This past weekend saw the 10th edition of the Magalies Monster MTB race. Trust me the name for this race is an understatement, and what a race it was!
As the winner of the 2012 Magalies Monster I was quite calm the day before the event and even in the car on route to the race the next morning, however when I lined up at the start the nerves kicked in. I looked around and there was some good competition standing around me - my mind started running and doubting, but I quickly reassured myself that I'd trained for the last 6 months for this and if I was going to be beaten the other guys would have to tear me to pieces.
The race was 5km longer this year so it meant we'd suffer a bit longer. We had a neutral start of about 1km before the racing was on and it was ON as soon as we were let loose. The first 15km is undulating with single track, and a really cool section over a concrete bridge that runs along a mountainside. In this first 15km of the race the competitors had settled and a leading group of about 8 riders had formed, which I wasn't particularly comfortable with. However, with a few more climbs and the sting of the baby monster before the big Monster climb, the group was whittled down to just 4 riders (Myself, Andrew Grobler, Shaun Nick Bester, Nico Sterk).
I was feeling really good by the time we got to the bottom of the Monster and my confidence was growing as some of the riders were dropped that I thought would be challenging me for the title today. I decided to sit 2nd wheel up the Monster until we got halfway up before making a move. As we got to the concrete sections halfway up the climb I went around Shaun and pushed the tempo up high, the 3 behind were still there but I could hear their laboured breathing so I kept hammering away on the climb.
Approaching the top Nico Sterk came around me to lead us down a short descent before tackling the last part of the Monster to the King Of the Mountain (KOM). I stayed close to him on the descent so that when we started climbing again I wouldn't be put in a position where I had to chase him down, but as we started the final section of the climb he went really hard and got about 10 metres on me. I decided to just go as hard as I could and hopefully catch him before the top, with about 300m to the top Nico blew up and I managed to get back to him and set my sights on the KOM. With 100M to go, I kicked hard and went around to take the KOM, I looked back and he was about 10m behind. I decided it’s time to GO, so I jumped on the pedals and went as fast as I could down the other side. It was still another 45km to go by the time you reach the top of the Monster, but I was confident I could hold the chasers off.
In a position like this I was constantly reminding myself to keep hammering away on the pedals, I didn't want to be caught and if I was going to be caught I would make it as hard as possible for them to catch me. I managed to stretch my lead to where I could no longer see the chasers when the track opened up on some long straight sections and managed to take the win in the 2013 Magalies Monster and successfully defend the title.
What an awesome feeling to win this race again, with the training timed perfectly to peak for this event, and to have had such a smooth ride with no issues was truly a blessing.
Race data and Stats: http://app.strava.com/activities/56176409
Race results: http://www.spectrumsport.co.za/Portals/17/ResultDoc/Magalies_Monster_MTB_20130525.pdf
Thank you to @brytongps, @Ghostbikessa, @ballisticbike for your continued support and belief in me. Also a big thank you to the @USNSA and @clubbrytonusn members for their support, it keeps me motivated.
Till the next race, which might be Nationals this week.
Henry Uys
@met_uys
No comments:
Post a Comment