|
 August , Stellenbosch wine
festival, and mud, mean only one thing -
Stellenbosch MTB Challenge time. The day was great but
the heavy rain from preceding weeks made sure that the
course was well soaked from beginning to end. A wet
muddy parking area set the scene for the day. The
registration and finish area was great with clean dry
spacious facilities.
This is one of the biggest races in
the country with almost 2000 riders entering. Without
mud this is a real mountain bike race, but with mud it is
a really real mountain bike race! The 35km route is
tough and the 60km route gives you almost 1600m of
ascent, that is serious climbing.
The route leaves Stellenbosch and
winds its way round the mountains on the outskirts of
town, with riders returning from the opposite end of
Stellenbosch. The seeded start worked well and
prevented what would have been a serious mud bath
start. Although the seeding was interesting when some first time mtbers found themselves in AA
start groups and some seasoned riders battled from the
back in C group. But the route was long and hilly so
in the end the strong survive and the weak suffer.
 I paid the price for not paying
attention and got more than my moneys worth with an
extra 5km of slippery dirt track after missing a turn
off. The climbing in the start of the race is never
ending and then the last sting in the tail can really
get you if you have not left something in the tank.
Going up the last hill sounded a bit like a military
tank convoy with all the squeaking, screeching and
grinding of mud filled drivetrains.
This is a great race and shows that
mountainbike races can be tough and fun, and still
draw big numbers. I had chain suck from halfway so had
to stay in the middle ring for the rest of the race.
Best thing is to just stay calm and manage as best you
can with what you have. I took in more of the views
and enjoyed the challenge of making it up the hills
with a less than ideal gear choice.
I have to say that the finish to
this race lets it down. I understand the logistics and
that it is the best option under the circumstances,
but I still think it should change. Either the venue
must move out of town (which would be really sad) or
the town must come to the party. This race must bring
about 5000 people (riders and hangers on) into the town.
So surely they can show a bit more support and let us
ride into town rather than crawl in through tunnels?
The front of the race was wide open
with none of the top ranked riders on the start line.
They were all at the Illovo Eston classic, a Drifter
series event in KZN. David George was there in his
first real MTB race since the Cape Epic. Unfortunately
a wrong turn on his part cost him and he came in
outside the top 3. Top spot was taken by Petrus
Malherbe in just under 3 hours.
Stellenbosch Mountain
Bike Challenge Website
Race profile
Race Results
|
