09 May 2012 Van Wyk thrilled with victory at African Continental Championships, Mauritius
The 2012 African Continental Championships was held on the lovely island of Mauritius on the 5th of May. Team bizhub-FCF’s Junior Linda Van Wyk participated in the ...
Jade Roberts
(January 2010, Clarence Training Camp)
MTN National MTB Marathon series - 28/01/2012
Barberton. The season opener. This is the race that changed my cycling from just doing local races in the Southern Cape, to testing my abilities on a broader level in the national marathon series in 2009. This part of our country is so different from the Cape and Karoo and whenever I come here I feel I should come more often! Beautiful mountains and green valleys and spectacular climbs and huge magnificent trees.
The race itself is a tough one with endless climbs early on in the race and then short power climbs with lots of river crossings and beautiful single track in the last 25km.Being the first race of the season, it is always an eye opener to see who did what in December and if my training is actually paying off… everyone has been training over December but we haven’t raced each other for a while so you don’t know what to expect.
Having raced against Ariane Kleynhans two weeks ago at Attakwas, I knew that she would be hard to beat, definitely in the shape of her lie and seemingly just getting better with every race! So I decided to mark her and Yolande Speedy, hoping to stick over the first climb and then see how it goes. All the girls were on big wheels for the first time: last year we were all still racing 26ers but the 29er bug has now infected the ladies field as well. All the girls were there: Karien van Jaarsveld now in MTN kit and Yolande Speedy in USN kit, Ariane still in the colors of Contego and Candice Neethling now riding for BMC.
The start was fast and the leading car obviously didn’t care that “neutral zone” is what diesel engines like me bargain on, HR going right up into red zone even before we turned into the jeep track! Early on first Karien and then Yolande dropped off; then Candice Neethling passed me and followed Ariane. As we started the big climb of the day – a monster 12km climb with almost 1000m ascent – Ariane just put foot on the petrol and pulled away. I pushed as hard as I could but just couldn’t follow. I looked back and couldn’t see any of the other girls behind me. I am not known for my fast starts, but this one was extra hard, so I hoped at least my second breath would make up for it.
I was given time splits along the route and Ariane and Candice just kept on increasing the gap. At the tech zone our back-up gave me the depressing stats: 14 min behind Ariane, 10 to Candice! Candice had beaten me here at Barberton last year, but I hoped that maybe I could catch up so put the hammer down, legs starting to feel better.
The last 25km is really fun and beautiful single track and jeep track over a zillion river crossings with steep little climbs, testing your legs but I felt strong and really enjoyed them this time. I finished the race in third position, about 4 minutes behind Candice and miles behind Ariane, who had ridden an incredible ride finishing 3rd overall in the mens’ field!
I heard afterwards that Yolande had suffered mechanical problems and unfortunately had a bit of a nightmare of a race. Karien van Jaarsveld finished in 4th position.
So, the racing season has started in a big way. In the Nissan Half Marathon, my Bizhub-fcf team mate, young Linda Van Wyk, took the lead in the pink jersey competition; and Catherine Colyn was 1st in the junior ladies competition.
Thanx to Advendurance, MTN National MTB series and sponsors involved for a fantastic race. Here’s to another year’s racing in the colors of Team Bizhub-fcf…a full schedule lying ahead! Next weekend I will have the privilege to race against Ariane and Candice again at the EP Herald MTB Challenge at the Addo National Park. Until then, I guess I better start doing some serious interval training!!
