Tulbagh
Tulbagh, renowned for its abundant amount of breathtaking mountain bike trails, was deffinitely one of the most popular races on the MTB calendar. Held on the 15th of Marceh it was also perfect prep for the ABSA Cape Epic just around the corner. Having missed the second leg of the MTN National Mountain bike series in Sabie, Tulbagh was a must do for me to be competitive in the run for the series, although i knew it would not be an easy task.
Settling into my usual pre race routine everything went according to plan and that was left was for me to do my best. The marathon start was one of the fastest starts I have ever experienced. Luckily some fast flowing single track came early after fast start and i had used that as an opportunity to recover, knowing what was still to come. Passing a couple of tired riders within the last 30km, my spirits were still hight up until 55km where we had come across one of the steepest and loose climbs. Taking my last High5 gel on the top of the climb, the last couple of k's flew by and still passing a couple of tired riders that had started out a bit too hard.
After an extremely tough day in the saddle at the 3rd leg of the MTN National MTB series, I only managed to pull off a 6th in the Under23 category in a very strong and competitive field. I also managed to move into 3rd for the series, but it is still early in the season so anything can still happen.
3Mountains Stage Race
Stage 1 consisted of a 26km night race starting at 8pm on the 20th of March. It was an extremely fast race with the winning time being just under 48min. I knew from the start the team to win was the Day brothers but it would be no walk in the park. After stage 1 I was in the solo men leaders jersey and 2nd overall on GC by 2min.
Stage 2 was said to be a 65km ride that overlooked the beautiful plains of the Freestate. My plan for this stage was simple, hard in the start and settle into a rythem but it was easier said than done as our route mostly consisted of grasslands and extremely tough and rugged terrain. We ended up doing 45km which none of us complained about seeing that the terrain was so rough.
Stage 3 was 70k's long but it didn't get easier as my friend and team mate Arno du Toit decided to participate in the 1 day 3Mountains Challenge. We had opened a slight gap after 5km and from there on it only opened up which ended up being 11min at the finish. Needless to say it was a very nice day out on a very fast and flowing course with the winning time being 2hrs17min
Stage 4 was the longest of the 4 stages ranging between 78 & 80km. It wasn't an easy day as the Day brothers had other plans on winning some time back they had lost the previous day. Stage 4 did have one of the biggest climbs on route and that combined with the distance made for a challenging day for all riders.
I ended up winning the solo cat by 55min over the 4 days and winning overall by 1min35sec over the extremely strong Day brothers. I was incredibly happy with the result and my performance ahead of one of my main focuses this season, Lowveld Quest.
Till next time!
Tulbagh, renowned for its abundant amount of breathtaking mountain bike trails, was deffinitely one of the most popular races on the MTB calendar. Held on the 15th of Marceh it was also perfect prep for the ABSA Cape Epic just around the corner. Having missed the second leg of the MTN National Mountain bike series in Sabie, Tulbagh was a must do for me to be competitive in the run for the series, although i knew it would not be an easy task.
Settling into my usual pre race routine everything went according to plan and that was left was for me to do my best. The marathon start was one of the fastest starts I have ever experienced. Luckily some fast flowing single track came early after fast start and i had used that as an opportunity to recover, knowing what was still to come. Passing a couple of tired riders within the last 30km, my spirits were still hight up until 55km where we had come across one of the steepest and loose climbs. Taking my last High5 gel on the top of the climb, the last couple of k's flew by and still passing a couple of tired riders that had started out a bit too hard.
After an extremely tough day in the saddle at the 3rd leg of the MTN National MTB series, I only managed to pull off a 6th in the Under23 category in a very strong and competitive field. I also managed to move into 3rd for the series, but it is still early in the season so anything can still happen.
3Mountains Stage Race
Stage 1 consisted of a 26km night race starting at 8pm on the 20th of March. It was an extremely fast race with the winning time being just under 48min. I knew from the start the team to win was the Day brothers but it would be no walk in the park. After stage 1 I was in the solo men leaders jersey and 2nd overall on GC by 2min.
Stage 2 was said to be a 65km ride that overlooked the beautiful plains of the Freestate. My plan for this stage was simple, hard in the start and settle into a rythem but it was easier said than done as our route mostly consisted of grasslands and extremely tough and rugged terrain. We ended up doing 45km which none of us complained about seeing that the terrain was so rough.
Stage 3 was 70k's long but it didn't get easier as my friend and team mate Arno du Toit decided to participate in the 1 day 3Mountains Challenge. We had opened a slight gap after 5km and from there on it only opened up which ended up being 11min at the finish. Needless to say it was a very nice day out on a very fast and flowing course with the winning time being 2hrs17min
Stage 4 was the longest of the 4 stages ranging between 78 & 80km. It wasn't an easy day as the Day brothers had other plans on winning some time back they had lost the previous day. Stage 4 did have one of the biggest climbs on route and that combined with the distance made for a challenging day for all riders.
I ended up winning the solo cat by 55min over the 4 days and winning overall by 1min35sec over the extremely strong Day brothers. I was incredibly happy with the result and my performance ahead of one of my main focuses this season, Lowveld Quest.
Till next time!
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