Nikki cranks it up

LONEHILL – Local mountain biker takes on the mountains in Lesotho.

November 20, 2017

Nicholas Zaal 2 minutes read

Nikki Alvin takes two second-place finishes at CrankChaos. Photo: Jason May

Nikki Alvin may have missed out on retaining her Enduro title at CrankChaos, but she finished with placings in two other races at the four-day mountain bike festival at the Afriski Mountain Resort, Lesotho.

Alvin, a Lonehill cyclist, told a slightly embarrassing story of how she and some fellow cyclists went for lunch before the Enduro race and enjoyed each other’s company a bit too much.

“When we were done we were too late to race at the Enduro, but I was probably not fit enough to win it again anyway,” she laughed.

“At the end of the day I went to have fun, and that I did.”

Indeed, Alvin has more cause to celebrate than just seeing her competitors again who are also her good friends.

Alvin finished second in the Dual Slalom, a new race at the event which was held at night, and featured cyclists racing each other in twos through a process of elimination stages until a final race.

Nikki Alvin has a blast at the Afriski Mountain Resort, Lesotho. Photo: Jason May

She also came second at the Downhill Eliminator, which sees four cyclists race downhill at the same time, but separately on four tracks of equal distance.

“My highlight at CrankChaos was the social riding – all the fun we had. The event also had bigger stuff than we normally do as cyclists, and not just in terms of races – we got to ride up on ski lifts to the start of some races.”

Next up for Alvin is the Dustin Rudman Invitational in Helderkruin on the first weekend of December.

Once again, Alvin’s main goal is to enjoy the event.

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