Nedbank Sani2C

Less than two weeks down the line from Joberg2C and I was back in Underberg for a second run through of the Sani2C routes. Luckily this time around it didn’t take me 6 days by mountain bike to get there, only a ‘short’ 6 hour drive in our bizhub team van.

The Nedbank Sani2C is the largest 3 day mountain bike stage race in South Africa. As proof, a total of 4500 participants competed across the Race, Adventure and Trail components of the 9^th edition of the event.

The 266km course starts in Underberg and takes riders all the way to Scottburgh where the finish line awaited us on the beach front. The journey included two very hospitable overnight stops at the Mackenzie country club in Ixopo and Jolivet farm.

It was my 4^th Sani2C and this time around I partnered with British team mate Catherine Williamson.  South Africans tend to leave their mark on places and people and it was pleasant to see Catherine travelling with a bottle of Mrs Balls Chutney in her suitcase. We would be okay!

Catherine and I had only ridden together twice before but were keen on the Sani2C challenge that awaited us. The first day we struggled a bit with Joberg2C fatigue still lingering in our legs. Still, we held on to a 2^nd place finish on the day less than 2minutes behind stage winners Robyn de Groot and Ischen Stopforth (Biogen).

Despite the rain and cold, day 2 started fine and we were swopping the lead until 66km into the race when things took a turn for the worse. The final 35km’s were really hard for me and Cath as I couldn’t produce my normal effort, but we kept at it and finished as best we could in the muddy conditions. In hindsight it was easy to see what went wrong.

At Joberg2C I picked up a cold which was almost inevitable when you camp surrounded by 800 cyclists and sleep in tents for 8 nights during a chilly autumn. I nursed the cold as best as I could in the days leading up to Sani2C and although I felt much better before the start, I knew that the ill effects of a cold can sometimes last longer than one expects. As the saying goes: “You won’t know until you give it a go”, and so I did.

When you do a stage race in a team you always consider your teammate and try to accommodate him/her as best you can so that the team benefits. I didn’t want to disappoint Catherine so I put my head down and kept on fighting with a body wanting to be in bed rather than on a bike.

We were determined to get the most out of the event and we motivated each other and rode as hard as we could while still having fun on the world class trails along the way. It would be a sin not to enjoy the tracks made with so much passion and dedication. Our efforts earned us 2^nd place on stages 2 and 3 with a 2nd place overall after 3 days of racing.

Obviously I am disappointed for not being able to perform at my best. But in sport as in life you have to endure the bad days so that you can appreciate the good days or simply put - it’s not what happens to you, it’s what you make of it....

Final results

1^st           Robyn de Groot & Ischen Stopforth (Biogen)

2^nd          Catherine Williamson & Yolandi du Toit (bizhub)

3^rd           Bridgette Stewart & Jackie Moore ( FedGroup - Itec)

Old Mutual Joberg2C

At the beginning of every cycling season I set aside a couple of races where I want to be on top form. JoBerg2C was one of my goal events. Three weeks prior to the event I heard that my team didn’t have the means to send a team to JoBerg2C anymore. It was a big blow but as a professional you learn to deal with these things and adapt as best you can.

A good friend of mine, Aurelie Halbwachs, came out from Mauritius to participate in this year’s edition of the race and stayed with me a couple of days before the event. On the Thursday afternoon, a day before the start, I took Aurelie and her partner to race registration at Melrose Arch in Johannesburg. A long story short, the organisers found out that I wasn’t riding and wanted me in the race. One phone call and some frantic packing later my teammate Nicci Grobler and I were on the start line of the Old Mutual JoBerg2C as Team USN-bizhub or as most in the race village called us Team Last-Minute.com.

Our journey from Heidelberg to Scottburgh would be run over 9 consecutive days covering a total distance of 900km. The first three stages were spent racing on the flatlands of the Free State welcomed home in the friendly towns of Frankfort, Reitz and Sterkfontein.  

On day 4 we left the Free State behind and headed into the Drankensberg mountain range. I was happy to finally start using my climbing legs while leaving the flat land, bunch riding behind. Climbing we surely did over the following three days, as we reached a total of 5549m of ascent in just 310km of riding. We had overnight stays in Winterton, The Glengarry Resort in Kamberg and finlly Underberg with the majestic Drankensberg mountain range providing a beautiful backdrop to each location. During our stay in ‘the Berg’, riders were given a taste of Farmer Gary’s splendid “Berg and Bush 3 day mountain bike stage race” routes. Another race to look forward to!

From Underberg we headed onto the renowned Sani2C routes laid out in the Kwazulu Natal province. I’ve ridden Sani2C a couple of times and therefore thought I knew what lay ahead.  Boy was I wrong?! Farmer Glen added and changed the single track sections so much, that I was kept on my toes throughout the final 3 days of racing to the sea. For the last two nights we stayed at Mackenzie club and Jolivet Farm before making our way onto the beach at Scottburgh where the final finish line awaited us.

Nicci and I have paired up for various stage races in the past and are good friends. This contributed to a solid team dynamic which saw us racing above expectation. We didn’t even expect to be in the race so every result that came our way we saw as a bonus. This didn’t mean we were just there to participate we were still there to race our heart outs and so we did. I think we might have overdone it slightly on the earlier stages and paid for it later on, but at least we have a stage win and a top 3 overall result to show for our efforts

As always I’ve enjoyed racing alongside Nicci. It was her first weeklong stage race and I think we both learned a lot from it. Joberg2C has always been a life enriching experience for me. You ride through 3 diverse regions of our country where the people are as different as the beautiful countryside they inhabit. You make friendships along the way that might last for a couple of days, weeks or a lifetime. For 9 days you and another 800 people endure the tough riding, sleeping in tents, the portable ablution, the weather and whatever other challenges arise to create a unique camaraderie on the journey called Joberg2C.

Thanks to the organisers from Joberg2C for making our goal a reality. As always it was a fulfilling experience and I hope to be back next year.

Final

Results:

1^st           Yolandi deVilliers & Ischen Stopforth

2^nd          Cherise Stander & Lise Olivier

3^rd           Yolandi du Toit & Nicci Grobler