RENAY’S BLOG: Burgers for Breakfast?

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Photo: Chris Hitchcock | Photosport

On Saturday, roughly 5000 Capetonians dragged themselves out of hibernation in the wee hours of the morning and descended on Stellenbosch all with the same item on the menu; The Burger Mountain bike race. Some had big burgers on the menu, some medium, and some small, all suiting different appetites and taste preferences, and judging by the smiles at the end of the event, they were high quality meals!

The 75km invitation riders were in for a combo meal, double beef patty with the works, large fries and a soda! Over the years Meurant Botha and his AMA Rider team have put in huge amounts of work into the route and have produced something really challenging and enjoyable for the riders. With there being something of a mid-season lull in the racing, there was a strong field lined up to start in drizzly and overcast conditions, all hungry to heat things up.

As always, the brutally steep climbs in the first 10km of the race up the sides of the Helshoogte mountains tore the field apart, which saw Darren Lill, Waylon Woolcock (Cannondale Blend), Johan Rabie (EAI), Matt Beers (Jeep), and myself separate ourselves from from a pack of hungry chasers. With the route’s constant undulation, direction changes, and challenging single track we managed to stay clear of the chase group all while negotiating some really slippery sections which laid claim to many riders’ hopes along the way. We worked well together as a group, and at times it didn’t even feel like we were racing we were having so much fun out on the route playing in the mud!

Eventually, things did get tougher as the Cannondale Blend duo started using team tactics, and eventually worked their way free of Johan and myself after 50km or racing. At times I got close to catching them on the technical sections, but the effort of trying to maintain contact had taken too much of a toll and I had to sit back and consolidate. The last 15km were tough and saw me lose contact with Johan on the flatter parts, and had to really dig deep from there on. I’ve obviously been enjoying too many cookies lately. I just managed to hang onto 4th spot over the last big climb to the finish line where Waylon had taken the win over Darren with Johan in 3rd. Another Rocky Mountain rider, Dylan Rebello rounded out the top 5, with Lourens Luus, Nico Pfitzenmaier and Timo Cooper trailing a few minutes in arrears.

One thing is apparent though, my finishing needs working on. One trap that cyclists fall into during winter is enjoying good hearty food too much. Leading up the the Cape Pioneer Trek there will me more long miles and fasted rides on the training program, and certainly no more burgers on the menu!

A big congrats must go to AMA Rider for pulling off a really enjoyable and well organised event. Well done guys!

Keep it rubber side down,

Renay

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