Cyclists relish safe Toti 69er

THE 13th Hypersure Toti 69er cycle race hit the road on Sunday in lovely weather conditions.

Some 460 cyclists pounded the tar on the lovely South Coast scenic route from Amanzimtoti to Selbourne and points between, shepherded by club member marshals, Metro Policemen and motor bike patrols. A helicopter hovered above, keeping an eagle eye on proceedings.

The weather was lovely, with the sun shining and very little wind – ideal riding conditions.

The first rider home in the men’s 94 km race was Deno Van Heerden followed by Trevor Rowe and Toti local, Ryan Felgate. The first woman home was Isobel Moolman with Lauren Snell and Claire Matthews on her heels.

The 69er was won by Dean Barry, with Ian Smith and Clyde Muldoon in second and third places.

First home in the 19km fun ride was Cate Lindeke with Tanner Quin and Quinton Powell following.

The finish was at Lords and Legends where the prize giving was held in a marquee. A festive atmosphere greeted the prize winners and one lucky rider collected the lucky draw prize of a Silverback bicycle donated by Cyclesphere. There were lucky draw prizes galore and many a rider walked away with significant booty.

Toti Cycle Club thanks all participants, sponsors, cyclists, marshals, KZNCU officials and all others who helped to make Sunday such an enjoyable day.

To Fury Ford in Amanzimtoti, who provided the race with four vehicles which were used for the race and to sweep, the club thanks them for their help and generosity. The club thanks everybody who stepped up to marshal and thereby made the race safe. Having no road closure makes the marshalling extremely difficult and there were plenty of compliments about this aspect from the cyclists.

By Ryan Felgate

The pace was fast from the beginning with many riders attempting to escape the bunch and form the early break away, but no one being able to open a noticeable gap. Slowly but surely the leading bunch got smaller as the hard tempo and testing terrain proved too much for the weaker riders, shedding them off one by one. By the turn around point, the bunch, including all of Natals best cyclists, were all together providing a platform for a very exciting second half of the race. Coming through Illovo beach the increase in speed shattered the leading group, leaving only a few cyclists with a chance to win it. With 2km to go the persistent attacking by Deno Van Heerden finally paid off as no-one could respond to his incredible turn of speed and allowed him to bag a wonderful solo victory! The sprint for second was fought out by a group of 8 riders with Trevor Rowe claiming it and Toti resident Ryan Felgate taking third. All in all the 2014 Toti 69’er was a great success with loads of positive feedback from the cyclists! The good organization and great marshalling provided a safe and awesome race.