Onto the second race of the series and with it being a week before the Magalies Monster, a race I won last year and have been training specifically to defend the title, I was confident that I'd have some good form.
The weather was a bit chilly and only in the single digits by the time we started, but the legs and lungs were quickly warmed up as the pace was on from the start. I made sure I was in the front and kept the pace quick to try and whittle the group down as much as possible. After about 5km of racing there were 4 (myself, Pierre Smith, Sheldon Dagley, Ian Pienaar) of us in the front and I was content with it at that moment. As we approached the first testing technical climb of the course, my one foot came out the pedal and I had to run up while Pierre Smith rode away gaining about 20 sec advantage on us over the top.
I was now lying 4th and following the other two closely so that I could get past and push the pace as soon as it opened up. The road opened up and I surged to the front to set my sights on clawing Pierre back on the next climb and as we turned onto it, there were riders coming down the hill and turning in on our line - someone had taken a wrong turn and now about 40-50 riders had found their way ahead of us. This was no good and we pushed hard and kept calling to get them to move out the way for us. By the time we got to the top of the climb we had managed to get back to Pierre. Once the road opened up I went round and drove the pace hard, my concern now was that we'd have to get past all these riders so we could have a clear race.
As we went over the top of the third climb it was only Pierre and I with the other 2 trailing by about 10sec, but that all changed when Pierre lost control going into a corner with loose rock and hitting the deck HARD, I slowed down to see if he was able to keep going and catch up. However, when Sheldon and Ian caught up to me a bit further down the trail, I decided that I need to push on.
Up the final climb of the first lap I managed to shake Ian and it was only Sheldon and I in the lead heading into the second lap. For the whole of the second lap I kept the pace high and on the second climb of the lap, I managed to get a gap on Sheldon and pushed hard for the finish. 1st place overall for the Redstone #2. Sheldon finished 2nd and Pierre 3rd .
The bike today was absolutely flawless and when you have a day like today, it just feels so good to be on the trail, it came together well and the legs were there. So bring on Magalies Monster. As far as training and prep are concerned I believe I've got good form, but I expect competition come Saturday 25 May.
Once again thank you to my sponsors: @ghostbikessa, @clubbrytonusn, @ballisticbike and @brytongps for your support.
Look forward to reporting on the Magalies Monster this coming weekend.
Some race data : http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=3129107
Til next week
Henry Uys @met_uys
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