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Saturday morning was an early rise...breakfast, packing the last of the bags into the van, and hitting the road off to Manchester. Smittie & I(sprinters), Evan & Kellan(endurance), and Maroesjka were entered for the Revolution series First Leg - one of the biggest Track Grand Prix events in the world. The endurance events work in teams, Evan & Kellan were entered to ride for the Rouleur team. Whereas Smittie, Maroesjka & myself rode in our National kit as individuals. Smittie & I sat in the sprinters box alongside Olympic champions Jason Kenny & Phil Hindes...and it was pretty awesome to see how laid back these guys were, taking time to chat to us and share a few jokes. Evan & Kellan rode really impressively, taking a few 5th spot placings and a 4th place in the flying 1000m Madison TT - where they rode a time of 58.4 Maroesjka was unfortunately struggling to find her legs, and the ladies she was racing against(including a host of Olympic & World Champions) were not making it any easier for her...keeping the pace high from start to finish in all the events. The sprinters first event of the evening was the sprint qualifier, Smittie rode a personal best of 10.61(qualified 9th) & I also managed to ride a PB of 10.41(qualified 8th). My sprint quarter final was vs Mat Crampton, and although I tried to make a run at him on the last lap he was too powerful to overtake & I was eliminated. In the keirin we were drawn in the same heat which was unfortunate - along with Jason Kenny. The racing was fast I furious, I tried to go a lap and half out...but could not hold them off, and the top3 overtook me coming around the last bend. Smittie tried to run at them down the home straight but ran out of space. We were then to ride the minor final(for 7th to 11th place) - this race was also a quick one, and with a lap to go Smittie & I were both in positions to win the race. Going down the back straight the Frenchman & GB rider started going over Smittie & I was situated on their wheel...their slip led me to come over both of them around the last bend and win the minor final to place 7th. See video links below: Pic 1: Thanks to CW Cycles & all the hubbers for their help in getting us here(unfortunately we could not hold up a hubbers shirt ) Pic 2: Smittie & I lining up for keirin heat Pic 3: Team Rouleur - Evan & Kellan Pic 4: Maroesjka on her 200m flying start Pic 5: Winning the minor final, while Smittie rubbing shoulders with the Frenchie! Pic 6: We still remember how to have some fun, walking around the hotel in our onesies(L to R: myself. Theuns, Evan & Smittie)

After settling in nicely at the Holiday Inn Express & getting a PROPER nights sleep in...we headed off for our first training session on the boards of Newport Velodrome - scary to think that this facility was simply built as a training ground for the GB riders, yet in Africa we do not have a single Wooden track. (image 1 below) The track itself rides like a dream, as it does not get used for competition...it's still in very good condition. The week in Newport flew by, and as the days progressed...so did our legs. The first few days, they felt dead and unresponsive...but as we got closer to the weekend, the legs started to come good. In between the all the rain, we managed to squeeze in a road ride. We decided to head off to Cardiff - this was a bit of an adventure, as nobody really knew where each road would take us. 20km or so later, we found what we were looking for...a bike shop in Cardiff. Some of the guys looked around a bit, while others had some running repairs to be done on their road bikes. The girl at the one bike shop was kind enough to explain a more "cyclist friendly" route to travel back home, and this was as scenic road as I have ridden before(see image 2 below) On Thursday we had a visit & some assistance/advice/words from Team GB "Headmaster" Shane Sutton - the man has been in charge of most of the transformation we see in British cycling today, and the advice he gave the team...was most definitely noted & taken. Friday was our last session at the Newport track, and we made the most of it...as by now the legs were firing on all cylinders. Smittie & I were mixing our training with that of Bernard Esterhuizen, and fitting some team sprint efforts/changes in with that too. TBC...

hi fellow hubbers... How time has flown...we are through most of our preparations, and tomorrow the fun begins - the World Cup, and the honour of representing our country. Been wanting to post for a few days now, but everything has been such a rush...so let me try get the most of it in: On Sunday, the 20th, the team all arrived at Cape Town International at about 10:30 and we proceeded to check in our multitude of bags & boxes - our scheduled departure to London via Dubai was 13:30. Our flight out of Cape Town was delayed due to problem with a faulty tyre...and this caused us to miss our connecting flight out of Dubai, 5hours extra wait in Dubai at 2:00am (SA time) not quite my idea of fun. Eventually we made our way to Heathrow, got our rental vehicles from Europcar and headed off on the M4 to Newport...upon arrival there, we unpacked the cars...checked into our rooms and unboxed all the bikes and built them up to go spin the legs loose. See images attached... 1 - 5 members of the team before our departure from Cape Town 2 - Walking around in Dubai Duty Free in the early hours of the morning 3 - Left: Taking off over sunny Dubai, Right: Approaching the landing strip in a cloudy & wet London (will continue with the story & images in other posts)

Thank you CWC Online...absolute superstars

Hey heyyou any extra funding we receive from here will be used for the rest of the SA team who will be attending the event...you are more than welcome if you wish to contribute!

Morning dipslick...on my way to post an update Just awaiting payment from one or two more parties, but with them...our target will been reached. Received a total of R19 650!!!! Amazing the support that was received...thank you to all the hubbers, each who contributed and those who gave us some words of support!!

We will be doing a casual coffee ride to Mugg & Bean in Stellies tomorrow - anybody in the Cape Town region who are keen for a spin, are welcome to join us! Bring along R20-R30 for a cappuccino(or more if you want to buy breakfast) & tag along for a chat We will leave the Tygervalley Virgin Active gym parking lot at 8:00, head towards Bottelary road from there and down to Stellies...and same way back to the gym. Cheers

Hi guys and girls...still cannot believe the amount of support we have received! The post was originally created for Smittie & I, who together form two thirds of the national team sprint team - and great news is, we have reached our target(will post the amount we received on Sunday)! Thanks a MILLION to each and everyone of you who donated some funds to our cause...not going to mention any names, but you ALL are worthy of a thank you!!! You ALL have really helped us in achieving our dream, to represent our country...and hopefully go on to bigger things from there!! If there are any of you still wish to donate, there are more members(riders) from South Africa who will go on the trip to the UK - endurance riders, and 1 lady(Maroesjka/Fire as you all know her). Any further support will go directly towards easing the impact on their pockets for the trip - please use below details for any donations and I will distribute it to the other members of the team who are in need of funds! Please note the change in reference, will make it easier to identify! Bank name: NEDBANK LIMITED Account Type: Cheque Account number: 1956296638 Branch code: 10880900 Branch name: TABLEVIEW Please use reference "TeamSA Donation" & your name. Regards, Jeanne Nell & Jean Smith

Hi all, I have edited the first post...added the banking details, please use reference as indicated...your name/hub name will do

Hi Eldron...as soon as the dust settles from all the activity, I will count the amounts that have come in and get back with the amount contributed to date. Difficult at this time...as funds transferred today will only reflect tomorrow in my account! How's about I give you all feedback on Sunday? Once again...thank you thank you & THANK YOU!! As I said to Wayne, any extra funds that Smittie & I won't need to cover our trip...will be given to the other members of Team SA who are in need of funds, to make the dent in their pockets a little smaller!

Hi hayleyearth, Valid question indeed. We await a full breakdown of the costs for the trip from CSA, but CSA have committed to paying half the trip - the other half up to the athletes to come up with...or as it seems, the love from the hubbers! We will be spending two weeks in the UK, and the cost per rider covers everything(besides spending money) - including, flights...travel in UK...accommodation...food...overweight costs for flights...all the bells & whistles!

CWC show their class yet again...thanks guys, and thanks for the purchase Wayne to confirm the deal!

Guys...I am at a loss for words! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Beyond AMAZING

Hi guys, wow...this one has gathered some momentum! Insane... If any of you guys want to make a donation...please post it on the other thread we have going(with details about trip & letter from Cycling SA) - https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/131712-urgent-assistance-needed/page__st__16 As i stated on the other thread...our current sponsors have made contributions. We are still in need of about R15k for the two of us...anything raised over & above that will be sure to be split amongst the rest of the Team that will be making the trip with us!

Thanks for all the positive response hubbers...it is truly amazing to see that there are so many people willing to help us! Really appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts...