Nissan Trailseeker Diamond Rush, Cullinan

The 4th round of the Nissan Series was held in Cullinan, just outside of Pretoria.
The venue was quite unique as the start and finish line was placed in the main street of this little town, surrounded by quaint restaurants and coffee shops.

It was my 3rd time participating at Cullinan and every year the Advendurance team managed to add more exciting single track to an already great course.

The 70km route, which is inaccessible in normal circumstances, consisted of winding single, jeep track, and thrilling river crossings over wooden bridges.

As always the start was very fast thanks to the elite men who were fighting for position at the front of the race. Luckily I felt good on the day and managed to be amongst the front riders as we headed onto the first piece of single track. The single track was shortly followed by a short steep rocky climb.

This piece saw the group splintered into small groups. On reaching the top I looked back down the climb but couldn’t spot any of the other girls.

I realized that I was in the leading position and had to give everything to try and stay out in front.

I felt really good throughout the race and managed to maintain my lead to the very end. It was very rewarding to take the victory at the Nissan Trailseeker Cullinan for the 2nd time in a row.

I feel fortunate to be the winner of such a great event and shared the podium with Samantha Saanders (Valencia) in 2nd place and Karien Van Jaarsveld ( USN) in 3rd place.

My teammate Caitlin de Wet spent most of her season in Europe focusing on shorter distance cross country races.
Despite not having done any marathons for a while she managed to pull off a great result by finishing in 4th place overall and 3rd place in the senior ladies category.

Final Results:

1st Yolandi du Toit
2nd Samantha Saanders
3rd Karien van Jaarsveld
4th Caitlin de Wet
5th Ronel van Wyk

Isuzu 3 Towers MTB Stage Race


My experience at Isuzu 3 Towers last year was so good that I was really looking forward to his year’s addition of the race.

The organisers Mark and Jeff put together a spectacular event with amazing routes backed up by a solid infrastructure. The tents, hot showers and food provided are some of the best found anywhere.

Oh, and did I mention the trails.....

Over the 3 stages of the race we cover everything from never ending climbs to super fast descents through bush tunnels and hand cut single track.

My partner for the race was Leana de Jager and it was our first time riding together.
This meant we had to get to know each other whilst also doing our best to win the race.

Our main competition came from the pairing of Samantha Oosthuizen and Samantha Saanders.

Leana and I were a good match from the start. Our climbing ability was ideally the same. As the race route consisted of many endless climbs we could ride together much more efficiently. It was on these ascents that Leana and I managed to gain time on our rivals giving us a win on all 3 stages and also the overall victory. We couldn’t have asked for a better 1st time experience of the Isuzu 3 Towers.

Samantha Oosthuizen and Samantha Sanders put up a challenging fight finishing in 2nd place overall.

Caitlin de Wet and Nicci Grobler teamed up under bizhub’s sister outfit, DEVELOP.
Their 1st outing together was very successful as they managed to round off the podium in 3rd place overall.

Again I had a really good time at Isuzu 3 Towers and I’m already looking forward to next year’s addition.

MTN Ride Crater Cruise

On Saturday morning team bizhub lined up for the MTN Ride Crater Cruise held in Parys.

Clear blue skies greeted the big field with a slight breeze which was sure to pick up later on and influence the race.

A very competitive ladies field took to the start which meant the battle out on course was going to hurt a little bit more than usual.

The ladies started alongside the Elite men and there was a lot of fighting for position as we headed onto the first section of gravel district roads. Around 15km into the race the route detoured into a single track section which spat us back out on to the main district road a short while later.

This piece saw the big bunch splinter into small little groups. The leading ladies managed to form a small group of seven which included me, Ischen Stopforth (bizhub), Leana de Jager (bizhub), Ariane Kleinhans (Contego), Yolande Speedy (MTN/Qhuebeka), Cherise Taylor (USN) and Karien van Jaarsveld (USN). Once this leading ladies group was established there was no more bunch riding as we weren’t allowed to sit behind any of the men or receive help from them during the race.

At about 30km the route took us off the district roads onto a short steep single track climb leading to the Queen of the mountains hot spot. Ariane was first to turn managing to open a small gap on Yolande and myself who in turn managed to open a small gap on the rest of the girls. Looking back I actually still can’t believe that a single corner caused so much damage.

With Ariane up the road Yolande and I were forced to help each other in trying to chase down the lone leader.

Our ‘alliance’ was still intact upon reaching the well-known handmade technical single track section on Baskop farm. This came about 65km into the race. I tried my best to stay with Yolande but her superior technical skills proved too much as she raced away through the thick sand and dense bush. I settled down and tried my best to get a good rhythm going in an attempt to make contact with Yolande and Ariane again.

This was where I relied on my Polar Heart rate monitor to gauge my effort. It was still a long way to go and I didn’t want to exceed my limits, but at the same time I really wanted to get to the front of the action. Despite my best efforts the race situation remained unchanged and Ariane maintained her lead to win the race gifting herself a very nice birthday present.

Yolande took 2nd on the day and I managed to round out the podium with a hard fought 3rd place.

I was happy to stand on the podium alongside two world class athletes who just happen to be some of the nicest girls currently racing on the mountain bike circuit.

Final results:

1st Ariane Kleinhans

2nd Yolande Speedy

3rd Yolandi du Toit

4th Ischen Stopforth

5th Cherise Taylor

This coming weekend I will be partnering up with Leana de Jager for the Mankele 3 Towers held in the Lowveld. I am looking forward to getting to know her a bit better as this will be our first time riding together.

Ride the Rhino

Over the past weekend our team took part in the Ride the Rhino 3 day MTB event held in the Western Cape.
The main purpose of the event is to raise awareness of rhino poaching and funds to help rescue the Renosterveld. This area is one of the most endangered habitats in the world.

The event got underway on Friday at Langebaan Country Estate just outside Langebaan. From here riders covered a total distance of 250km over the 3 consecutive days to finish in Durbanville. The route run through most of the Renosterveld area stopping in between at Darling and Malmesbury which allowed us plenty of opportunity to enjoy the local hospitality.

On the last day 288 red rhino riding jerseys were given to the participants. The reason for making exactly 288 jerseys is because 288 rhinos have been poached up until now in 2011.

Team bizhub had two teams participating in the event, a mixed team and a ladies team.
Nicci Grobler and I made up the ladies team. The two of us seem to bring out the best in each other. This helped us to win all 3 stages and also to take the overall victory at the end.

The mixed team consisted of youngster Liani Morker and team owner John Robertson. Neither of them have competed in a 3 day mountain bike event before but were both keen to take up the challenge in order to support cause. At the end they had a great ride together and managed to finish in 4th place overall in their category

It felt great being part of an event as unique as Ride the Rhino.

This coming weekend the team will be participating at the MTN Crater Cruise in Parys.
Hope to see you all there.