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After 3 long months of hard work demolishing my house (while packing away some hard training) I spent a week on my parents farm to say good bye to them and Africa before hitting the US for some serious racing.
Because internet in Africa is slow, expensive and hard to get, this story [...]

Daniel Godfrey HUGO, we (your Specialized Team mates) are sitting here wondering; what had REALLY happened in New York?  Your New York blog post was cute and all, but
 
We want the REAL New York Story!
 

Airport bed from a previous trip. Cant remember where.
On my recent 35hr trip from Roodewalshoek Farm, South Africa, to Reno Nevada:
4hr drive to the airport with my dad. We seriously considered going on his motorbike,(see previous post) as I have little luggage this time. Fortunately we didnt as it POURED with rain most of the [...]

This is my dads’ story about his recent bike trip through South Africa. As you can see, its in Afrikaans. This blog post is not aimed at the public, but rather a way for my dads family and friends to be able to read it. (He wanted to type it on a typewriter and mail [...]

In search for the holy grail of sports performance, Irish National Team ITU member, Gavin Noble (Dublin Triathlon Champion this past weekend) cranks out the Watts in the lab. This kind of lab testing will give Gav and his coach all kinds of numbers they can play with in training. Tests will be repeated often, [...]

People always wonder why pros prefer home stays at most races. Why not stay in a “nice hotel” and “rest up for the race?”
There are many reasons why home stay families are the best way of experiencing away from home racing: (in no particular order)
- When you travel as much as we do, you hate [...]

Jason Bailey from Cape Town sent these pics from the early 90s- complete with top 5 results…

Kevin Richards is probably the athlete who had the biggest influence on my racing career. When I finished high school in 1991 he invited me to go race in France with him. (In a small town in the South [...]

Due to an incredible amount of interest in my Sheryl Crow swimsuit, here is the close up:

I got this suit in a cool San Fransisco store near the Castro last summer. It was the only one left, and I had to wrestle a few gays for it. I won!
I love this suit, but the material [...]

And why I’m not racing Xterra Temecula coming Sunday(2005):
It all happened on a sunny afternoon about 6 weeks ago. As usual, I played my own little “carry all the groceries in one trip” game. A 15 kilogram bag of potatoes (Caveman staple diet) obscured my view of the trail leading up to my cave, but [...]

This I wrote for the 2002 Lifetime Fitness Triathlon brochure.  They asked us to “talk trash”- a new experience to me, so I let loose and talked trash!
In my 15 years in triathlon I’ve learnt a few lessons:
One is: THE MORE GEAR YOU HAVE, THE FASTER YOU GO. Ok, I have TONS of gear. The [...]

Life on the road. By Conrad Stoltz
France, 1996.
Triathlon heaven, those years. I was the youngest of a handful of South Africans racing for a village called Cahors in the Sud Ouest of France. Every weekend  we’d travel to races, chasing money, glory and adventure.
Getting to races was tricky, and usually we’d hitch rides with French [...]

 
My 2005 off season reading was Brian Lopes’ book on mountain biking skills. As a fairly competent mountain biker, I was amazed at how much there is still to learn about the art of making an off road bicycle go fast.

Elephant Tales- by Rory Mackie
This is one the most hectic stories I have ever heard. Ror has told it many times- the details changing depending on how many beers he’s had and who the audience is. But here is the original version. Before the beers and before the legendary story grew tails.
Rory is from Zimbabwe: [...]

I know “fun” and “flying” is an oxymoron nowadays, but this was the best flight of the year. Our flight from Kona to Maui. Andrew the pilot is trying to squeeze 1x XL Specialized bike box and 1x XL Tri All 3 Double case into those small little bins under the belly of this “plane”. [...]

Red Rock Canyon outside Las Vegas, actually.
Interbike was especially hectic for me. Not only was it my 1st time in Vegas -a huge culture shock- it was also Interbike - another full-on sensory overload. Fortunately there was training- my safe haven from the ruckus and all the squalor out there.

Amber and I needed to get out of the condo and daily town life, so we headed up the Cascades and camped at the foot of Broken Top. We camped and trained at 2000m, (the same alt as Tahoe- XTERRA USA Champs is in 2 weeks) enjoying the nice weather and the changing colours of [...]

Amber and I are in the thick of hectic training for the big races of the year. Yesterday she did a 6hr ride (WHY?!? - see why below) and I did a 4 hr ride with a short hard run off the bike. We met up along her way in Sisters, just outside our home [...]

I love Czech! This country is beautiful- the countryside, the castles, the people. Here is the main street in Hluboka nad Vltavou- venue of XTERRA Czech. Great coffee and Apfel Strudel to be had under those blue umbrellas. English, Afrikaans and French doesnt get you far here, but most Czechs speak some German, so I’ve [...]

How to lube a rusted bike chain when you have no (Squirt) chain lube.
Disaster strikes. The airline took your luggage hostage. You have to pre ride the course, so you borrowed a bike, helmet, shoes 2 sizes too big and clothes. (Yay for someone else’s used chamois!) Read more about why and how this was [...]

Here is a short story by Mari Rabie, South Africa’s great hope for the Beijing Olympics. Visit her excellent blog at MariRabie.com.
I was quite unaware of the inspiration, but am very touched by this story…