Nissan #4 – Van Gaalens Cheese Farm - Amy McDougall

I was very excited for this particular leg in the series; the trails built by Erik Scheeper at Van Gaalens Cheese farm are top class! Being a technical course with steep climbs, rocky descents and single track played to my advantage, as that is where my strengths lie. Besides that, it quite plainly meant that lots of fun was to be had, for the racing snake and weekend warrior alike!

I was racing for the first time in my new team kit, Bryton USN and the second time on my 29er. I will still be with Ballistic Bike Trading for 2013, but instead of being team Decca Ghost, I’ll be team Bryton USN and I’ll be on the little Ghost with big wheels (a 2013 Carbon Ghost 29er).

Standing on the start line, I saw my competition: Samantha Sanders and Theresa Ralph, neither of whom I have beaten before. I was feeling strong and fast on the big wheels; I was keen to see how I would fare against them on this course!

The first 7 km is pretty flat with a few sandy and stony patches before the start of the killer climb, “Concrete hill”. I managed to pass a lot of guys up the technical and steep sections, and caught sight of Theresa towards the middle of the climb. I kept her in my sights until the technical descent, where I managed to pass her in one of the splits in the trail. I rode as fast as I could through the single track to get a gap on her and stayed in first place for about 22km. I was digging deep to keep my first place, but she was bearing down on me on the on the open roads. She caught me on a grassy flat and gained another gap before the biggest, most technical downhill, where I again managed to pass her in a split in the trail.

Flying down the rocky descent was so much fun, the big wheels coasting over the rocks. I had gained a good gap on Theresa by the time we were out and back on to the flats. I was digging deep again on the next section of road, keeping a high cadence and trying to keep my lead, but Theresa caught me at about 35km and I couldn’t stick her wheel; she is so strong on the flats!

The climb up to the church was painful and seemingly never-ending, but the awesome downhill single track totally made up for it! (I’m sure anyone who has ridden there can relate!) As if that wasn’t awesome enough, the race went through the river single track section, over a few bridges, onto some more undulating single track where the 40km riders rode parallel to us. This confused me and resulted in me getting a little lost (my bad). Luckily I found myself; I lost a few minutes but not my position, thank goodness. Through the reeds we sailed and out onto the grass and to the finish.

The little Ghost with big wheels was smooth and quick through the single track, my USN Vooma gels, Epic pro and Sprint energy drink kept my energy levels up throughout the race. Good nutrition, coaching from Paul Cordes and a light, well looked-after racing bike were essential to my good result.

I was very happy with my second place to Theresa and it was great racing so close with such a seasoned and experienced racer. The trails built by Erik and marked out by Tim Fair and the guys from Advendurance were superb. Much effort was put into the water points, marking of the trails and preventing bottle necks by creating splits in the technical section,s and separating the riders into parallel single track where possible. I felt this was a PROPER mountain biking race in the best mountain biking area that there is in close proximity to PTA and JHB.

Next up: Nissan Trailseeker #5, Hakahana; the final leg of the 2012 Nissan Trailseeker series.

Until then, later!

Amy Beth