Parys Island Dirtmax

After the busy first half of the year, I took a few days off at the end of June . I am sure I will be thankful for the break during the coming months. From now on until the end of November my race program is full with at least one race per weekend.

On Monday (29th June) it was time to face the freezing cold air again. It wasn’t only the Tour de France that added motivation but also my new Focus hardtail mountain bike. It feels great to have a MTB that feels like its only been built for me personally.

With only a week of training in my legs, I didn’t have any plans to race over the past weekend. At the last moment I changed my plans when I heard about a small race in Parys. With Walkerville on this coming weekend it was the perfect opportunity to get used to my new bike and do a bit of off road riding.

It was a lap race situated next to the Vaalriver, just outside Parys. The circuit was over a distance of 10km. Riders could choose between the 10km (1x10km), 30km (3x10km) or 60km (6x10km) events.
One can truly see all the effort that’s gone into building and designing the course. It was one of the most enjoyable MTB races I ever participated in. The circuit included some technical singletrack, rocky sections, across bridges, through streams; up and down bumps- I really had fun! And my bike was handling excellent over the terrain.

The race organisers were very welcoming, with their small 2year old boerbull (Sasha ) running around greeting everyone with her delightful 'smile' and friendly eyes. Making sure she gets max attention, she is really cute. If she was up for grabs, I would've raced EXTRA hard!!!!

I completed the 60km event in 3:32 finishing in first position.
On our way home we drove through the main street of Parys which was packed with small stores, coffee shops and restaurants.Every so often there would be a parked car with a bike rack and a few drty mtb's hanging off the back. My only thought was if you’re not a professional rider that would be a nice way to spend your Sunday afternoon. Do a short 10/ 30km race then go into town and enjoy spending time with your family in Parys!