01 December 2011 No better way to finish the season
Team bizhub finished their season on a successful note winning the overall ladies elite category in the Omnicane Southern Tropical MTB Challenge ...
Jade Roberts
(January 2010, Clarence Training Camp)
Attakwas Extreme Mountain bike race
As I prepared for Attakwas 2010 and leading up to the race start, i was extremely
aware of the pressure of being defending champ in the ladies division of both the
race itself and the MTN marathon series. Being the first race of the season and
the first race for my new sponsor, BizHub, i wanted to start the year with a bang
and make a good impression. I was looking forward to competing against all the other
top girls in South Africa, as we haven't raced against each other for quite some
time. I expected Yolande Speedy, Yolande de Villiers and Yolandi du Toit to be my
main rivals, but Samantha Oosthuizen had a good race in 2009 and finished the year
off very strong and Hanlie Booyens was also there, always fit and strong.
Yolande Speedy went off like a bullet followed by Yolandi du Toit; and all i could
do was to stick with Yolande de Villiers at the start. Having done this race 3 times
before, i was fully aware of the fact that you have to pace yourself and save something
for the last third of the race. About 30 minutes into the race Yolande de Villiers
came down hard right in front of me. She really had a bad fall and this upset me,
especially since she had so much bad luck with injuries and incidents in 2009, probably
also causing me to be a bit more cautious in the technical sections that followed.
I passed Yolandi du Toit on one of the technical downhills before waterpoint 1.
Unfortunately her race was te be ruined by mechanical problems with her bikes' gears
failing.
Shortly after waterpoint, i was passed by Hanlie Booyens. At that point i was really
not feeling as strong as i wanted to and i could judge by my heart rate that i had
slowed down significantly. I just focused on getting through the Attakwas kloof
without accidents or mechanicals, bargaining that i would start feeling stronger
again later in the race. When i reached waterpoint 3 - Bonniedale - i was given
the information that Speedy was about 30 minutes and Hanlie Booyens 4 minutes head
of me. Speedy was clearly having a stomper of a day, but i knew that Hanlie Booyens
was better than me in the technical sections and with big open roads and lots of
climbing still left to be done in the last 50 km of the race, i thought i still
had it in me to catch her so i just went as hard as i could from there. From Bonniedale
the race changes completely: you have beautiful big open gravel roads, but lots
of nasty litlle sharp climbs and, as always, a head wind to the finish! I caught
Hanlie with about 35 km to go and managed to finish second, feeling strong at the
finish.
I am probably satisfied with my position, as i would not have been able to catch
Yolande Speedy - she was absolutely flying and rode a superb race, finishing 19th
overall in a very strong mens' field. But i must admit, i am a bit disappointed
with the fact that she finished more than 30 minutes ahead of me, and also with
my finishing time and overall position! The route had been changed somewhat again
this year with more technical jeeptrack and even more climbing than the previous
year, so one could expect the times to be a bit slower than last year.
I cannot finish without thanking and complementing the organizers, the Dryland team
and Fritz Pienaar Cycles and of course all the sponsors involved for making this
well organized race possible. Even with the added challenges of having the start
and finish in two different locations and going through somerough terrain making
it so difficult for the seconding and back-up vehicles, everything was absolutely
super: ice cold water and drinks and all sorts of munchies to enjoy at all the waterpoints,
excellent route markings, brilliant views and scenery along the route and a great
finish venue. The Attakwas remains the toughest one day race in my books, but i
know i'll be back again next year!!
