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THE PELOTRAIN STORY: JOHN WAKEFIELD
09 January 2013
by John Wakefield
** Watch for news about the Pelotrain
MX camp in JHB 22 - 25 March.
I'm from Cape Town South Africa - born and bred - and I love it
here. I plan on retiring to Thailand sometime in the near future
but for now Cape Town it is. I got involved with motocross in 1980
when my dad came home 1 day with a Italjet 50, things progressed
from the field outside to the MX track as things normally do. I
always enjoyed the training aspect of the sport, or sport in general
and actually enjoyed the training side Monday to Friday more than
the actual racing for some silly reason (weird I know) and after
breaking my back and leg in 9 places in 2001 I had a rather extensive
rehab period and that eventually led me into doing what I do now.
During the rehab period I was in total awe with process of through
proper training and exercise how my body made a full recovery and
I actually came out better physically then before my accident. This
led me to want to become a trainer of sorts and over the years I
did some studying, alot of reading and research I decided it was
time to leave my job at the time and go head on into doing what
I really had a passion for although I had 1 client and he was a
friend (who I'm convinced paid me cause I was jobless but thanks
anyway bud). He started to get some pretty solid results at the
Nationals and from that over a short period of time my client list
grew and realised that this may actually pay my bond. I then started
doing alot of research and testing specifically for motocross, off-road
etc to see what stresses the body was under during a race and what
I thought was the most beneficial way to train for the sport being
in darkest South Africa. I also spoke and swapped ideas with trainers
overseas and came up with some of my own specific protocols for
motocross through a little trial and error and research with certain
athletes during the early years while collecting as much data as
I could. The early years were alot of work in this regard but when
I look back on it now it was a incredible learning experience for
all involved. Things then somehow progressed into a MX Team and
from 2008 - 2011. I ran a National Motocross team which was a racing
advert for Pelotrain but to be honest it got really big really quick
with sponsors and calibre of riders coming onboard and Championships
won that wasn't really what I intended it to do and brought out
a person in my I didn't like.
Although the results were great and better than I ever imagined
it wasn't what I started out to do. Looking back at it now it was
very good for the riders as they had rides and a proper support
system so they could do what they needed to do without much worry
and that to me is what it should always be about for the rider.
In saying that it was a incredible experience and I loved it and
watching those riders go onto achieve personal goals results wise.
My one funny story from that team was in 2009 Michael Kok phoned
and asked if he could get a ride, he had been injured that year
and I said if you win the last National going 1-1 at Zeemans not
really thinking he would so I would be in the clear. Mike cleaned
up and I had to deliver on my promise.
Now I have gone back to my roots and am just working with athletes
and trying to stay out of the hustle and bustle of the racing scene
a little and focus purely on making riders physically and mentally
better which in 2012 resulted in fantastic results for the riders.
Going forward and into the future I will split my 17 hour day between
Pelotrain Athlete Excellence and another company I am a shareholder
in Science to Sport that I became involved in a year ago. Training
with athletes will stay the same and be approached with the same
intensity and scientific approach with each athlete being evaluated
in order to prescribe the correct training and techniques and monitoring
that athletes training and provide positive feedback from the data
collected. One new part we will be focusing on and will roll out
more during the 2013 season is training camps with Darrel Fitzgerald
who has come onboard with me at Pelotrain to help share the workload
and make me tea at lunch time. We did one camp in December and it
got a huge response, more than we actually thought it would. Riders
and parents gave us some very positive feedback from it at the end
so now we will be holding more camps throughout the year and use
them as a type of Long Term Athlete Development camps and focus
not only on training the athletes both on and off the bikes but
to also help guide them and their families in the right direction
with regards to the correct steps and protocols that should be followed
in order to keep their racing and training sustainable over the
many years ahead. This way it will help them not be burnt out or
broke for that matter from all the racing and training that goes
with trying to become a Pro or reach specific goals. Reason I say
this is cause when you ask most riders where they want to go in
Motocross they say "SX Champion in America or World Champion"
that's all fine and well but what about now in the next 2-3 years
when you haven't done top 5 or so in a local race or know how to
do a push up properly? These are the sort of things we want to bring
to the table for riders and will help them be a smart and complete
athlete.
There is so much raw talent in South Africa but from what I have
seen and this is nothing personal to riders but they don't know
how to train correctly in South Africa, many think they do but they
don't and its often their pure talent that carries them through
over the years but there are only so many years that can happen
and then you have to train and the sooner you do that the easier
it is when you have to train. When this is not done this often sets
them back in their development and progression as a athlete and
racer. I would like to help correct them of that in order for them
to make the forward gains needed to become a better well rounded
rider. It's not just about going fast.
Every job has its good and bad points and this is no different
but people say this alot but I really do feel this way that every
day when I wake up I really look forward to going to work and working
with athletes and seeing them progress wether its 1 on 1 session
with Anthony Raynard for example or downloading and analysing Justin
Mittens heart rate data from the training the week before to make
sure he is hitting targets and recovering correctly, I really love
what I do and wouldn't change it for anything in the world and I
learn new things all the time so it keeps it interesting.
I am lucky and honoured to have about 80% of my athletes currently
be with me for a number of years now and that makes the job from
both sides alot easier for everyone as you have that relationship
and trust in each other along with knowing each athletes different
personality and how to tap into that personality to get the best
out them as no 2 athletes are the same mentally or physiologically.
For 2013 to date we have a very solid bunch of athletes we are
lucky to be working with and to name a few they are:
- Anthony Raynard
- Caleb Tennant
- Darrel Fitzgerald
- Kerim Fitzgerald
- Bradley Fenton
- Justin Mittens
- Charl van Heerden
- Scott Bouverie
- Bradley Cox
- Marco Ras
- Calvin Wiltshire
- Danny Lailvaux
- Cam Petersen
- Matthew Beers
Over the years thou I really have been honoured to work with amazing
riders like Brad Purchase, Michael Kok, Wesley De Jager, Brad Woodroffe,
Louis Lazarus, Calvin Vlaanderan, Alain Pretorius, Mike Creevy,
Zane Farquharson, Chad Taylor, Angelo Piccoto, Grant Frerichs, Tyson
Engelbrecht, Vincent Conlon to name a few that at my old age I can
remember - sorry if I left your name out anyone. Although some have
stopped racing unfortunately, many have not but all have moved onto
great things in their lives and I am really appreciative that at
some point I was able to help them in some form or another.
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