Smiles all round at Noon-to-Moon
For the first time in 10 years, it did not rain during the Sabie Noon-to-Moon cycle race and, along with the good weather, came some impressive performances by both the teams and solo riders this past Saturday.
Nohan van Tonder completed an incredible 29 laps of the 6,8-kilometre course at Merry Pebbles in 09:46:16, clocking up nearly 200 kilometres in the allotted race time of 10 hours.
Francois de Jager and Jaco Erasmus were not far behind him with 27 and 26 laps. In the solo women’s category, Shirley Emmerick completed 21 laps in a time of 08:47:34.
For the team sections, it worked in a relay format where the riders took turns to complete laps of the circuit. Dirk Lourens Cycling, the winning team made up of Max Knox, Braam le Grange and Dirk Lourens, finished 39 laps in just under 10 hours.
Mankele Valencia’s four cyclists came second with 37 laps in a time of 09:46:27 just beating Valencia Infinita with the same number of laps in 09:55:02. The latter team, however, deserve special mention because Armand Lombard, Ryan Terry and Ruben Helberg are juniors, said Brett Coates, one of the organisers of the event.
He added that this 16th edition of the race went according to plan.
“We had 80 teams and 30 solo riders enter this year. On top of the perfect weather, we didn’t have any injuries,” Coates said.
Results
Sub juniors (six hours)
1. No Brakes (Herman Fourie, Josh Baber, Ruan Janse van Vuuren), 19 laps
2. Tour de Friends (Joshua Clarke, Jooste Coetzee, Ainsli de Beer-Dillon Botha), 19 laps
3. Ghost Riders (Luan Snyman, Francois de Jager, John Lloyd-Megan Wiehman), 18 laps
Sub junior girls (six hours)
1. Bosveld Lillys (Lilly Baber, Lianke Fourie, Tashane Ehlers), 16 laps
2. MoonDots (Janke Joubert, Larike Joubert, Micyla Coetzer, Brigette Combrink), 12 laps
All teams – overall winners
1. Dirk Lourens Cycling (Max Knox, Braam le Grange, Dirk Lourens), 39 laps
2. Mankele Valencia (Mark Meyer, Samantha Sanders, Hein Engelbrecht, Hennie Kriek), 37 laps
3. Valencia Infinita (Armand Lombard, Ryan Terry, Ruben Helberg), 37 laps
Solo women
1. Shirley Emmerick,
21 laps
2. Sonja Hogewind, 15 laps
3. Lindsay Pretorius, 15 laps
Solo men
1. Nohan van Tonder,
29 laps
2. Francois de Jager, 27 laps
3. Jaco Erasmus,
26 laps
Find the detailed results at www.great-time.co.za.
