Solid Start to the World Cup

       Today I road my first world cup of the season and it went really well. I had a clean run and finished 29th. Now that I have done a world cup, started off the season, and got some points on the board, I look forward to picking up the pace and improving in the next round. I road very within myself today and felt that I hadn't given it everything I had in the technical sections. I learned that you just can't ride that carefully at a race like this. It was a tight race, 1 second would have moved me 10 positions either way over a 4 min track. Im not far off where I want to be and with the points I scored today, a good race in the next round will put me there. I'm ready to take on the next one in Fort William, Scotland next month. I was so stoked for Aaron today getting his first career win. He will be running the number 1 and wearing the leaders jersey  in Fort William. It was a great weekend for the team with Tracy and Aaron both winning. I'm excited to go home after 10 weeks away, that has taken a lot out of me and I really felt it this last week. I will be home for 2 weeks, then do some races in the U.S. with Justin and Aaron. They will be close to home and a good time to relax and have fun riding together. I can't wait to get home.

NM

South Africa qualifying round

     Just got back after the quali and it was a good day at the track. I road smooth and had a solid run for 32nd place. Im glad to have that run in the books, It went exactly to plan and now I can start getting in the mindset for Sunday. I am confident that I can put down a good run in the final. Im going to take it out fast and put in an effort I'm proud of. Tomorrow there is more practice, so I plan to ride with my teammates and we can find some time on the track together. Weather has been great the past two days. Really good for riding bikes. Next two days look good as well. Im stoked for Sunday!

NM

South Africa World Cup practice day

        The first day of riding here at the Pietermaritzberg World Cup just wrapped up. I did a few runs and was feeling really good on my bike. It rained a little bit last night which made the dirt perfect all day today. It's so much better than last week, the track is running really fast and the whole thing flows together pretty well. The pedal actually isn't so bad.  There isn't much line choice, the hard packed line is pretty much the best choice for most of the track. I have my semi final tomorrow and I will go late in the day because I have no UCI points from being injured last year. Im confident I can put down a solid ride and start looking ahead to sunday.

NM

South African National

       This weekend I did the South African national round in Pietermaritzberg to get some time on the track before the world cup here next weekend. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and it rained the whole time. The dirt here is hard packed red clay, so it was very slippery. The track was pretty good Friday, and I got some good practice on it, but the past two days it was very unpredictable. The steeper bits at the top were pretty hard in the rain and the pedal at the bottom was reduced to near walking speed. There was a problem with the medical vehicles not being able to get up to the top of the track in the rain, so we started the race half way down the track today. I did a practice run and my seeding run this morning and the conditions were pretty bad. The track got cut up with some deep ruts. As I was at the top getting ready for my race run, the officials at the top decided to cancel the race because it was too dangerous and the uplift vehicles were having trouble getting to the top. I have never heard of a downhill race being cancelled. It was a pretty frustrating day, but I think it was a positive weekend altogether. Im feeling comfortable here and the weather is looking better for next week. Can't wait to get the world cup underway.

NM

Sunshine in Cape Town

       I've been staying just outside of Cape Town in Stellenbosch the past week and having a great time. I have been out on the bike with my teammates training for the world cup in two weeks. It's awesome riding with Justin because we push each other the whole time. Earlier in the week I won the six pack contest I had with paul which earned me a trip to his house in the south of France for a week this fall. I'm hoping to cary that momentum into the bike races next week haha. I have been going to an awesome gym at the University of Stellenbosch that has lots of really nice equipment. Everyone on the team loves it. I got some cool photos with Gary Perkin on a local track here to use for some media stuff. I'm stoked with the shots we got. Over the weekend we went to Somerset West and met up with Jonty Neethling to do some downhill riding. The track he had was really cool, lots of good corners and fun jumps. Best track in the area by far. It was incredibly dusty though, so we had to wait about a minute after each rider went. Tomorrow the whole team is doing a wine tasting tour by bike around the local vineyards. We will visit four of five farms and be riding the distance inbetween. It will make for a nice relaxing day before I travel Wednesday. I'm excited for the big races these next two weekends!

NM

Made it to Cape Town

      I have been here in Cape Town two days now. South Africa is an awesome place, there is so much diversity here. Some parts are very modern and other parts are more traditional african style. It's late summer now and the weather couldn't be better. I have been out for two rides with my teammates which have been great, the riding is sweet. I watched Luk and Math finish the cape epic yesterday. The won the stage. It was cool seeing them win, the crowd was huge! I have been preparing for my six-pack challenge with paul the past few days. We have a bet going from last year to see who has the best six-pack and wednesday is the day. The team will vote to determine a winner. Paul has been trying pretty hard, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve. This next week Im going to try to find some quality trails and get some good bike time in. Looking forward to doing some cool photos as well.

NM