life in between cycling

hi, my name is james and im a cycle-a-holic, its been a week since my last ride tho and it feels a bit strange... it hasnt only been the weather that has prevented me from riding, id have to admit there is an element of laziness, a general lack of motivation to train (ive realised that one really needs this in the absence of mountains and beautiful trails) and a thousand other things to do! Lets start with the thousand other things to do: I am studying a Masters at the University of Amsterdam! Signed up yesterday, start lectures on Monday! Feels like a bit of a crazy last minute decision, well not that crazy actually im pretty stoked that i can start straight away... So im going to be here for a year at least, which brings me to the general lack of motivation to train: Theres not much mountain biking here, but there is cyclocross! Now all i need is a cyclocross bike and a schedule of the races and bingo, motivation! But as with starting up in every new city there are a tonne of forms to fill out and queues to stand in, and jobs to find... ahem... jobs please..?!? Well after approaching anyone that looked like they would have me i now have two potential job opportunities, dont want to jinx either of them so post more about that later!

which way do i point this thing?

What does one do when there are no mountains to ride one's bike thru? Race a road bike on a Criterium ciruit! So lets just say Im new to this game, road bikes, angry roadies, going really fast in the same gear for 2 hrs... Hmmm So its Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at the Sportpark Sloten in South Amsterdam for some roady craziness for me. Ive been twice and lets just say it hasnt been uneventful. I got shouted at by some guy before we had even started the second lap of a 3or4 minute course on Wednesday (still not sure what i was doing wrong). I ended up in the grass on the side of the track after clipping the back wheel (while drinking) of a muppet who clearly saw my weakness (being the fact that i was drinking i assume) and took the oppurtunity to overtake. But today will be different, I will learn how to go forwards in a peleton rather than backwards, and I will pedal harder... oh yes... pedal harder!

a photo or 2

its all about having your name on a number board...




training amsterdam style (yip its raining)

swiss mud bath, i mean cup

ok so firstly... heatwave, what heatwave? its done nothing but rain since i got here... its still at it, oh wait no its just overcast now...i asked one of the swiss guys what tires i should use and he smilled and we went to his basement... he pulled out some mean looking (check out shwalbe black shark mud tires i think) skinny ass soft mud tires and some latex tubes and patted me on the back...well it was touch and go on saturday with the weather forecast being sunny for the race, so i pre rode the course on my normal race tires and it was ok, bit slippery in places but ok... but when the heavens opened one more time on sat nite i went down to the basement and started changing tires, damn those things were skinny...oh the course... well now... i reckon there were about 5 or 6 sections that would have scared the crap out of almost everyone at nationals in SA, how do u say chicken run in swiss? well there werent any... wicked... sunny my ass... all it did was rain on sunday, the course was an absolute mud bath... the start was two laps of a grassy field section, i knew right away that the tires were right, i was cornering like i was on rails while others where sliding everywhere with feet out... started right at the back and passed quite a few people (prob about 80 ppl on the start) by the 1st single track...raced hard but very soon i was getting chainsuck, most ppl were running up the steep stuff anyway, but by lap 4 my brakes were gone and it was getting a little dangerous, soon i decided to save myself the pain and just stop... most of the pros were already in the showers anyway, i reckon less than half the field finished and my buddy old julien absolom (who will now be know as his royal fastness) had lapped all the way up to 15th place or so...ag it was a cool experience, i had my name on my number board and people were shouting it all over the course, it was wicked... ill be back for sure...

Bern baby...

Long haul flying, what is it good for... Well i spose its faster than riding but only marginally more comfortable than spending 100 days straight in the saddle...
The bike and I arrived fine and we were reunited before you could say `big ass swiss mountains`, it was good to stretch the legs having not ridden since the Imana and sat in one place for 10 hrs more recently. Mike (one of the swiss guys I met in Stellenbosch whos house im staying at here in Bern), Martin (aka Tiger) and I rode up a hill called Gurten which is where the race is being held on the weekend. We then bombed down a downhill run with some mean jumps and a road gap for good measure. Bern is a pretty cool city, a lot smaller than i expected and surrounded by hills and forest. Pity its raining right now cos id love to be exploring it!
I wont lie, im getting a little worried by the fact that every person i ask about the race and whether they are taking part (even some pretty hardcore looking cyclists) kinda laughs and says no thats just for professionals... hmm bring on the ass-kicking! oh and apparently its an 8 lap course... nice!

Boldly into the unknown after conquering, well... the unknown

Well the pieces went back together pretty well, in fact maybe all that super glue added a bit of overall strength... The Imana Wild Ride is quite possibly the best mountain biking experience one could ever have, get on the waiting list! A word of advice tho: Ride it with someone who knows the course! I did and it was like riding 200km of marked off goat tracks, beach and 4x4 track!
Well, team James (Jamie Smith and myself) had a bit of a disastrous day getting a little lost (following a previous winner of the event on a serious non-sneak) and finished in 5th place... We didnt take our eyes off the goal and chased hard and eventually starting day 4 in 1st position with 2 stage wins in between. Day 4 was tough but we held them off and took the win overall! Stoked! We'll be back next year to defend, see you there!
Its just a matter of hours now before i hop in the plane to switzerland. Last round of the swiss cup here I come!