SUBARU SABIE CLASSIC

This year’s edition of the Subaru Sabie Classic race started at the York Timber Sport grounds in Sabie. In addition to the traditional 3 distances that the race offers, this year they added a 100km ultra marathon distance to the event.

I took part in the 70km Monster marathon which was the main event in previous years. The route was challenging over very mountainous terrain with relatively steep downhill’s and the recent rainfall in Mpumalanga caused some sections on the quad trails to be a bit slippery. But still it was a very enjoyable route.

On the start line, I knew it was going to be a challenging day. Strong competitors like Marissa van den Merwe, Chrissie Viljoen (Team -MTN), Carla Rowley, Leticia Botha, Sanet Small etc were also participating.

The first part of the race Marissa, Carla and me were fighting amongst each other for the leading position. And it was only after 40km, when people started cheering “This is the leading girl “that I realized that I moved into 1st position.

I was still under the impression that Marissa was out on front. But the thought lifted my spirit and I kept on racing as hard as I could. I was very happy when I realized that I was home in 1st position.

What pleased me even more on the day was what I’ve achieve regarding technical skills. Since I’ve been shown how to handle my bike on technical terrain, I’ve been enjoying MTB more. But it still stays the toughest sport I’ve ever participated in.

Results
1st Yolandi du Toit
2nd Carla Rowley
3rd Leticia Botha
4th Marissa van den Merwe

For this past weekend’s racing I travelled to Bultfontein, not the one in the Free State but just outside Pretoria...

At a place called Babba’s Lodge, they host a series called the Vi-T-Go series, where a race is held monthly. The racing offers three distances you can choose from, a 10km, 35km or 70km (2laps). It’s a small event mainly focused on a fun day out for the family. Professional riders also enjoy the race, giving them the opportunity to race a bit and in my case improve technical skills.
The day before the event I went for a MTB ride to brush up on some technical skills. I got some advice on how to ride rocky downhills, single track and mainly how to handle your bike off road. It gave me a lot of confidence for the race and it was great to apply what I’ve learned the day before.

To make my day even more rewarding I managed to get first place for my team (DCM -Chrome).