Brendon Davids

It's been a while since we ran an interview, but this week we chatted to American outfit Team Sho-Air Specialized's newest team member Brendon Davids. Brendon will join current endurance pro riders Manuel Prado of Costa Rica and Monique Pua Mata of Hawaii as a three pronged line of attack on the professional mountain bike squad. Visit their website: http://team-shoair.com/index.asp

Brendon (18), currently ranked # 6 Junior in the UCI World Rankings, is the first SA rider since Burry Stander
to secure a contract of this nature and interestingly enough Burry was exactly the same age when it happened.

Brendon’s USA Trip - 28 May to 27 July 

1. 5 June = USA Triple Crown XC race in Los Olivios California. He raced with the pro elites and finished 3rd overall. Muddy conditions jammed rear drive train, ran final 4.8km.
2. 18/19 June = Big Bear, California. Raced with the Pro Elite XC category and finished 4th.
3. 25 June  = Subaru Pro XCT at Mt Morris, Wisconsin.. Brendon took 1st overall in the junior men UCI Cat 1 XCO race and took 1st in pro cat1 short track
4. 26 June = Pro XCC at Mount Morris, Wisconsin. Took 1st overall in the UCI Cat 1 XCC junior men's race.
5. 10 July = Windham World Cup. He suffered major mechanical issues and dropped back from 2nd to finish 19^th.
6. 16/17 July = US Nationals in Idaho

SOMEWHERE IN AMONGST THESE RACES YOU BROKE YOUR NOSE, AND WERE NOT ABLE TO RACE THE US NATIONALS?
While pre-riding the Windham XCO track I came across a super rocky section at race pace... Unfortunately spectators were standing in the line I was using. In an attempt to miss them I pulled out to try get into the other line, but slipped on a low-lying root. With the speed I was carrying I didn’t even have time to try tuck-and-roll, slamming my face into the rock garden.

Idaho was pretty amazing, although I wasn't allowed to race the US National Championships. The US does not allow foreigners to race in their national champs, so I made he most of it - I was able to support my good friend Casey, and managed to hit some insane trails in and around the ski resort.

IT LOOKS LIKE THE RACING HAS NOT COME EASY, AND EACH RACE HAS GIVEN YOU SOME SORT OF CHALLENGE?
Racing abroad is definitely super tough when you don't have a factory backing you, or family to help you out. Just finding someone to feed you at a race has been challenging, never mind trying to get to the races. But the people have been SUPER accommodating here; they'd always stopped and dropped everything to help 'the kid from South Africa'.

WHEN COMPETING AGAINST THE ELITES, DID YOU FEEL OUT OF YOUR DEPTH?
I felt pretty intimidated at the first race at Santa Ynes, CA. I was lined up with legends like Sid Taberlay, Ty Kady and young talents like Zach Valdez!  But soon after the start I saw that I could hang with, as well as beat, some of the favourites. I kinda learnt that you just have to believe, dig deep, stay committed and the results will follow.

WHAT IS THE CALIBRE OF AMERICAN XCO ATHLETES IN COMPARISON TO RACING IN SA, GAINED FROM YOUR CURRENT EXPERIENCE?
The pro's here COULD definitely hang with the top riders at World Cup status. A couple of the pros in the US (Sam Schultz, Max Plaxton and Sid Taberlay) regularly battle it out with Todd Wells and Geoff Kabush!

The U23 and junior talent is really good here. An American kid won the world cup ahead of Andri Frischneckt and Andrey Fonseca, so they have definitely got good talent coming through. Another massive talent is Stephen Ettinger who came in 5th in he U23 World Cup at Dalby forest!

TELL ME MORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WORLD CUP IN WINDHAM?
Ah man! First off I completely destroyed my nose in that crash on Thursday afternoon, and was advised not to race by both the doctor and my host. But to travel so far and not race was simply just not an option. 

So I tenderly suited up on Saturday afternoon (raced at 5pm) and got a great call up; ranked 4th in the World Cup standings meant I had a front row start. The start was terrible as I slipped a gear and got blown to mid pack, around 14th or 15th. I managed to fight my way up to the lead group by the top of the track, which was down to 4 riders including me. I made a pass on 3rd but unfortunately he accidentally rode into my derailleur, which completely twisted my derailleur. I tried to stay calm and adjust my gears, but the derailleur was so bent that I could only get 3 gears out of it. I managed to do some seriously dodgy descending, and regained contact with the leading 3. I tried to push the heavy gear up the climbs, which was working well until the top. We had managed to drop one rider, and was now sitting 2nd as we approached the steepest climb of the track. I was forced to run, lost my 2nd, then 3rd, then 4th.... As the race went on I was forced to run more and more of the climbs. By the time I reached the last lap I was running almost half the course.

I ended up coming home in 19th, some 17minutes behind the winner. But at the same time I was able to come away with a few positive thoughts as a turned my focus to world champs on September.

CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW INTERNATIONAL TEAM SIGNING - WHAT NEXT FOR YOU WHEN YOU RETURN TO SA SINCE BEING SELECTED FOR TEAM SHO/AIR SPECIALIZED?
Thanks - I'm insanely stoked! My previous sponsors, Team Jeep South Africa and Ellsworth Bicycles were really cool about the new deal. They have released me from my contract and I am now on my new (Specialized) S-Works.  I'm solely focussing on world champs this year (in Switzerland)! I definitely want to podium there. I may be doing one race before I head across to Europe, but other than that it’s going to be some seriously hard hours in the saddle!

After coming back from Switzerland, I leave after 3 or so days for the USA again, where I'll meet up with Team Sho-Air/Specialized for the official launch of the 2012 Pro team as well as collection of our 2012 bikes at Interbike, Las Vegas. Then my stay is around two-and-a-half to three months where I'll be doing most of my base training, before coming back in December. I'll be back in SA for around 2 months (Dec and Jan) and will then fly out to the US to start my 2012 season at the first round of the Pro XCT series!