My Drak Sun training route run…
A training ride route…
I have been training and getting back to some decent form over the last 2 weeks. I am treating myself to some new skoene tomorrow-YESS!
Cam
Oct
11
A life of Sports!
EXPERIENCE
It is with excitement and enthusiasm that I am living life these days, and every day is a new and unique experience with a new story to tell. A change of scenery is always greeted by the forging of new friendships, and this along with adventure has been the theme of my new chapter! I have spent most of my time away from work- that being hiking, riding, bowls and many more tough activities- exploring my new playground and putting my baby through her paces:)
CHANGE OF SEASON
I have recently spoilt myself with the likes of the Garmin Forerunner 410 which has been fantastic to getting me off my lazy ass and on the bike again, as well as wiping the dust off my those running shoes. With the weight of a wager for a half marathon in December I have with a work colleague, i’m needing to lose the 5kg Champagne Sports “injection”- BLAST IT! Haha! But it feels good.
DREAM
“I have dream”… the start of a famous Martin Luther King speech. For me it means the prospect of a first ABSA Cape Epic. Well I have been offered up a position on a team for the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic should I be able to come up with the small fortune that is entry into this dream race. I will be crossing all fingers and toes for sponsorship to come through, but if it does that will certainly be dream come true…
Thats really all for now. I have put up some pics of some great times I have had in the last few months, and there will certainly be more to come…pics and times that is:) and on my iphone 4!!!YEOW!
Keep it real dave…
Cam
Oct
01
A life in the mountains
There are instances where people need to have a time of change- a change of pace, a change of lifestyle and a change of scenery to appease the soul. I am no exception to this rule. It is the search and quest for adventure and experiences that I have undertaken over the last few months in the beautiful Drakensberg area, Champagne Valley to be exact. Life at Champagne Sports Resort has been enriching and rewarding on every single level!
I have stumbled upon what some may call a great escape and in a generation of technology and business sometimes ”experiencing the world through endless secondhand information isn’t enough, if we want authenticity, we have to initiate it!”
It is in that place of realisation that any person starts to question things.. Awareness..of us..of others…of predestination- as a teacher once drummed into us as an academic exercise. But I have many stories that I have experienced over the last few months that put ‘focuses’ into perspective.
I am excited at taking up the task of continuing with stories and updates of my exciting life in the mountains!!
*WATCH THIS SPACE*
Cam
Jun
09
2011 Spirit of Adventure Trail Run.DO IT.
This Spirit of Adventure inception trail running event, held at the beautiful Shongweni Dam, is an absolute MUST in everyones diary, with the amazing course that has been set and the prevalence of wildlife such as giraffe, zebra, buck and other incredible animals, it certainly is set to be our most exciting local event! This is not one you want to miss out on. Pre-entries are open so go on and get yourself entered!
May
30
Durban…The Place to be!!!
There are many reasons that may cause us Durbanites to opt to take part in the great movement to Joburg and Cape Town and in fact even overseas such as crime, lack of variation and diversity to our night life, terrible state of our job market, the state of our political system and and and……HOWEVER, the one thing that I believe us as Durbanites need to be proud about is the fact that we have done exceedingly well in establishing a strong sporting culture, of which many people partake in with huge enthusiasm, and it is due to this that we have become a real force to be reckoned with when it comes the sheer number of sporting events we host!! This weekend was no exception.
Sunday brought about the 90th Comrades Marathon experience, bringing thousands(19500+) to the start line in Durbans most epic and gruelling race that tests your body physically and psychologically! The up run started at City Hall and took our runners on a 87km journey to The Oval in PMB. It was a fantastic race to watch, with the tight battle between Stephen Muzhingi and Fanie Matshipa, it kept us spectators glued to our TV screens! The likes of Claude Moshiywa, Jonas Buud and Gift Kelehe sealed the top 5 positions. In the females race the Nurgalieva sisters dominated the field, with Elena coming in just ahead of her sister Olesya. Kemi Semick, Ellie Greenwood and Farwa Mentoor topping off the top 5. A great effort by all that partook in this years Comrades, and a special well done to friends Stuart Clifton and Andrea Battaglia, both finishing under 11 hours-good going guys! Thats one helluva long day!
Comrades results >>>HERE<<<
Prior to the great Comrades Marathon was the 2nd year of the Compendium cycle derby held in Shongweni, which turned out to be a fantastic day for most, with the terrible weather we have been having subsiding to make space for some sunshine! It was a terrific course with some seriously fun single track through Giba with a couple short steep climbs to keep us on our toes. It was great to see some of the roadies getting involved with the likes of Richard Baxter and Malcolm Lange making a guest appearance. There was some serious racing amongst the top competitors ending in a sprint finish between Neil Macdonald, Waylon Woolcock and James Reid (in order of 1st to 3rd) to spoil our spectators. Riding in the colours of Senqu, Nick Porteous(6th) and Robert Du Preez(17th) did their new kit proud! I managed to dig deep for 20th position, and after my training taking a slight knock I was pleased with this result, and am excited for Howick Fairfield MTB race next weekend. Our Top 3 ladies for the full event were; Candice Neethling, Shawna Thunder and Brenda Potts.
Full Compendium Derby Results: Compendium_MTB_Derby_Results
Despite all the fuss on Sunday over a certain running race, there was riding to be done on Sunday as well! It was the 3rd XC series cup race held at Holla trails in Balito, and was won by James Reid (who came 3rd the day before at the Compendium race…mad man) and Candice Neethling(came in 1st lady the day before…eish these youngsters are talented!). Well done to all those who supported this event, as it truly is a series that I see strengthening our riders to compete nationally and even internationally, so dont be scared, get involved!!
Full XC series results: KZN_Cup_3
Sunday also took paddlers to the water with the Hansa 5 beaches paddling race at Marine.
Full results >>HERE<<
All in all another fantastic sporting weekend in Durbs!!
Cam
May
22
Technological Isolation…
Yep, so for those of you who know what it feels like to every so often be out of range of technological communication you can relate to the void I have had in my life for the past week and a half…woe is me…yeah I know you dont give rocks. Okay onto something you do care about…SPORT!
There have been sports men and women throwing it down all over the show for the last 2 weeks and it has been great to follow and watch! From the spectacular Sani2c, local xc series, the fantastic Sabaru Classic, Discovery surf ski series and the craziest of all, Mnweni marathon in the berg.
From the stories I hear, Sani was, as usual, filled with breathtaking single track, breathtaking(in an alternate form) climbs and great comradery and spirit! Full race report by someone who actually did it…haha
[Race Report] Sani Results click >>here<<
Local MTB races:
- XC series race 2: KZN_Cup_2
- Mtunzini MTB race: Mtunzini_MTB_Results_2011
- Subaru MTB race: Subaru_MTB_Classic_results (1)
Discovery Surf-ski race 3 :king of the bay results >>Here<<
Saturday, 21 May 2011 Mnweni trail run Race Report
I hope the stiff legs and most of the scrapes and bruises from our little escapade have subsided by now and mostly just the memories remain. We were blessed with a gorgeous day that is typical of this time of year in the berg but do not underestimate the immensity of the voyage you undertook on Saturday.You can’t do the Mnweni route justice with words alone. This is a journey up a hidden valley that does not reveal itself easily and down another of similar seclusion. The path is rocky, twisted, frequently braided and obscured with verdant growth. Crossing and switching up a magic lonely valley surrounded with rocky spires and pinnacles piercing the sky 1500 m above before turning up the formidable Mnweni pass, snaking ever up to draw level with these lofty spires. The pass is a gateway to a harsh yet majestic summit plateau that here births the largest river in the land before an unrelenting rocky descent that never seems to end and is then followed by an extended run out through the lowlands with 5 km of dirt road to finally complete the pummeling. We had a sub 5 hour run again, a new ladies record with Tracy Zunckel improving on her old mark with a 6:13 run and many tired yet happy finishers that knew they had been somewhere and experienced a challenge beyond that gained on virtually any other race of up to even double the distance. For the love of mountains and wild places, enjoy the trails and hopefully you will be back in 2012. Bruce Arnett
Thats about it for now…Pics will be up soon!!! Cam
May
02
Weekend delight in durbs
Well this weekend certainly didn’t lack any excitement with regards to cycling, with both the Tour Durban MTB, road race and crit all going down as well as the start of the XC series held at Kearsney College. Some great racing and a tough course made for good competition says a little birdie about the MTB on Saturday and the same was said for Sunday, however the results speak for themselves:) View them at Mr Price Heroes website!
As for myself, well I had been plagued with the sickness and turned down one times party on friday night and spent the weekend indoors trying my best to rid myself of this seasonal flu. After some thought i decided to ride the XC race through the sickness- something you know you’ll ALWAYS regret, but the animal racing snake in you seems to pretty much always triumph:D
So, being very glad at the location being just around the corner- on Bothas hill- I was glad for a not so early start which was a treat, I made my way through to Kearsney College to see what this course was gonna throw at me…After a warm up with the boys- Connor and Josh- and a little course rekkie, which turned out to be very technical and quite short (approx. 3kms), I was feeling a little anxious as my body was giving me mixed signals. I decided to have a chilled one just prior to the race start and made my way to the back of my batch which consisted of 41 riders. After a very congested and stop start ummm start, myself and connor managed to get some rhythm and picked up our 2nd lap speed quite a bit, and from there we just kept a constant tempo making sure we were taking a position or 2 each lap. I ended up finishing just ahead of connor in 27th place, which I was happy with considering my circumstances but leaves me with MUCH work to do to improve on my standings for the overall series. Overall a really great vibe and XC is certainly a great way to increase the spectatorship for riding to bring motivation to the riders which i’m not really used to:) Next race is in 2 weeks, I encourage ANYONE to take part as they facilitate many different distance options to suit both the racer and the novice.PULL IN!
Also, well done to Joshua Nelson for coming 2nd in the category C XC event with an average time of 7:40. Not bad for a grommet:D
Results of XC series rcae #1:
See you at the next race!
Cam
Apr
30
KZN Momentum XC series 2011 Info and Format
| Special Newsletter
2011 KZN MOMENTUM HEALTH SHORT COURSE SERIES
The 2011 KZN Momentum Health Short Course series is, as in previous years, being run by the KZN MTB Commission directly BUT the first 4 events are different from that of 2010 in that these are being run in batch format that is designed to encourage greater participation and development of all riders. Please note that this is NOT a schools series, but the official KZN Provincial Series. FORMAT FOR EVENTS Batch format racing pits riders against others of similar strength, irrespective of age or gender, resulting in an overall improvement of the standard of all riders. Thus we could have youth men and women riding against Elite men in Batch A. Each batch will race for a specific time plus 1 lap. This will ensure every rider gets full value from the event as they will not be pulled off the course if they are lapped (as is done in conventional XC racing). Registration: up to 45 minutes before the start of the race at the event itself.
Note: Race 4 – Margate – will start at 09h00 as the Sardine Classic BATCHING EVENTS #2-4:
• Riders will not be allowed to change batches for a race once they have been seeded. PRIZE GIVING AT EVENT
• Amounts shown here are after tax has been deducted (i.e. what the rider takes home). SERIES PRIZE GIVING
• 10% of the prize money will be taxed per CSA regulations.
• Participation in at least 3 of the 4 events is required to be eligible for any prizes.
|
Apr
28
Subaru Classic mtb results
After a great ride by Rourke Croeser last weekend at the MTB World Cup( 3rd U23) at Cascades he seals a win at our very own Subaru Classic. Full results below:
Apr
17
Muddy expedition at Husqvarna Classic
YES! It was a muddy one out today and the Husqvarna Classic trail run and mtb ride! Amidst all the mud cached cycling gear, running shoes and bikes was a fantastic fun filled day that was organised exceptionally well- unfortunately people haven’t learned to control weather….yet!
The morning started off with an 8km and 18km trail run through some really great scenery which was to later also be utilized by the mtb race, and with the mixture of greatly manicured single track, some good climbing and spectacular views made for a great way to kickstart the morning! I started off in front of the 8km group and managed to hold the lead with a decent gap to secure my first win in a trail running event- pretty stoked. The long distance event was dominated by 2 locals and my mate Mark Michell sealed the top 3 which also made for some exciting running as he got himself a little lost and had the presence of Chris Muller bearing down on him. But all in all well done to all participants of the brave few who endured the early morning cold and cattle truck transport to the start:D Hope to see you all back in good time.
The mtb ride was then to follow a little later than expected, and the A batch was off at 9am. So I made sure that I was well hydrated and purchased a tube of the newly packaged USN vooma- which worked superbly for me I might add- as well as going on a warm up ride with Capetonian mate Luke Muller(his 2nd mtb race). It was, as always, a fast start in A batch which soon caused the bunch to split, especially with the excessively muddy corners catching alot of people by surprise, and it didn’t take long for legs to get warm since I had already run. It took a good 10kms to realize that running beforehand probably wasn’t a good idea haha, but there was no turning back now! I dug deep and enjoyed some AMAzing single track and very festive water tables which kept me going, and after exchanging of positions many times secured 12th place overall and 7th in my category which was a fine result. The likes of Brandon Stewart, Adrien Niyonshuti and Andrew Hill graced the front of the full distance ride and rode it in a very respectable time for the conditions. I did not manage to spot all the top female riders, however a congratulations goes to Karen Bargate for coming 1st in the masters category and Lauren Harborth for coming 2nd in the senior ladies.
A truly fantastic event and I will be back next year!
Photos and results to be posted this week
Cam
