Care Riders triumph over the gruelling Munga
It is a moment of history in the making for the ladies Care Riders team, who were not only the first all-ladies team to enter the Munga Equipe, but still went on to finish in first place.
The giant feat is over for the 22 Nashua Care Riders who embarked on their grueling pilgrimage from Bloemfontein to Wellington, where they altogether completed 1129 km through the arid Karoo, in what is considered to be the toughest MTB race in the world.
The Care Riders ladies team, which consisted of local Ironman champ, Sanet Griessel, Lizle Rosenstein, Natasha van der Berg, Maretha Bezuidenhout and Karen Vermaak, placed first in the Munga Equipe as a relay team after cycling the 1129km in 2 days, 14 hours and 10 minutes.
Hot on their heels, Care Riders team two which consisted of Andre Brandmuller, Leon Brugman, Roger Henriques, Bertus Haring and Muzi Khumalo, finished in second place within 2 days, 21 hours and 54 minutes.
Team four, which consisted of Francois Stapelberg, Jonathan Lennox, Jaco Kruger, Adriaan van Wyk and Pieter du Preez, placed fourth in a time of 3 days, 6 hours and 51 minutes, while team three, which consisted of PC Nell, Johan Odendaal, Johan van Rensburg, Rudy van der Walt, and Riaan Du Preez never managed to place after one rider got lost due to technical issues with his GPS.
“Unfortunately, the GPS lost signal and the cyclist took the wrong turn-off, only noticing that he had gone in the wrong direction 100km in. The team, however, met up in Ceres and finished the full distance in a spectacular display of good sportsmanship,” Andre Brandmuller said.
With the Munga Equipe sealed within a total of three days, the final whistle was blown today by Jaap and Elmien Beyers, both members of the Middelburg Ccyling Club’s committee, who tackled the full distance alone as solo riders.
The couple ended like they started, after rolling in over the finish line side by side, early this morning with a time of 4d;21hrs;08min.
The Nashua Care Riders ventured on this great challenge in the benefit of the 108 orphans placed at Middelburg Care Village, to raise funds for their educational needs.
Read more in this week’s edition of the Middelburg Observer.
