"Well that's that..." It's something Nathan Haas (x-teammate) would always say after something
surprising happened. Todays TT was definitely upon reflection the opposite of that. So Where to start.
So to jump back a couple of weeks. Exactly almost 8 weeks ago the most incredible thing happened.
We were blessed with the birth of our daughter Mari Elizabeth Smit. It's one of the most intense things
you can ever experience as woman or man and it definitely changes your perspective on life. I won't lie.
I can't imagine how hard it must have been for Mande all alone in Europe without friends and Family during
pregnancy and post. I mostly live out of a bag. I come and go and the worst part is I don't even know if my
daughter will recognize me when I see her again. After Nationals I probably head directly to my first European race of
the season so I probably won't be home for quite some time.
These topics that hardly comes up between us. You would think being married these elephants in the room gets
addressed but they don't always do. She never admits it but I don't always know how she copes with the loneliness.
Life has just been crazy the last couple of month. We bought shares in Grupetta Café in Andorra so a lot of our time
has gone into that. We also organized the the Smurfy Granfondo which was a huge success. We managed to turn a profit in
which all of those funds goes to development. And we are proud to say with the excess funds we manage to support one of
South Africa's best upcoming youngsters Cullum Ormiston. A massive thanks to my partners HB Kruger, Morne van Heerden , Jac Louis
van Wyk , Francois Theron & Cycle Nation. Without you guys it would definitely not have been a success.
So back to here and now. There has just been a little too much on my plate right now but I don't regret one decision made.
Believe it or not but there is more to life than just cycling and telling your mates all day long how much watts you rode.
"Good legs, Good Legs ..." fuck me, hahahahaha. When I finally decided to come to South Africa it was based on the fact that
I need heat adaption before the start of my European season. A 500 euro flight here seemed like an easier option than driving
12 hours to the South of Spain as Mande & Mari would anyways not have been able to join anyways. So pedaling away with mates
on home turf makes it just that little easier suffering. In fact I was a bit hesitant actually doing National for a couple of reason.
Vuelta Espana 2020 finished the 10th of November. Immediately after that I flew to South Africa to finish the final touches of Smurfy 500.
I kind of took more than a month off. I needed the mental rest more than the physical rest. I completely let myself go. Long story short.
When I got back home I almost weighed the same as my u-16 schoolboy rugby days, 81kg. Don't ask me how but yeah that's that. With all the
things happening in our life I don't think you'll find a ride longer that 4 hours on my strava for the last 3 month. Coming to South Africa
I didn't fly with any equipment so a huge thanks to the guys from Honeycomb who borrowed me a tt bike for Nationals. So a 9.5kg tt bike is
what I had to make work for the day and a chubby Willie Smit at 77.5kg. On the good side 4kg down from where I was a month ago, however on the
down side 6kg over Tour weight. But saying that I feel good and healthy and it's another month before my A priority races in Europe.
I can just hear my director saying "well No shit Sherlock , clearly you feel good and healty because your clearly not underfed".
Also a huge thanks To Hanco and Anli coming through all the way to Swellendam and supporting with the back-up and of course Adolph Krige
that always sorts out all the curve balls.
To some it all up. I have not raced since the 10th of November and came extremely un prepared and that's the price you pay. Fuck to say the least I'm lucky to still be able to ride my bike. Luckily I've been fortunate enough to get to Know Gerhard and it's the first time in a whole year I've been able to compete without knee pain.
But being able
to be here, hearing a South African voices, being surrounded by mates that give you endless shit has made it worth it. Good luck to Everyone
for Sundays race. Its going to be a cracker...
