![\"ccs-41808-0-50050100-1400570947.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-41808-0-50050100-1400570947.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a> It will be a debut outing at the BSi Steel dusi2c for Fairview Swift rider Adriaan Louw who is making Kwazulu-Natal home for the month of June and will partner up with defending champion Andrew Hill for the two stage race starting at Camps Drift on Saturday 21 June and finishing at Blue Lagoon in Durban on 22 June. \/\/ Image credit: Nick Muzik\/Gameplan Media<\/span>\n<\/div>\nHill won the first edition of the race with Tyron Bird in 2013 and this year he and Fairview Swift rider Adriaan Louw will team up and it seems that the pair have a good understanding of one another even though they are based in different parts of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt always helps when you riding with a friend and myself and Adriaan are good mates which makes the riding a bit easier. He has been in good form recently and we ended fourth and fifth respectively at the Clarens race earlier in the year so we are feeling good leading into the dusi2c.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is going to be a hard period of racing with the SA Champs, dusi2c and then the World Champs the following weekend but it is a great bit of hard training for the World Champs,\u201d an excited Hill added.<\/p>\n
The dust has hardly settled on what was a successful outing at the 10th annual Nedbank Sani2c where Hill and partner Darren Lill ended in fourth place overall. Although the pair missed out on a podium Hill was happy with the way things went for the duo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was such a good race,\u201d the TIB Insurance rider mentioned. \u201cThe level of riding was really high with so many of the top guys taking part and we were disappointed that we didn\u2019t get on the podium but it was just 27 seconds that was the difference!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Hillcrest resident has spent a fair amount of time riding the track along the uMngeni River from the Mfula Store overnight stop. It will be a first outing in the valley for Louw but Hill is confident that they will be ready after a reconnaissance prior to the start of the dusi2c.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have done a lot of training on the second part of the route but the first bit from Pietermaritzburg I am not as familiar with but Adriaan will be up here for the whole of June so we will have a chance to scout it out before the race,\u201d Hill mentioned.<\/p>\n
For the Western Cape resident riding in Kwazulu-Natal is always exciting and having the opportunity to ride in the dusi2c is something that he is looking forward to because it would not usually fit into his racing calendar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really enjoy riding in KZN. The terrain is the best and it is what you dream about!\u201d the 23-year old explained. \u201cIt is pretty rocky in the Cape and up there (Kwazulu-Natal) and the trails get ridden so often so they are great!<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dusi2c is something that I have looked forward to doing and with so much racing in KZN in June it was the perfect chance for me to experience what so many people have been talking about and with it being a week before the World Champs it gives us a chance to get away from the International riders,\u201d a keen Louw added.<\/p>\n
It is evident that the relationship struck up between Louw and Hill is a special one and the former is happy to have found a riding partner that he can trust even though the two compete against each other more regularly than they ride together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is quite hard to find guys that you can trust and Andrew is a guy that I trust and we have been friends since we met at the Cape Pioneer last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have got to know each other really well away from riding and I know his style and he knows mine so we have a good understanding of each other which makes our lack of training time together a non-issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With three races in quick succession Louw has set his sights on the SA Champs as his main priority and is hoping that he can add that to his growing list of achievements.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am going to be riding at the World Champs but for me the national champs are going to be my main focus, I would much rather be a national champion than a top 20 finisher at the World Champs,\u201d Louw concluded.<\/p>\n