The Sunday Tribune Jeep Hill2Hill

The Sunday Tribune Jeep Hill2Hill MTB Marathon started in Hilton, KZN and finished 105km later at Hillcrest sport grounds.

It started raining non-stop two days prior to the event so I knew we were in for a muddy ride on Sunday. Waking up on the morning of the event without the sound of rain drops falling on our cabin’s roof did a lot to lift my spirits.

It was still very cold at the 6am start when the ladies category was set off 5 min after the Elite men. I managed to take the lead into the first single track section and was surprised when I saw that I had opened a small gap to the rest of the field once through the opening single track. My surprise turned to dismay when I punctured 200m down the following jeep track (about 2km into the race). Upon inspection I found a porcupine quill was the culprit. Only in Africa....

At first I managed to plug the hole, but the tyre kept on deflating as too much sealant had already leaked and the gash wouldn’t seal properly. Luckily the plug lasted me long enough to get to the next spectator point.

Here I managed to borrow a proper hand-pump, put in a tube all while running around asking for extra bombs (as I finished all mine) just to help me get to the finish line. 

I felt really bad to ask people for their spares realising that they might need it themselves during the race. Thank you so much to the two spectators for lending me your hand-pump and the two riders who gave me a bomb and a tube. Without your help I wouldn’t have made it to Hillcrest!!

By the time I got going again I had lost over 40min to the woman’s race leaders and was only 18km into the event. From here on it was a lonely ride to the finish as I negotiated my way through a very muddy course.

While riding I realised how nice the Hill2Hill event actually is, no matter what the weather brings. The race organisers put together a fun yet challenging course adding a bit of single track each year. The route markings were also clear despite heavy rain showers throughout the 2 days prior to the event.

Luckily my teammates (Ischen Stopforth and Nicci Grobler) evaded any similar encounters with African wildlife (and their residue), and were representing the team at the front of the race.  They both had a sterling ride finishing together in 1^st and 2^nd place with Cherise Taylor rounding out the podium in 3^rd.

EQSTRA Spring Classic MTB

This year marked the 17th edition of the EQSTRA Spring Classic which was hosted at Avianto Clubhouse in Muldersdrift , Johannesburg.

The course was similar to cross country racing as it consisted of short steep ascents and descents and a lot of winding single track. I enjoyed the route with it's constant challenges as there was always another tricky corner or rocky climb to navigate making the 45km route fly by.

My team mate Nicci and I took the lead from the start with Janine King hot on our heels. Around 24km into the race we missed a turn somewhere and as we headed in the direction of the finish line we realized that we were going the wrong way. We made our way back to the race route only to see Janine King and 4 other riders had joined us on our slight detour as they also missed the turn.

Once back on the correct route, Nicci and I had to dig deep in an attempt to rid ourselves of Janine all over again.

Around halfway we managed to open up a substantial gap on her but unfortunately it wasn’t all plain sailing 

from there to the finish. 

Nicci took a tumble around one of the corners within the last 10km.  We quickly managed to get her chain and twisted handlebars back in the right position and were back on our bikes before Janine could catch us. Who says mountain biking is not a team sport :)

 After an eventful race, Nicci and I crossed the finish line together taking 1st and 2nd place on the day with Janine King rounding out the podium in 3^rd place.

Nissan Trailseeker Series, Down and Dirty

Arriving back in South Africa from the US only three days prior to the event, I didn’t know how my body would respond to the stress of racing after all the travelling and crossing of a couple of time zones. There was nothing else to do but give my best during the event and see how it goes.

The third leg of the Nissan Trailseeker Series was hosted at Cornwall Hill College in Irene, Pretoria on a warm and windy spring day (1st September).

The 70km route consisted of one big loop laid out on mainly flat dirt roads traversing private farmlands mixed with some grassy single track. Starting alongside the elite men meant a very high tempo from the beginning as riders were fighting for position heading into the first piece of single track - It felt as if I landed myself in a stampede of mountain bikers.

It was a relief going into the 2^nd quarter of the race as things started to settle down except for all the dust, the area haven’t received rain in a long time and eating dust is definitely not my favourite type of race food. I found myself alongside my team mate Nicci Grobler in 3^rd and 4^th position in the ladies field. With the route being very flat and fast it took on a similar fashion as a road race. We were riding along in a small group either taking turns up front or hanging on in the gutter (gutter – if the wind blows badly from one side and riders form a long line on the opposite side of the road thus providing no shelter from the wind . The strong wind was one of the big challenges on the day and with less than 10km to go one guy in the group I was riding in decided to sit up and this saw our lined out group split in two.

I got caught out behind and tried to ride back up to the group but the strong head wind proved to be too much. This left me riding by myself to the end to finish in 4^th place.

Final Results:

1^st           Cherise Taylor

2^nd          Theresa Ralph

3^rd           Nicci Grobler

4^th           Yolandi du Toit

5^th           Yolands Speedy

6^th           Amy Mcdougall

Fritz Pienaar together with his Advendurance team put on yet another well organized event. To find (and build) a 70km loop of dirt road and single track in a big city is really impressive!!