“Life is not all downhill”

Hundreds of avid mountain bikers embarked on an epic three day journey from Underberg to Scottburgh in the Sani2c mountain bike race last weekend. Among the competitors to take on the 265km route that ascends a total of 3 301 meters were Ballito residents, Stef Schulze and Chris Lötter.

The annual two-man team event has become so popular that organisers have had to split it into three races called “The trail”, “The adventure” and “The race”, that start on different days but cover the same route. Schulze and Lötter were lucky enough to have been slotted into the last group, which also included the professional riders.

“It was an incredible experience and I went back to work on Monday morning with severe ‘withdrawal symptoms’, wanting to be back in the saddle,” said Schulze.

The highlights for the local riders were the section through the picturesque Umkomaas valley on day two and the kilometers of pristine single track. They also enjoyed the tricky floating bridges, purpose built for the race.

It was on one of these that they unexpectedly encountered a rider who decided to walk rather than ride across a narrow section of the bridge, landing them both in the water – bikes and all.

An exhilarating last section took riders through Moodie Lane which leads to the Nedbank Green Mile and onto a 600 meter long floating bridge that snaked across the lagoon to Scottburgh Main Beach where family, friends and ice cold beer waited at the finish line.