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)
Sani 2 Sea
Sani2C consist of 3 stages, held over 3 days. The event started on Thursday morning
in Underberg, a small village found at the bottom of Sani Pass. The route took the
riders all the way down into Scottburgh to finish the last stage on the beach, hence
the name Sani2C.
My partner for the event was Lisa Oliver (my team mate) who is fairly new to Mountain
bike races but has luckily been training with Fritz Pienaar and his wife, Christie (who both need no introduction when it comes to technical skills on a mountain bike).
At first I thought Lise would struggle a bit on the technical parts because she
said so but Lise road great and to my surprise manage to keep up on almost all the
technical stuff.
Stage 1
The start of the first stage was very fast seeing that it was the first day and
everyone was a bit nervous. I made sure that Lisa and I stayed in a comfortable
pace from the beginning because I didn’t want to repeat what had happened to me
in Sabie last week.
This tactic seemed to pay out soon as we manage to pass a few fast starters from
10km on into the event.
It was an awesome route and the only dreadful section was going through thick mud
during the last 20km. It made the track very slippery and I felt very sorry for
my bike!!
We finished the day in 2nd place and were both very pleased with our result.
1st Yolande Speedy & Mariska Strauss (Team MTN)
2nd Lise Olivier & Yolandi du Toit (Team Bizhub)
3rd Hanlie Boyens & Fienie Barnard ( Team Jeap)
Stage 2
After a cold and wet night the race organizers decided to change the route to make
it a bit safer for the riders. Going down the muddy and slippery jeep track in misty
and rainy weather conditions made it hard to believe that we were on the ‘safer
‘route. It didn’t feel very safe not being able to see what or who is in front of
me in the thick mist while struggling to get mud out of my eyes. It was definitely
a challenge to rely on feeling more than seeing.
I enjoyed riding with Lise’s, with her I am not pushing myself over the limit all
the time. Which made me realized that I have a lot more control on the technical
sections and I seem to be pacing myself better and are still able to finish the
final kilometers riding strong.
We had another good day on the bike and repeated the results of the previous stage
finishing in 2nd place.
1st Yolande Speedy & Mariska Strauss (Team MTN)
2nd Lise Olivier & Yolandi du Toit (Team Bizhub)
3rd Hanlie Boyens & Fienie Barnard ( Team Jeap)
Stage 3
The last stage is always a very important and exciting day. Important because we
had to try and keep our 2nd place until the end and exciting because you can go
out and give everything without having the worry about saving a bit for the following
day.
Lisa and I were very happy with how things have been going for us so far and this
motivated us even more. We both felt good on the last stage and manage to stay with
the leaders from the B batch which we started in.
In the first few kilometers I felt that something wasn’t right with my bike. It
felt like it could possibly be the bearings in my bottom bracket that needed replacement
after all the mud. So I didn’t worry at first and continued riding until my chain
dropped of from one of my derailed wheels at the back.
I quickly stopped and put my chain back on without realizing what the cause was.
I barely gave 3 pedal strokes and it was of again. That was when I realized that
my derailleur hanger had broken off.
This happened around 20km into the race. I didn’t want to pull out of the event
because we were riding well up until that point, so I decided to continue with my
chain running besides the derailleur wheel instead of on it. And if this wasn’t
difficult enough I was forced to stop frequently as it kept on bouncing of on the
bumpy sections.
It was quite a relief to cross the finish line at the end of stage 3. We lost our
2nd place that day and were disappointed in the way we had to give it up but luckily
we managed to built up a big enough lead on the previous day to hold onto 3rd place
overall.
1st Yolande Speedy & Mariska Strauss (Team MTN)
2nd Hanlie Boyens & Fienie Barnard ( Team Jeap)
3rd Lise Olivier & Yolandi du Toit (Team Bizhub)
4th Cherise Taylor & Caitlin de Wet (MR Price/Specialized/Nashua)
At the end despite having a bit of bad luck, we both were more than satisfied in
our riding over the 3 days. We made a great team and I think we both enjoyed the
challenge that Sani2C brings!
This weekend we will be competing in the Cape Argus Cycle Tour. So please hold thumbs
that the team will have a bit more luck our side…
