XC World Championships, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Team KENDA-Stan's NoTubes after training on the race track

The journey to World Championships in Pietermariztburg made for a memorable 9 days in South Africa where Mike and I were happy  to represent our sponsors, team and country in what has quickly become  (respectfully) our 11th and 12th world championships.    

Of course we could have booked more expensive/ convenient tickets but we since prefer to save our money to make the most of our lives outside the airport the 49 hours of travel to South Africa from the USA included 2 consecutive overnight flights separated by a 10 hour layover in Frankfurt Germany.   Somehow, (and Thankfully!) we managed to bluff our way into the airline club with our expired cards  (reinforced with big smiles) where we took the welcome opportunity to catch up on some much needed horizontal time, as well as a few critical E mails before heading into a week plus in the bush.

Stretching out in the Airport Lounge before the 2nd overnight flight

Pietermaritzburg was in all it's glory hosting The world's best Cross Country, Downhill and Trials athletes and teams at this much anticipated and well deserved World championship event. National teams from 47 countries hardened from the latest season of competition were in attendance and all seemed to have brought their best games and nationalistic spirit to this perennial highlight of the off road racing world and the energy at the venue was positively electrifying!  

Awesome to watch the athletic Zulu Dancers perform at opening ceremonies 

  

The winter months in the eastern Cape held little rain this year and as a result the entire region was parched.  The course itself was begging for rain, dry and dusty to the point that any precipitation could have possibly brought better control to the gouged out lines and talcum powder corners or at least  provided some welcome relief to the radically dusty conditions.  

Upon first  inspection it was clear that straightforward climbing ability and fitness would be the major deciding factor on this  smooth manufactured track though the farmed eucalyptus groves.  However the course designers incorporated several custom built technical pieces which included some extreme sections that offered up just about as much as any rider would want to take on with an XC specific bike and resulted in a more than a handful of the best professional riders in the world to head home badly broken prior to taking part in the main event.                            

Mike rocking the "tree house" rock garden

Mike and I trained up on the course for several days leading up to the event, carefully dialing in the difficult lines that the course designers felt justified to adorn with name boards.     

From the standpoint of the more sadistic spectator this course would prove one of the highlights of the year though as athletes who know just about every rider personally and how gnarly the combination of such a course and the aspirations of those who make it to the world championships event it was tough to watch.   The carnage that this style of course brought to those who felt obliged to dig deeper than their ability allowed to ride all the features and made us wonder about the motivation to make a course like this for an event where riders would no doubt be motivated to give their all.

Taking the time for some stress relief was critical and Mike and I found the better part of a day to take a field trip to see some of South Africa's incredible scenery and well stocked wild animals.  Time was short with our resolve to stay on top of the event, catch up from the jet lag and with the sun going down at 5:30 but we managed a short trip to a local game park for an exciting self guided tour.  Here we were allowed to put  our fully insured rental car through its paces in the name of discovering whatever animals we could find along the way.  Obviously the zebra, warthog, ostrich, wildebeest, giraffe and white rhino were a bit tame to allow us to drive up for such a close inspection but none the less they were Amazing to behold!  The grunting hippos and 4 foot mystery lizard barely spotted in the dry grass were the highlights of a fun day, the additional bonus was getting through the experience without having to dip into the rental car insurance!  Nice job Mike!!

self guided safari at Tala Game Park

The  much discussed rain in the forecast somehow never materialized though Race day brought a break from the oppressive heat that had become the norm for out trip here.  Mike and I took advantage of USA Cycling's support in our tech and feed zones so that we could relax and better focus on our races.  We both felt we held an advantage heading into the event with our carefully thought out race builds and equipment.  We chose to bring our Seven Cycles 29ers which were a great option for maintaing speed and rolling over the many technical obstacles, launches, rock gardens and drops. We both ran Stan's NoTubes' incredible Race Gold wheel sets shod with KENDA"s Small Block 8 Tires that proved to be the perfect choice for hooking up on the hard pack conditions which deteriorated to dusty, loose rutted turns throughout our time on course.  We were glad to be able to easily switch to the perfect gear ratios to match the steep climbs with options available from SRAM's XX1 (1 x 11) drivetrain system.  All in all we brought the best bikes we could have imagined for this mission.  

Tuned up and ready to race!

My #21 call up allowed me a 2nd row start position but as the gun went off my advantage quickly dissolved as the the rider in front of me struggled to get into her pedal and in a split second I was trapped and passed up by the majority of the field as she fumbled.  I began the charge forward through the typical chaos of the pack luckily avoiding crashes but succumbing to the almost inevitable time sapping ball up on the first small hill which had those of us not in the top 10 off our bikes and scrambling within the first 500 meters. The result was ending up towards the back of the field on the first decisive climb and in a difficult situation unable to pass, sitting in line and loosing critical seconds to the leaders.

In the start boxes...

racing!

Being blocked up for the first full lap, set me into damage control of chasing for the day rather than racing for the top result that I had been envisioning and training for with all my effort for this season defining event.  It was super frustrating but rather than cry about it I was resigned to move forward doing the best I could with plan B.   After nearly 2 hours of hart fought dusty intensity I crossed the line in a less than satisfying 30th position.  I was however still happy to finish without any serious incidents and of course still proud to have put in a solid effort and be out there representing!  Huge THANKS to Mike and all the people who supported me to be there - you are why I will never quit and will always do my best to get to the finish line !!

After a quick recovery shake I returned to enjoy watching the men's race.  It was absolutely incredible to watch the fastest elite men in the world racing elbow to elbow on this sketchy track.  In an effort to make an impact I knew that many of the guys (like the women) would be taking incredible risks and going so hard that mistakes were inevitable. 

I knew right from the decisive crash just 200 meters down the start straight that Mike would not be in this race for the result he had been working for all season - here is a pic taken while he waited in the start traffic .  Thankfully he did not hit the ground but was heavily caught up behind a pile of riders while the leaders were able to put in an in surmountable gap before the race had even reached the first section of single track.  I was bummed to see what I knew was a decisively bad moment, but as rehearsed, Mike stayed fully involved in the race at hand dug deep and fought on.

Mike finds some air time

The pro mens field put on quite a show!  The carnage on the rock gardens kept the crowds on the edge of their seats and the race medics earning their keep.  I was glad to have already completed my race as watching the scene really put the dangerous nature of this course into perspective.  Watching the action I was more nervous for everyone than anything, although I did enjoy watching Mike make up time with his smooth riding and technical skills to finish an eventual  57th on the day.

The winter sun set at 5:30 giving us little time to reflect after the races as we returned to our flat to begin preparation for sundays world championship Eliminator race.  I found myself in a bad state,  completely worked over having given my all in the XC while doing my best to ignore significant effects of a training crash the day before the main event.  Although we went to bed early after a quiet pasta dinner my scuffed and swollen right side was feeling no better at 6 am the next morning, leaving Mike to carry the team torch for the Eliminator.  

Mike staging for the eliminator...

Back at the venue it was an incredible spectacle to see the best riders in the world in their national kits ripping their version of the best lines on the Eliminator course.  Unlike other Eliminator events, this track was set up completely on dirt and contained a myriad of tricky sections with multiple line options through rock gardens, short jumps and stabbing climbs that seemed to push all aspects of what we do as MTB athletes.  It was gripping to watch the action as riders gave their hardest effort on the short 2+ min circuit  from the start sprint to negotiating tight technical segments all at critical speed.  Only 32 of the 100+ men would qualify for the next round and Mike narrowly missed out but was really glad to have rounded out the weekend with another solid effort.   

Mike and I have had the chance to see the race scene in South Africa go from isolated to international and now to world leading.  Over our past 4 years of racing here, we can see that Love for all things outdoors and especially sport plays a great part in this (as well as the overall health report of the) country.  There are stage races, marathons, world cup and now world championship level XC, DH, and Eliminator on every day "normal" TV, radio and all forms of media - which goes a long way to expand awareness of the sport nation wide.  South Africa has become a force in the off road racing world and the athletes, promoters and all involved deserve this recognition for their hard work in putting on events the right way and pushing these great sports into the spotlight for the general public to take notice. 

Mike and I really enjoyed the chance to make this all too short trip to what is an incredible part of the world and one that should not be passed up by those looking for cycling and or any type of outdoor adventure. We were happily able to reacquaint with several good friends and renew some key contacts over our time there that will no doubt lead us into planning a more significant return trip in the near future.  

Wishing you all good health,

Mary and Mike

Team Kenda-Stan's NoTubes out for a fun ride on the incredible trail system in Howick before packing up the bikes & heading back to Europe for the WC finals...

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