Jaco Pelser: Cape Town Trip

The trip all started on Thursday morning at about 3o'clock in the morning with my friend Corbin Mann and his dad. Our flight was at 6:30 and the drive to the airport about a hour and a half, our bicycles were checked in and all was ready for a relaxed breakfast at Wimpy. It was my first time flying with bicycles and I didn't know what to expect, but when we arrived in Cape Town the bikes were fine and didn't have a problem at all. At our guess house, Corbin and I built up the bikes and went to the track for our first practise day on the track with our coach Johann Wykerd and some teammates.

The coarse was different to what I am used to. It had no trees for shade and would make up for a hard days racing in the sun, secondly it was very dusty and dry, which isn't unusual for the Cape. It had some really technical loose rock sections that you couldn't practise, because it changed every time someone rode over it. I did about 3laps and felt good about the track. I had also just got my new BMC Fourstroke 01 with full SRAM X0 groupset and had to check it out, because it was the first time I rode it. It was the best bike for the track and especially over the loose rock sections. The full suspension helps a lot over the rocks, because you can still pedal without bouncing of the bike and loosing traction. First day in Cape Town came to an end. The next day we drove to the Airport again to pick up Christan Kirsten one of our racing friends. We then went to the track and did some more laps just for final assurance and to feel comfortable. The track also changes sometimes, because of tape being put up so riders can't take other lines or shortcuts on the track. After 3 laps I was ready and headed back home to our guest house for some lunch and a little nap before we would all have dinner together.

Corbin and I- feet up.

Race day arrived. We went to the track a little bit earlier so that I could support our teammates and I caught up with my very good friend Catherine Colyn. Our team had some great results and it was only the start of the day. My race was at 12:15 and it was in the middle of the days heat. All the Juniors lined up, I was surprised to get a second row start. As the race started my chain came off and my feet unclipped, it was horrible start and not what I had imagined. We caught all the back markers of the Elites which made it harder to pass, I soon found myself in 17th place with fellow KZN mtbiker, Max Sullivan just behind me. I had to use my head in the race and up some places to get into my top 10 that I was aiming for. It was such an awesome spectator friendly coarse, but with there being 100+ riders on the track it was difficult to stay on the bike up the short little kicker climbs on the 4.7km long track. I had the best feeder also and that helped me a lot to stay hydrated with my Biogen Race Mix. I was surprised to cross the line in 9th place, 11minutes behind the winner. I can now go back to the drawing board and improve on that!