JC - Awesome time in South Africa
By TMX Archives on 30th Dec 08
Hi there everyone,
Sorry, I know it's been a while since I checked in but I've been in South Africa for a month doing my base training and I haven't had much time or really been near a computer to do a ‘Josh says', but here's a big Christmas and New Year edition!
At the end of November I flew to south Africa to do a months base training with my new trainer Russel White. I was a little nervous as I was out of shape and a little tubby! Haha! I also didn't know Russel that well but I was ready to do work so that was a good thing. I flew to East London from Joburg and met up with the group: Russel, Tyla Rattray and Rui Goncalves as well as a masseuse and guide. The first four days was a safari mountain bike along the wild coast of South Africa. It was awesome - we did 5 hours mtb a day and stayed in hotels each stop. Along the way we had a back up vehicle that met us occasionally for drinks etc. We saw sting rays, dolphins, whales, snakes buck, zebras, wild horses and rhino pooh - no rhino in the flesh but we saw the pooh as we cycled through ‘Rhino valley'. It really was a cool way to see the wild coast as we cycled through real villages and saw all those animals in the wild. After the safari we went back to Russel's house where I settled into my room and we prepared for a charity cycle race. It was from a place called little Switzerland which is in the mountains north of Durban. The race was 320k in one day! Around 100 people did it with 50 finishers. The Tour de France commentator did a speech the night before the race which was cool as we were all cycling enthusiasts. I stayed in the b group all day just near the front just like Lance would – haha. But in the end the B group caught the A group and we cruised into the finish 12 hours later! We had 6 stops on the way but needless to say my bum was a little saw afterwards. Check out their website www.charitycycle.org
Russel lives near the beach so most mornings were started with a surf at around 5 am then we started training. Week 2 we spent doing normal stuff and week 3 we went back to little Switzerland to do some altitude training. It was really nice there and the hotel had everything. At one time we were working out in the gym and wild zebras were eating grass outside! We went hiking and did some rock climbing as well. It really was an all body work out! On an off day we went white water rafting, We did 2 x grade four rapids - check out the web site: www.outrageousadventures.co.za
While in SA I met some cool people. One guy Russel trains is a pro surfer called Davey Weire - he was a sweet guy and has promised to take me surfing when I go back. I'm looking forward to that but I'll probably just watch as he's 5th in the world and battles Kelly Slater!
I think you can tell from the way I'm writing that I had a great time. We got some really good work done that will help me for the 09 season. Russel and I get along great and I'm very much looking forward to working with him. I've been back in Europe for a week now, and my tan is fading fast! It's super cold back here and I've just been easing back into training in the cold.... Christmas was quiet but it was nice to have a real Winter Christmas! New year is fast approaching and I want to thank all my fans, sponsors and supporters and wish you all a happy 2009!
Cheers for now,
Josh