It really was an eventful weekend! I flew to PE on Thursday and visited Marilette (thanks for accommodation) so that I could be there for a photo shoot on Friday.
Friday: I got picked up by one of the VW – Sasol rally teams staff, he took me to the VW factory in Uitenhage where I met up with Yolande, Ischen, Zolile and the rest of the crew, unfortunately Johan could not join us after his accident the day before.
We started with a guided tour of the factory, very interesting to see how a car is made!! I think we all wanted a new car after that! After lunch we got our new kit and it was time for the photo shoot. The reason for us being in PE was that Sasol wanted photos of us together with the rally team that they also sponsor. We had lots of fun and the best of all was after the photos when we got the chance to go for a ride in the rally cars!! I went with Enzo Kuun and wow was that fast!! We did about 180km/h on a gravel road just to hit the breaks hard in to a corner and then full gas out again after it! In the last corner the car came off the track and we slid sideways! It was an adrenaline kick of note!!! The most awesome thing I have done in a long time!!
Thank you Sasol and Volkswagen for this day, I am sure we will have lots of fun next year!!!
Unfortunately my flight home got delayed so I only got home at 00.30am.
Saturday: After a few hours of sleep I left on the bike to go to the start of day 2 of the new MTB race in Stellenbosch, the Origin of trails. The Stillwater crew was kind enough to let me do day 2 even though I could not be there for day 1 the day before. It was a fun day out on the bike, I took it easy and rode with Hanlie, Candice and Tim for most of the day and stoped at the water points, I like those racesJ. The route was great and I hope this race will grow next year and more people will come to Stellenbosch to take part!
Thank you Pennipinchers for my entry!!!
Sunday: When the alarm went off at 4am I remembered one of the reasons why I stopped road racing, the early mornings are not fun! It was time for Die Burger cycle tour, the race that I won 5 times consecutevely but which Sharon broke last year and I came 3rd in the tightest photo finish I have ever been involved in, when 3 girls were within 1 centimeter! I really wanted to take that title back:-)
The toughest competition was going to be from Sharon, Anriette, Lise and Cherise. We started together with a big bunch of guys which made it difficult for anyone to get away. Me, Sharon and Anriette sat top 10 in the bunch during the whole race and we never saw any of the other girls, the bunch was too big. The wind was very strong and it made a hard race, I almost got blown off my bike twice.
About 20km from the finish Sharon attacked hard and I had to dig really deep to go with, the 3 of us girls got away together with 1 guy, but the bunch caught us on the downhill. On the last climb the scenario repeated and we ended up with a big bunch to the line.
About 1,5km there is a very sharp corner, I backed off a bit there because of the bunch and had to work hard to get back on the wheels of the other 2 girls, I was on Anriettes wheel with 1km to go and when I saw 500meters I slowly glided up beside her, not ideal, it was too early to go. I just heard this little voice in my head saying ”just try – GOOO!!” and off I went, way too early for the sprint but I just had the line in front of my eyes and I almost got a desperete feeling of ”please legs make it”! And they did!!! I crossed the line first and was super happy to have made it!!! It was probably one of my hardest sprints ever!
I was super happy to have won for Sasol in the first race in their colours! And of course happy to get the big trophy back to my flat for another year:-)
