Buys tastes fear in Europe

Tuesday, 06 July 2010 15:54

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Fear visits Team Garmin adidas rider Buys

Even Philip Buys (Garmin-adidas) can be rattled when he has to battle his way through really tough technical sections during a mountain bike race.

Buys is known in South Africa as the ‘kamikaze rider’.  Once he is on his mountain bike nothing seems to scare him.  The tougher it gets, the more enjoyable it is for him.

This is one of the reasons why Buys was selected for the South African mountain bike cross-country team that will compete at the World Championship.

But now everything has changed during the European ‘safari’ for Garmin-adidas riders.

Buys readily admits that he became rattled for the first time during one of these races.

“It was a real eye-opener to be racing in Europe.  The danger of only competing in South Africa is that you gradually get into a comfort zone, not realizing how much you still have to learn before you can really claim to be a good mountain biker.

“It was during one particular cross-country race in Germany that I became frightened for the first time. First we had to race down a crazy technical section.  This was followed by a big drop-off, after which we rode straight into a tunnel. I crashed twice going into the tunnel and this rattled me because it was not suppose to happen to me.

“Luckily I managed to keep my cool and towards the end of the race I rode through the tunnel without falling.

“The most important thing that I learned while racing in Europe, was that you have to change your mindset completely.  Everything there is steeper and more technical than what we are used to.

“The weather is also a major factor. We constantly raced in wet and muddy conditions. Mud seems to be part and parcel of European mountain biking while, in comparison, we in South Africa race in really wet conditions approximately ten times a year.

“The rivalry during races is also much fiercer.  During a local race there might be five riders battling it out for the victory.  In Europe, at any given time, there could be 30 or more riders racing to win. You absolutely cannot afford to make a mistake because it will cost you.

“During one of the races I had to stop to change front wheels. During the few seconds that it took me to do that, three riders passed me. I only managed to catch up with and pass one of them.

“The climbs in the marathon races are also something else. It is nothing unusual to climb for 90 minutes with no respite.”

According to Buys he brought back quite a few lovely souvenirs in the form of scars on his body to remind him that racing in Europe is not for “sissies”.

Buys said his training programme will be slightly different from now on. He plans to do more cross- training, for example running, and he will also try to train on a cross-country course at least once a week.

This past weekend Marc Bassingthwaighte claimed the Namibian National title for himself and team mate Mannie Heymans finished in second place giving the team a 1,2 at the Namibian National Champs.


The South African MTB National teams have also been announced and Philip Buys has been included in both the Cross Country and Marathon teams and Francois Theron was also included in the Marathon National team for world championships.

Keep up to speed with the team at www.teamgarmin.co.za or follow them on twitter @teamgarminmtb

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