Race ‘tough, but fun’
The gruelling Trans-Karoo MTB race, which ends near Ceres, took place on 2 September. Of the 85 riders starting out only 50 finished.
To pedal 247 kilometres on a gravel road with rough inclines for 17 hours isn’t an easy task.
Deon de Lange carved his name in MTB annals when he won the 2017 Trans-Karoo MTB in 10:12.36, in his first attempt at the event. Helena Bester was the first individual female across the finish line in 13:59.05, while Dominique Provoyeurand Rozanne Schreiber won the team section in 12:04.11 with a top-10 finish to boot.
The race started at 07:00 in Sutherland, where the start line temperature was minus 3°C. The front riders reached a checkpoint (CP) one at 47 km in a blistering 90 minutes, while the last riders clocked into checkpoint one at 10:00.
From there, the fast descent down Ouberg Pass provided a welcome breather before the riders reached the undulating plains of the Tankwa Karoo.
The pace stayed hard in the front with De Lange, Hein Bingle and Frank de Busccher soon pulling away from the second group of riders, reaching CP2 some four minutes ahead of their nearest rivals and staying clear for the remainder of the ride. De Busccher was dropped just outside CP4, with De Lange and Bingle staying together until the last few kilometres before the finish line.
“It was tough, really tough,” De Lange said after the ride, “but it was a lot of fun.”
In the team section, Provoyeur and Schreiber (Team Gin & Tonic) led from start to finish, looking strong throughout the day.
The Trans-Karoo MTB alternates annually between a “down” (Sutherland to Kaleo outside Ceres) and an “up” ride (Ceres to Sutherland).
“The ‘down’ ride was traditionally slightly easier as it excludes the climb up the notorious Ouberg Pass,” explained Robert Vogel of the Pedal Power Association.
“However, this year the finish changed to Kaleo near Ceres, which includes a 10 km climb within the last 45 km. That was tough, especially for the back markers, who walked up the pass in the dark.”
Source: Worcester Standard News