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<\/a>Derrin Smith, of dormakaba, leads the reduced group from which both the first and second place at the 2019 Trans Baviaans Race came. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\nThose ruts would be felt later rather than when they were assaulted, on fresh legs, because a steady tail wind blew from the North West as riders left Willowmore for Jeffery\u2019s Bay. A frenetic pace was set from the off by the Hausberger team, of Werner Roux and Jono Cloete. Roux revealed at the finish that it had not been part of their race plan. \u201cJono [Cloete] attacked in the first kilometre\u201d he said shaking his head. \u201cWe hadn\u2019t even left Willowmore yet. I didn\u2019t want to follow but I didn\u2019t really have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cloete\u2019s brave move echoed the acceleration by Gert Heyns and Arno du Toit in 2018, when the pair set the current course record. It also played into the hands of the race favourites, Mike Posthumus and Derrin Smith, of dormakaba. \u201cIt suited us, them [Roux and Cloete] making it so hard\u201d Posthumus recounted. \u201cIt forced quite a select group to form; with them, us and the guys from ProTouch. We got away and then at 90 kilometres we saw them hesitating at a Check Point and we [smith and Posthumus] pushed on from there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a solo ride from 90 kilometres\u201d he continued with a grimace. \u201cIt was awful. It was so rough. I had between 10 and 15 chain-drops off my chainring and had to keep stopping to put that back on and then chase back. So that burnt a few matches. Then Dez [smith] started cramping with about 120 kilometres to go. It was a rough second half for him and I started cramping too, but luckily not as bad as him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addressing the slip; which saw them penalised with a 20 minute time addition Posthumus explained: \u201cWe made an error at Check Point 7 by not taking our lights.\u201d \u201cThe plan had been to beat the setting sun. And though we didn\u2019t manage it technically, at least we didn\u2019t need our lights\u201d he laughed off the mistake which ended up not costing them too dearly.<\/p>\n Having crossed the line 28 minutes and 53 seconds ahead of Roux and Cloete; but 19 minutes after their targeted time of 8 hours the 20 minute the penalty did not deny them the win or a personal best. Posthumus, Smith, Roux and Cloete were joined on the podium by Jaco Davel and Ignus Oosthuizen. Davel and Oosthuizen had suffered their own cramps earlier in the race but stormed through the final 50 kilometres to overhaul the ProTouch team of Pieter Seyffert and Myles van Musschenbroek. Seyffert and Van Musschenbroek had been among the race\u2019s main protagonists, so slipping from the podium was exceptionally cruel; but that is the nature of the Trans Baviaans. It often provides a vicious sting in the closing kilometres as the accumulated effects of 8 hours of racing starts to tell.<\/p>\n Two riders who know exactly how to pace their efforts, in the Trans Baviaans, are Galileo Risk\u2019s Theresa Ralph and Sarah Hill. Having won the previous two editions together they use the race as a benchmark for their development as a team. \u201cToday we really pushed hard\u201d Ralph said, just after crossing the finish line. \u201cSarah [Hill] has grown so amazingly. I remember the first one I did with her, I could have pedalled with one leg. Now she\u2019s putting me in the hurt-locker for a lot of the race. We really had a good dynamic, sharing the load.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe corrugations were a lot like the first time we rode the Trans Baviaans\u201d Hill added. \u201cAnd the headwind was so tough. There was a time when I thought there was no way we would even get close to our record, especially on the Neverender. But then we found such a good rhythm and we were feeding off each other\u2019s energy. We ended up getting so close\u2026 so we\u2019ll have to try again next year\u201d Hill laughed.<\/p>\n Ralph and Hill were joined on the women\u2019s podium by former Olympian and 2009 IRONMAN South Africa champion Lucie Zelenkov\u00e1 and her partner Laura-Beth Eicker-Harris. The third placed team was the Kekkel en Kloek team, of Nickey Botes and Esmari de Wet.<\/p>\n In the mixed category there was a proposal on the finish line after Tanya Kirstein and Christo Roos had raced to victory. Fortunately for Roos the endorphins of the win were clearly running high as Kirstein accepted instantaneously. The newly engaged couple were joined on the podium by ECC-Bestmed\u2019s Anriette Schoeman and Kevin Taljaard; as well as by Urcycling\u2019s Mariske Smith and Wayne van der Walt.<\/p>\n To further relive the 2019 Trans Baviaans Race mountain biking fans can follow @EcoBoundEvents<\/a> on Twitter or @transbaviaans<\/a> on Instagram. Additionally liking the Trans Baviaans<\/a> Facebook will provide access to photos and videos from the race. The action commences next weekend, on Saturday 17 August, with the Repeat; which will see a more social ride from Willowmore to Jeffery\u2019s Bay take place through the magnificent Baviaanskloof.<\/p>\n<\/a>Dane Walsh (far) completed his sixteenth Trans Baviaans. Riding alongside Craig Edwards (near) the Distinguished Voodoo Grinders finished eighteenth overall this year. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Galileo Risk\u2019s Sarah Hill contemplates the challenge ahead; as she lined up to start the 2019 Trans Baviaans in Willowmore on the morning of Saturday the 10th of August. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Theresa Ralph (Galileo Risk) follows Deon Kruger (Humankind Masters) along a section of relatively smooth district road. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The Langwater crossing \u2013 which comes 123 kilometres into the route, in the middle of the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve \u2013 caused more than just wet feet in 2019. Photo by Jacques Marais.<\/span><\/p>\n