Joberg2c Stage 4 Diary

3pm Monday 29^th April

Is it Monday, yes I think so, the stage racing bubble has well and truly developed around us so not a lot else matters right now apart from eating, racing, and sleeping. The race organisers put the fear into us last night when briefing us about today’s stage and rightfully so. The time gaps today are going to be huge because the route didn’t suit group racing. The climbs were fierce and the descent even more fierce!

We are in the mountains now, within the first couple of kilometres the split occurred as we raced our way up a 20% gradient concrete climb, even before this the legs were stinging thanks to an over eager lead out tractor driver and the Europcar riders pushing the pace right from the start. We were on the wrong side of the split and ended up racing on our own the entire day after escaping on the long 20 kilometre descent near the start. We could see the lead group up ahead for most of the day but us on our own were no match for their pace. We did catch Kevin Evans on the penultimate climb which was a leg breaking 3 kilometre section with gradients up to 25%, it really was awful! This was then followed by the final climb which we assumed after 105 kilometres of riding would be an easy fireroad ascent, nope! A technical rocky very loose singletrack section which must have lasted about half an hour, ouch! It was fun though in a sick kind of way!

The descent made up for all the suffering today though, we might have climbed 1700 metres but we descended 2500 metres! The singletrack descents were probably the best trails I’ve ever ridden! I made sure I led into the first descent which dropped about 800 metres in altitude, it was a proper blast and put a good gap into everyone else apart from a Europcar rider who kept up but had to stop half way down because his hands were hurting so much from hanging onto the bars!

Anyway we had another good day and finished 5^th in the men’s category, 6^th overall as there was the super quick pro masters team in front of us.

Tomorrow according the race profile we race uphill for 90 kilometres, oh joy.

I ate 8 slices of banana bread at lunch today, the meals here continue to impress!

South Africa Diary - Joberg2c stage 2

11.30am Friday 26 April 2013

Its 11.30, we’ve finished racing stage 2, we’re showered clean, Dan the mechanic has cleaned, degreased and applied the Fenwicks lube, and now were chilling out in the shade waiting for lunch. All we have to do now for the rest of the day is relax and recover which is good news because today’s 91 kilometres of racing was hard work and tomorrow we have 130 kilometres to do.

Tim and me got separated somewhere within the first 10km’s as puddle terror took hold of the peloton. Puddle terror is something we see at most races, everyone slam on the brakes in an effort to avoid getting wet feet, it’s pretty funny really but can be quite dangerous when you’re riding in a tight bunch. As we got separated Tim ended up on the wrong side of the split as a lead group developed and pulled away, after a few kilometres I had to drop back to assist my team mate.

A puncture later on Tim’s front wheel dropped us from the 2^nd group and left us with work to do. Just before the final feed around the 60km mark we bridged the gap to the 2^nd group again and we then just tried to limit our losses to the leading group. We lost 5 minutes in the end but still finished 8^th overall and 6^th in category so pretty good considering. Just outside the money! We were the top Itec Connect sponsored team so it feels good to pay back some of their commitment to us.

There was some awesome singletrack today, the last 10 kilometres was all singletrack, it was just a shame we were too tired to really enjoy it. I’m glad I’ve got the Scott Spark full suss to ride, the trails and even the fireroads are really bumpy, Tim’s riding his hardtail and I’m sure he’s going to fatigue much quicker because of it.

Tomorrow hopefully we’ll have a smoother ride, I do wonder though how my legs will cope after today’s huge efforts. Anyway off to lunch now, the meals here at Joberg2c are amazing, we are being spoilt and really did have the best steak EVER last night. The race briefing last night was also good entertainment, the organisers really do just want you to have as much fun as possible.

South Africa Diary Day 3 and 4 (Joberg2c Stage 1)

8pm Thursday 25^th April 2013

Busy day today, we ventured back into Johannesburg for sign on, the journey itself was pretty interesting, Tim didn’t particularly enjoy negotiating the chaotic rush hour traffic in our palatial campervan. Once we arrived at the Fire & Ice Hotel we did several laps of the block trying to find a suitably big parking space, eventually we gave up and resorted to pleading with the security guard outside the hotel to let us park up right in front of the entrance, VIP parking, sweet!

Registration was in full swing with the 5* hotel full of eager cyclists and bikes were propped up all around the reception area. Registration complete, freebie bag collected, Dan’s and the campervans accreditation collected. It was then time to drive to the race start to rekey the start of day 1. On arrival though we thought best not to leave the campervan in the middle of a field next to a busy main road unattended in a slightly dodgy area.

We drove back to the campsite to find a herd of dears vacating our parking space, they quickly fled though as we got closer. We ended up riding from the campsite, we found a good route to start with along gravel roads but couldn’t turn it into a loop so had to ride back along the way we’d ridden out on. All the same 22 degrees, no clouds in the sky, it was a fun ride and opened up the legs before we start stage 1 of Joberg2c tomorrow.

A couple of days ago we found a little kitten meowing in a bush close to where we’d parked at the campsite, this afternoon the kitten visited us. The words “what harm can it do” when Dan asked Tim whether they should give the kitten some milk turns now ring in our ears. Well let me tell you this little cutie turned out to be a right pain! It rejected the milk but made us its best friend, constant meowing quickly turned into an annoyance and as this evening approached we realised we’d have to vacate our camping space! This wasn’t so easy though when the kitten had crept inside the campervans wheel rim and was ready to hold on like a hamster in a hamster wheel! We tried everything we could but it wouldn’t budge so the next step was to roll the van down the hill, a quarter rotation of the wheel and this thing was still hanging on, we were in fits of laughter. We didn’t want to hard the little kitten but couldn’t leave it in there as it was going to keep us awake all night. Eventually we did escape from the crazy meowing kitten, don’t worry though the kitten will be fine without us.

Last night we heard a pack of wolves howling nearby, I wonder what animals we’ll hear tonight, hopefully not the little meowing kitten.

 

1.30pm Friday 26 April 2013 - Stage 1

Stage 1 done and dusted, today was neutralised so we just cruised around the 116kms sitting in the lead group, enjoying the awesome feed zones, looking out for animals, and admiring the stunning scenery. A 5.30am start was required to down breakfast and make the journey to the start venue, Dan our mechanic particularly enjoyed the early wake up, something he’ll have to get used to unfortunately as each stage now starts at 7am. On the start line the television helicopter pilot showed us his skills flying sideways at speed just above the start line arch.

The opening singletrack trail was a good taste of what will follow in the next few days, the trail was loose and rocky, there were 2 line choices which split and the top and didn’t rejoin until the bottom of the hill 4 kilometres later! The rest of the day was flat fireroads or double track trails through nature reserves and around the Vaal Dam.

The feed zones out on course were pretty amusing, everything from tasty pastries and pancakes, to meat cooked on the bbq! Today there was time to enjoy these sweet treats, tomorrow I doubt the lead group will be so sociable. We met plenty of people today out on the course, everyone was really friendly and there was always someone to have a chat with. The organisers are great as well, Wappo and Kelly are really making us feel welcome.

After about 70kms we had to cross a big river so rather than taking us across a bridge we had to dismount our bikes and climb aboard dragon boats, once 3 dragon boats were full with roughly 15 participants in each we had a little race across the river which was pretty good fun.

We ended up leaving the final feed zone earlier that most and ended up in a group of 6 at the front, although today doesn’t count towards the overall classification it was pretty special to roll into the finish town with the locals lining the road and cheering, the TV helicopter hovering over us, and the commentator announcing our names. Hopefully we can repeat or get somewhere close to this in the next 8 days of real racing.

More scrumptious food followed at lunch time in the huge food hall, apparently for dinner we are getting the best steak we’ve ever eaten, sounds good to me!

Itec Connect who’ve sponsored us for this race have been awesome so far, really helpful and supper motivating, hopefully we can pay them back with some good racing.

South Africa Diary Day 1 and 2

7am Tuesday 23^rd April 2013

 

We are currently travelling hundreds of miles per hour, no we aren’t in our new Vauxhall team van but we are sat on a plane travelling high over South Africa (about an hour north of our destination Johannesburg, another adventure is about to begin, we are racing the 9 day stage race Joberg2c. We being Tim my 2013 teammate who I’m racing with as this is another pair’s event, and my good friend Dan who’s here to generally look after us and create some extra banter!

Much like the speed of this plane the race season seems to be flying by, the year really began back in November but now the racing is in full swing each week passes by quicker than you expect. The start of the season started dry but cold at the final Brass Monkey race where I began with a win and the first round of the Gorrick Series where I finished 2^nd.

Super motivated by my training we headed out to Spain to race the 6 day Andalucia Bike race, expected sunshine we and the organised were left a little surprised when snow storms swept through areas which hadn’t seen snow in 30 years! It certainly made the mountain top trails a little more testing. It was awesome to see fellow Brits Rich Rothwell and Ant White winning the Veterans category, they spent multiple days in the leaders jerseys and in my opinion are now ‘legends’ of the sport! Seb and Hamish Batchelor also put in a storming ride, bad luck on the first stage all but destroyed any chance of them achieving a decent general classification position but they weren’t deterred and finished top 10 numerous times over the remainder of the week, that’s one fast family! Our race didn’t go entirely to plan with mechanics and illness ruining what was one of my big aims of the year.
 

I used the disappointment to boost my training and turned up to the first National XC with strong legs; I finished 10^th Brit but was still left thinking I hadn’t done as well as I could have done. The National was in fact the 4^th or 5^th race weekend in a row we’d seen snow, crazy! Another couple of weeks later and we made the hop back into marathon racing for the first European round of the World Marathon Series, top 20 qualified for World Champs so I was super happy to finish 17^th despite having crippling stomach problems mid race, all the hard work was paying off. Jumping between race distances is a challenge but something I’m enjoying, a second place at the Southern XC against tough competition proved this.

So now we find ourselves about to land at South African turf, let the fun continue.

4pm Wednesday 24^th April 2013
 

Since landing we’ve been swept up the South African experience which I’m glad about as we didn’t get a chance to do much touristy type stuff when I was here racing last year. Staying in the campervan is definitely the way to travel; the 3 of us are having great fun. After picking up the camper we drove down to our campsite an hour south of Johannesburg and parked up in the bush camp. It’s an awesome place with our own private swimming pool and animals like zebras (stripy horses), antelopes, ostriches, peacocks and wild kitten which we saw on a little 30 minute spin around camp.

We ate our meal of chicken risotto outside at the kids table which we’d been provided with the campervan! After dinner we climbed up to the top of the hillside to watch the sunset, we were a little late but it was worth the hike.

We were pretty knackered after a restless night on the plane so we were all tucked up in our beds by 8pm! Tim bought his Exposure Diablo light to use as a torch, 1500 lumens is a bit excessive though to make your way out of the camper and woke me up a couple of times, also heard some animals outside the camper. Otherwise it was a good night’s sleep, we all slept until about 9am, over 12 hours sleep!!  

Today we went to rides some mtb trails, it turned out there weren’t many trails to ride at the game park we’d been recommended but the 2 hour road loop was a good laugh and we saw loads of monkeys so Dan found some new friends! We also saw more zebras, wilderbeast, impala and loads of birds. The actual riding was a big loop through the game park so we only saw 1 car and the scenery was stunning.

The supermarkets we’ve visited so far have had pretty impressive bakeries but we’ve resisted the urge to sample some of the cakes, that must wait until after the race! We have discussed whether we are aloud puddings when the race starts, the decision was that we can if we finish higher than a certain placing each day. Dan thinks we’re mad! Possibly, probably!

 

Boxing Day Update

Well it’s Boxing Day and it’s raining outside as it has been for what seems likes weeks. Luckily I’m on a recovery week so training hours are a little less than half the number I’d normally be doing. The gym is also closed because of Christmas so the extra available time is being used wisely. Now that sponsor negotiations are over, the team has been announced, product orders have been placed, and race schedules have been decided we can start to think about the logistics for our calendar. With this comes a long list of things to organise: airport parking or transfers, flights, car hire, hotels, race entries, support staff…. The list goes on.

Thankfully I enjoy this kind of thing and am thriving off the extra motivation the new team has given me. The training quality has improved immensely and the number of hours I’m spending on the bike has increased. Hopefully this will mean better results once the season begins.

Over the last few weeks I’ve enjoyed some fantastic training rides, sometimes alone in the countryside with just my thoughts and my iPod, and other times with my teammate Tim and other friends. It’s been incredible how quickly the weather has changed from one extreme to the other - we’ve had torrential rain one week, then freezing temperatures and icy roads, and now back to rain and floods. Despite the testing weather I've managed to stay healthy thanks to the products from our new nutrition sponsor USN.

Last week Tim and I ventured out during a particularly wet Sunday for a 5 hour training ride. Many of the roads had turned into rivers and many trails were under water. At one point the route was completely blocked by flooding, we could have found a different route but Tim was eager to get home for tea so it was decided he would be the first person to attempt to the water crossing. The water was over the wheel axels and still rising by the mid way point. Tim made it through just about proving it was safe for me to follow, that’s what teammates are for, right?

Here's a few photos from some of my recent training rides.

The sun rises over flooded fields. Waterproof trousers and jackets have become this years winter essentials along with my Exposure lights.

Another sunrise this time over frozen hills.

George showing off his nutritional strategy.





Thanks for reading! Happy Christmas!





Without the support of our team’s sponsors none of this would be possible.



2013 Team Launch!

Here's the official team press release...

It’s been months of hard work but now the Mountain Trax – Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team can be revealed!


Mountain Trax – Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team is a new fresh exciting mountain bike team specialising in endurance racing. The riders Ben Thomas and Tim Dunford have risen to the top of the sport in the UK and in 2013 they look to cement that position whilst also aiming for big results at some of the world’s toughest endurance events.

The team is pleased to announce its new sponsorship agreements with Mountain Trax, Vauxhall Motors, Little Knocks, Champion Systems Clothing, Exposure Lights, Syncros, Minoura, Fenwicks, Schwalbe, Lezyne, Hope Technology, USN, Fox Suspension, Vermont Images, Sapim, and Bont. The support from these fantastic sponsors will provide the team with the perfect base to launch a successful race campaign.

Ben has had a long term connection with Mountain Trax with the shop helping him out with sponsorship even when it wasn’t their brand on the jerseys. The Wokingham based store which first opened in 1995 now attracts people from all around the UK and has become known for its expertise in building custom built bikes. John Newport from Mountain Trax and Vermont Images takes up the role of Logistics Manager running technical and feed assistance for the team. John had this to say about the team, “Last season we managed to secure the services of Ben Thomas with his own brand identity and personal sponsors to run along side our existing team, this was a major step to achieving some of the bigger goals we’ve set our race team. The year has turned into a pivotal year with some major success, notably a Mountain Trax sponsored rider not only in the British Team but racing at the World Championships with the Mountain Trax support crew in close attendance. In 2013 I have the honour of helping, assisting, driving, listening and generally looking after a great team which will this year include not only Ben Thomas but the new to the team Tim Dunford. Ben and Tim together will make a formidable force on the mountain bike race circuit.”

Vauxhall supports an array of activities and events, we are very proud to have them on board as the second title sponsor for 2013. “We’re delighted to sponsor this new mountain bike team,” said Sandy MacRitchie, Vauxhall’s Commercial Vehicle Marketing Manager. “The fuel-efficient Vauxhall Vivaro, which squeezes out up to 42.7 miles per gallon on a combined cycle, is the perfect van for endurance athletes like Ben and Tim. The Luton-built Vivaro is no stranger to elite competition after winning the Fleet World Miles Per Gallon Marathon and hopefully this new mountain bike team can continue this winning run.”

Over the last few years Ben has become a regular visitor to the top step of the podium at elite category events in different parts of the world. Ben has ridden World Cups, the London Olympic MTB Test Event, the world’s largest stage race the Absa Cape Epic, and the 2012 World Championships. Ben has been silver medallist in the Under 23 National MTB Championships, won the UK’s biggest marathon race the Kielder 100 in 2011, and in 2012 was fourth in the Senior National MTB Championships and finished 31st in his first European Championships. Scott Bikes will sponsor Ben with their fantastic Spark 29er full suspension, and Scale 29er hardtail frames; the brand will also provide the team with helmets and additional training equipment.

Ben had this to say about the team, “2012 was a great year for me with some fantastic results but with the support we have for next year I know Tim and I can ride to even greater success. Pulling all the sponsors, equipment and calendar together has been hard work which started way back in the summer months but it’s been super rewarding to see the positivity from all the sponsors who want to be involved. It’s great to have Tim on board, we’ve known each other for years and train together regularly. We also have similar racing ambitions and I think we’ll work very well together at multi-day pairs stage races. Mountain Trax have exceeded all my expectations in terms of support this year so it’s fantastic to have them on board as title sponsors of this team. With Vauxhall’s support we can travel in comfort and style to races all around Europe.”

Tim’s results have shown huge progression in 2012 with highlights including winning the Kielder 100, TORQ 12 hour, and the UK Endurance Series. Like Ben this year Tim has moved his focus towards marathon distance events. Following his successful year British Cycling rewarded Tim with a place on the GB Team for the World Marathon Championships. Tim has ridden Cannondale Bikes for several years and this continues in 2013 with Tim riding the new Scalpel 29er full suspension and Flash 29er hardtail.


Tim is equally excited about the year ahead, “Ben and I have been racing each other since we were in the Expert category back in 2008. More recently we have both focussed more on the longer marathon events and have had some great battles over the last few seasons. Next year we will be teammates but I’m sure there will still be some healthy team rivalry! Our plans for 2013 are now coming together and it’s going to be an amazing year. We are very fortunate to be receiving fantastic support from Mountain Trax, Vauxhall and all our other team sponsors -without their backing all this wouldn’t be possible. I’m super motivated to get the new season underway and currently putting in lots of rather damp winter miles to be in the best condition possible for next year.”


The team’s goals for 2013 are to medal at the UK National Marathon Championships and to win the champions jersey, retain Tim’s UK Endurance Series title including winning the UK’s toughest marathon the Kielder 100, finish top 20 at the European Marathon Championships, and top 30 at the World Marathon Championships. The team’s full event schedule will be published shortly.


British Cycling realised Ben and Tim’s potential in 2012 by sending them both to represent the Great Britain Team at the World Marathon Championship. With the support of the team’s sponsors the riders have the extra motivation needed to make a big impression in 2013 and both riders are looking forward to successfully showing off the Mountain Trax/ Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team kit around the world.


Look out for our red, black and orange Champion Systems designed kit out on the trails and be sure to say hello. You can keep up to date with all the Mountain Trax – Vauxhall Motors Cycling Team’s news by following and clicking the Like button on our Facebook page –

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mountain-Trax-Vauxhall-Motors-Cycling-Team/330790256947713

Season Summary

This blog has been a little neglected since my last update back in October. Thanks to those of you who’ve continued to check the site, for more regular daily updates you can check the Twitter and Facebook pages where there’ll be some big news coming next week about our plans for the 2013 season. Please follow and like the pages:
https://twitter.com/benthomas88
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ben-Thomas-Racing/330790256947713

Since Roc d’Azur I’ve taken some much needed rest away from the bike and the training lifestyle; it was good to enjoy some nice foods (a few more cakes than I’d normally be able to indulge in) and I even ventured back to the local night club I promised never to return to when I was in college! Plans were already coming together for next year so much of October and November were spent at the computer sending emails and making phone calls.

Training started at the beginning of November. There’s a long build up to the first big races of 2013 but it’s important for my preparation to start building a solid base fitness this side of the New Year. My first 3 weeks of training have just concluded and my training files reveal a successful month: the commitment from sponsors for next year has been a really big motivation. Waterproof trousers and jackets have become my most regularly used items even on the road, it might not be very aerodynamic but it keeps you dry.

This year has left me with some unfinished business after bad luck and poor planning ruined several opportunities for big results: National Cross Country Champs sticks out as the major disappointment but I’ll turn this around as extra motivation for the 2013 race. Andalucia Bike Race, Kielder 100 and National Marathon Champs are 3 other big events I’ll look to improve at next year and hopefully we can make this possible with the changes we are making this winter.

I’ll remember several highlights from this year: 31st place at the European Championships; 23rd overall at the Cape Epic; being selected for the World Championships; plus many memorable stories from epic race trips with many fantastic friends.

Thanks to the followers of this blog, the Facebook page, and Twitter for all the support this year. There’ll be another update on Monday 3^rd of December when we’ll be launching our team for 2013! Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading.

Ben Thomas

None of this would be possible without the help of my sponsors

Mountain Trax www.mountain-trax.com

Santa Cruz Bikes www.santacruzbikes.co.uk

Montane www.montane.co.uk

Fox Suspension www.mojo.co.uk

Hope www.hopetech.com

Rapid Racer Products www.rapidracerproducts.com

USE www.use1.com

Exposure www.exposurelights.com

Vermont Images www.vermont-images.co.uk

Lezyne www.lezyne.com

Jagwire www.jagwireusa.com

Kenda Tires www.kendausa.com

Phenix Metabolic www.phxmet.com

Crank Brothers www.crankbrothers.com

Clif Bar www.clifbar.com

Scott UK www.scott-sports.com