On Friday the Jeep team piled into the Jeep Patriot, along with Candice Neethling, and began the long trip up to Sabie for the SA Marathon Champs.
After a really long trip we arrived in the tiny town and went straight to the venue to register, and hit a ride to wake up the legs for the following days racing. After the quick spin we headed out to Hazyview, where we stayed at Pete's aunt and uncles farm. It was really cool of them to let us stay in their house while they were away, and even better... they gave us some awesome food :) After supper we all had an early night after the really long day of travelling.
Saturday Morning dawned and the weather looked fantastic for racing. We packed our bikes onto the Jeep and headed straight to the venue. As we arrived Craig an Pete went straight out for their warm up. Ryan, Candy and I all chilled at the jeep and pumped up some tunes to try get psyched.
After a VERY thorough warm up we all made our way to the start for our 45 odd km race that lay ahead. All the big names were up from KZN and the other provinces, like James Reid, Trav Walker, Adam Reyneke and Arno du Toit. James was decorated in the new leaders jersey and his presence was definitely known amongst the riders. Straight out of the starting blocks it was James who made the first move which began to string out the bunch straight away. We hit the first climb and the pace got even hotter. James managed to get away, with Trav Walker bridging across the gap. They began to open a gap really rapidly. My legs were absolutely screaming, and was really putting in a effort just to stay with the chase bunch. I dug super deep and went to the front to see if I could try and get rid of some of the guys in the bunch. Fortunately it worked and the bunch whittled down to 3 of us, being Adam Reyneke and Xander Botha.
We began to work really well together and as we hit the biggest climb of the day Adam dropped off, but the gap had closed to James and Trav. It was just under a minute as we hit the climb. I eventually managed to ride Xander off of my wheel and chased as hard as possible to catch James and Trav. It didn't seem to be working, but near the top I saw a red shirt in the distance... I thought it was the camera crew but soon realized it was James and Trav. They were around 30-40 seconds ahead but I was now absolutely red lining. I managed to close a very slight amount before the top of the climb, but they were just much too strong... As soon as the descending started, the gap stayed pretty much the same, but once on the flats and undulations they left me for parking, and rapidly opened a big lead. I rode out of my skin, and tried everything to at least make a dent in the lead that they'd made but in the end they were MACHINE!
I settled for 3rd overall and 3rd Junior, and man was I super stoked with the result. James took the win, with Trav a minute or so behind, and myself or so minutes down. Craig and Ryan had a bummer, with both of them pulling out. Ryan Had a huge crash and Craig just didn't have the legs, and decided o rest up for Sani2C. Pete had a scorcher and finished an awesome 7th overall in the ultra! and Candy got 1st juior lady and first lady overall in the half marathon!
Thanks to Pete's relatives for the awesome accommodation and to TJSA for the Jeep! it was really an awesome experience.
Now its time to hit some speed work and get ready for the national in April
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