This last weekend I competed in the 40km Illovo Eston MTB Race, and what a race it turned out to be. I won this race last year, and I only have good memories of the stunning area. In normal conditions, this race is super flat and fast, comprising of mostly fast district roads mixed with some fast flowing singletrack and grassy tracks. But this year the conditions were far from ideal. After a brisk, intense warm up on a trainer (it was far too muddy to go anywhere), I went through my usual pre-race routine. I was shivering on the start line waiting in freezing temperatures which had scared away a lot of this years entries, but there was still a brave turnout.
Then the racing started and the planned neutral zone abruptly ended as the lead motorbike crashed in the first few meters. All the usual snakes were there, including ex-teammate Travis Walker (DCM Chrome), Brendon Davids (Jeep) and Luke Roberts (Maverick) and it was clear that it was going to be a good race. Nothing happened until the King of the Mountains at 5kms in, where Travis jumped me to win on the line. Travis and I then created a small gap to the rest of the bunch, and I urged him to keep the pace high, to stop a fast flying Brendon Davids from joining us. At about 10kms in, we reached wattle climb and at the base, I attacked and got a good gap...
From there I pinned my ears back and hit the accelerator. For about 8 or 9kms I stayed out in front, but Trav was slowly clawing his way back in the muddiest sections. We reached the split and he had caught me and we entered the second half together. From there we just marked various attacks until about 5 kms to go where I put in a serious effort to shake him. It was going well, but I crashed in a river bed to watch my minuscule gap diminish before my eyes.
Into the last km, and I was in front by a few meters. As we descended the final section, I hit the last corner first and began the sprint. With mud flying and gears jumping, I managed to win be a wheel's length or so. Well done to Trav for an awesome race, and to Brendon for a well deserved 3rd.
I was happy with my result as it bodes well for World Championships in Australia in 3 weeks! This weekend I am off to Harrismith for the National Half Marathon Champs... should be a blast...
Till next week,
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