2014 is hier!

Die NUUS. 
Na ‘n moeilike 2013 is ek baie dankbaar om te kan sê dat my kontrak met VELO Life Racing Team vir volgende jaar hernu is. Daarmee saam volg daar ook vir my ‘n groot aanpassing omdat ek Somerset Wes toe trek die 29ste November om in Velo Life se tak daar te begin werk op die 1ste Desember. Ek is bevoorreg en opgewonde oor die nuwe avontuur wat vir my voorlê daar langs die see. My fietsryplanne is nog nie finaal ten opsigte van die spesifieke dissipline waarop ek sal fokus nie, maar met padfietsry wat so groot daar is, hoop ek om ook daarin verder te kan gaan en goeie resultate te bereik. Ek wil baie dankie sê aan Velo Life vir die geleenthede wat hulle my bied en ook al die “brands” wat ons gaan ondersteun in 2014. 

The NEWS. 
I am grateful to annouce that after a tough 2013 my contract with VELO Life Racing Team has been renewed for next year. With this comes a big adjustment for me, because I will be moving to Somerset West on the 29th of November where I will be starting to work for Velo Life in their branch down there. I am very privileged and excited about this new adventure that is awaiting me down there next to the sea. My cycling plans for next year, regarding which discipline will be my main focus, hasn’t been finalized, but with the road cycling that is so big there, I hope to take this a bit further and achieve great results. I’d like to convey my thanks to Velo Life for this opportunity and also to all the brands that are supporting us in 2014.

J. Pelser

"watch this space"

End of November i will be sharing some big news and what my life will be like for the next year, so stay tuned. 

J. Pelser

UCI World Cycling Tour - Pietermaritzburg

The decision for this race cam quite unexpected and exactly a week before the race. I though Amashova Road Race was my last for 2013 but proved not to be when my mountainbiker team mate Alan Hatherly and i decide to do the race together with the plan in mind being that i would work for him as the race was very important to him. I knew i had my next exam on the monday and thought it would be a great study brake.

It was a chilly morning as usual in Noodsberg just outside Pietermaritzburg and racing started of fairly comfortable with no real attacks going of or getting anywhere. Some junior cyclist tried to get off the front, but went at the wrong times and always on the downhills where they soon "ran" out of gears. For myself i am used to racing in the bunch now, but for Alan it was a little different to the cross country mountainbiking where he normaly is on his own. He managed to calm himself a bit and to stay put in the bunch and didn't try to cover every attack. I was very impressed with him for that reason. I didn't really warm up, so on one of the hills i jumped and went to the top alone where i was burning in the red zone. I sat up and let the peloton catch because i knew there was no point in going further on the downhill and i wasn't warm yet. 

Still on the first lap of 3 Alan lost his one bottle on a bumpy section of the road which costed him a lot on the last lap where he bombed out and had no more energy. I caught up to him and asked him if he is coming but all he could say was: "do you have a GU for me please?" Unfortunately i didn't have any left and was running low on fuel too but pushed myself to the finish and got 8th in the 16-29 age category. 

I can't say that i am happy with the result because we didn't get Alan where we wanted him, but looking back at that week where i was in study mode and resting and then doing the hardest road race of my live, i am satisfied. 

I had a year with more ups than downs, the funny thing is that i didn't get faster with all the up's but that's life. I also loved the fact that my father did most of the races that i did and never quit or pulled out. I think he even did more races than myself this year. I thank him for allowing me to comete and the support! 

A massive thanks to VELO life Racing Team for all the wonderful tours, trips and support in 2013! I'm happy to be in this family instead of it just being a team! 

Thank you to the fans!

J. Pelser

Amashova Road Race 2013

The race started quite fast with many of the pros jumping at the front. I managed to stay safely in the middle of the peloton closely behind my team mate Alan Hatherly for the first few kilometers. As we reached the first uphill called Fox Hill i felt strong and good so i stayed in the peloton, but close to the top my body froze completely and my arms started cramping. It was a very weird feeling that i have never experience before. That emediately through be right ou the back of the peloton and all hopes of finishing in the main bunch in the end. I managed to stay in a 2nd group where we worked really hard to try get back to the peloton, but funny enough, all the guys in that group was Juniors and with our restricted gears it was even harder. I soon passed Alan where he unfortunately had gotten a puncture and had to fix it. At the end of the day he also worked really hard to try to catch our group but got another puncture that through him out of the race.

in the last few kilometers i played it safe and in the finish straight i jumped on the left hand side of the road and got myself ahead of our group and finished 5th in the Junior Boys category but very far down on the winners time.

I had a fairly good race, but I did not have the outcome I was expecting. I will now focus on my final School exam and do one last race on the 27th of October for my team mate Alan Hatherly. It is a really important race for him and I really hope to help him get the result that he wants.

Till next time.
J. Pelser

Photo credit to Alan's mother.

Busy week ahead of Amashova...

Firstly i write my first final exam for matric on Tuesday and things are heating up with all the studying. 

Secondly i'm doing a little bit more training and riding before Amashova road race which i am really looking forward to and excited for on Sunday.

Till next time. 

J. Pelser

Noodsberg Road Race #2 of 2013

After a long brake from racing, due to trails exams, I got back into it with the Noodsberg road race. I did the previous one earlier in 2013 and i knew the course pretty well. I love the route because it has everything in it. It is a very challenging route but you are still able to enjoy it.

It was a very wet day the day before the race with rain pouring down everywhere in KZN. I decided that i was going to change my attidude and be positive towards the next day and no matter how cold, wet or rainy it was, I would still race. With road racing in SA we often have really early starts because of road closures and how busy the roads get. It is just for our own safety.
the race started of with a neutral start, but when that was over, Luke Roberts, myself and Keagan Matthews jumped out of the peloton and managed to make a small gap but decided to sit up and wait because it wasn't such a clever move because it was so cold. The peloton stayed together and quite big until one of the first big hills came where it soon split up to smaller groups. I didn't know where my form was and how strong I was before the race and then I realized that I wasn't that strong because I slipped out of the back of the peloton. Now I was in a smaller group and knew there wasn't a chance that i would catch the main bunch again, but that didn't stop me from trying.
I rode away from the small group with two other guys and finished in front of them in 19th place overall. I was quite impressed but still not happy with the level my fitness was at. I also got a 2nd place in the u19 age category with which I am pleased but it felt like a replay of earlier in the year where I also got a 2nd place.

My next race is Amashova and I'm really excited for that and looking forward to that.

Thanks and see you at Amashova

Also thanks to Cally for the cool picture at the start.

Here is a photo of the u19 mens podium: 

Spur Schools XC Race #7

My Saturday morning was well spent with my nose in some of my school books, studying for the upcoming exams on Wednesday, which is really close... My reward for that studying session would be a race in the afternoon at the famous Cascades MTB Park. I read about the Spur School series in an email from KZN MTB during the week and decided that I will go and do the race to get my mind off of the work for a bit. 

Cascades was packed, full of children from the age of 8years old up to 18 ready to race and have fun on their bicycles. My race started at 3PM which was a very cool because i haven't done a race in the afternoon in a long time. As u18's we did 7 laps of a reasonably smooth track with single track and an uphill. Because i havent done one of these fast short race in a long time it was going to be hard and very fast, indeed it was with Carlo Marzoppi storming off of the front and riding away from us all. He is participating in the world championships in 6 days and his form is in very good shape so he destroid us at the back. I was in about 3 place throughout the first lap but dropped back into 6th on my second lap so that i could just breath and recover alittle bit again. I pushed myself at a consistant pase and got back into 4th position where i stayed for most of the race and finished in that position also. 

It was one of the cleanest races that i've done in a long time with the riders having so much respect for each other and racing clean. The main reason for this is the school system that teaches the children to respect each other and the manners is absolutely great. It was also very nice to be able to race at the World Champs venue and to get a feel for some of the tracks that the best in the world will be racing on. 

Thank you to Spur, Mongoose and all the organizers for such a cool event and one that i think all school learners should do. 

Also to Lavinia Van Wyk for feeding me in the tech zone and to all the soectators for support and the photographers for the photos. 

Jaco Pelser

Thanks to QuickPix for this photo 

Riding up some of the switch backs. Thanks to Boogs Photography for these photos.

My BMC fourstroke.

Tour de Kranz

The race with the most spectacular views of them all! This one was even more beautiful because of rain that came down the day before the race and made the skies and air crystal clear. I was a very cold morning at about 8degrees celsius and for my friend from Mauritius, it was something completely different. In Mauritius it is very flat and doesn't get as cold as it gets in SA, so it was very hard for her. The altitude also was a bit different to her and often that is one of the big problems when doing bike race in an unfamiliar destination. 

Although the rain might have cleared the air, it didn't make the roads and some single track to nice to ride. I knew how this race was in the wet because of the previous year where i broke my hanger in the wet but still enjoyed the rest of my race. I didn't do to much of a warm up before my race, because i knew how quickly i would cool down in the start shoot where we normally stand for 15minutes. The signature of this race is the downhill start and 2 sharp left turns where the faster guys normally get a big lead quite quickly. I went down with a bit of caution and got stuck behind some riders in the mud, but luckily the first piece of single track was a double track and i could pas the riders who weren't so good on the uphills. My body was a bit cold and it only woke up at 14km's to go where i was already far behind the top 10 but riding with a very good friend, Callan Deacon. We settled into a very nice pace together and enjoy the most spectacular views ever. I even stopped at the water tables where the friendly ladies really motivated us to carry on to the finish. 

I still don't know where I finished overall, but to me that didn't matter in the end yesterday. I wanted to have fun and enjoy the wonderful scenery before the tough school trials start and i get ready to finish my final year of school. 

I also realized why i enjoy riding my road bicycle a lot more than the mtb, simply because i can ride it the whole time and don't have to get off and walk the tracks where it is to muddy. 

Thanks to all involved and the race organizers. Also to my French friend from Mauritius for completing that tough ride and still being positive.

Jaco Pelser

A week filled with excitement

Firstly it started on Wednesday evening at track racing in Pietermaritzburg where we almost had just Velo Life riders there and also Luke Roberts from BMC South Africa joining in on the action. It is so nice riding and racing with all these people on the track because it really helps you train a bit harder and become a bit faster.

Then on Thursday i picked up my French friend from Mauritius in Westville, we then came back to Hilton where we went for a nice little road ride into Howick and looked at the Howick Falls. She surprised me because of the weather outside where it was starting to rain. She didn't really mind and off we went onto our road bicycles. It was very cold but enjoyable. That evening we went to Coffee With Jesus at Velo life and had a great evening with friends and family like James Reid and Candice Neethling. 

On the Friday we walked the World Champs XCO coarse and had a lovely lunch at Coffeeberry with Velo Life and BMC. Kim my friend then decided that she wanted to stay another night so that she could also do the Tour De Kranz MTB race. 

It was a great week filled with laughter and learning some french. 

Tomorrow is the race day and i'm excited for it. 

Thank you

Jaco Pelser

Illovo Eston MTB Race

Quite an early start compared to the previous weekend. The race started at 8AM, but with the Eston race there is always a long que for parking which can make it a bit harder to get everything done in time. Nevertheless, we were on time and ready.

I didn't know how my body would feel on the day because of very late nights in the past week doing school work but I decided to go and have fun on my bicycle.
My start went alright but with the King Of The Mountain being almost 3km's into the race it was a very fast pace up front. I fell back quite a few places but managed to settle into a nice pace with fellow BMC rider, Bianca Haw. I tried to ride a bit harder and away from her and managed to do so for only a short while were i caught up to Eszter from VELO Life-Bergamont. In the last 3km's Bianca caught me and beat me on the home straight where she had a sprint finish with Kendall Ryan(Jeep).

I learnt that the body really can't perform when it is tired. The scenery and course was absolutely amazing and really a great ride. With me not feeling hundreds, I managed to finish 2nd in the Juniors. I don't know how but i am happy and also for Alan Hatherly(BMC-SA) who won the juniors and whose form is cleary coming on superbly for the XCO World Championships later in August.

Thank you to everyone for the support and also VELO Life.

 

Jaco Pelser

Hilton Dirt Fest - 45km

It's shocking to realize how fast time really goes... Last year this time i was just getting back into my cycling and recovering from a bit of flu before this race and only got a 19th place overall(45km). Well this year things would be a bit different because of my switch onto the road and doing a bit more road racing, but as the season for road got a bit quieter i decided that i will do a few mtb races in the end of the year.

I only rode my mtbike 3times in 3months and then i rode it again 3times in the week leading up to the Dirt Fest. Just to get used to it again. It was quite a different experience, but on a BMC bicycle it is alway wonderful. Especially with the race being in my home town and local trails that i knew. It was such a honor riding in those forests with people that really don't have tracks like what we do. I was very surprised when i finished inside the top 10 after loosing 2places up the final climb into the beautiful school grounds of Hilton College where the race has been held for the past 3 years. It is the ideal venue and a great setting almost in the middle of all the routes. I can't wait for this race again next year where i will be riding the 70km as i will be in the u23 age category. Thanks to all my friends and support from Velo Life Cycling and to all the photographers

Thanks to Karlien Van Zyl for Cothe picture. 

Thanks Karlien van Zyl for the picture.

Ah, and as always i get some great pictures from QuickPix, owned by Gavin Ryan. Thank you.

This was just before the finish line, on the last uphill.

New Updates & Stories- coming soon

New posts and updates soon...

i have just resently made the switch from Mountain Biking to Road racing and will soon be telling you about all of that and some race reports will also follow.

thank you

i know it has been a while