Bestmed Campus to Campus 2009

The race is won or lost on the mountain- very simple Ertjies?

The Bestmed Campus to Campus race is named after Ertjies Bezhuidenhout. He became a legend after he would make such a huge gap on the notorius Groot Ertjies, that he would proceed to win this race every time with his solo break away attempt on the hill.

The ladies elite started with the vet men, which ups the speed quite a bit. One gentleman joked on the start line, these guys are here discussing their pensions on the line while we are getting ready to race. Well, pension or no pension they make great pace!

The first 50km was a nice consistent pace. Klein Ertjies was the first hill that changed the profile a bit. The second climb, groot Ertjies was the determining hill though. Wait in the pack too long and you have missed it. By the time you look up from the wheel in front of you, the gap is too wide. *Note to self* Get in the front.

After the hill I could see the ladies take off with the men, there was no one coming for quite some time, so I made the chase on my own. With the men pulling in front it was a bit of a long shot to chase down, but I was joined later by 3 other ladies and a few men. We put in a solid effort to chase down and had a fast pace all the way home. We finished the 106km with a little sprint which got me into 8th position in the ladies category.