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Average Guy Gets Dirty with Harry
 I
headed out on Friday afternoon for Harrismith in the
Freestate, with the weather forecast foremost in my
mind. And 100km outside Johannesburg the rain started
and the temperature dropped. Harrismith was freezing
on arrival and very wet. Luckily by the 8:30 start it
was a beautiful day with only a slight wind to worry
about.
The
start at the athletics stadium was a good venue and
the sponsors (N3 Toll Concession) had made a big
effort with the catering. I was also impressed to see
that Mazda had brought some vehicles which were on
show and also had a representative at the race. These
guys put so much into the sport, but don’t really seem
to take advantage of the opportunity to show their
products to the mountain bikers they sponsor, so I
hope that we will see more of this.
Anyone who had finished the Epic 2 weeks ago, was
hesitant to talk about their prospects for the race.
You never know how you’re going to feel when you first
race after the Epic.
And
if you weren’t feeling good, you would probably have
not liked the start of this race; a couple of loops
through the streets of Harrismith and then straight in
to the big climb of the day. Rather than a gradual
long climb this was more undulating with some really
steep bits. The king and queen of the mountain were
decided in the early stages. After the climb, it was
onto the contour around the Platberg. This was also
undulating, with a definite feeling of more up than
down. There was a really cool, rocky downhill and some
hike-a-bike sections, but nothing too long. The route
then wound around the Platberg on some more technical
up and downs and finally around the back of the
Platberg onto a dirt road. Some of the guys I spoke to
afterwards really didn’t enjoy this section. It was a
challenge as there was a strong headwind and I could
not hold on to the bunch. So I had to suffer the
section alone. I felt sorry for the top ladies on this
section: I went past Tania Raats and Amy-Jane Mundy on
this section. They are not allowed to ride the wheels
of the guys, so they have to tough it out alone.
 After
a left turn and a bit of tar, we turned back onto the
jeep track and approached the KOM spot from a
different direction. It was around this time that I
realised that the race would not be 75km, but a bit
longer. After going past the KOM point, we had to
complete the rocky undulating jeep track that we had
ridden earlier again, this time the ups seemed more,
uh… up and the rocky downhill more rocky. The route
then linked with the 35km course and then it was fast
all the way home.
At
75km, my Cape Epic legs kicked in and I managed to
make up a few places. It was a bit of a shock that the
route was 7km longer than advertised. This is where I
find the biggest advantage of riding my Raleigh Team
hardtail. The bike feels light, even at the end of a
long ride, and helps you feel like you can still climb
and finish strong.
At
the sharp end of the race it was Marc Bassingthwaighte
(GT) edging out Kevin Evans (Raleigh MTN Energade) for
first spot, with Jaco Venter (Excel) in third.
The
ladies race saw Yolande De Villiers (Mazda Merida)
continuing where she left off from the Epic with a win
over Amy Jane Mundy (Jeep) and Tania Raats (Maverick)
third.
Well
done to Theo Grobler, who took over the organisation
of the race at the last minute. He did an amazing job,
but we really have to talk about the extra 7km…
Photos by Wayne Hayward |
