Argus 2010

This year Argus was a particularly special one. Be it that we are rubbing shoulders with the likes of Lance Armstrong, or the general excitement with the upcoming soccer world cup, or that we are just blessed to have the most spectacular coastal race in the world, it was just special. Windy, as you may expect it to be in the Mother city, but that did not stop the 35 000 keen cyclist from being part of something big. Something like a world championship or a tour de France.. It is certainly a highlight for any cycling enthusiast.

The ladies race was about survival of the fittest! Starting in a pack of about 200 cyclists along with the vet men, which include great riders like Andrew Mclean, it was holding on for dear life. Great international riders like Fabiana Lupevini from Italy was also in the starting ladies group. The first challenger of the race was the climb at Smits se winkel. A long drag, which gradually sifted the bunch. The second was Chapmans peak, the climb as much as the dangerous descend and then finally Suikerbossie. With the original ladies bunch down to about 15 riders, the final kilometers to Greenpoint was about getting into position for the line. A tough task with most men holding the same objectives and the road starting to be filled with slower riders. The sprint to the finish line came a little bit too early for me with my first sighting of the powerade banners. Alas, when i saw there is still 150m to the line after the banners! By then most girls kicked up the gears and sprinted for the line. Congratulations to Anriette Schoeman who won the battle. The results were as follows:

Elite Ladies

1. Anriette Schoeman (3.06.11)
2. Robyn de Groot
3. Catherine Williamson
4. Cherise Taylor
5. Jo van der Winkel
6. Jennie Stenerhag
7. Marissa van der Merwe
8. Chrissie Viljoen
9. Mariske Strauss
10. Fabiana Lupevini

Sabie XCM 3 SA champs

The beautiful Sabie hosted the spectacular 2010 SA championships. With nature doing its best to try and accommodate, the weather also came to the party. Well, sort of, it had rained prior to the event but race day was perfect. So nature and beauty aside, there was some serious racing to attend to.

The ladies 70km started with the 110km men, with the first serious climb staring just 3km into the race. This does not give you a lot of time to warm up but the ladies where in the mood to race. At the foot of the climb Carla Rowley described Yolande Speedy's last look to the rest of the field as " come on, you are not going to let me go now already?", but she did and she stayed in the lead to win the SA gold medal. Congrats Yolande, it is encouraging to see you still push hard when you are not being chased.

The rest of the race proceeded where Samantha Oosthuizen crested before Carla, followed by Mariska Strauss. The pace was quite fast and following a conservative approach the race only changed after half way. Carla had a 2 minute lead on the rest of the field by then, but my first objective was to gain some time on the second major climb.

This steep one changed the profile dramatically. I managed to move up two positions and only had Carla ahead of me. Riding at my own pace I then chased to the finish and catching up to Carla about 5km from the finish. By this stage there were plenty of fun riders on the course, and at this point I must apologise to the riders if we passed unexpectedly. Sorry riders!

I rode with Carla till the last moments, and had to kick up a little sprint to get the silver medal. What a race. It felt good.

The results:

1. Yolande Speedy (MTN/Energade)

2. Karien van Jaarsveld (NATRO)

3. Carla Rowley

4. Mariska Strauss (MTN/Energade)

5. Samantha Oosthuizen