 For
the first time The Herald mountain bike race took
place at the Addo Elephant Park outside of PE. At this
time of year one can normally expect scorching
temperatures and this goes some way to explaining the
need for a 6:00 am start time. For me this meant
waking up at 03:00 am to get to the race in good time.
In relatively cool
conditions the race got underway around 15 minutes
late. The pace seemed pretty relaxed to begin with as
we climbed out of a small valley and then turned onto
a flat road, where there were not too many volunteers
for setting the pace into a relatively strong wind. As
the first climb began, Mathys Beukus of Team Rocky
mountain started an early break. I was feeling pretty
good and started to follow him. I then noticed that
the rest of the bunch were content to sit my wheel and
have me ride them up to the leader. I sat up and
joined the bunch. The lead rider steadily built a gap
as a whittling group rode the Zuurberg pass. I was
shocked to see only 5 riders in my group three
quarters of the way up the climb. The pace was fine
for me and I then knew that I was feeling good.
 Having
ridden the route the previous week, I was aware that
after the summit of the climb there was a rough jeep
track downhill, with some tight turns and plenty of
rocks. I pushed hard to reach this section before the
other riders. I then descended with as fast as I could
without risking cutting the super light Maxxis
Monorail Exception tyres that I had chosen for the
fast course. I was surprised to find that at the
bottom I was on my own. Only the front rider ahead. I
had to decide to wait for the group or push on. I
decided to push on as I was feeling good and soon 2
other riders joined me. Tony Conlin of Marsiellio
Projects and I worked very well together on the flat
sections to eventually real the leading rider in. by
this time we had lost the other rider and the 3 of us,
took on the final 30km. again with Tony and I doing
most of the work. With 5km to go, there was a short
rise and Tony tried to go. Mathys followed and I was a
little slow, but I managed to ride back on. As I
re-joined, Mathys put in a big effort and opened a
small gap. It was big enough for him to hold until the
end, with me giving my last burst to pip Tony on the
line for the second.
This was by far my best
ever performance in a big race and while it was
extremely hard, it was very satisfying! Finally the
average guy has come of age.
The Herald VW Mountain Bike Race Website
Addo Accommodation
photos courtesy
www.theherald.co.za |
