On Saturday morning we were up pretty early to go down to the pont, where the race was to be held. I met up with a couple of guys that were going out to do a dry run of the course and to check that all the markings were up to scratch. I decided to go with them and we embarked on the tough 43km course, leaving the start area at 07h35. I must say a huge thanks to Andrew for guiding me through the course, he was a huge help! The ride included a stop at the coffee farm for cup of the strongest coffee I had ever tasted but it went down with the most amazing spinach muffin.
After the good 3 hour ride, I headed back to the accommodation and just chilled with a huge chicken salad and relaxed for the rest of the day. I then made my way back to registration at about 16h00 so that we could miss the rush on Sunday morning.
Race day dawned and I woke up to a pretty overcast sky, with quite the wind blowing. We arrived at the race and to my surprise it looked like there had been a slight down pour during the night. The wind began to get a little colder and it really looked like it was about to rain. It was really good to see Burry Stander there, but at the same time pretty intimidating, as we all knew then, that we were in for a tough days racing! I made the most of the time I could to get some tips and swap ideas with the master himself. Dave Leiman was also there and definetly one of the favourites I had to bare in mind, who could to take the top honours for the day.
On the start line, Go Boy productions had their crew grabbing interviews from main contenders for the days racing that lay ahead. With just a few minutes to go the helicopter took flight, and the race soon began. The first few hundred meters were nice and chilled, however, as we hit the long drag to the top of the tar road, David Leiman upped the pace considerably. I gave chase, but I suffered slightly. Burry then came past and bridged the gap fairly easily. I was now down in 5th or so. With the last 200m or so left of the climb I gave it everything, and soon found myself in 3rd overall going into the single track, right behind Dave and Burry.
Finding myself in this classy company so early was encouraging but I would really need to work hard if I had any intentions of staying with these guys. We pushed hard through the first couple of single tracks. Dave made a small mistake in one of the tight corners and Burry managed to get a small gap. Dave pushed it really hard up the next short little climb before we hit the district road. As soon as we hit the district road, I passed Dave and was now in second spot and was trying to close the gap to Burry. Unfortunately, Dave punctured on the road, and this left me to try keep the gap to Burry down to a minimum.
I pushed as hard as I could through the entire open first half of the race, and manage to keep the gap to Burry between 2min30sec to 3min until we reached the half way mark.
As soon as we hit the really bumpy "full sus" territory, Burry just opened the gap. I went to the absolute limits in the single track, but riding a hard tail certainly made it tricky in some sections. Approaching one of the sections, the wind had unfortunately blown one of our "black arrowed" signs in the wrong direction and it sent me up a small climb where I found myself riding against the flow of 20km riders. I immediately clicked that I had gone wrong and turned around quickly. Fortunately, I hadn't lost any positions and Burry was opening the gap all the time.
Coming into the finish it was a bit hairy in the single track, trying to dodge my way through 10km and 20km riders, But it went smoother than expected and I emerged through safely and grabbed my second 2nd overall super classic result this year finishing just under 6 and half minutes behind the Master himself,Burry Stander.
A huge congratulations needs to go out to Jono Downham and the boys and girls from the South Coast on an event that was well organised and a blast to race. Thanks to Jan Abbott of Clear Water Trails for allowing us to use his mind blowing single track!
Besides racing this awesome course it was also an absolute privilege to race against the best this country has ever had to offer and realize how high the bar has been set for those of us aspiring to be the best we can be in this great sport of mountain bike racing.
some pictures of the race
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