Nissan Down & Dirty

The 4th event in the Nissan MTB Marathon series took place in Irene, Pretoria.

Race day dawned with bright sunshine which revealed the familiar rocky terrain around Pretoria.

I went for a warm up ride 30 min before the start in anticipation off the familiar fast rush off the line. I made my way to the start, but I wasn’t allowed to enter from the front (normally all the elite riders are allowed to enter the starting block from the front giving them the opportunity to start on equal footing). Now I knew I was in for a hard race!

At the beginning I didn’t have the kick required to push myself back up to the leaders. This left me quite far back heading onto the first single track section.

I spotted Karien van Jaarsveld (USN )and Carla Rowley in the distance but the only thing I could do at that moment was to settle behind the other riders as we trailed down the rocky track which offered very little passing opportunities.

Once the course opened up, we still had 60km left to race which gave me plenty of time to try and reduce my loss. I settled into a manageable pace, pushing hard on the pedals but it felt as if my efforts did not deliver the desired results.

Throughout the race I chased as hard as I could on the flat and windy course. But I never managed to make contact with the leaders again.

As I only saw Carla and Karien in front of me I thought I was still in contention for the podium, but I guess it truly just wasn’t my day as I found out later that I only finished in 4th place at the end.

It was still nice to be out racing and thank you for all the support along the way.
I tried my best but sometimes I also have to accept that I am not a machine.

I will make sure to rest up now and hopefully I will be fresh and ready to go again at Hill2Hill down in Kwazulu Natal.

Final Results

1st Theresa Ralph (Specialized)
2nd Carla Rowley
3rd Karien van Jaarsveld (USN)
4th Yolandi du Toit (Bizhub)