Rooiberg Echo Challenge
(6,7 June)

Rooiberg, a small settlement to the west of Bela Bela was the venue for a 2day MTB stage race held this past weekend.

On Friday I left Heidelberg just after lunch, hoping to miss traffic on the N1 but as unpredictable as the traffic can be, I drove straight into it. A normally 1hour drive took me more than 2hours. I felt relieved as I drove out of Pretoria leaving the busy city behind me heading out onto the open freeway towards the bushy landscape of Limpopo province.

As I left the freeway at Bela Bela off ramp, the road to Rooiberg was filled with game farms and I was even lucky enough to see a few different species of antelope.
I arrived well after dark at Etosha Nature reserve where I stayed for 2 nights. The lodge is situated deep in the bush, which gives you the opportunity to experience the sounds and beauty of nature.

Day 1, 70km
Etosha Nature reserve is a 30min drive from the race start. I left at 6:30am, just in time to see the sun rise!!!
The race started at 8:00am. I am always glad to get on my bike and start, it gives my nerves time to settle down and I can concentrate on the race.

On the first flat part of the race I worked my way into the leading position. We got to a very steep hill which forced us to get off our bikes and push. It was here were Samantha Oosthuizen (Garmin) came running past me while pushing her bike. On the downhill I tried to make up some lost time but on one of the corners I slipped and fell. Yolandi de Villiers( Cycle Lab) then made her way past me. I struggled to get into a rhythm again and lost a bit of confidence. Yolande Speedy caught me half way through the stage, and with her experience and technical skills I wasn’t able to follow.

The race had ± 60 km of single track, with some sections being really technical. We also had to cycle through a fire which had only just started when I came past. The marshals had to redirect the rest of the field behind me around the fire. I never manage to make up time on the 3 girls out front and finished in 4th place for the day.

Stage 2, 85km
I started my day with another beautiful sunrise, and this made it worthwhile getting up so early.

In a repeat of the previous day, we were off at 8am.
The first part of the course consisted of singletrack with river crossings and rocky climbing sections, where you had to carry or push your bike most of the time. I struggled to carry my bike and was laying 4th coming out of the “hike a bike” section.
Although the stage had less singletrack, it wasn’t any easier than day 1.
The first day’s technical singletrack was replaced by loose rocky descents and ascents, thick sand and river crossings, which required just as much skill and concentration.

The two stages were long and tough. After riding for almost 10hours in 2 days, I managed to get a podium place in the end by finishing 3rd overall in the ladies category.

Results
1st Yolande Speedy
2nd Samantha Oosthuizen
3rd Yolandi du Toit

BELA BELA CLASSIC & Vi-T-Go
(23, 24 May)

Travelling on the N1 North is becoming a habit for our team these days... This weekend we headed off in that direction again, Saturday for the Bela Bela Classic (road race) and Sunday for the Vi-T-Go MTB race.

Bela Bela Classic
The woman started with the Veteran Men 50+. Being a bigger group helped to keep the pace high on a fairly flat circuit of 95km. With the pace being so quick no one could get away and the group stayed together to the finish. My team mate Michelle Corbett, who is still a junior, surprised everyone on the day by outsprinting the rest of the Elite ladies field and taking the win for Team Konica Minolta.

Results
1stMichelle Corbett (Konica Minolta)
2nd Sanett Smal (Nashua)
3rd An-Li Pretorius (Nashua)
6th Yolandi du Toit (Konica Minolta)

Vi-T-Go
The race started a bit later (8:30am) and after yesterdays early 7:00am start I appreciated the extra sleep. It also meant the day had a bit of time to warm up and we could start the race in conditions that suited me more.

It was my second time doing this event and I still think the race is good for developing and practicing bike handling skills with the loose sand, tricky corners, rocky climbs and descents.

I got into a nice steady tempo from the start and managed to pace myself until the finish, taking Konica Minolta’s second win for the weekend.

MAGOEBASKLOOF & INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP
(16, 17 MEI)

We had quite a busy but successful weekend. Personally, it’s great to have a race schedule and organised team again. It seems we’re racing every weekend and also getting the opportunity to see new places.
On Friday we travelled to Tzaneen, a small town east of Polokwane (Pietersburg). I was fascinated by the sudden change in landscape. The flat and dry area of Polokwane was replaced by mountainous forests and lush greenery as we got closer to Tzaneen.

Although the scenery was beautiful, I found the racing very tough. We started with the men and 30km into the race we reached the bottom of the Magoebaskloof climb in a small group.
The 10km climb served as the launch pad for the Konica Minolta men’s team to ride away from everyone else.
I went over the climb at my own tempo and made contact with a small group on the downhill, which should have made things easier for me. Unfortunately one of the 3guys I had caught up to felt intimidated by a ladies presence. He attacked several times in an effort to get rid of me.
With 10km to go I had enough and let them go, leaving me to ride in for a victory alongside the men’s team.

On Sunday the team headed to the Interprovincial which was held south of Johannesburg. The course consisted of 3x 30km loops.
Cold and windy conditions made the racing difficult on a very flat circuit.

I started with the junior men and after some tough racing, I managed to get another victory for the team.
This coming weekend the team will head north again for the Bela Bela Classic and hopefully some warmer weather racing.

Vaalwater

Saturday, 9^{th May}

This weekend the team did a race in Vaalwater, Nystroom. We had an early morning start leaving from Midrand at 4:30h.

We were fortunate enough that driving to and from the race it was raining a lot, but at the event it was dry.

The race started at 8am and the elite women were to start with the men. This suited me as it meant the racing would be hard and fast.

The Konica Minolta men’s team dominated the race and basically rode away from everyone else handing the victory to Paul van Zweel.

It was an out and back race and the Konica guy’s aggressive racing as of the turn around point caused the bunch to split up. I managed to stay in the chasing group wile the other girls were caught up in the bunch behind me.

I managed to stay with them until the finish to take the win, with the girls from Nashua taking 2^nd, 3rd and 4^th place.

Tour D ‘urban

I’m back! Tour D’urban was my first race back with my ‘brand new’ (old) team. I am happy to announce that I will be riding with Konica Minolta for the remainder of this year.

It’s great to be back with the team that I had a lot of success with. I hope to pick up where I left off and go on to even greater things. It will be good to repay them with some victories for the faith that they have shown in me!

On Friday I travelled down to Durban with the team. It is a wonderful feeling to be part of a team again, especially when everything is well planned and organised.

Just to give you an example we had all our food prepared for us over the weekend. We even got lunch boxes for the trip down to Durban. On race day, our race food and water bottles were prepared, our bikes were ready, and all we had to do was concentrate on the race. All this and much more behind the scenes work was done by a management team of only two people – John (manager/mechanic/directeur sportif etc) and Nicolene (soigneur/PA/motivator etc). Thanks guys!!!

We are only 2 girls on Konica Minolta this year, Michelle Corbett and I. By being only two it makes things really special; you get to know one another well and have to trust each other more, because you only have each other to rely on during races. She is still very young, but really talented. Only 18 years of age, a time in one’s life where you can only learn....

Our race started off at 6:30am Sunday morning. The Elite woman, junior woman and under 16 boys all started together. The group stayed intact until the main climb of the day (around 20 km into the race). There it got broken up in bits and this was where a small group of 5 girls got away and stayed away until the finish. I missed the split and ended up in the chasing group and sadly couldn’t take part in the sprint due to my handlebars that came loose. I am the only one to blame, because I received a new bike and didn’t check if everything was properly tightened – never too old to learn I suppose!

I haven’t been racing much on the road this year. Tour D’urban was only my 3rd road race for the season. I am looking forward to getting back into racing…on and off road!

SUBARU SABIE CLASSIC

This year’s edition of the Subaru Sabie Classic race started at the York Timber Sport grounds in Sabie. In addition to the traditional 3 distances that the race offers, this year they added a 100km ultra marathon distance to the event.

I took part in the 70km Monster marathon which was the main event in previous years. The route was challenging over very mountainous terrain with relatively steep downhill’s and the recent rainfall in Mpumalanga caused some sections on the quad trails to be a bit slippery. But still it was a very enjoyable route.

On the start line, I knew it was going to be a challenging day. Strong competitors like Marissa van den Merwe, Chrissie Viljoen (Team -MTN), Carla Rowley, Leticia Botha, Sanet Small etc were also participating.

The first part of the race Marissa, Carla and me were fighting amongst each other for the leading position. And it was only after 40km, when people started cheering “This is the leading girl “that I realized that I moved into 1st position.

I was still under the impression that Marissa was out on front. But the thought lifted my spirit and I kept on racing as hard as I could. I was very happy when I realized that I was home in 1st position.

What pleased me even more on the day was what I’ve achieve regarding technical skills. Since I’ve been shown how to handle my bike on technical terrain, I’ve been enjoying MTB more. But it still stays the toughest sport I’ve ever participated in.

Results
1st Yolandi du Toit
2nd Carla Rowley
3rd Leticia Botha
4th Marissa van den Merwe

For this past weekend’s racing I travelled to Bultfontein, not the one in the Free State but just outside Pretoria...

At a place called Babba’s Lodge, they host a series called the Vi-T-Go series, where a race is held monthly. The racing offers three distances you can choose from, a 10km, 35km or 70km (2laps). It’s a small event mainly focused on a fun day out for the family. Professional riders also enjoy the race, giving them the opportunity to race a bit and in my case improve technical skills.
The day before the event I went for a MTB ride to brush up on some technical skills. I got some advice on how to ride rocky downhills, single track and mainly how to handle your bike off road. It gave me a lot of confidence for the race and it was great to apply what I’ve learned the day before.

To make my day even more rewarding I managed to get first place for my team (DCM -Chrome).

New year, new team, new me!

It’s the start of a brand new season and this year I’m riding for Team DCM Chrome, a mountain bike team that’s focused on developing young riders. And in my case road riders crossing over to the “dark side” J

Over the past weekend I participated in my first race for the year, the MTN National Marathon Series that was held down in Barberton.
After all the time and effort spent coming back from my accident and sorting out my knees, I was mainly hoping to finish the race without knee pain or concussion related head ache. There was also the normal nervousness for the first race of the season. And to top it all off, I received my brand new Cannondale Taurine MTB only two days prior to the race. That meant I only got time to test out the bike the day before the event. Luckily my Specialized bike fit combined with the awesome Taurine made the transition fairly easy.

The day turned out great. I was really impressed with what my mountain bike can do. My technical skills and confidence have improved substantially by riding with a lefty fork (Cannondale’s suspension fork design). I am also happy to say that I achieved my first goal of the season. I was able to complete the race without serious knee pain and even managed a top ten by finishing 7th!

It was a great experience. It’s only from racing that you can see where your form truly is and where your training is lacking. I have 4 weeks until my next race, Sabie Classic. It gives me enough time to finish my last block of base training as well as getting used to my new bike.

THE BUCK STOPS HERE….

The last eight weeks has been quite a testing time for me. Trying to get over the concussion I sustained at the Crater cruise. When a blesbuck (or who knows) decided I was the softest target out of the thousand participants.

I started my training about more than a week ago. Not long into my rides my knee started flaming up again. I’ve been fighting with it throughout the season. During the season you can’t really sort out problematic areas in between all the racing and training.

A very good thing about my accident was being forced to rest and stay off of my bike completely for 8 weeks. It was already difficult enough forgetting small things, getting lost in your own town can’t be fun!

So any pain occurring now isn’t because my body needs rest. And now is the best time to sort out these problems. With my first event only at the end of January (Barberton), I really do have plenty of time.

I went to a see a few people about my knee, the more you know the better you can fix the problem. The only thing I knew was that it hurts when I am riding.

First I went to a Biokineticus. His opinion was that I have a muscle imbalance. Which causes the patella to be pulled side ways by the stronger muscles, the friction causes inflammation and that causes the pain. I was given a few exercises to help strengthen up the weaker muscles.

I continued riding but the pain was still there….

Next I went to see a orthopaedic surgeon, he immediately send to for a MR scan, because he understands sport being a triathlon athlete himself and knows the importance to get back into training a soon as possible. They found nothing, and agreed that I must continue with the exercise program from the Biokineticus.

At least now I know that I don’t have any bone or joint disorder.

Still during my rides the pain was there…

Next I went for a bike setup at Fritz Pienaar Cycle’s. They make use of the bike setup designed through specialized and it’s a great setup method.

They also had new innersoles designed by Specialized to support your arch. It’s incredible to see and feel the difference.

Now when I go for a ride, I can feel the pressure on my knee isn’t there anymore.

The bike setup togehter with the innersoles had made a huge difference in my cycling.I can continue training as usual while working on my weak muscle’s and continue seeing Hannes (a physical therapist). I’ve been seeing him since I’ve been back from Europe.

He understands a sport persons body and start from the start! His opinion is that it’s because of my lower back and pelvis which is out of line.

Unfortunately the process was put on hold after the accident.

So for now I can continue training comfortably. While sorting out my entire body to be 100% when my racing season starts!

11 Days has gone by since my accident and still I’m struggling with the symptoms of concussion.

The headaches, nausea, forgetfulness, lack of concentration and drowsiness simply don’t want to go away.

It got me worried and I decided to go see someone about it.

On Monday I went to Medi-Clinic Sports Centre for a check up and hoping for a date to return back to sport.

The doctor ensured me that having the symptoms still am normal, seeing to it that I was unconscious for 3 to 4 hours.

He couldn’t give me an exact date, only that it would take time. Clearly I still have concussion and will have to wait for the symptoms to be completely gone before I can think of riding again.

All I can do is rest and sleep.And hopefully be back on my bike soon!

CRATER CRUISE


My weekend ended quite the opposite to what I had in mind.
Wish I could write my own version how my race ended but sadly I can’t remember a lot. So I will have to settle with what I had to read myself

“It was Yolandi du Toit’s unfortunate run-in with an Impala that had everyone talking long after the event. Du Toit was one of the favorites to win but in the first 30km while passing through a reserve she was quite literally “taken out” by a buck. According to eye witnesses the Impala was trying to jump between the racing mountain bikers when it slammed into the unwitting cyclist.

She was transported to Medi-Clinic hospital in Vanderbijlpark. The Garmin DCM beauty escaped relatively unscathed without any major injuries or broken bones although heavily concussed and forced to stay in hospital overnight. Race winner and boyfriend Swanepoel who left for the hospital immediately after his win stayed with her throughout”





Parys. – ’n Rooibokram het Saterdag buite dié Vrystaatse dorp gedurende die Ride Crater Cruise-bergfietswedren vir groot konsternasie gesorg toe hy een van Suid-Afrika se voorste vroue-fietsryers van haar fiets afgestamp het.
Me. Yolandi du Toit, wat vir die Garmin-beroepspan ry, was besig om in die vrouewedren voor te jaag toe sy skielik ’n beweging uit die kant van haar oog gewaar.
Die volgende oomblik het sy erge pyn ervaar. Toe word alles net swart voor haar.
“Die eerste keer dat ek weer van iets bewus geraak het, was toe ek in ’n hospitaalbed wakker word.”
Volgens haar was sy amper vyf uur lank half bewusteloos. Gelukkig is geen van haar bene gebreek nie. Du Toit het gesê sy het steeds geen idee wat gebeur het nie. Volgens haar het sy maar by vriende en haar pa gehoor dat ’n bok haar van haar fiets gestamp het.
Mnr. Francois du Toit, haar pa, wat ’n entjie agter sy dogter aan die trap was, het gesê hy het ook nie gesien wat gebeur het nie.
“Ek het net skielik gesien Yolandi lê langs die pad en van haar spanmaats pas noodhulp op haar toe. Soos ek verstaan, was daar ’n trop bokke aan die een kant van die paadjie.
“Die vermoede is dat een bok as gevolg van die fietswedren van die trop afgekeer was.”
“Dit is absoluut ’n fratsongeluk. Ek het aan baie bergfietswedrenne deelgeneem en nog nooit het so iets gebeur nie.”
Mnr. Lukas Fick, ’n wildkenner, het gesê dit is die eerste keer dat hy van so iets hoor.
“Ek twyfel nie dat die bok suiwer instinktief opgetree het nie. As ek luister wat vertel word, sal ek sê dit was eintlik paniek.
“Met die fietsryers wat die hele tyd tussen die bok en die res van die trop gery het, het hy waarskynlik iewers tussen die bosse gestaan en rondtrippel.
“Met elke sekonde wat verbygegaan het, het die bok meer paniekerig geraak totdat sy vrees die oorhand gekry het.
“Toe het hy seker blindelings gestorm en gespring. Ongelukkig het hy nie hoog genoeg gespring nie en die fietsryer getref.”
Volgens Fick kan ’n rooibok met gemak oor ’n motor spring. “




I’ll be going for a check up on Monday, where they would decide when I can return to sport

World championships in Varese, Italy

Being part of the National team competing in Varese was a big opportunity.

I was really looking forward to this event. Being able to participate and compare yourself against the best in the world is the ideal opportunity to see where you are and where you have to be.

Unfortunately I got ill there and couldn’t get my body to pull itself together. Knowing that I maybe shouldn’t have started the race, but I know from previous experience’s I will regret it more if I don’t at least try.

After the 3^rd lap I got dropped and pulled off. I didn’t really see the point in continuing. It might have hurt my body as well but I was too disappointed in myself to carry on.

Being able to see Italy on the other hand was great. The first few days I only saw my bedroom walls. Thursday I felt better and was able to ride my bike a bit. We stayed in Castelleta, at the bottom of Lake Varese. I did most of my rides a long side the lake. It was a beautiful picture to see the lake framed with mountains.

DOME2DOME ROAD RACE/

DOWN AND DIRTY MTB RACE.

The European season is slowly coming to an end. In less than 2 weeks I will be participating at the Road World Championships in Varese, Italy.

Last week I did my final hard preparation for the road race, together with a MTB and Road race over the weekend.

The MTB race was only added onto our program on Thursday. With a hard training week and still not fully recovered from the previous MTB race I knew I wouldn’t be 100% but was still willing to give it a go.

The Down and Dirty mountain bike race was held in Pretoria. The technical single track sections got the better part of me and Letitia Botha took the win, me 2nd and my Garmin Team mate Samantha Oostuisen 3rd

The Dome2Dome road race was held in Johannesburg. It was one of the big road events of the Summer Cycling Season.

The event started just before 6 o’clock in the morning and the freezing wind made the start extra uncomfortable.

My week of hard training and the mountain bike race on Saturday took its toll and I was in trouble from the start. I got dropped early on in the race and finished in the 3^rd group.

This last 2 weeks before worlds i will just be taking it easy, to hopefully be in my best form at Worlds

On Saturday Night I will be flying out with the SA squad to Italy were we will be participate in the World Road Championships from the 24-27^th of September.

Dirty Harry 70km Marathon

(Mazda MTN Series-Drifter 5)

Today was a very special day for me in my cycling career. I won my first big Mountain bike race. I only started mountain biking at the beginning of this year and never thought I would be able to win a drifter in this year already although it was one of my goals in mountain biking.

Competing in Europe during the winter improved my fitness a lot. And I feel more confident on my bike.

I enjoyed the course. It started with a long clime which gave me the opportunity to open up a gap big enough to stay away from the rest of the chasing field.

1^st -Yolandi du Toit

2^nd - Samantha Oosthuisen

3^rd - Carla Rawley

4^th -Tanya Raats

MTN Zoo lake criterium

It was great to have some criterium racing in South Africa. It gives friends and families the opportunity to see and be part of the race as well.

The course was not your usual flat, fast and technical circuit. A 1km drag up the finishing straight and some severe winds on the circuit made the racing really hard.

Soon the girl’s peloton got split into a small group of 7. It was again me and Lynette (cycle lab) against 4 MTN girls and Anriette Schoeman (Proline). On the last lap I attacked over the clime and Chrissie Viljoen (MTN) came with. We stayed away till the finish and Chrissie won the sprint.

I liked the race, it’s just a pity that it’s so short (30min) In the future I hope they would make it a proper 80km race.

1^st Chrissie Viljoen

2^nd Yolandi du Toit

3^rd Marissa van den Merwe

4^th Lynette burger