Mankele Training Camp from a Novice Rider's Point of View - Petru Ebersohn

We were all packed and ready for a weekend of mountain biking. Francois made sure the bikes were secured and off to Mankele went. Being the novice rider in terms of the crowd at the training camp I must confess I was a tiny bit nervous.

No matter how much effort and time you put into your training the truth is always in the actual ride to see whether you can stay with the "pack".

So we arrived on Friday afternoon, missing the first lap of the course, but to find the accommodation absolutely great. Chats around the dinner table evolved between the two terrifying drops that one will find in the National course (not for us average Joe's). Wardie was showing video footage taken at the drop and Arno and Joel made it look like a walk in the park.

Saturday morning started not so early and each of us girls had a try on the rollers. Yolande made it seem so easy and then Amy followed. What a scary experience.  I will definitely need the chair to hold on to and lots of training before I master this skill!

We had a good training session with sprints and climbs that felt more like a game than training, even though we were giving it our all. I had the opportunity to try my start sprint against the likes of Yolande and Amy and the message was clear, these two girls mean business!

Our sessions followed with a lap on the course, nerve wrecking at first but even though I was the slow poke on the technical ride, I really started gaining confidence in my own abilities thanks to some pointers from Paul.

I will share two key pointers:

LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO, NOT AT THE ROCKS IN FRONT OF YOU!

KEEP THOSE ELBOWS BENT!

I must say these two quick pointers made the rest of my attempt much easier. I had so much fun, even though I did not ride the two big drops and a few of the other "gnarly" sections I learned a lot and gained a lot from riding with the more advanced riders.

Our Sunday morning ride started different than planned, seeing that our tour guide (Joel Hieber) had a slight accident the Saturday and could not fulfill his role, Paul took the responsibility and it was the most amazing day out on my MTB ever.

At first there was the never ending climb, but when we reached the first top it was all the way down through the forest in the nicest single track! Followed by another lonnnnnnggg climb we finally reached the Avalanche, this was scary, descending down the mountain with hairpin bends and rocks,( lots of rocks.) Before we started Paul assured us no one was in a hurry and we should go down at a safe pace. Off they went flying down the mountain while Wardie and I took it VERY slow down the route. That was NARLEY, but still fun.

Thank you to everyone that contributed to an amazing weekend, especially the O’Neill family! It was great sharing a cabin with you! I firmly believe in the wise words from Helen Keller:

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved."