South African Cross Country Championships & Medsceme Walkerville MTB Classic

There was no time to gradually adjust from training to racing as my first weekend back was packed with competition…..

First off I participated in the South African Cross Country Championships held at Groenloof Nature Reserve in Pretoria.

I decided this year to give cross country a go and after my first race at George I had discovered a great new challenge. My next XCO event was the one over the past weekend at Groenkloof.

I didn’t really know what to expect on Saturday as everything is still fairly new to me. The course at Groenkloof also requires a fair amount of technical skills which I am still acquiring.

The week before the event I was still struggling to get enough confidence to ride the entire course, therefore I went into the race with the aim of trying to ride the difficult sections (3 hair raising drop-offs) without crashing!

I am happy to say that I achieved my goal and also that I managed to finish in 4th place Overall. Yolande Speedy delivered yet another world class performance and won the event by a country mile!

I waited for Prize giving before heading home and only arrived back around 18:00. Given that I had left that morning at 7am for my 9am race start, it was quite a full day which wasn’t about to end yet. Back home there will still a bike, cycling accessories and bottles to wash before finally falling into bed.

Sunday I participated in the Medscheme Walkerville MTB Classic held at Lapeng Hotel and Conference Centre on the outskirts of Alberton.

My approach for the day was based on “feeling”. I went for a quick warm up before the 60km event started and unfortunately there wasn’t much “feeling” left in my legs. Luckily with cycling it can go both ways. You might just find your legs again or you might find yourself in even more difficulty.

My main competition on the day came from Letitia Botha, Sanet Small (Both Team Ghost) and Catherine Roberts (Specialized). Our group quickly splintered as the front guys showed their class and quickly disappeared in a cloud of dust.

A few kilometers into the event I managed to get myself into the leading position. The course gradually ascends during its first half therefore I knew I had to use this opportunity to try and extend my lead as much as possible.
I had to fight hard throughout the race which I think was caused by a combination of my legs being a bit fatigued after the previous day’s effort, the wind and the demanding route that didn’t provide any sections for recovery.

I don’t know how far or close my rivals got to me during the race but I managed to stay away till the end and crossed the line in first place.
(I have to mention that this year’s event was well marked and we didn’t overlap with the shorter distances much, which always makes for better racing)

I am happy with my results over the weekend and hope I can continue to have some good results in the months to come…