Posts Tagged ‘gert stoltz’
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 (and a few to come) are only seeing the interweb now. Also, if you only have a week in paradise with your folks, sitting on the computer is like a prison sentence…
Here are some of the highlights:
My dad would join me on my recovery rides, and let me tell you, I was on the ropes most of the time! Quite something for a 66 year old “ballie” who beat colon cancer 3 years ago. As you can see, he also rides for Specialized Factory Team as he is the one with the REAL genes in the family. My friends calls him “Tarzan”.
n Lang rit na vryheid. Deur Gert Stoltz
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 copies, but I had a small victory- he spent 2 days typing it on my Mac) If you really really want to read it, you can feed the text into the amazing Google Translate
N LANG RIT NA VRYHEID
deur Gert Stoltz
Voordat ek begin wil ek net eers die ding van n motorfiets en n bike uitklaar. Daar is ouens wat definisies het van wanneer jy n biker is en wanneer nie. Vir die doel van hierdie storie gee ek nie om om nie as n biker te kwalifiseer nie. Maar ek wil graag na die ryding as n bike verwys bloot omdat die woord 4 letters het en motorfiets 10. En onder die broers en susters wat hierdie vreemde beheptheid het, staan die voertuig bekend as n bike.
“Bikebedonnerd” is n goeie beskrywing vir ouens wat hierdie ding het oor. Ander voel waarskynlik net so sterk oor hulle besondere belangstelling, maar om iemand “seëlsbedonnerd” of “rolbalbedonnerd” te noem klink net nie reg nie – die konnotasie met oer-instinkte is net nie daar nie. Dit gesê, glo ek dit is noodsaaklik dat, ter wille van jou geestesgesondheid, elkeen een of ander begeesterde beheptheid het, al is dit ook net tydelik. Dit red jou van n staat van totale apatie en verveling – tipiese kwale van die huidige tydvak. Dit is sekerlik n interessante studieveld vir sielkundiges wat soek na antwoorde vir hulle pasiente wat vrae vra na die sinvolheid van die lewe.
A fun weekend’s dirt bike riding!
I built a short Enduro track through a stream and some dongas on our farm. My mate Werner came over for the day and we rode till dark. Serious fun and hard work! I finished my long run 1st thing in the morning and had the day free for fun “XTERRA training”…
This was my last real riding opportunity as I leave for the USA XTERRA season on Friday. (20 March)
My dad is a beast! My friends dont call him “Tarzan” for no reason…
For those who dont read Afrikaans so well- shame on you! Just kidding. It says here: Gert Stoltz won the Grand Masters (60+) agegroup at the recent 40km Sabie Classic mountain bike race. He beat the 2nd placed guy by 6 minutes!
Obviously he rides the fastest bike out there, (one of my old S works Specialized Epics) but mostly his amazing performance comes from some serious genes. I think I got the diluted version, because my dad only trains on Saturdays, and I have to train a full 6 days a week to win.
If I could just get him to do an XTERRA, but he says swimming is for frogs and running is for criminals…
Rafting trip on the Orange River over New Years
My friends from Stellenbosch organized a 4 day river rafting trip over New Years. We paddled South Africa’s biggest river- the (not so) mighty Orange. It runs through the driest part of South Africa and made for a truely memorable experience. Pine runs African Rafting and is a friend of a friend, so all 20 of us knew each other.
