MTN National MTB Series Cullinan


Saturday turned out to be an ideal day for racing with clear skies and a gentle breeze just to keep things real.

As I went for my warm up ride, I experienced this wonderful feeling of freedom as there was no need to put on any arm or leg warmers for a change. Summer is a coming!

The elite woman in the Marathon event (78km) started alongside the elite men in the Ultra Marathon (108km). As Always, this forced our pace high as we tried to keep up with the elite men off the start line. They soon took of on their escapade, leaving us behind to fight out victory amongst ourselves. During the early part of the race I found myself in a break with team mate Ischen Stopforth, Caitlin De Wet (Mr Price /Specialized) and Karien van Jaarsveld (USN).

The course led us on a road covered in thick sand, which required some good balance to keep upright and in a straight line. Caitlin and I managed to come out in the leading positions with Ischen and Karien left to chase. It was only afterwards that I heard that Ischen fell as she slipped through one of the sandy corners.

Up front Caitlin and I were working well together until bad luck knocked on her door around 30km into the race, leaving her to stop and fix a flat rear tire.
I forged on alone but not for long as I was soon joined by Ischen.

We stayed together until a technical rocky section where I managed to get through a bit quicker. This put me back in the leading position with Ischen 1min 30 sec behind me. All this was looking good for our team Bizhub!

I didn’t have an idea as to where the other ladies on the route were, as I could only communicate with the following camera crew. Although it isn’t their job they actually do give us a rough estimate to what the time differences are. The camera crew did a great job and also helped in lifting my spirit a few times as they motivated me along the course.

As the final kilometers started ticking down I could feel my earlier efforts taking effect as fatigue slowly started to rear its head.

This eventually led to Ischen catching up with me. We stayed together for a while but Ischen proved to be stronger towards the end leaving me behind to settle in my own manageable pace.

At the end it was Ischen who crossed the line first to take the victory with me following in 2nd place. Karien van Jaarsveld also had a strong ride rounding off the podium at Cullinan.

If I can describe the route then I will have to say testing, testing, testing! There were a lot of different factors testing ones abilities to the limit.
The biggest test for me was receiving a test paper which I didn’t expect. I thought the route would stay very similar to the Nissan Cullinan race but I couldn’t be more wrong.

On Friday I was looking forward to race on a familiar route and on Saturday during the event, especially towards the end, I was thinking why change a good course…

All I can say is that the new course with its freshly cut grass, rocky parts and untested routes provided quite a challenge.

It was one of those races you only start enjoying once you’ve crossed the finish line.

Final Results:

1st Ischen Stopforth (Team Bizhub)
2nd Yolandi du Toit (Team Bizhub)
3rd Karien van Jaarsveld (USN)
4th Sanet Smal (Team Ghost/BBT)
5th Caitlin de Wet (Mr Price/ Specialized)

Lost City

Waking up just after 3am is never pleasant but after a cup of coffee and an ‘Ouma’ Rusk I was content to start my trip to Sun City on Saturday the 21st.

The ladies event started only at 7:45am which gave us more than enough time to travel from Gauteng.

The ladies bunch had an extra special rider on the start line (my little sister). It was nice to be in the same race with her for a change and to see her fight her heart out to finish for her first time in the leading peloton.

On top of that our race evolved into a spectacular event for Bizhub when Sanet Smal took her first ever road race victory at Lost City. The team put in a great effort to have 4 girls finishing in the top 10 as well (Sanet Smal – 1st, Yolandi du Toit – 6th, Victoria- 8th
,Lise Olivier – 10th)

From there our team split as Lise, the management and I stayed behind for the mountain bike event which took place to following day. We spent the night at a luxurious 4 star apartment in Rustenburg. This also gave us the opportunity to experience a bit of city culture as we listened to some ‘fast cars’ drag racing up and down the main street.

Judging by the numbers that turned up for the mountain bike race, it seemed more successful than the road event in terms of participation.

The race consisted of 2 x 25km laps. The flat course made for a fast pace as we tried to keep up with the leading men. A missed turn on our first lap cost Lise and I a few minutes and added some distance to our race. When we rejoined the proper route we had some chasing to do to get back to the leading ladies. Fortunately we managed to do just that and had some strength left to retake the lead.

At the finish Lise rode home to Victory with me following in 2nd place adding to a successful weekend for Team Bizhub. Sanet Smal (who rides for Team Ghost/BBT on the mtb) followed up her road race victory with a solid 3rd place in the mountain bike event.

Illovo Eston MTB Challenge

This was my second time competing at Illovo. I enjoyed the event last year, despite the dreadful weather which had us racing in cold, rainy weather on a very muddy course. This year they somehow improved the already great course and on top of that we had ideal weather with clear skies and sunshine throughout the day.

The new course included some spectacular flowing single track. Personally this made the event more interesting and challenging for me as single track requires more effort, skill and concentration.

The 60km route started at the bottom of a 2km climb with a Queen of the mountain spot prize being awarded to the one who reaches the top first. Needles to say we were racing full on as soon as our cleats were in the pedals.

Cherise Taylor (USN) and Candice Neethling(DCM) set the initial pace which seemed insane. Samantha Oosthuisen( Elsa Karstens Cycles) and I managed to stay with them, but their final effort just before the hot spot proved to be to much and they opened a small gap.

This left Samantha and me chasing the lead duo who was just a few seconds ahead.
Sam and I managed to keep them (Cherise & Candice) in sight but just couldn’t make contact, despite our hard effort.

Around half way we rode onto some continuous single track sections and on one of the fairly more technical sections I managed to gain a gap on Samantha.

Once out of the single track the route takes us directly onto a climb which traverses to the top. As I was climbing I looked back but could not spot Sam. From there I knew I had to use whatever I had left in my tank to keep myself distant.

The mental battle that I was fighting with myself became harder the closer I got to the finish line. Luckily the pain was only short lived and I managed to hold onto my 3rd place until the end.

Cherise and Candice stayed together until the end where they finished the race in quite an unforgettable way. Just before the line they crashed into each other, but luckily no one got hurt. Cherise was back on her bike first and managed to take the victory ahead of Candice who had to settle for 2nd place.

Glad it’s not only me who have started losing concentration near the end

Final Results:

1st Cherise Taylor (USN)
2nd Candice Neethling (DCM/Chrome)
3rd Yolandi du Toit (Bizhub)
4th Samantha Oosthuisen (Elsa Karsten cycles)
5th Carla Rowley