Sappi Mankele MTB Challenge

Despite the race being in its 3^rd year of existence, it was my first time taking part in the Sappi Mankele MTB Challenge. As with every new race, I was very excited to discover what the event had to offer. Adding to the experience was the fact that the race took place in my favourite part of the country, namely the picturesque Lowveld.

Mankele Bike Park was the venue where the race was run from and you’d be pushed to find a better spot to host a mountain bike race. Upon our arrival on Friday night, the atmosphere at Mankele was very reminiscent of the Isuzu 3 Towers race and the camping terrain was packed. It is so nice to see that people still enjoy the outdoor lifestyle available to South Africans.

The race organisers provided us with our own tented accommodation for the evening and on finding our tent I was totally surprised! I was expecting the usual two man tent that they use during the Three Towers event, but instead we were given a huge eight man tent. This meant there was enough room for us and our bikes inside the tent after we had our dinner under a starlit sky.

The next morning at 8am we set off to tackle the 60km marathon route. The race started with a long (10km) ascent which saw riders climbing out of the valley (775m) to reach heights of 1190m. Samantha Saanders (Valencia) started off at a blistering pace opening a small gap to me on the lower slopes of the climb. I kept focusing on my own race and steadily rode up to her. Maintaining my speed I passed her and drew away as the ascent continued.  From the summit I settled into a good rhythm pacing myself throughout the event in an attempt to hold on to the lead.

Samantha is well known for her world class technical abilities and I pushed hard knowing that she wouldn’t give up the chase. She is a local and winning in front of her home crowd and sponsors meant a lot to her. 

Basically we were both making the best of our strengths while trying to limit the damage everywhere else. As it turned out we were very equally matched and Sam caught me with 200m to go. No doubt she was inspired by seeing her quarry just ahead of her in the final kilometres.

With her cross country racing pedigree and focus Sam had the better sprint and she crossed the line just ahead of me to take a well timed win. I was disappointed to lose such a close battle, but Sam was better on the day and it made for a close, exciting race. The ever improving Janneke Leask finished in 3^rd place completing the podium. More importantly we all had a great time on and off the bike. The route (especially all the single track) was great fun and the scenery always more than made up for the suffering.

Mankele bike Park always invites you to come and enjoy their trails. So don’t be silly - accept the invitation, it’s an invite you won’t regret!

Sasol Cross Triathlon, Vanderbijlpark

GO MULTI sports magazine has the slogan – Life is too short for one sport. This past weekend I experienced it firsthand.

I’ve always wanted to take part in an XTERRA but being a professional cyclist and racing almost every weekend I obviously have other commitments. This weekend however I got the opportunity to take part in my first off road triathlon.

As an athlete, you always look for areas to improve and prevent injury. This year January I decided to take up a bit of swimming and running to improve my overall fitness.  So with minimum running and swimming experience I participated in my first Cross Triathlon which was held at Ascot Boat Club in Vanderbijlpark this past weekend. The event consisted out of a 1km swim followed by a 24km mountain bike ride and finished with a 6km trail run.

Standing in the Vaal River amongst other competitors waiting for the gun to sound before diving into the unknown was quite daunting. I’ve heard several stories about how intimidating the swim can be as others swim into you and over you. Therefore I decided it best to start at the back. The fact that I was the “fastest” swimmer had nothing to do with this decision :). It turned out to be the right choice as I ended up having a free swim with no major bumping/drowning issues.  My swim leg was slow compared to the rest of the field but at least I managed to swim the whole way and that for me was an achievement in itself.

Coming out of the water amongst the latter half of the field gave me a nice empty transition area but a packed mountain bike course making some interesting passing manoeuvres.

Jumping onto a bike just after having waddled from left to right for the last 25min was interesting.  I felt a bit disorientated the first 2km as I zigzagged all over the place. But once I got my rhythm and blood flowed back into my legs, I set off in hot pursuit of the leaders who got out of the water a full 14min ahead of me.

The biggest challenge on the day was trying to move up the field on a route mainly laid out on single track. There wasn’t a lot of place to pass but I did manage to move myself into the front quarter of the field.  

Lastly I swapped my Rocky Mountain for a pair of New Balance trail running shoes in transition 2. Luckily I didn’t have ‘heavy legs’ as I’ve heard was quite a common sensation when one transitions from the bike to the run leg or maybe I was just enjoying the experience too much to notice. With good advice I focussed on running a high cadence by giving smaller steps and that seemed to work well for me. I managed to keep my rhythm, running the whole way which for me was again a big accomplishment in itself.

I crossed the line in 4^th place in a time of 2h06min, only 1min 42sec off of a podium spot. Sylvia van Tromp won the event with Riana Robertson in 2^nd place and Karyn South Gate in 3^rd place

I enjoyed every moment of the event and it was a refreshing challenge to have 2 extra disciplines to consider.  It is true – Life is too short for one sport!

The Columbia Thin Air Mountain Bike Challenge

It is always a privilege to be part of a new race on the calendar, especially when it is held in a beautiful tourist destination like Dullstroom.

The Dunkeld Country Estate, just outside of town was the venue for the inaugural Columbia Thin Air Mountain bike Challenge. Situated at over 2000 m above sea level, the high altitude was sure to be a factor during the race.

The only factor that didn’t play along was the weather. Two days of rain prior to the event forced race organisers to reroute some of the course which unfortunately meant the loss of some hand built single track.

Luckily on race day the rain stopped long enough for us to start and finish the 75km marathon without getting wet (from above). We started with a loop of Dunkeld Estate before heading onto open gravel roads. The kilometres literally flew by until we reached the biggest challenge of the day - a 10km long climb named Everest by the locals...I wonder why??

The fast rolling gravel roads from the beginning ensured bunch riding but ‘Everest’ quickly put a stop to this. The group I was in got steadily reduced on the climb until we were only 4 riders left to crest the climb together. From the summit it wasn’t all downhill to the finish as the undulating terrain made it tough to maintain good rhythm during the second half of the race.

The scenery more than made up for the suffering with some beautiful views of the countryside as we descended through the mist lining the top of the escarpment.

The final 10km stretch was a reality check with rocky jeep track and some technical sections demanding all our dwindling attention. I was very pleased to cross the finish line in 1^st place in just under 3hours.

Dunkeld Country Estate is an ideal mountain bike destination and having had the opportunity to stay and race my bike in such enchanted surroundings made my weekend an unforgettable one.