World Cup – 11th April 09
On Thursday I went down to register and then go and collect my South African kit from Maverick. The kit was so cool. My team-mate James came to stay for the weekend at my place. We had to meet with Johan at 7am on Saturday morning so that he can tell us about the rules, etc. Our race starts, promptlyat 8.30am. We were the first race of the day and I knew that the rain we had during the night would have made the track
muddy. I had a bad start and was lying quite far back in the field. When I got to the first piece of single track, a lot of the riders found themselves no longer on their bikes. I managed to stay on my bike and was now in 3rd place. When I went onto my second lap I let some air out of my tyres to get more traction , unfortunately air was now escaping from where the tyres seats on the rim. I eventually got a co2 canister and managed to re-inflate my tyre. I was now in about 10th place and boarding on the 80% rule to be pulled off when I came around to start my 3rd lap. I had lots of catching up to do and had to put a lot more effort in. The track was also drying out because it was hot and “heart break hill’ was now fully ride-able. By the time I reached the bottom of “heart break hill” on the last lap I was lying in 7th place. I put in maximum effort during the climb and managed to pass 3 riders. I was very happy about crossing the finishing line in 4th place. 
Then after lunch it was the Elites. My word it was something else to watch a start like that hey. There was even a crash with riders trying desperately to get past and catch up to the front guys. All the riders are at such a high level of riding and very fast. Burry being the main RSA rider which, everyone was cheering on, did really well finishing off 3rd overall and also 1st u23. It was really awesome standing at the finish cheering loudly with everyone as Burry came across the finishing line. The crowd was just so so loud, it was incredible really. The whole world cup was such an amazing experience for us riders here in SA who haven't had the oppotunity yet to go overseas and ride against some of the best riders in the world. I'm just really grateful that i was luckly enough to have been given that fantastic opportunity to race. Wow.
On Thursday I went down to register and then go and collect my South African kit from Maverick. The kit was so cool. My team-mate James came to stay for the weekend at my place. We had to meet with Johan at 7am on Saturday morning so that he can tell us about the rules, etc. Our race starts, promptlyat 8.30am. We were the first race of the day and I knew that the rain we had during the night would have made the track
muddy. I had a bad start and was lying quite far back in the field. When I got to the first piece of single track, a lot of the riders found themselves no longer on their bikes. I managed to stay on my bike and was now in 3rd place. When I went onto my second lap I let some air out of my tyres to get more traction , unfortunately air was now escaping from where the tyres seats on the rim. I eventually got a co2 canister and managed to re-inflate my tyre. I was now in about 10th place and boarding on the 80% rule to be pulled off when I came around to start my 3rd lap. I had lots of catching up to do and had to put a lot more effort in. The track was also drying out because it was hot and “heart break hill’ was now fully ride-able. By the time I reached the bottom of “heart break hill” on the last lap I was lying in 7th place. I put in maximum effort during the climb and managed to pass 3 riders. I was very happy about crossing the finishing line in 4th place. Then after lunch it was the Elites. My word it was something else to watch a start like that hey. There was even a crash with riders trying desperately to get past and catch up to the front guys. All the riders are at such a high level of riding and very fast. Burry being the main RSA rider which, everyone was cheering on, did really well finishing off 3rd overall and also 1st u23. It was really awesome standing at the finish cheering loudly with everyone as Burry came across the finishing line. The crowd was just so so loud, it was incredible really. The whole world cup was such an amazing experience for us riders here in SA who haven't had the oppotunity yet to go overseas and ride against some of the best riders in the world. I'm just really grateful that i was luckly enough to have been given that fantastic opportunity to race. Wow.
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