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!