I remembered the route very well from last year as well as how the race usually pans out. Thus my game plan was to just sick in the bunch with a decent position for the first few tight sections and then make it over the main technical climb just before the half way point with a strong group. This I managed and as the race began to split into pieces up the climb I was well positioned with a few other top guys. Unfortunately for me I had to stop at the top before descending the other side of the climb to pump up my back tire as it had lost a fair amount of air and I wouldn't have been able to descend down the rough track with it that way. At the bottom of I saw a small group of about 3 guys 1 minute ahead of me and I was isolated as I couldn't see anyone behind me.
So with 60km still to go I pushed on at a solid pace and still never saw anyone catch up to me from behind and the gap to the guys in front of me remained around the 1 minute mark as I got the time splits from my amazing number one supporter (my wife).
I was able to catch up to and pass two guys along the way and finish exactly 11min after the winner Kevin Evans (who won the race for the 3rd time in a row!). I was happy with my performance and felt I had a solid race. Unfortunately I was not happy with my position as I didn't improve on the previous year and finished 17th. However, when looking over the results from the day I am a little more satisfied due to the large amount of competition and small time gaps separating the top 20 positions! I can honestly say that I have never done a mountain bike race in South Africa with such a strong field before! This is great for the sport in the country!
A big thanks has to be mentioned for Jayde, my wife and my number one supporter who did a fantastic job in seconding me and being there with me, it always makes a huge difference!
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