New year, new team, new me!

It’s the start of a brand new season and this year I’m riding for Team DCM Chrome, a mountain bike team that’s focused on developing young riders. And in my case road riders crossing over to the “dark side” J

Over the past weekend I participated in my first race for the year, the MTN National Marathon Series that was held down in Barberton.
After all the time and effort spent coming back from my accident and sorting out my knees, I was mainly hoping to finish the race without knee pain or concussion related head ache. There was also the normal nervousness for the first race of the season. And to top it all off, I received my brand new Cannondale Taurine MTB only two days prior to the race. That meant I only got time to test out the bike the day before the event. Luckily my Specialized bike fit combined with the awesome Taurine made the transition fairly easy.

The day turned out great. I was really impressed with what my mountain bike can do. My technical skills and confidence have improved substantially by riding with a lefty fork (Cannondale’s suspension fork design). I am also happy to say that I achieved my first goal of the season. I was able to complete the race without serious knee pain and even managed a top ten by finishing 7th!

It was a great experience. It’s only from racing that you can see where your form truly is and where your training is lacking. I have 4 weeks until my next race, Sabie Classic. It gives me enough time to finish my last block of base training as well as getting used to my new bike.