26 February 2008

National Champs

Sunday's National Champs were the first time EVER that nationals were held outside of Windhoek and I would just like to thank Adriaan, Marita and their crew for an outstanding event! The route was fabulous with the loops around town and it was a very refreshing to race on a new circuit in Nam.
On the racing front, I was equally impressed with the other categories. Having a front row seat as we passed all of the other bunches several times as we did the loops and the out and back course to Gross Barmen. I actually thoroughly enjoyed seeing the others and was intrigued to see how some groups were splitting up while others were staying together virtually till the end.
Our race had a whole ten starters and I was the only rider from the Namibian Giro team present, which was a great pity. Not wanting to spoil the ride I kept things rolling with 'through and off' for as long as possible, until Jacques opened up the real racing and we had some fun. Victor K put on a good show but did way too much too early, so was spat out the back pretty quickly. Jacques, doing his first really long race in a long time held on very well but eventually faded and left me alone in front with Tjipee.
Tjipee had a good ride, but it included a lot of wheel sucking. Obviously the best tactic for the day, as long as that does not become a normal state of affairs for him.
With a few clicks to go I accelerated up the last bump and left Tjipee behind to go on for a nice win and the National Jersey for the 2008 season! What a great feeling!
 
Now I have to design the thing as it's never been made before...
Any suggestions?

23 February 2008

Nationals coming up

Tomorrow morning bright and early is the first race of importance for the 2008 season.
National Champs will be held in Okahandja for the first time ever and should make for a very nice change to the usual racing in Windhoek! It would seem as if all of the 'usual suspects' in Namibian Cycling are visiting greener pastures so the racing might be a bit slower than what was initially hoped for.
No matter though, they are still the National Champs and I am really looking forward to them, even after a really hard week of training.
Updates can be expected soon, thanks to MTC (more on that later!).

13 February 2008

Nedbank Cycle Challenge

I did my first race of the season on Sunday, lining up for the 75km Nedbank Cycle Challenge. In the pouring rain. What made the race even more interesting was the bike I had chosen to ride on.
A BEN bike. An old 'Benino' with downtube shifters and a whopping six gears at the back. The idea was to give the Bicycle Empowerment Network some coverage and see what an old clunker worth N$450 could do.
Obviously my training has been paying off (thanks Robbie!) because I was able to win hands down (solo about three minutes ahead of the bunch) and had a fabulous time along the way.
Will try and write some more later, right now I have to get out of this inet cafe! Really look forward to getting decent internet again soon...

04 February 2008

Quote of the Month

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." --Theodore Roosevelt