Fast and Dusty - Catherine Colyn

It was time to get the racing legs going again for the Trailseeker #2. Being in the Pretoria area, it was quite a flat race with lots of rocks and the dust was insane from the dry Gauteng winter. We had a very late start (9:30am), so there was lots of time to sit around and freeze our butts off before we had to go and race.

After almost missing the start, I was lucky that Werner van Heerden, standing at the front for the starting line, was keeping a spot open for me. The natural zone was very chilled, but when it was over the real racing started. Sitting at the back of the first bunch I was determined to keep with them and try to open up a gap as soon as possible on the other girls. A few kilometres into the race I noticed Jessica Alcock sitting on my wheel. I started to lift the pace and keep it there for a while. I then gave it one good kick and got myself a good lead on the girls. After that I didn't look back. I only looked forward and focused on what the course was dishing out.

The dust was so bad that I struggled to breathe. I tried drinking some water and taking some deep breaths while I was on the bike but it didn't help. When I passed the 2nd water point I could feel how my throat was busy closing up, so I decided to climb off the bike and lie down on the ground to try to get my breath back. Paul and Tiaan came to help me and just to check that I was still alive. After a few minutes I got my breath back and Paul motivated me to get back on the bike and finish the race.

When I climbed back on the Scott I switched off all the switches in my brain and went into race mode. With a few girls in front of me, I had to make up some serious time.

After a few kilometres I caught up to two girls, chasing hard on the single track, but bunny-hopping over the rocks my back wheel popped out. When the girls saw that I climbed off my bike they sprinted away. I quickly popped my wheel back in and made sure my skewer was nice and tightly closed.

I kept on chasing but there was only 2km of the race left. Unfortunately I couldn't catch up to them and took 4th in Youth, 5th in the Overall Women.

Thank you to everyone for the support on and off the bike. It really means the world!

Thank you team bizhub-fcf (@teambizhubfcf), KASK, 32Gi, Scott, Falke, Adidas Eyewear and SRAM for making all of this possible.

"In my mind, I'm always the best. If I walk out on the court and I think the next person is better, I've already lost." - Venus Williams