![\"ccs-62657-0-10858100-1433166939.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-10858100-1433166939.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nUSN Hi-Tec’s Jeannie Dreyer (front) and husband Martin will look to add extra spice to the 2015 BSi Steel dusi2c mixed team title race while the journey from Pietermaritzburg to Durban will also serve as a trip down memory lane for the ‘Dusi Duke’. \/\/ Darren Goddard\/ Gameplan Media.<\/span><\/p>\n A return to the Valley of a Thousand Hills \u2013 where his rise to the top of the country\u2019s paddling community began \u2013 is one Dreyer is looking forward to immensely, particularly when he gets to share the occasion with his wife.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is just so much magic in the valley for me and I\u2019m sure everything from my incredible time competing in the Dusi Canoe Marathon is just going to come flooding back during these two days in the saddle!\u201d says Martin.<\/p>\n With countless ultra-distance mountain biking feats already under their belt, it is little wonder that the pair have opted to take on this year\u2019s dusi2c together.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just love racing, love a challenge and love spending time together so it will be such a fantastic opportunity for us to combine all of these in an environment that means so much to us.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing the top female mountain biker in KZN, Jeannie could\u2019ve chosen any of the top male riders to pair up with for dusi2c but we just love being on the sports field together and we have such a blast when we ride together.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Jeannie quite realises just how full her hands are going to be though carrying this baggage though!\u201d laughs Martin.<\/p>\n Given the history the \u2018Dusi Duke\u2019 enjoys with the region, the cycling adventure from KZN\u2019s capital to the Indian Ocean ought to be a significantly sentimental one for the duo.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing down the route from Pietermaritzburg to Durban through the valley really should be such a romantic two day trip for both of us; myself especially.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love to take the time to go past the various points of the Dusi route during our dusi2c ride and relive the host of different memories that I have at each one of them with Jeannie and tell her all the fascinating little stories that happened there.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only snag is that I\u2019ve chosen my wife as my partner!\u201d laughs the founder of the RMB Change a Life MTB Academy.<\/p>\n Sharing a strong sense of competitiveness is one of the Dreyers\u2019 keys to success both individually and as a pair however this same strength may well prove to be the undoing of Martin\u2019s dusi2c reminiscing hopes as he looks to keep up with his super-powered wife as she takes on Valencia Cycles\u2019 pair of 2014 mixed race winner Eugene Botha and former national marathon champ Samantha Saunders.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing the competitor that Jeannie is and how she just loves grabbing any opportunity she gets to get one up on me on the bike, this could well become a sufferfest of note from start to finish for me!\u201d cringes Martin.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no pressure on us to do well at all but when that gun goes and there are a couple of other teams in the mix then Jeannie definitely tends to get caught up in the red mist of racing and so I\u2019ve just got to somehow try hang onto to her tail and go with her!<\/p>\n \u201cSo, whilst I\u2019d love to chat along the way, I\u2019ll probably be so out of breath just trying to keep up with her that I won\u2019t be able to get a word out!\u201d he chuckles somewhat nervously.<\/p>\n