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)