Sunday, February 17, 2008

1st Super Classic-Thrombi-X-Fest - 17 February 2008

My first super classic of the year saw us spending the weekend in the vicinity of the beautiful Underberg and Thrombosis Gorge. The weekend in general was fantastic, with Croc racing, mtb super classic, Down Hill racing, River Kayaking and the paddle race.
The venue was absolutely awesome and provided something for everybody the entire weekend.

The big one for me was definitely the MTB Super Classic on Sunday. All the big guns were there, Brandon Stewart, Max Knox, Pete Smith, Craig Paul, Tim Stark and Willie Brink and I had decided to dedicate my efforts in this race to my good friend Kirsty St John Ayre who had tragically passed away a few days earlier.
.
Our race started at 09h00 on the dot and Brandon Stewart set a blistering pace from the word go, but was soon caught on the first climb, about 5km into the course myself, Willie, Bruce Hughes, and Jedson Tooms and we settled into a small pack behind the leader.

After the 7km mark I dropped off the back of the pack, which was still hammering at a fast pace and rode at my own more comfortable pace.
Another 2km or so later, I caught and passed Gary Flint from Jowett’s in the single track, and set my sights on catching Jedson Tooms from Maverick and Daniel Paul , another Jowett’s team rider.
Going up the next big climb I managed to catch them, but as I reached them, Daniel put in a huge attack, and Jedson went with him. About 8 or 9km from the finish I caught and passed Andrew Warr, and once again set my sights on closing the gap on Jedson Tooms who was having problems with a loose saddle.
With about 3 km from the finish I saw that the gap was closing, but to my disappointment “the jeddi” was just too strong and managed to stay ahead to claim 9th overall, with myself taking the final spot in the top 10 overall and winning the youth category.

The course was absolutely AWESOME, but very very tough, with insane rocky and bumpy single track, climbs and descents. Great organization by the guys, and a huge thanks to all the farmers, for the use of their property.

The weekend was a great success and my fellow JEEP team mates all had a fantastic day with equally good results.

Well done to all.

No comments: