I've been wanting to build a circle rut for a while now to help teach people to ride ruts and just because it looks like a lot of fun. With the help of hirepool we got into it over christmas and made it happen. Its a lot of fun and makes you learn a lot very quickly, it also makes you pretty dizzy!
23 Dec
Whilst its the middle of summer and most of New Zealand is getting dry and dusty, one place always has mud to be found. Unfortunatly my gopro died before we got to the really sloppy stuff. Merry Christmas to everyone, hope you have a good one!
15 Dec
Well, me and Mon are now settled back home in New Zealand. It has been a busy few weeks since the end of the Roof of Africay - didn't go how I wanted to needless to say, but am looking forward to next year, got a few big things in the pipeline so it should be an exciting year.
I'm riding a KTM350 this year - no, nothing is wrong with the 300, will still be riding it at extreme enduros! - just time for trying something different. Have had a few rides on it the last week or so and really enjoy it. Am REALLY enjoying riding in rockless terrain...
We are ramping up the coaching here in NZ so if you are keen, get in touch. This weekend I'm running schools both days and have a few spots available for January 19th session also.
Still got a few things to suss out for next year but will keep you posted - if you are keen to come to NZ for awesome riding, you will be interested in what we're working on ...
In the meantime, Mon tells me it is nearly Christmas time?? How did that happen??
16 Nov
Went well in time trial today, think 4th (provisional) about 3 minutes behind first, top 10 or so all pretty close, will be interesting to see what the next two days of 432kms of riding the Lesotho mountains will bring!
Pretty hot here in Lesotho, but am coping, bike is handling well, have a great pit crew (Uncle Rod, Wacker, Mon plus everyone else!) so am feeling good.
Traditional early start tomorrow - 5:30am bikes on the line for 6am kick off...
30 Oct
I've just been in Ecuador for my second go at the ukupacha race. This year was much harder with only a few finishers.
I won the prolog race on Saturday which was great, and then on the main race on Sunday was doing well and was leading ahead of Jarvis... then I hit a random rock and boom - down the cliff went my poor bike - luckily I stayed at the top or I think my injuries would have been awful!
It took quite a few of us (thanks to those that helped) about four hours of hiking and struggling to get it back! it would have been impossible to ride out of - I did ask Jarvis when he caught up though...
Such is racing - pretty disappointed, but just gotta take it on the chin and focus on next few things - Peru for coaching now for a couple of days, then back to South Africa for my 5th Roof of Africa next month.
22 Oct
Crieghton National Enduro Race Report, Comsol Bell ACR
After a year of dry and often dusty races, it was a different kind of race this weekend for sure. The skies had been threatening to pour down all week – and it did.
The four special tests were walked in the cold and the drizzle, and the extreme test looked like it would definitely pose a few challenges – especially if it rained overnight before the race and water levels rose at the creek crossing!
The race consisted of four laps of 40km each, and a total of 12 tests were timed. After the first lap it was clear that things were going to get mucky, slippery, and would really separate the men from the boys so to speak.
Chris hit an animal hole on the second lap and had a big crash, losing his front mudguard, number board / headlight, and handguard. Luckily he wasn’t injured badly himself and kept going – but the lack of mudguard did mean that he got a lot more mud in his eyes than he would have, and rode a few of the tests ‘blinded’! His pit crew were alerted to the damage and were able to replace everything on the bike and send Chris out to continue without further problems. Chris stayed on time and finished the race in just under seven hours.
“I enjoy riding in the mud and was looking forward to a muddy race – I am a bit out of practice in these conditions though and the earlier crash impacted some of my test times. I really enjoyed the extreme test through the rocks and think that I made up a bit of time there towards the end of the day. It was my first race on my new ’13 KTM300XCW and it was so great to ride it in such testing conditions just a month out from the Roof of Africa. I didn’t miss the dust we have had all year and enjoyed the challenge of the day.”
Scott Bouverie also had a good race, despite getting stuck in a mud hole and losing some time in the regularity. He was very focussed and kept pushing through all day – which paid off, as only 8 riders in the National Overall class finished!
“I’ve been riding my two stroke in Lesotho for Roof training lately, so to get back on the four stroke was a bit different but it proved to be a good choice on the day. I don’t know when I have raced in such muddy grotty conditions! You had to be careful riding the four stoke and make sure you didn’t overheat it, because in this kind of conditions it’s easy to rev the bike out too hard. It was a long tiring day but I’m really glad to have stuck in there and be one of very few finishers!”
Chris came 3rd overall on the day and 1st in the Open class – which also resulted in him winning the WFO Regional Championship for 2012. Scott came 4th in the E2 class for National class, and second in the Junior class for Regionals – placing him 2nd in Junior class in the WFO Championship and 4th overall.
Dominic Mantle returned to racing after suffering from a broken leg earlier in the year but was unable to finish the race.
The big focus for the team is now the Roof of Africa, in Lesotho, taking place from 15-17 November. Chris Birch has won this event three times and Scott Bouverie was the youngest competitor to finish the race in 2010.
12 Oct
Taking the folks off to Lesotho today! So yes, I am also joining the pre-Roof herds of KTMs into Lesotho, but with my mum on the back of KTM's 990 (thanks guys) and my Dad on Alfie Cox Racings 950 (thanks guys).
We delayed the trip by a day to give us a chance of some not quite so awful weather, we will see. On the menu tonight is tuna pasta a la Chris. It should be a fun three days.
If you don't see any posts for a while, it means we are lost in Lesotho and please look out for us at the Roof!!
12 Oct
Just a week after we got back from Canada my parents arrived, so that's why we have been a bit quiet here! We shot up to Nelspruit for a couple of coaching days - thanks to the Hyde's for helping with the organisation and the de Beer family for making it so welcoming.
Then we took my folks to Kruger Park for two days - they really enjoyed it and were impressed by how smart Mon and I sounded when talking about animals ... who knows how much we knew vs made up ...
I've been very kindly lent KTM's 990 so am heading to Lesotho tomorrow with Mum on the back and Dad on Alfie Cox Racing's 950, should be great fun showing them what Lesotho is like - hope it clears a bit!
To everyone who is heading to Lesotho for Roof training at the moment - enjoy! Watch out for rocks ...
10 Oct
Red Bull Stratos is ready to go, they had a false start today but hopefully tomorrow will be a go. Its an incredible mission and really worth checking out. The website is excellent and I am totally hooked on it.
26 Sep
This weekend was my first Corduroy Enduro in Canada. It was the 59th edition of the race, plenty of history there.
I rode the big KTM500 four stroke, kindly supplied by KTM Canada with help from Lachapelle racing products. The big girl was a bit out of place in the tight trees but man does it rip when the trail opens up a bit.
It rained a lot so it was my first real mud race since June last year - I was pretty happy with that. There was loads of really tight trails through the trees and with plenty of rocks to bounce off. On the last day I bounced a little too hard off one and smacked a hole in the engine cases, nothing that some bush mechanics couldnt fix.
The race itself was fantastic, the trails were well marked, great fun to ride, and everyone was chilled, having a great time and just enjoying the ride. Me and Mon got COMPLETELY confused as to how they time the event, but at the end of the race I ended up winning by about 5 minutes so was really stoked with that.
After day 2, they had a dinner and I did a talk, but what impressed me most was that local body council members were there who are actively encouraging the development of the dirtbike trails - fantastic!
We are at the end of our Canada trip now, packing up day today, and back to South Africa on 27th September. Looking forward to knuckling down and getting some Roof training in when I get back.
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