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)
Contego Wine2wales Stage race
(Lourensford, Somerset West to Grabouw to Onrus, Hermanus)
2011 has been a full year and I am definitely ready for a little break off the bike and racing. But I was nevertheless really looking forward to the Wines2Whales 3 day mtb stage race to finish off the season. I missed out on this event last year and had heard only great things being said about the routes, the single-track and the organisation of the race. I teamed up again with Catherine Williamson, riding for our sponsor Bizhub, in the ladies category. I knew I would have to squeeze 3 more days of hard racing out of my body, with the Contego Girls (Ariane Kleynhans & Mariska Strauss) as our main competition and obviously keen to win for Contego, the main sponsor of this event.
The start venue was at the beautiful Lourensford wine estate in Somerset West, also host of the finish of the ABSA Cape Epic for several years now. We lined up with the others in the A batch on a fine, slightly cool November morning for the start at this beautiful wine estate. From the start we basically immediately started climbing, the first main climb of the day that would continue for 10km. Halfway up the climb Cath & I caught the Contego Girls and passed them. We knew it was important to get a lead on them on the climbs as both Ariane & Mariska are faster than s in the single-track sections, of which there would be plenty this weekend! Going into the first section of single track I was ahead of the Contego Girls, but Cath got caught up behind some slow traffic and at the exit o the single track I had to wait for her and we chased on again. Not long though, and we caught and passed the Contego Girls again, this time for goo. The views over Gordon’s Bay from Vergelegen were absolutely gorgeous, the single-track was amazing and testing and we really had fun out there, while racing as hard as we could. We finished the 70km route with 1670m ascent in 3h52, just under 20 minutes ahead of the Contego Girls, who came in 2nd open ladies. 3rd in were our team mates Yolandi du Toit & Caitlin de Wet who were riding in our sister outfit as Team Develop.
The race village at the Grabouw Country Club on the banks of the dam was really picturesque and even talk about rain that might start the Saturday or definitely Sunday couldn’t dampen the spirit in the race village. The sponsors had really gone all out to make sure we had good food and drinks to help us recover: thank you to Rehidrat, and for the endless supply of chocolate milks, drinking yoghurts, Rooiboost, Juices, Castle Lite & Spur Burgers. Not to mention the really great dinners supplied and the wine we received as prizes from different wineries in the area. And Cape Argus for keeping us up-to-date with the news!
I slept well in my little tent (sponsored by Pro Nutro) and woke up to another beautiful morning, happy that the weather forecast of rain seemed completely wrong. Due to our good finish in the GC on day 1, Cath & I were seeded in the A batch, with the Contego Girls and Team Develop seeded in B batch, starting 10 minutes behind us. This made the racing a bit difficult as we basically just had to go hard and race blind. At least we knew that if we were caught, we still had almost 10 minutes lead above that so would only really need to start stressing once that happened. The 65km circular route of the 2nd stage consisted of 65% plus of amazing single track: mostly really fun and flowing sections, but also a lot of switchbacks and sharp 90-180 degree corners, which was less flowing. I expected Mariska to have a better day after struggling on the climbs on day 1. There were no real long climbs; just a lot of short power climbs and rollercoasters. With her experience gained in the International XC cup series races, she is just so much faster than me and Catherine in this kind of terrain. But we gave our best, knowing we had a good lead and not taking chances and enjoying the ride. We finished futher down in GC than on day 1, still not being caught by the Contego Girls. However, as we finished our post-race interview, the other girls came in finishing in a faster time than us and taking the stage win by just over 3 minutes. This still left us with a significant lead but we were preparing ourselves for a good battle on the last stage.
That evening as we sat in the dining marque, looking at the videos and pictures of the day and laughing, chatting with friends and fellow riders, i just realised again how much I love this sport and every aspect about it: the people you meet, friends you make, the beautiful areas we ride through.
The video footage we were shown from the previous weekends’ W2W adventure, looked like another awesome route, finishing in Onrus just outside Hermanus. Again we received the weather report with warnings of heavy rain, but as I crept into my tent the skies were clear and starry.
I woke up soon and frequently, a gale-force wind had picked up and was tugging at my tent. I hardly slept much, fearing my tent would collapse under the wind. When my alarm went off at 05h00 I suddenly heard the first drops starting to fall on my tent…soon it was coming down in buckets, some riders hiding in their tents, others huddling together in the marque tent around breakfast.
06h45 I was ready to head to the start line-drenched and cold and fearing the conditions out there- the news that the race start had been postponed by an hour and this was the start of a chaotic buzzing of wet bodies in nylon and rain jackets huddling together in the marque tent and closer to the gas heaters, consuming more coffee and a second breakfast. 07h45 an announcement was made by the race commissaire and committee that the stage had been cancelled due to safety concerns for the riders. My first reaction was one of relief as I am really awful at racing in cold wet conditions. As we started packing up and getting ready to start our journey back home, the rain stopped and the mountain peaks around us were covered in snow! As we drove off I felt very deflated and cheated at not having been able to finish this race. But I respect the decision of the organisers fully and I’ll have to come back next year to finish the last stage and experience the notorious Pofadder!
So Catherine & I still managed to win our last (stage) race for the season, albeit a bit of a hollow victory not having gone to the line. 2nd ladies were the Contego Girls (Ariane Kleynhans & MAriska Straus) and 3rd our own Bizhub girls riding in the colours of Develop, Yolandi du Toit & Caitlin de Wet.
The Contego Wines2Whales was an unforgettable weekend and judging by the smiles on the faces of all riders and listening to comments on the route, it is definitely one of those races to add to your ever-growing “not to be missed”list!
