AMANZIMTOTI Cycling Club notes that the 2015 edition of the ever-popular Amashova Cycle Classic took place on Sunday, 18 October, starting out in perfect weather in Pietermaritzburg.
However, as the day wore on, so the temperatures started to soar, and when the wind picked up substantially on the run-in to the finish at Suncoast Casino, it made for a testing day in the saddle, but then who said that cycling is for sissies?
Nonetheless there were some excellent times, considering the heat. Overall winner was Nolan Hoffman of the Abantu professional racing team in a creditable time of 2.24.
As far as the Toti cyclists are concerned, there were some excellent times posted, with the leading Toti cyclist in the 106km event being Lawrence Herron, in a time of 2.50.51 followed by Bryan Powell, Shaun Baker and Daryll Brokensha, all of them breaking the three-hour mark.
One of the club’s up-and-coming youngsters, Shalltin Beneke, was very unfortunate to have a mechanical breakdown, which caused him to abandon the race quite early on. One of the more remarkable achievements was by a young cyclist who came over from mountain biking to road cycling only a few short months back. This was Dylan Chapman’s first real road race, and he posted an impressive time of 3:11:22. Well done Dylan.
The rest had to toil in the heat and wind but with the ‘gees’ that goes with cycling, there were still some good times by various riders in their respective age groups. Unfortunately there were a few other mechanical retirees as well as a few who abandoned the race due to the intense heat but they will certainly be back to fight another day.
In the 65km event, starting at Cato Ridge, a few intrepid mountain bikers took on the gruelling road event, with Jaco Franken the leading cyclist in a time of 2:30. All in all everybody had a wonderful experience, followed by a few refreshments under the Toti Cycling Club gazebo at the finish. All the ‘roadies’ will be back in the saddle this week to loosen those tired legs. Well done to all the cyclists on finishing this fantastic event.
A few Toti mountain bikers rode in the Seabreeze Bittersweet MTB Challenge, where Brennan Anderson took the overall victory over the two-day event. The rest of the Mambas helped out with the marshalling.
Amashova Classic – 106km results: Lawrence Herron 2.50.51, Bryan Powell 2.52.22, Shaun Baker 2.52.22, Darryl Brokensha 2.58.53, Wilhelm Tesnaar 3.03.08, Colin McKay 3.04.03, Warren Egan 3.06.40, Dylan Chapman 3.11.22, Ron Waldberger 3.12.49, Brett Johnston 3.13.00, Ian Sayer 3.13.09, Dillon Holm 3.14.40, Hannes Beneke 3.19.01, Klaas van der Westhuizen 3.25.47, Tommy Maritz 3.27.47, Shaun Tischendorff 3.27.58, Pierre le Roux 3.28.21, Charlie Skinner 3.31.12, Rienie Beneke 3.32.47, Adrian Bradshaw 3.42.28, Billy Bridge 3.47.28, Charlene Felgate 3.49.34, Eleonore Tesnaar 3.53.12, Colin Bedingfield 4.02.36, Lauren Symmonds 4.06.08, Malcolm Wallace 4.13.56, Charl Gouws 4.15.47, Kenny Raasch 4.21.37, Zane Raw 4.22.00, Arthur Woest 4.27.00, Penny Chapman 4.31.25, Marius Engelbrecht 4.50.28, Anton Booysen 4.52.03, Steve van Rooyen 4.53.15, Carol Raasch 4.56.41, Telise Cousins 5.05.06.
Amashova classic – 65km results: Jaco Franken 2.30.00, Karin Liebenberg 3.29.00, Bobby Liebenberg 3.29.00, Antoinette Bedingfield 3.55.10, Jenny Hamer 3.55.10, Andre Louwrens 4.04.18.
