So with all my years of racing downhill and recently racing some pretty tough endurance cross country events, I can truly say that I have just completed the toughest, most gruelling race that I have ever entered. Continue reading ‘Mega Avalanche - Alpe de Huez’
Tag Archive for 'Anka Martin'
Sven had to go and do a photo shoot in Chatel this past weekend in the Porte de Soleil region, and I decided to jump in on this opportunity and to invite myself along for a bike ride. It was so beautiful, you criss cross in and out of France and Switzerland, catching chair lifts up and down everywhere, dodging cows and thunder storms and with some 800+ km’s of trails, you will never find yourself on the same trail twice. Continue reading ‘Criss crossing in and out of countries without a passport…’
Sven, Lars and I have had an amazing week here in Fort William, Scotland. The sun has been shining all week and the track was dry and dusty and oh so much fun. The only negative thing about the whole week, were the MIDGES, they are tiny little mosquito like insects that devour your skin and leave you covered in itchy bites. We all look like we have some sort of Scottish disease or something. I felt great all week, the track was extremely demanding, and I needed some MAN arms halfway down the track, but it is by far the best downhill track that I have ever raced on. I had a big crash on my first run this morning, thought I broke my thumb, but was able to do my qualifying run. Continue reading ‘Sunny Scotland’
So with the snow not wanting to melt here in Bend, a whole bunch of us decided to go camping and riding in Oakridge for the weekend. I was super excited, because we got April Lawyer to leave her store for a while to come shredding with us. She still kills it on a bike even though she has been slaving away at her super dope clothing boutique here in Bend. Continue reading ‘Oakridge trail riding mania!’
After 5 stages and over 42 hours in the saddle, Fluidride Rider Anka Martin is sitting in an impressive 15th place in the Women’s division of the Cape Epic. Anka has worked tirelessly to get the required fitness to complete this grueling event. We wish her the best of luck in the final stages. Good Luck Anka!
Well, as I am sitting here on this beautiful Monday morning, my stomach is turning and I am getting nervous. I finished my last weekend of long rides, and now we only have a few short rides left until we start. Our training is complete. It has a weird, anti climatic feel to it. All these long hours in the saddle - in the snow and scorching sun has come to an end.
We went on the most beautiful xc ride on Sunday with a local crew of friends. We set of to Grabouw in the dark, to have an early start, because it was supposed to be another real scorcher of a day. It was like a kid in a candy store, because I have been wanting to do this ride for year’s, and just have never been able to…
So, with 23 days to go, I decided to enter a mountain bike race to see how my training has been going. There were 3500 entrants, and it was on a beautiful wine farm Boschendal, where you are not usually allowed to ride. It was 55km long, and because I was not seeded, I had to start with hundreds of people way back in the bunch. I played catch up the whole race, and the last 15km, all the age groups were thrown in on the same trail towards the finish line. It was chaotic, with kiddies and grannies and very large people on bicycles, you had to control yourself not to race past the kids and push over the grannies, but to still try and get to the finish line ASAP! I finished 18th overall out of 50 in the pro women’s category, and only 7 min behind some of the top xc pro.
From Fluidride Team Rider: Anka Martin
The reason that I am in South Africa is because I am participating in the Absa Cape Epic, a 9 day xc stage race where Megan (my partner) and I will be riding 920km (580 miles) on dirt!Our team is called the Ironhorse Maidens, and we will keep you updated here on what we are getting up to with our preparations for the Epic.
