More world class MTB action in KZN

This past weekend was the Hilton Dirt Fest and it sure did live up to its name. The previous weeks Hill to Hill in KZN was literally a wash out but the dirt fest was just plain dirty. Once again I was blown away by the awesome riding conditions and trails in KZN. The trails in Hilton were varied and endless with almost no district road and plenty of single track and forest trails. With the bulk of the riders coming from Gauteng and riders in the Western Cape claiming the Utopia of mountain biking the riders in KZN just seem to get on with it quietly and confidently. If you haven't already spent time on KZN MTB trails then you better make a plan because you are missing out. 

Single Speed World Champs SSWC12 this weekend in Winterton. More beers less gears is how this bunch rolls. If you are a nutter or want to see some nutters then you need to check this out. Follow the action on twitter @sswc_2012. 

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Its Bike Showtime!

Its bike show month with Eurobike in Friedrichshafen, Germany just ended and Interbike in Las Vegas just starting up. Both shows showcase the latest in bicycle developments from commuter bikes all the way across to serious downhill racing rigs. Both shows are mainly aimed at the industry but also open to the public for the last day or two. Besides the halls and halls of exhibits they also have the ever popular bike demo days where you can ride and compare the latest 2013 model ranges.

The trends at the both shows this year seem to be the continued change and battle for wheel sizes in mountain bikes with many manufacturers releasing 650B or 27.5 inch bikes to fit in between the traditional 26inch size and the big 29inch wheels. Fox also released the 27.5 inch sid shock versions. Lights also continue to develop at a rapid rate with LED technology allowing smaller higher powered lights with lower power consumption, a great improvement over those old 5W clunkers with bottle sized batteries.

Electronics also continue to develop with Shimano showing off electronic hubs for commuter bikes and Fox displaying their electronic controls for shocks that allow the front and rear shock to communicate.  More at Eurobike and Interbike.

 

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Listen to your body

Effective and efficient training has as much to do with following a good training program as it does with listening to your body and taking it easy. I was reminded of this fact last week while trying to do an interval session. After a couple of weeks off following some flu and a niggling cold I was keen to put in some hard efforts to get back up to speed on my now wobbly winter program. After a good warm up and into the third interval I found the going tough and literally gasping for air at the end of the interval. First thought was just ignore how I feel and press on, this is a hard training session after all. But on second thoughts I conceded that maybe this was not a good idea and I should rather tone it down, which is what I did despite feeling down at not being able to complete the intervals.

A week later I was feeling a lot better and did the very same interval exercise. This time I breezed through all 10 intervals and felt great. Thinking back to a week ago the penny dropped that I had made the right decision last week by listening to my body. By doing so, I had not lost out on some training but had in fact allowed my body to rest and recover allowing me to put in a good training effort a week later. Valuable lesson learned.

 

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Whoohoooo Greg Minaaaaar!

Greg Minnaar is a world champ again! The last time he won this title was 9 years ago in 2003 as a 22 year old. Greg has been riding as a world champion downhill mountain biker for more than a decade and won his first world cup race at the age of 20 in Kaprun Austria. Now classified as one of the old boys on the world cup circuit he has proved that consistency and experience pays off. He kicked off 2012 with a memorable world cup win in his home town Pietermaritzburg and then spent the rest of the season playing second fiddle to new comer and downhill wonder boy Aron Gwin. But Greg stuck at it as usual and when Aron had a crash on his final run at the world championships, Greg was the man with the fastest time and claimed the title of World Champion 2012. 

Greg is not just some adrenalin junkie downhill mountain biker, he can hold his own on a regular bike on he flats as well. He has shown this with two convincing finishes at the Cape Epic where he finished comfortably inside the top 100 teams. He has also been seen spending the night close to a large beer filled cooler box at Sani2c while most other riders are passed out exhausted in their beds. 

It is this natural ability that gives Greg the edge in his racing. His incredible ability and skill makes him smooth and fast on the downhill track at speeds of around 70 km/h and then his pedaling strength on the flats gives him the edge and makes him super competitive. Greg is a legend who does South Africa and mountain biking proud.

 

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