The awesome support from an awesome dad.

I entered the WP Champs XCO race at Willowbridge this weekend.
I entered the sports class. So it is only 2 laps and worth about 45mins of racing. But I think it is a great way for me to dip my toe into some hard racing again.

With the weather bucketing down like this, it reminded me of the last time I rode SA Champs XC. It was in 2003 or 2004. I was either 16 or 17. Can't remember. I do remember it rained. Hard. For the whole week before we were dreading the race. On friday it cleared up and we managed a few practice laps. The course was rather technical, had a few big drop-offs in it and it was super muddy. Back then XC courses were laps of 7-8km. With usually two big climbs and a lot of singletrack.

I knew I could handle the course, I've ridden worse. But in the wet it was a mess.

Obviously it started raining the friday night again. I did not have a pleasant rest...
Saturday morning was wet, raining in bursts, but it looked alright, until just after we started. Then it started bucketing down.

Racing was hard, but it was more of a suffer fest than anything else. The course was a mess. Lines didn't exist anymore and we were sliding all over the place. This made the big drops even more sketchy, but the chicken lines became hazardous as well, so I just took the racing lines every time, as it was the only lines I've practised.

As the race progressed conditions got worse. It sucked. But I couldn't stop. My dad was there, supporting me.He was as wet as I was, slightly less muddy though. He ran between different points on the course cheering me on. He was as soaked as I was. But he wasn't hiding from the rain. He was supporting me. And I was racing. And we both gave it everything we can.

At some point in the race I bonked, my body just wanted me to stop. I can't remember what he said to inspire me but I pushed on. It got better and I regained some form of composure and managed to finish it.

I can't remember where I came. It was something like 18th? But I remember the sense of suffering. How I learned to blank it out. Not listening to the pain. I remember the sense of accomplishment. Some people were moaning, some were miserable, but I had a ball. I was relieved to finish. But you feel like a warrior after a day like that. And with someone like my dad standing by my side I could face it again on any other day.

The thing is, no matter what it is, my brother and I know that my parents will always support us like this. Wether it is a hockey game or a rugby match or a MTB race in the middle of nowhere. They still support us when they can. My boet's rugby team even made a jersey for my dad.

I remember more crazy days like this. Most of our hockey and rugby matches were in winter. They would always be there shouting like mad with a un umbrella and a flask and our warm gear for afterwards. I remeber the race in Bloem where I nearly wrote off my bike in a crash, the hockey game before it, the rainy days in Silvermine, Tokai, at Paul Roos, even in Bloem, and don't forget the countless sleepless nights at 24hour races. My dad would drive all the way to Napier so that I could do a 28km race. He never missed anything.

I remember the first 24hr race at Oak Valley. My father had a knee replacement on the wednesday. He got discharged from the hospital on saturday. Sunday he cheered me on, standing on his crutches. I was broken when I saw him, But that cheered me up and inspired me to the point where I could squeeze in an extra lap that I did not think I could do.

There are people in life that inspire you, support you and will go to the end of the world for you. My father is one of those persons.

So the rain for this weekend doesn't scare me. I have been through worse. I've learned from the best. The conditions won't change for us, but we can man up and face it. The challenge is there. You can accept it and face the adversity and consequences. Or you can back down. I hate backing down, but that is because I learned my tenacuty from the best. My dad.

Me on day 4of the Epic. My dad found the pic of me in the newspaper. Drove through to Greyton to come  and support us.

My dad and my boet after a school rugby game.

The Viljoen family at my wedding. Dad, Mom, Myself and Le Roux.