Blockhouse
MTN National MTB Series # 5


The event was held in Randvaal, Meyerton at the Circus located just outside of town.

It was great to have a weekend without traveling hours on the road with the MTN series event held so close to home. One thing is for certain, it doesn’t make the racing any easier.

The 78km route was very flat and fast. I have to admit, at first I thought the race wouldn’t be too hard because it was described as a very fast and technically undemanding circuit.
These predictions would turn out to be very wide of the mark. The route was indeed very flat but this only meant one had to pedal continuously, without any place to recover…

The woman in the Marathon (78km) event started with the Elite men in the Ultra-marathon (110km). As we left the start line, the pace was very high and soon the group split up.

I found myself together with Yolande de Villiers (Cycle lab) and Ischen Stopforth. The three of us worked well together, fighting to keep the chasing girls off. The circuit was very hard for me, especially going through the moto-cross track and the twisty single track crammed full of rocks. Through these sections I couldn’t stay on Yolandi and Ischen’s wheels. A few times they would open up 2/3 sec gaps on me which I had to close again.

The final 4km single track was on an open stretch of field, twisting and turning on itself continuously to make up the last few miles. We also joined the riders from the shorter distances on this section making it even more challenging. I sat behind de Villiers and Ishchen going into the single track and through every corning/turn they would open a small gap on me and eventually I couldn’t stay with them anymore and lost contact within 4km from the finish.

Yolande de Villiers took the win over Ischen Stopforth, and I came home in 3rd position.

I am happy with my result. It was a tough circuit and I had to fight hard to finish were I did.

Results:

1st Yolande de Villiers (Cycle lab)
2nd Ischen Stopforth
3rd Yolandi du Toit (Konica Minolta)
4th Samantha Oosthuizen
4th Nicole Murphy
5th Beatrice Hogan