for the last race on the Spring League calendar.  Just before we were off the wind died down and the mercury rose which made for perfect racing conditions.  

 

The race started at a fast pace over the rolling hills around Paarl all the way along the R44 to Stellenbosch.  Just before the Hellshoogte climb, Ingram launched a big attach but the bunch was waiting for the move before the climb.  As soon as Ingram was caught another group went away and Stuart went after them, but again the group was brought back.  As the bunch hit the climb André attacked with Tredoux on his wheel.  Soon afterwards the attacks came from all the overall contenders going after Tredoux.  A small group of about 10 riders went over the climb first containing Tredoux and all the big names.  André and I went over in the second bunch of 12 riders but soon caught up to the leading bunch.  Ingram and Stu paid for their big efforts before the climb and came over in the next bunch.

 

With a small break of 4 riders ahead of the first bunch and the breeze from behind, the pace was kept close to 50km/h by a hard working MTN team assisted by André and myself all the way to Paarl where the 4 riders were caught.  With about 4k’s to go André again launched an attack but the bunch was not going to let anybody get away so close to the finish.

 

The sprint was won by Michael van Staden from Team Sotherby’s closely followed by Moolman Welgemoed and David Garrett both riders from Team Daiken.  Tredoux was boxed in for the sprint but finished strongly in 7^th position pushing him up one place in the overall league standing to 6^th. 

 

As in the Bonnievale race Team Capestorm again received complements on the new red Speedman jearsy which seems to be working well to keep the team riders at the sharp end of the racing.

 

On behalf of the team I want to congratulate Tredoux for an excellent finish to the season and the writing seems to be on the wall that next season is going to be even better than this one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonnievale league

The Speedman lives up to its promise!

Team Cape Storm got a nice surprise this week when we were given the new Speedman shirts (hot off the production line).  The new shirts are a tweaked version of the original Speedman and has been updated to include some of the suggested features that the team gave to CS to improve an already great shirt.  Besides the features, the bold Cape Storm logos on the new shirt will make the team far more recognizable in the peloton.

If you read the description on the tag that comes with the shirt it ends saying: “We have done our part, now it is up to you to do the rest for your podium finish”.  I think these words were written directly to the team, who while have been racing well this season haven’t quite cracked a big result yet.  Well the new shirts were all the motivation we needed and Tredoux proved the label prophetic and made the podium at the Bonnievale league race this past weekend.

 

It was an early morning for the team, having to get to Bonnievale (170km from Durbanville!!) in time for the 7am start.  Due to the distance it was a fairly small bunch that lined up for the 80km route but it included all the favourites for the yellow jersey. 

The race was anything but a steady pace with many of the riders thinking they could get a break away to stick.  Neil unfortunately punctured early in the race reducing our team to just 3.  Stuart, after a tough working week spent in Joburg, took it upon himself to try control the race during the first part of the race.  At 45km Ingram made a good attempt to break away and was out front for a number of kilometres.  Unfortunately for him he was caught just before the break of the day went with 8 riders.  Tredoux managed to make this decisive split and stuck with it all the way to the finish and with it claiming Team Cape Storm’s first podium of the season.  He now is lying in 7^th position overall in the PPA elite league with one race to go.

Can I blog from my phone?

This is to test if I can blog directly from my phone?

Tour de Worcester

Tour de Worcester. – Neil Swarts

 

Day broke as the sun painted the snow capped mountains pink and red.  It looked like a beautiful day until we noticed the howling winds on the other side of the Du Toitskloof Tunnel... it was going to be a hard day in the saddle.

 

We set off at an easy pace with the guys catching up as this was the first league race of the season. 

 

After 4k’s things heated up as the first attacks went.  The pace was fiery through Rawsonville and the gutter started to take its toll on those legs that were not yet used to race pace.  Because of the wind and high speed, the bunch was stretched across the road from the left shoulder to the right and the race was stopped twice as we received a friendly but serious warning from the race commesaire.  After about 40k’s the leading bunch consisted of about 20 riders which included myself and Tredoux.  At 45k’s I was dropped by a hard attack from Tredoux (thanks team mate!!) 

 

Stu’s knee packed up as a result of new pedals he bought a week or so earlier and he waited for the women’s bunch (nice move).

 

The pace in the leading bunch was very fast with attacks going all the time which ended in a break staying away consisting of David Garrett and Garth Thomas.  Tredoux finished in the first bunch with a very credible 12^th place.

 

The chasing bunch of about 20 riders which included Ingram, André and me started to pick up some of the riders who found the pace in the first bunch too hard.  The stormy winds drained the impotence from the chasing bunch, but Ingram took a flyer with 3k’s to go and stayed away to finish 16^th.

 

Because of the chilly windy conditions we just waited for prize giving and then left for a Wimpy breakfast.

 

With lessons learnt and a good idea of our strengths and weaknesses, we are looking forward to the next league race in Durbanville.

 

Mossel Bay pic

 

Mossel Bay Race Report

 

The PPA league season is about  to begin and Team Cape Storm hopes to begin with a bang! 

 

In order to do some final preparation Team Cape Storm decided to head up the coast to Mossel Bay and take part in the Welstand vir 'n Leeftyd 100km race.

We unfortunately headed out of Cape Town one member short as Neil had picked up a bit of flu and decided against racing.

 

Anyway, the rest of us managed to sneak out of work early and after loading the trailer (thanks to Danny for leanding it to us) the 4 of us were on our way.  We were riding in style in Andre’s GTI and although Neil was missed I must admit it made sitting in the back seat more bearable.

We made good time and arrived in MB with enough time to unpack and go for a loosner before supper.  Our accomodation was at Tredoux’s parents house and thanks must be given to them for making us feel so at home.

 

The talk over supper was centered entirely around the following days race, the route and the unknown competition.  Tredoux’s dad has a wealth of cycling knowledge and shared some with us while at the dinner table.

 

The race the following day only started at 8:30 so it was nice to be able to prepare leasurely for a race for a change.  A short ride to the start and we were ready to go.  The race route was certainly not an easy one and made more difficult by it being unknown to us.  The first 30 km gradually climbed out of Mossel Bay and included one fairly lengthy climb.  It was on this climb that the race broke apart.  Tredoux put in a big attack and split the pack.  Unfortunately Ingram, Andre and myself got a bit caught out by our own teammate and failed to make the split.  The 3 of us however were not far behind and the front pack needed to work hard to keep away from us.  This meant that Tredoux could sit on the back get a fairly easy ride till the turn around point at which the local teams ganged up on him and kept giving him a dead wheel and a gap to close.

 

Andre and I managed eventually to haul in the lead group at the 75km mark.  This point however also coincided with the main climb of the day and we regrouped right at the base of Grootbrak.  Andre pulled an “Erik Dekker” move and shot straight through the bunch and attacked from the bottom of the climb.  Absolute classic move.

 

Tredoux followed the front pack and set about trying to chase down Tiaan Kannemeyer, who had made an early move.  By the top of the climb Tredoux was in the front group, Andre in the second and I was in no mans land.

 

In the final corner Tredoux had a close shave with a car thanks to a sleeping marshal which ended all chances of him claiming a podium position.  All in all it was good preparation for the upcoming season, and a good weekend away.

 

Final Results:

Tredoux           4^th

Andre              9^th

Stuart              12^th

Ingram            16^th

 

There was also a crit that followed far too shortly after the race!  The crit was held on a very short loop that had 2 very sharp hairpin bends in it.  Tredoux managed once again to pick up a 4^th and just miss the podium.

   

Check what happened to me this AM!

This is the result of Fuji Carbon vs a Landrover Discovery.

Luckily I am ok and the bike is insured.

Any Frame suggestions???

9-5 relay

 

Team Cape Storm managed to overcome numerous mechanicals (and hangovers) to get 3^rd in the 9-5 relay!

3 punctures and a broken chain lost us about half an hour in total.  It would have been less if Neil had remembered to bring his bomb that Andre gave him for his birthday!

 

It was some tough riding with each rider racing to the point of puking for +-30mins and then resting for 90.  Sounds easy when you see it like that!

 

The weather was ok, but our Aardvarks definitely helped protect us against the wind which started pumping in the afternoon.

 

Cape Storm at Dirtopia

Check this out.

 

http://www.capestorm.co.za/news/news_details.jsp?news_id=12603

 

Dirtopia Pic

 

Dirtopia and Team Cape Storm

This past long weekend (thanks Thabo!) was Dirtopia and the launch of Team Cape Storm.  The festival for 2008 returned to its roots and was once again held in Greyton.   This year things were a little different to previous years with a more relaxed program in terms of races, but don’t worry all the classics were still there, the ENDURO, the widowmaker hillclimb, the trophy race and of course night polo.

 

Day 1

Myra, Andre, Tamara and myself arrived on Thursday morning and quickly got our campsite in some sort of order.  Next on the agenda was to track down Pierre from Cape Storm and our new kit!!  It felt like Christmas had come early and there was a massive box of stuff for Andre and myself.  Most importantly Pierre had remembered to bring along my CS Firefly sleeping bag so no cold nights for me.  Once we were fully kitted up Andre and myself were on our bikes and headed off for lunch in Greyton.  Myra who unfortunately had picked up a bad case of flu caught a lift with Tamara.

After a slight altercation between Andre and a Greyton motorist (I thought only people from the city got road rage!) we found a spot to eat.  There must have only been about 10-15 of us in total but this coffee shop was totally unprepared for this group of mtb’ers.  After we had eaten all their food they actually had to close!

 

Once we had eaten all their food we saddled up for the 17km trek home.  I use the word trek because the burgers in our stomach made the ride home feel a lot longer than it actually was!

 

Next on the program was the night race (2 laps of 7km).  After a bit of humming and harring and checking to see if our lights had enough batteries we decided to join in the fun in the dark and ride the night race.  As with any mtb race it started at a pace.  My legs were actually feeling really good and started off really well until I decided to test out my helmet and go over my bars!  The fall was actually quite harmless but when I got up and tried to remount I fell into fynbos!  I got quite stuck and battled a bit to get out.  I managed to regain my position (4^th) and seeing as though Andre (3^rd) was now a fair distant ahead and 5^th place was quite far behind I decided not to take too many more chances.  In the end Andre managed to get Team Cape Storm’s first podium!

After a shower it was braai and beer time!

 

Oh I must tell you about the carbon Giant with Crossmax that I was riding!!  I had taking my bike (Raleigh) into Flandria to send for the fork to be serviced and it didn’t come back in time.  Leonardo however kindly let me his bike, hence the upgrade which made Andre very jealous!

 

  

Stu has a new toy!!

As of 2 weeks ago I have been the owner of a Power Tap power meter.  It is a really great toy that is going to get me from my current state of absolute unfitness to race ready form.

It in conjunction with my newly acquired coach are going to make my life hell!!  I see 4:30am intervals on the not too far horizon!  (What have I gotten myself into??!!??)

 

   

 

The software I am going to be using is Training Peaks.  SO for the next couple of months I will be monitoring my Normalised power, my PowerZone distribution and my TSS,TSB,ATL and CTL scores. 

Will it help, well time will tell but with the form I am in at the moment the only way is up.  6 months till Spring league!  I will keep you informed!

 

Just over 2 hours till the long Easter Weekend.  4 days to really get to know my PT.

Bloem

This weekend saw me heading up to Bloemfontein for Leila and Declan's wedding. During the weekend Myra and I managed to visit the now infamous Reitz res at the UFS!!







Take a look at the licence disc on the car I rented from Imperial!! It expired over a month before I rented it. Besides that the dashboard kept flashing at me to say that the car needed a service. Oh yeah I couldn't open the passenger door with the key seeing as though somebody before me tried to unsuccessfully use a screwdriver!!




I must say Bloem just doesn't want me to have an enjoyable trip. Besides the wedding which was great the rest wasn't worth writing about!

SA Taxi Story...Justice! - A must Read!!!

 

Old but still good

 

This morning, yours truly, decided to sneak in a pinch of top-secret and highly professional canoe training at Emmerentia dam, before the first farts of the sparrows could escape their imprisoning sphincters, and even before the glories-of-mornings of most non-gay South African men could rise to view the possible prospects of "before work" swims.
Yep, I was up and onto that little patch of water before sunrise, tearing around it at record-breaking pace, sneaking in a wee bit of pre-Duzi training in order to wrestle the crown away from the well slow and soft Martin Dreyer (present Duzi champion, for those of you not in the intellectual canoe mix) next time around.
Anyway, the details of my incredible canoe talent are not up for discussion here, but rather what happened on my drive home after the session, in rush hour traffic and, in particular, on Jan Smuts Avenue near to the Old Parktonian Sports Club around 8am.
I was happily chilling in my car, cruising along at about 60kph, in pretty much bumper-to-bumper traffic, with nobody going anywhere any faster; it was simply not an option.  Well, not an option for anyone with a brain, with an ounce of logic within their crania, with a drop of sense inside the membranes of their cerebral hemispheres. You'd think that a creature without a brain would equate to a fly or less, a category that includes mosquitoes, stones, anvils and......taxi drivers.
Yep, enter Sipho "I'm a d*ckhead without a brain cell" Ndlovo, driver of a Toyota Hi-Ace with 4 wheels, 1 brake pad, no lights, half a steering wheel, about 30 people inside and 3 masking-taped windows, standard issue for a South African taxi driver.
He had more than likely participated in the demonstration march last month with hundreds of other taxi driver idiots protesting about having had their 'vehicles' impounded for not being roadworthy.  The rocket-scientists couldn't understand what wasn't roadworthy about a taxi with a bobejaan spanner for a steering wheel, or one without brakes (they reckon a handbrake is just as good as the foot brake pedal).

Anyway, my mate Sipho decided things weren't flowing fast enough for him so started weaving in and out of the traffic, arm hanging out of his window like a baboon's tail hanging from its ring piece.
I heard this aeronautical engineer-like taxi driver coming from about 5 cars back, because everyone was hooting and slamming on brakes to avoid the accident that he was trying his damnest to cause.  After he narrowly missed the back of my canoe as he swerved in behind me I made a stubborn little vow that he definitely wouldn't be cutting in front of me like that, and so began the fun and games.

The bum-wart first tried the standard tactic of intimidation, just gradually cutting me off, in the typical "you'd better slow down and let me in, or I'll crash into you" method.
Well, I used the typical "F_ck you faeces-brain" tactic, with one hand on the hooter, the other pointing straight at him, with my foot firmly on the accelerator, until he backed down like Mike Catt had done in 1995 when Jonah Lomu ran straight over him.
This had a snowball effect, which had me chuckling the whole way back to my humble abode.  Syphilis-face then decided to put all his well acquired driving skill to the test and adopted the smartest technique of them all, the "Eish, I weel ovah-take on the wrong side" method, one that sadly has caused numerous accidents in the past, including the untimely death of one of our awesome mates a year ago.

This made old Maccatini madder than a spitting cobra with a red hot cactus lodged up its rectum.  No skin off the f_cking taxi drivers nose, he just accelerated more, and tried to cut in front of the double-cab in front of me, this after he had hooted at me and showed me a middle finger accompanied with a few swearwords, something that made me want to beat him harder than Campbell hit the gay boy who stabbed him repeatedly with a pen all those years ago!

Well, the fella in front of me had obviously also been observing the proceedings, and likewise refused to let Sipho D*ckdribble Ndhlovo in so the acceleration by the monkey continued, while he tried his hardest to outstare the double-cab driver.  Sadly for the nuclear physicist the emergency lane was shortly going to end, with a solid
stone pavement to mark its ending.

More sadly for him was the fact that he, and his 30-odd passengers were all trying their damnest to "intimidate by staring" myself and the double-cab man, instead of watching the road ahead something that most brain-owners do when driving.

I saw it coming, and was smiling my full-tusk smile even before they hit!!

Anal-bum-wart hit that pavement at about 70kph, 31 passengers bumped their heads on the roof of the Hi-Ace in poetic unison, adding an extra 31 dents to the already-f_cked minibus, and the two front wheels were ripped off the chassis as the bus slid to a delightful halt.

Thankfully no passengers were hurt, which made it the most fantastic thing to witness.  Sadly though, Sipho, arm still hanging out of the window, was also unscathed. However, his car was more f_cked than that prostitute at PE harbour named Deloris, and his mood was somewhat down-trodden.

I hooted and made sure he got the full-frontal of my biggest-ever super smile, as did the driver of the double-cab, and then to my absolute joy, looked in my mirror to see every driver behind me doing exactly the same!

The brain-cell-lacker had received his well-earned treatment!  I was happier than the Proteas when they beat the Aussies, or at least as happy!!

So folks, what a peachy morning it has been so far.  The sun is shining, it's Friday, I've done my training.  There will be a lot of thirst quenched this weekend, and Sipho, Faeces-face Ndlovo is one mini-bus short of a taxi!

Now that is justice....!