PHOTOS AND RESULTS: Mopani Barberton XCM not as delicate as a daisy

After postponing the race from January 30 to May 8, the Rotary Club of Barberton hosted a successful 25th Mopani Barberton XCM on Saturday.

This year’s routes exposed riders to various terrain types, from water crossings to single tracks, from the Greenstone Wildlife Estate to some of the richest gold mines in the world, through Sappi plantations to thousands of macadamia trees, from rocky ascents to fast descents – there was something to suit everyone.

The choices of routes were a 110 kilometre, 77 kilometre (2 237 metres), 50 kilometre (1 703 metres), 30 kilometre (470 metres) and 20 kilometre (285 metre), all but the two shorter ones packing quite a challenge.

The longest of the distances saw Alan Gordon conquer the 3 202-metre ascent in a time of five hours, eight minutes and 48 seconds. His closest competitor was Craig Uria, with a time of 05:09:03. Finishing in 05:22:39 and bagging third place was Gawie Combrick. Beauty Ngobese was one of only a few females who had the stamina to finish the mammoth 110 kilometres, and did so in 07:10:37, taking the win. In the equally challenging 77-kilometre race, Hennie van Wyk clocked the fastest time and took the spoils after 03:25:58. The first female to cross the finish line in this category was master lady (50+) Chantz du Chenne, with a time of 04:13:08.

Here are the winners in each category (view the full results here)

110km
Open/elite men – Alan Gordon: 05:08:48
Open/elite women – Beauty Ngobese: 07:10:37


77km
Open/elite men – Hennie Van Wyk: 03:25:58
Open/elite women – Nicole Horn: 04:48:59
Sub vet men – Vlam de Beer: 03:29:44
Sub vet ladies – Steph Wohlters: 04:28:21
Vet men – Giles Fourie: 03:28:10
Vet ladies – Sandra Haywood: 04:28:58
Master men – Michael McDermott: 03:48:29
Master ladies – Chantz du Chenne: 04:13:08

50km
Open men – Wano Katjiri: 02:33:21
Open women – Monique Fourie: 02:49:17
Junior men – Gerhard Botma: 02:33:46
Grand master men – Detlef Schmitz: 02:50:43
Grand master ladies – Monique Fourie : 02:49:17.

Feedback from one of the riders, Gerald Di Pasquale, who did the 50km race:
The Barberton XCM is a well-established event organised by the Rotary Club and Mopani Pharmacy (the title sponsor) of which all proceeds are being redistributed to charity.

I took part in the 50-kilometre race, which has the reputation of being the toughest in the country. True or not, it was definitely my toughest with an initial first climb of nearly 17 kilometres and 1 000 metres of ascent.

I survived this, but despite the long descent, the remaining 33 kilometres and 700 metres of ascent were challenging, to say the least. It was mostly forestry roads all the way. The descent was not so relaxing, as the ground was mostly loose rocks and sharp turns requiring some concentration.

It’s a constant up and down with many short and two other long climbs. This was an awesome route; the sceneries are gorgeous, the initial climb towards the cloudy summit was as tough as it was beautiful. Amazing forest sections, breathtaking views, a mountain dam.

This event was so well organised that it needs to be mentioned. This is a very affordable event to attend (R300 max). Registration took place the day before at the Mopani Pharmacy and Barberton High School; this was well-staffed and seamless.
Registrations on the day were also possible. The start could have been a bit more batched, but this wasn’t an issue as people were friendly and let the snakes go out front. Also we had several kilometres of neutral zone which gave plenty room for riders to position. The huge first hill was going to be the judge, anyway.

Markings is a problem at the vast majority of races, but not here. This is the only one-day event I have encountered that actually use the recognised UCI markings. No funny business of orange or green stickers in the trees. Just the black marking on white boards. Marking before, on and after a junction, as it should be. Bravo Barberton XCM, your routes are exemplary.
There was an army of marshals insuring safe crossing and route confirmations. They also had ample water points, well-manned and most of them cheering the riders en route; very nice. Departure and arrival were at the Barberton High School, offering plenty of space, well-organised services (medals, massages, one of the biggest bike washes to date, recovery drink stations and a large selection of food vendors in a shaded area). Bravo, Barberton, this was a superb job.

> Here are some of the photos taken on the day. Credit: Stefan de Villiers. Copyright: Lowveld Media