Trailseeker #1: Tyger Valley - Arno du Toit

We all know the Nissan Trailseeker Series is very popular amongst the Gauteng riders, so for me this was a good opportunity to test myself against some of the biggest names in SA marathon racing.

It was a rather chilly start, so for once being from the Free State actually helped a bit. However, the racing was soon very hot at the front with a few guys constantly trying their luck. Somehow Gawie Combrink managed to get a gap and everyone thought it would be fine to let him in stay front for a little while. Gawie had a different idea! While he rode at a steady pace at the front, the racing in the chasing pack was a bit negative for mountain biking. It was like a road race. There were a lot of furious attacks, but with the route being so flat, no one was able to get away.

I must say I was irritated by the way the guys attacked and then sat up and looked at each other, so I went and tapped out a steady pace at the front of the chasing pack. I reckon this is a nice way to gain some respect from the bigger names in the business. Unfortunately no one wanted to roll through and help, but at least the attacking sort of ended for a while.

Even though we didn't have the time to stop at the neutral tech zone, the support from the Epic Sports guys was really amazing! Sometimes that extra motivation can really change the outcome of your race.

In the last quarter of the race, things got pretty aggressive! They realised Gawie's gap was bigger than expected so once again the attacks began, but only this time there was no sitting up in between.

I felt really good on the day and even though the race was rather short for a marathon, it wasn't exactly short enough for me...

I got dropped from the chasing bunch of six with about 8km to go. I don't know what happened, I just suddenly had nothing left. Luckily I had a USN Vooma Gel so I could get my body over the line without losing too much time.