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 Marathon Series#5 Tulbagh, 14 May 2011
After Joberg2C, which ended last Saturday, I ended up with a cold/flu which eventually turned into bronchitis. I doctored myself as well as I could, hoping to recover in time for the next race of the MTN series in Tulbagh. If I had listened to the doctor in me, I wouldn’t have raced, but actually felt okay in spite of a cough, so overruled the medical opinion.
I was keen to test my new 29er against the other top ladies, but unfortunately the brain fork needed to be serviced after Joberg2C and I was forced to race my 26er Specialized Sworks Epic… still a very very nice bike : )
I was surprised at the poor turn out of riders at the race. It was a misty morning at Saronsberg, the lovely wine farm outside Tulbagh that recently hosted the ABSA Cape Epic. Nevertheless, in the ladies field the front line up consisted of ArianeKleinhans (Contego/Sludge), Karien van Jaarsveld (USN) and three Bizhub girls: Catherine Williamson, Candice Neethling and me. Yolande Speedy and Esther Erderlyi from MTN/Qhubeka were both unable to race due to injuries/medical reasons.
Since Ariane, Cath& I had all just done Joberg2C , I was expecting Karien and Candice with the fresher legs to take the lead, but it was Ariane who set the pace from the beginning – definitely a slower start than at other races – with the rest of us happy to just follow. On the first climb of the day, Ariane managed to get a gap on me, I was forced off my line by a slow Ultra marathon rider whom we had caught, and Candice also passed me. From here Karien& I were riding together with Catherine struggling to find her legs. As we started the climb up to King of the Mountains, Karien dropped off the pace and I managed to pass Candice as well. But on the long, slightly tricky descent that followed, Candice managed to fly past me and opened such a gap that I couldn’t even see her when I reached the bottom! Behind me, Catherine had passed Karien and the Bizhub ladies were chasing each other in 2nd, 3rd& 4th position, Ariane still comfortably in the lead.
On the next rocky climb I could finally see Candice again, and was just making up some time when I suddenly felt the dreaded cold feeling of sealant spraying against my calves…. Flat rear tyre… luckily it sealed and I only needed to stop briefly to inflate the tyre again, costing me no more than a minute. I’m not sure if it was the mind or the legs or the chest, but after that my body started protesting slightly to the abuse and I realised I was losing speed. This didn’t really bother me until Cath caught up to me; which gave me new energy and we chased bringing back memories of us as a duo at J2C. Soon we caught up with Candice and on the long single track climb in the last 30km, we pulled away from her. Cath was slightly ahead of me and as we descended into the valley again I was determined not to lose contact with her.
I must admit that my balance was awful all day, something I hadn’t really thought about before but definitely due to congested sinuses and ears, and I felt out of control and almost overshooting sharp corners on the switchback descent. Going down into a river crossing with some nice big boulders, my front wheel hit a rock and made a 180 degree turn…. i went forward flat on my face!! I got up thinking, this is the end of me, seeing stars and tasting blood. Grabbed my bike and wanted to get on when I realised the front wheel was showing backwards, and my handlebar got stuck on the top tube. Took some force and help from a male rider behind me to get this sorted (thank you!) and off I went again, a bit shaken and Cath nowhere in sight.
The only thing I wanted to see was the finish line; and if you feel like this it really is demoralizing to see another feeding zone. I had managed to smash my Garmin as well, so had no idea of the distance, but they were out by almost 10km and the race was eventually 86 km instead of the expected 75km.
The route was completely different from what I had expected. I was expecting sections of the Epics 1st and 2nd stages, but we were taken on a completely new loop with some tar road, district road, rocky stuff and plenty of sharp 90 degree turns, steep power climbs through vineyards and orchards and I found it hard to get into a rhythm with the terrain constantly changing.
I was quite happy to finish in 3rd position behind my team mate Catherine Williamson, who finished in a very good second position less than 2 minutes behind Ariane Kleinhans from Contego/Sludge. Candice Neethling finished in fourth position with Karien van Jaarsveld(USN), the current SA Marathon champ, in 5th.
I have had many a crash and broken many a bone as a mountain biker, but this was the first time ever I managed to have a face plant! Quite scary especially since I had no idea what I looked like, and the looks and comments I got from the spectators were a bit worrying! Turns out not too bad,luckily not broken – not the prettiest picture; some scabs and bruising. I can be glad I’m married and my husband loves me : ))
So next up is Sani2C where I’ll be racing with Catherine again, along with another Bizhub team Yolandi du Toit and Nikki Grobler. Karien van Jaarsveld & Cherise Taylor (USN) will most likely be our strongest competition but I enjoyed the last 3 days of Joberg2C so much and the route will be very similar, so I am really looking forward to next weekend!
