Do riders really go down this on a bicycle?

Men (and a handful of women) with ice in their veins gathered to
compete in the Malalane Toyota Downhill Mountain Bike Race. To the untrained eye these mountain warriors looked calm, even bored.

Yet it proved that looks can be deceiving. This course – build by downhill enthusiast Dirk Lourens in conjunction with Malalane Toyota – inspired awe and a touch of fear.
“It has had several improvements from last year,” said competitor Johnrie Cloete. “The tactical course was more streamline and faster than last year. At one stage I was going so fast that I scared myself!” he laughed.

“I hit those jumps at such speed that I literally flew through the air and still had time to think of how high I was.”
Downhill cycling is a sport for bikers with quick reflexes, since the speeds they reach compel them to react to unexpected bumps or obstacles in a fraction of a second. In a nutshell, this bike goes from zero to the emergency room in four seconds.
This gravity-assisted event left several victims in its wake and many of them did not see it out. “Yes, there were quite a few falls,” confirmed one of the organisers. “However, they were not too serious but one rider, David Logan had to be rushed to hospital.”

The course is acclaimed as the best South Africa can offer. It attracted local and national adrenalin junkies, looking for a thrill with an athletic challenge.

This is not to say that these bikers aren’t serious – they are superb athletes. “Part of the allure of downhill mountain biking is the scenery, even though it will be blurred most of the time.

It is a great chance to get out to some remote areas on a nice day,” said Francois Swanepoel.
European downhill champion Johan Potgieter and South African Tiaan Odendaal also came to test their nerve and
ability to control their bikes under extreme conditions.

This year the race was more spectator-friendly and consisted of two sections. The top section was typical downhill technical which had to be completed at high speed while the bottom section hosted the extreme jumps and other obstacles like switchbacks and zorros.
“The top part really tested you as it tired your arms. You are on
your brakes all the time. Except the pros, I don’t think they ever touched a
brake!” joked one of the riders. Besides a daunting course, the riders also had to contend with scorching and humid weather on Friday and Saturday during the pre-event runs.
Only 26 of the 30 starters were able to compete during the
final race as crashes from Friday and Saturday’s runs took its toll on sore
bodies.
Veteran Tim Bentley finished in first position in a time of three
minutes and three seconds. Odendaal was literally just one second too slow and took the silver. Potgieter had to be content with bronze in a time of three minutes and 10 seconds.