Diary of sauserwind

13.5.2013

Mon, 13 May 2013 00:00:00 -0200

2 laps, 94km, 2100m of climbing
Second place, 18sec off winner Alban Lakata

I was about to win this race, but 100m before the finish I dropped my chain off the chainring... I had a small chain suck so I instinctively back pedaled. With all the mud all over my drive train the chain went off and I had to walk over the finish line but Lakata had passed me already. It was like in a bad dream but I am pretty used to dramas like that. I only have to think of t ... read more >>

5.5.2013

Sun, 5 May 2013 00:00:00 -0200

7 laps, but only races 5 of it.
DNF due broken chain

It was actually dry sky wise, but the heavy rain from the day and night before made the course slick and very muddy and some sections.

My tire choice was Fast Track front and Renegade rear in S-Works compound. Like this I had awesome rolling on the asphalt which covered probably 30% of the course, plus great traction on the front in the downhills. Also due the lower knobs the tire ... read more >>

23.4.2013

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0200

Before Sea Otter Classic the whole mountain bike racing team met
up at Specialized head quarter. It was a great meet & greet plus we joined product presentations, social media training, photo shoots, office tour, lunch ride or race and meeting a lot of bright engineers and marketing peoples.

Btw we also got a brand new truck. Almost formula 1 style! ... read more >>

22.4.2013

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0200

Friday
Short Track, 20min plus 3 laps,
10th Place, a few seconds behind winner Geoff Kabush

This new course was not cool! Right after the start a hairpin corner then we also had a sand pit, no climbs but many more hairpin corners again. They felt the hardest for me.
After a poor start I never had the chance to move to the front any more. I was limit for the entire time and just hanging on a 12 man leading group which got spread out ... read more >>

11.4.2013

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0200

Thanks so much to Meerendal Wine Estate and its team for hosting such an incredible songo.info charity evening two days after the ABSA Cape-Epic finish!
It felt like to be at a classy wedding, except I had to do the talking together with Dank Nicholl. Next to great food (open fire roasted lamb) Meerendal wine, music and great company we also auctioned off our ABSA Cape-Epic winning bikes, a Maurice Lacroix watch and many more very valuable and useful items. We almost made z ... read more >>

9.4.2013

Tue, 9 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0200

9 laps, 1.34h racing time
8th place, 1.47min off winner Nino Schurter

I arrived back in Switzerland on Thursday after the ABSA Cape-Epic. My days in South Africa have been busy and I did not even had the time to feel tired of it.
Meerendal wine estate (host of the prologue) organized a incredible songo.info evening (more about it in my next blog in a few days) two days after the Epic, plus I had to get many things sorted out before I left my s ... read more >>

18.3.2013

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0200

Since Specialized is doing such good footage of each stage and I am honestly too tired (or lazy?) of writing stories every day, I am only adding the route characteristic and results here.

Check out the link of our videos day by day!

Prologue Meerendal
22km, 700m of climbing, 55.10min
1st place, 1.07min off Multivan Merida

Stage 1, Citrusdal-Citrusdal
96km, 2350m of climbing, 4.34hrs read more >>

16.3.2013

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0200

30min plus 3 laps (45min total)
First place, a few seconds ahead of Kohei Yamamoto

Songo Champions Race! For the second time we invited all the ABSA Cape-Epic pros for having a exciting 40min race. A world class field lined up, but most importantly it was to inspire the kids in the township, showing them dedication, commitment and excitement. It was simply mind blowing to see so many enthusiastic kids running around and cheering. The kids was so happy a ... read more >>

13.3.2013

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0200

110km, 2.40hrs racing time, 41.3km/h average speed
15th place, same time as finisher Herman Fouche

It is Arugs time! That means whole Cape Town is ruled by 40'000 riders and all what all comes with it. The Argus is the biggest timed cycling event in the world!

On Saturday the day before the race you can not park your bike in front of a coffee shop any more. The queues inside are crazy long. At Vida e Cafè in Stellenbosch even t ... read more >>

5.3.2013

Tue, 5 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0200

66km, 1800m of climbing, 2.40hrs racing time
Unofficial first place, around 1min ahead of Matthys Beukes

Ok todays results needs some explaining because we ended up having two different top three podiums with flowers, price money and all the tralalala.

We were around 10 riders who got lost and finally ended up taking a short cut.
It was probably a little bit after mid way when the leading motorbike could not ride over 3 b ... read more >>