On the weekend there were three races that we tackled. The Magalies Monster, The JUMA Urban race and HAKAHANA Enduro. Saturday we headed to the Magaliesberg that is renowned for its rocky terrain. Both Phillimon Sebona and Pieter Du Toit had to overcome some challenges but finished strong in 3rd and 6th overall. Sunday Phillimon and Pieter tamed the JUMA Urban race finishing 1st and 5th overall, Philip Buys had his first race in 3months, although not 100% yet its great to have him back on his bike. Pieter Du Toit - 6th Magalies & 1st JUMA Phillimon and I decided to do a small 2 day stage race and by that I mean that we did the Magalies Monster on the Saturday and then the Juma Mtb urban race on the Sunday . My Magalies Monster didn’t go as planned but was still a solid race. We started with a very strong field with Phillimon, who’s the defending champ and Wessel who came second there last year, along with other strong riders. We started off not too fast as we knew, not too far away, that the monster climb is waiting for us. Shortly after the start we got to the infamous climb and from there on the race really began . At some stage Wessel started to go really hard and i dropped off. I still gave my everything but could not keep up with his pace and found myself in 4th place. As we exited the rocky decent I got a sidewall cut, I plugged my wheel with the only 2 plugs that I had and inflated my tyre. I jumped back on my steed and started to chase the time I lost when the two plugs popped out. I stood next to the track, with no spares left and asked every rider that passed for plugs and duct tape. Fortunately one rider gave me a bomb and plugs and another rider gave me some duct tape so I could fix my tyre and went off full steam ahead again! It was quite nice riding from the back of the field because most of the riders that I passed were cheering me on and adding some motivation. In the end I finished 6th and I am still super happy with that result and I felt super good. At the Juma I had the luck on my side again. It was a really cold morning and we knew that we were going to go through some water but we had our confidence scraped together and started the race. I didn’t feel to strong in the beginning, I think I was a bit stiff from Magalies Monster the previos day. So I just sat slip for the first quarter of the race and tried to warm up in the cold of the morning. But then my legs came alive and I could do my part in the race. We went through some super single track and underneath bridges and through tunnels. Luckily I had a light on my bike because there was 2 tunnels that was super long and you could not see anything without a light . Somehow myself and Jarrod managed to break away in the long tunnel and when we got out we noticed the gap and started to go hard. It didn’t hold for long and the other rider caught up and it was a 3 man race again. Then on 45 km I managed to break away on a singletrack climb, then it was full speed home for me. I managed to keep the gap and the overall win at the Juma Mtb urban race. But that is also one for the books . It is something totally different compared to a normal Mtb race . So if you are in Joburg and the race is there , go do it . And thanks for everyone for the support and for all the help . Phillimon Sebona - 3rd Magalies & 5th JUMA The first race was the magalies monster on the Saturday, I came to the race with confidence as I was the defending champ. The racing was hard in the front especially on the monster climb, I knew that the race will spilt before the top. I was just behind Wessel and I knew that at the top it will be the two of us, he dropped me by only 24 seconds. Unfortunately I had a crash going down the monster behind Wessel, I over cooked it and I bent my dropout and lost my 4 light gears and the lower gears for high speed on the flat. I did my best to ride away from the other guys but mentally it was breaking me, I managed to stay away but the last kilometers I could not stay away Tyronne White. He managed to get to me the last 2 kilometers, that's how I got to 3 place but from my position I was happy. The Juma was such an experience for me but the start was a propper XCO start with lots of bridges and with lots of flowing streams. There was a few places were you had to carry your bike up the scaffolding. The speed that the front guys was riding at I could keep up with them but my main problem was the very dark tunnels even though I head the light it was not easy because I did not know how deep is the streams was at some points. The turns were very slippery but out of all Pieter was my main man since I knew that he knows the course. I was happy that from the monster I could make it to the podium finish, I did my best but that type of racing I have never done it before, but from now I know. Thank you everyone who made this possible and those who made my racing easy this past weekend and stress free, thank u Philip Buys - 5th Hakahana Enduro
I am thankful to be at the point again were race reports are expected from me. The quick oversight update on my heath is that I feel 100% healthy again and have been on a training program again as of Monday. We are easing it back into things and hope to be ready to race flat out by August. During last week I received my long anticipated Pyga Slakline. On the same day that I got the bike I also found out about the Enduro event at Hakahana and decided that this would be the ideal opportunity to break this beast of a bike in. It took a few segments to dial in my setup and suspension, but by stage 3 of the 5 race stages the bike was flying. I do however feel that I am not yet pushing this bike to its full capabilities, but It was great fun and I loved this type of racing. The Slakline elevates my confidence in technical sections and I am sure that this will transfer over well into our cross country and marathon racing. I hope to do more Enduro riding and racing.
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