The legend Brian Lopes

mtb brian lopes

WPMBA Awards 2007

Last night was the WPMBA AGM & Awards evening. It was really good to see all the guys again after having no events since the last National. I was nominated as the DH Representative and agreed to stand for 2008. My diligence and hard work throughout the year paid off and I received a 2nd place in both the WP Provincials and the South African Nationals, to top it all I was also awarded my WP Colours. Fantastic! It was much more than I anticipated and has provided me with renewed enthusiasm for the upcoming season.

SA Downhill #5 2007

Jonkershoek was once again the venue for the 5th and final National. Hosted at home it was great to see all the downhillers I had met during the nationals this year. The course had been changed from the provincial the weekend before and I could not compare my times on the same course. The heavens opened on raceday and made the initial going a little slippery, but all in all not too bad. SA Cycling ONCE AGAIN bungled the medals, leaving the shipping of the medals too late so no one received any medals (No surprise there Mr. Bradley) and it put a damper on the final national. So that's it for the season, should be interesting to see where I placed at the end of it all.

WP Downhill #5 2007

Our final WP downhill was held at Jonkershoek. A brand new course created for the upcoming national to be held next week. Saturday's practice was a wet and slippery affair, but luckely the course dried out nicely for race day. My first run was marred with my chain getting stuck in the chain device, really strange, had not had that happen before, lost a full 4 minutes off my time trying to sort it out. My second run went off way better and I felt comfortable on the course. I'm looking forward to the Nationals this weekend and hope to improve my time.

SA Downhill #4 2007

Gilloolys farm in JHB was the setting for the 4th SA DH National. The course was steep in sections and strewn with loose rocks making for a very technical course. The notorious "Foxhole" was a super steep, rutted, rocky section of the track which claimed many a rider, myself included. I didn't have any good runs and felt really uncomfortable on the bike. Having developed a chest cold a few days prior and coupled with the JHB air didn't help either. I finished last in my class with two disastrous runs. All in all it was a lesson learned and I now need to redouble my efforts and get back into training.

Eden Road Gap (small)

Here I am doing the smaller road gap at the bottom of Eden. Checked out a bit of the course for the next provincial to be held here.

SA Downhill #3 2007

This weekend was the 3rd SA Downhill held in George. The course was well laid out and longer than anything I'd ridden before. It was a great fun and probably the best course I have experienced to date. Practice on Saturday was very wet and slippery, with ruts forming in the soft sections. Race day on Sunday and the rain cleared to make way for a gusting wind, which proved formidable on the open top section. I blew my first run with my pedal clipping a rock, just after this shot, and sending me over the bars. My second run was fairly clean, but just not fast enough. It was a great experience and I look forward to racing this course again.

WP Downhill #3 2007

Here I am clearing the Tin Mine jump at Zevenwacht where our 3rd DH Provincial was held. I placed 5th in my class and had to face some stiff competition. I had good clean runs and have increased my skill on some of the obstacles on the course. It was a great day out and well organised by WPMBA. I look forward to riding the course again and improving my time. I ran a 2:42 this time round.

Greg Minnaar Worlds view DH course

Here we go, the man himself on Worlds View. It was awsome to see and to ride the course myself.

Andrew Race 2006

This is a section with Andrew Neethling blasting Downhill at the World Champs in New Zealand 2006, ultra smooth.

SA DH Champs 2007

SA DH Championships 2007 held at Worlds View Pietermaritzburg... and what a setting. The course was pretty daunting at first. It's really steep and off camber with a lot of technical bits thrown in. It took me quite some time to get used to the idea of actually riding the course, but once I got going I settled down a bit.
During practice on Saturday I took a nasty spill on one of the tight corners, pitching me over the bars and as luck would have it landing on my lower back on a tree stump (same place I injured myself 3 weeks ago). I thought I might not be able to race but kept ice on it through the day and on Sunday I was ready to race, albeit a bit sore and stiff. My first run went well with no serious hiccups, but I knew I would need to make up more time in my 2nd run. I blasted through the first section of the course on my 2nd run only to lose it on a vertical drop, sliding off and bending my bars and I was unable to continue. All in all I learnt a lot and had a good time.

Greg Minnaar!

Here I am at the SA DH Champs with World Champion Greg Minnaar! It was really something else to meet and see him in action. The guy is just superhuman on the course, absolutely bombing everything in sight. Marvelous to see him jump and actually get closeup to the Honda DH machine.

WP Downhill #2 2007

Race day! I finally got the rock garden sorted after taking a bad spill right here last week. I had a good race finishing 4th with a time of 02:21. It was a good course that suited me, I'd like to go back and ride it some more later in the year to try and improve on my speed through certian sections. Eden is always a pleasure to ride in with lots of shade and a variety of tracks strewn around.

Freeride Session Eden

We had a freeride session on the old, old course at Eden - Stellenbosch in preparation for the upcoming provincial. It was a learning curve for me as I had never done the rock drop-off before and it provided me with the opportunity to get acquainted with the course. The day went well except for me taking a nasty spill in the top rock garden and falling on my lower back, I was not wearing any body armour at that stage. Guess I have to learn by my mistakes.

SA Downhill #1 - 2007

Aaah my first medal and at a National no less. I'm pretty stoked and really was not expecting it at all. I went up to PE with Gareth & Nick for the experience and what an experience it was. The course was a true test of stamina and technical skills. Scott from PE put in a lot of hard work to create a grueling course. The weather played up at times blasting riders with icy cold gusts of wind and the occasional downpour.
All in all a great time was had with the only letdown being that Cycling SA had once again bungled the medals. Not forgetting the medals as with the last Nationals (our riders have still not received their medals), but by supplying 2006 medals for a 2007 National. What's happening guys?

WP Downhill #1 - 2007

My first race of the season! Finally the season has started and I have completed my first race. I finished in 4th place with a time of 3:09. I am happy with my performance but still have plenty of scope to get faster and up my technical skills. Practice was ok with me only taking one tumble (pretty heavy one though). The bike feels great and I had loads of fun.

The Playground - Paarl

Went for a ride at The Playground in Paarl. The weather was perfect and I had loads of fun doing wallrides and learning to drop off rock ledges. My bike handling skills are improving and I'm starting to become more confident in my abilities.

Doing Drops

Had a great run at Eden yesterday doing drops with the big bike. Love the way it soaks up the landings (Huge Grin) 

My GT DHi has arrived!

At Last! My GT DHi has arrived. I am so stoked. I have already gone for my first ride and the bike feels amazing. I can't wait to start training and racing.