94.7 Time of the Year

Well, the final race of the calender year has arrived along with some really bad weather!

Last weekend was supposed to be the final warmup race for me. The Bakwena SuperClassic which is a flat, out-and-back race. I was not feeling great heading out to the race, had a bit of an upper respiratory infection and has also suffered from a serious saddle sore last week. I headed out to the race and on the way there the weather was terrible. At the start line the weather looked okay, but anything could happen in the 50km the race would go to the turn point. The first time in my life I've got to a start and not started, I decided not to risk it and jeopardise the 94.7.

Overall, the second half of this year has not been a very happy period for me. With my Mom passing away a few months ago, and the associated loss of training, as well as work issues that have intruded, I have been on the back foot the whole season. The financial market crash that has been experienced globally also set back some business initiatives, so all-in-all things just haven't come together.

This week the weather has also been really bad, so final tuning on the training has been difficult, but this affects everybody so no point in getting too hung up about it.

So, here we are, last race of the season and it will be the last race with my current team, Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat. I move up an age category next year, and will be racing for Toyota SuperCycling 40+ team, supporting Andrew Mclean and Graeme Cronje. I'm looking forward to it, it should be good fun. I'll also be trying my hand at the MTB discipline, given that I will be coaching the DCM Chrome MTB team, I should at least get to know MTB better than I currently do!

The Bulk Pack Meat team will continue, and will be centered around Marco van Biljoen and Craig Harvey. They have recruited a new rider Jason du Preez who is just entering the Vets category. They are a strong team and I'm sure they will continue to enjoy the success that they have in the past. Good luck guys!! And thank you for all the great fun racing over the last 2 years.