My Diary...

The last time I wrote I was at our team’s mountain bike training camp in George.
We stayed at Ischen’s home for the 8 days long training camp. ISchen and her husband made us feel part of their family the moment we walked through their front door. I think we were very privileged to see and experience George through people like Ischen and Piet. They made my visit one that I’ll always remember.



Ischen took us on the most beautiful scenic trails around George and Knysna.
Spending every day on my mountain bike on various terrains improved my confidence and I felt more at ease riding technical parts.

My training over there didn’t only include cycling…I went with Ischen to her
Biokineticus to work on core strength exercises which we continued doing regularly at home.



I flew back on the Wednesday and that Friday morning I was off again with my team to Clarens for the 4th MTN XCO National Series event which took place on Saturday.

The morning of the race I woke up to the sound of my alarm and then I heard it – the sound of rain. Luckily it cleared up and we started the event underneath an open sky.

Clarens has always been quite a demanding event and the strong woman’s field on the line added to the challenge. Team Bizhub had 3 girls in the race and I am sure all of us were very grateful for our specialized full suspension bikes on the rough course. I have to admit I enjoyed the challenge that the race brought, it was a true mountain bike race.

I was happy to see my training program paying off as I felt strong on the day and managed to finish in 3rd place.

Race Results for Clarens:

1st Yolande Speedy (Team MTN)
2nd Mariska Strauss (Team MTN)
3rd Yolandi du Toit (Team Bizhub)
4th Cherise Taylor (Team Nashua)
5th Ischen Stopforth (Team Bizhub)
6th Carla Rowley ( Team RBS Biogen)
7th Caitlin De Wet (Team Mr Price/Specialized)
8th Lise Olivier (Team Bizhub)
9th Auralie Halbwacht (Mauritius)

After the race we drove back to Johannesburg where I joined the road team (Jade, Michelle and Landi) to compete in the Wilro 100 the following day where I managed to place 6th in the bunch sprint.

My next race will be Joberg2C which is taking place on Friday the 23rd of April until Saturday the 1st of May. You can follow the team’s progress on our website and I will make sure to tell you about the event as soon as I'm home again…