2011 Africa Champs Maputo Race report

Maputo, Mozambique was the venue for the 2011 African Triathlon Championships and it was the first time that a triathlon was held in this beautiful country. The Mozambicans did not know know what these skinny athletes were doing swimming, riding and running around in these funny tight suits

We stayed at the Southern Sun host hotel which was a really nice place and when inside it was hard to imagine that a busy African city was just outside the door. It was good to meet up with my old friend Richard Murray who has been racing all over the world trying to pick up some ITU points, his most recent victory being at the European Cup in Brasschaat.

The day before the race the weather was amazing, no wind and some nice warm sun – perfect weather for racing. I checked out the race route and thought about how I would race. The bike course was a very hilly and bumpy one, on some bad road surface and there was a mean hill on each lap which we would have to do 8 times in total.

Race day

The race was starting unusually early at 7:30 and so we needed to be up at 5:30. This is normal for me but for the other athletes it was crazy early. After waking up I had a look out the window to see that a big wind was up and the sea was going crazy! Richard and I have a theory that if the weather is good the day before the race then race day is definitely not going to be good! Warm up went well and we were ready to go. As we were being called up they were still struggling to keep the buoys in place. As they put the first one in it took off and headed north to Inhambane! That should give you some indication as to how crazy the sea was. They managed to get one buoy to stay still and had to make it an out and back swim that would only be 1200m.

We were off and I had no idea where I was, I was just swinging my arms and looking for other athletes. Only once I had finished the swim did I realise that I was in the front pack. I rocketed through transition with what felt like half an ocean in my stomach, onto my bike and headed to the hill. I was definitely the fattest in the pack because every time we went up the hill I was huffing and puffing like a bufflo running up a hill! But coming down the hill was a different story and I flew past the guys like a bird gone crazy, or maybe it was just my MTB skills kicking in. Abrahm Louw from Namibia was racing like a true champ. He had a gap coming out of the swim and he stayed away the whole bike. Amazing performance from him – well done!

On the last lap of the bike Richard attacked and all of us went with him. I was 3rd out of T2 just behind Richard and Hendrik de Villiers. The gazelles quickly pulled away from me, while I was struggling to get into a rythmn.

I ran as hard as I could and it was good enough for 2nd place in u23 elite. I was really happy with that result. I wanted to win, but it was not what God had planned for me for this race. My time will come. Praise God for my second place.

Now it’s time to knuckle down with World Champs, in September in China, in mind

‎​After the race we went to a pub to enjoy the local beer, 2M. This is the only beer in the whole world that I will drink.

We triathletes just can’t sit still and relax, we always have to do something! So we played some darts. Good fun!

You know you can’t come to Mozambique and not have some seafood. It was so fresh and tasty. But the 2M beer didn’t go so well with it……..:(

There you have- it my trip to Maputo was a lot of fun. God has blessed Africa!!!

Here is a slide show I made of the trip.

10 out of 10 to ATU and TSA for hosting the event. You guys did a great job. Hope to see a World Champs in Africa soon.

Untill I blog again.

Keep on

Race Report on the SASOL CROSS TRIATHLON

Last weekend I raced that Sasol Cross Triathlon out in Abramsrust, Sasolburg.
The morning of the race I woke up to pouring rain. It was absolutely bucketing! Carla van Huysteen picked Robyn and me up and it was such a mission to try and load the car when it felt like we were standing under a waterfall. So much rain did not bode well for a triathlon and we were worried that they might make it into a duathlon.

Luckily the venue was so far away that we actually drove out of the rain and it was not raining in Abramsrust although it had and it was very wet there. The sky also looked ominous. An off road tri was going to be a huge amount of fun with so much mud!

I got my transition area sorted out with the bike that I was borrowing for the race. A dual suspension Specialized SWorks. Wow, what a nice bike! A big thanks to my friend Ryno.
I seriously confused all the other athletes when I put on my wetsuit and went down to the swim of a non wetsuit legal race. But, I was only going to warm up in it so that I didn’t get too cold between my warm up and the start of the race.

The distances were: 600m swim, 20km bike and a 6km cross country run. It was going to be a hard, fast race with a lot of mud to make things interesting.
After much persuasion from the referees trying to get us behind the start buoys the gun went off and the sprint got under way. I led the race until the first buoy when Rudolf and Chris joined me. We all exited the water together and raced to T1 where Chris entertained everyone by slipping on the wet grass and falling and then not remembering where he racked.

I chased Rudolf out of transition and passed him on a technical section, but then unfortunately I took a wrong turn and when I got back onto the correct route again I was behind Rudolf. We fought through some hectic mud and got to a grassy section where Rudolf made a bit of a gap on me. I came into transition about 1min30 down and went out onto the cross country route. It was very slippery and my racers were not ideal for the course. Oh well, I finished in second place and I had a ton of fun! Well done to Rudolf.

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Oakley Radar Save The Day “bad bike crash”

As you know I couple of months ago I had a bad bike crash. I went face first into the tar on a downhill at speed. I call that eating tar. I recovered pretty fast and was only off training for two weeks. I am so thankful that I didn’t break anything and was only off training for a small amount of time. Thank God for that.

I always cycle with my Oakley Radar sunglasses. On the morning of the crash I was on my way back from my ride and coming over the top of Eeufees hill when I hit a hump of tar in the road and went face first into the tar. The lens of the sunglasses went into my cheek and cut the skin open just below my eye. I only came around much later in the hospital.

My coach had taken all my gear when he picked me up from the side of the road after I had crashed. When I got out of the hospital later that day I was keen to see what was still in one piece. Unfortunately my Oakleys, the best sunglasses that I have ever owned, were trashed. At first I was really upset about this, but then I realized that I might have seriously damaged my eye if it had not been for the sunglasses protecting it.

There are no other sunglasses that I would choose to wear. Oakley is simply the best. I don’t know how they do it but they just get it right every single time they design a pair of sunglasses. I know that I keep going on about how great Oakleys are, but seriously, try a pair and you will know what I am talking about.

You just feel so super cool wearing their sunglasses and with all the pro athletes wearing them you know that they are quality sunglasses!
If you put a pair on you will feel like I think James bond feels when he puts on his sunglasses. It is definitely a James Bond moment- or maybe it is an Oakley Radar moment. I promise that you will see the world differently in Oakleys. No jokes, they are really in a class of their own. The Chilean miners who were trapped underground for weeks were given Oakleys when the surfaced to protect their eyes from the sun that otherwise would have damaged their eyes after being in the dark for so long. Well done to Oakley for supplying them with sunglasses.

The reason that I like the Oakley Radar is that the fit so comfortably on my face when I cycle and run during training and races. They don’t bounce at all and I never have to adjust them.

When I raced in Budapest at the Triathlon World Championships it was a wet, wet day and I was in a nig pack of guys on the bike. Water and dirt was flying off the back wheels and into our faces, but the hydrophilic layer on the lens kept the glasses relatively clean and I was able to still see through them. That is where I truly saw the quality of Oakleys. And man, they look good!

I tweeted a photo of my messed up face to @OakleySA while I was lying at home after the accident, unable to do anything. The Oakley guy got back to me asking what had happened and I sent him an email detailing what had happened. Mathew Quinn was keen to see how Oakleys hold up under high speed accidents such as the one that I was in and I sent my glasses to Cape Town for him to have a look at.
Mathew then sent me a brand new pair of Radars- white chrome frame with a blue iridium lens! They are super cool. Thanks Mathew! I really do appreciate it.
Here is a pic of them:

So if you are a runner, cyclist, triathlete, golfer, cricket player or whatever get yourself a pair of Oakleys!

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture of the messed up Radars, but here is a picture of my face after the accident so I am sure you will get the picture.

If you want your own custom pair of sunglasses you can go to www.oakley.com or just go to any good sunglass shop. Go get your James Bond look.

Keep well, train hard and keep your Oakleys on for the protection of your eyes.
Keep on