VRYHEID KZN: Hard work pays off for local mountain bikers
It was of course quite a difficult route, with 900m of 'climb' over the 55km
The first mountain bike race in ages took place on Saturday at Memel. It was great to see all the mountain bike athletes again after all this time. Vryheid mountain bikers have really been training hard and it paid off at Saturday’s race. It was of course quite a difficult route, with 900m of ‘climb’ over the 55km, with difficult and sharp climbs and rocky downhill descents. It was a proper mountain bike race. It was thoroughly enjoyed and produced all the exhilarating adrenaline that was promised. In the 55km women’s race, Sandra Haywood took second place on the podium, winning a lamb for her efforts. Suzette Leach finished in fourth place in 3:03.00. In the 55km men’s race, Ernest Franzen had an excellent race and claimed a second place with a very exciting sprint finish by mere seconds – also winning a sheep. Vlam de Beer took third place, with W Richter taking fifth in 2:28.00, W Pretories in 2:32.00, Everett Haywood in 2:41.00, M Schoeman in 2:48.00 and Hannes van Staden in 2:48.00. All had excellent races. In the 21km ride, Hanno Carstens (1:27.00) took first place, also winning a lamb. Arno Stokes (1:31.00) took second place, winning some ‘lekker’ dry wors and biltong, and Franco Carstens came in at 1:39.00.
Congratulations to all the other Vryheid people who cycled. I saw Mitzi van Rensburg’s name on the finish list as well. Congratulations to all the riders.
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