IT was a case of peddling for glory when three Queensburgh riders hit the track at the BMX World Champs in Nantes, France from Tuesday, July 26 to Sunday, July 31.
Alex Concalves (25), Rylee van Heerden (11) and Christopher Axford (22) were accompanied by Queensburgh BMX Club Chairman Theuns van Heerden and returned home with mixed results.
Alex, unfortunately, had an accident during practice on Monday and broke his arm in two places, and that was the end of his champs.
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“After putting in months of preparation to lead up to this event, I was disappointed. It has been a goal of mine ever since I returned to BMX to represent my country, and unfortunately, this is how it turned out for me.
“My main goal is to focus on getting my hand back to 100%, but the 2023 World Champs in Glasgow are on the cards for me. I’ll be training hard to get myself there in the best possible shape, mentally and physically.”
In Rylee’s first race on Tuesday in the cruiser class, 24-inch wheels, she gave the SA team something to cheer about with a World Number Five, an improvement on her previous best of seven in 2019.
In her second race on Wednesday, she made it to semi-finals but was unfortunately knocked out.
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On Thursday, Christopher finished third, fourth and sixth in his qualifying races, missing the cut to advance to the next level by one point.
He described the world champs as ‘fast, competitive and not for the faint-hearted’. “This was my third champs but my best race so far. My first two races went well. I was confident and felt strong. My last race started off well, but a slight mistake led to me not getting the position I needed to qualify through to the next round.”
That left Rylee the only South African rider to return home with a world number.
“My world champs was a fantastic experience. We are used to having about 200 riders at a national championship race in SA. In Nantes, there were more than 3 000 riders, and the atmosphere was fantastic.”
This was her second world champs. Her first was in Belgium when she was just eight years old where she peddled her way to her first world number. “I wanted to do better this year, so I am super happy with my Number Five. My aim is a top-three finish in the cruiser class in Scotland next year.”
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The Westville Senior Primary Grade Five learner has been racing for five years. “My school is fantastic in supporting me with my racing. My dad took me to the track with a small mountain bike to have some fun. There was a race on, and we watched it. I told my dad I also want to race, so he bought me a BMX, and that is how it all started.”
The young speedster also does mountain-bike racing and is the 2022 KZN Enduro champion. She has won the SA championship for three consecutive years, and her goal is to make it four this year.
To put a cherry on the top, while in France, she received the news she was selected for the KZN team to take part in the SA Enduro championship to be held in Nelspruit in September.
