FOR those Amanzimtoti Cycling Club MTB Mambas who didn’t ride the Hill2Hill last weekend, they met at the Illovo Business Park at the crack of dawn on Saturday to ride their last long ride before the Sani Dragon two-day stage race that takes place at the end of the month in the Underberg region.
They managed 60kms of riding and 1,500-metres of climbing, which is excellent training as on both days of the stage race, the riders will be climbing 1,400m and 1600m respectively. There is no other MTB event that incorporates the Sani Pass.
Other Mambas were constantly checking the weather conditions as their bikes took them to ride the Compendium Sunday Tribune Hill2Hill MTB Marathon. It is the only one-day mountain bike marathon between the cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban and takes place from Hilton overlooking the KZN capital to Hillcrest on the outskirts of Durban. The 45km half marathon was held on Saturday, the day before the full 100km race and before the really cold, windy and wet weather settled in. The rain continued to pour down, making the track very muddy but despite the treacherous conditions, Amanzimtoti Cycle Club had the follow results:
- 100kms: Bryan Powell (sub vet) 4.05, Dillon Holm (sub vet) 4.38, Vusi Ntuli (sub vet) 5.28, Ian Sayer (sub vet) 6.13, Shaun Tischendorf (vet) 7.55, Liezel Davis (vet) 7.55, Craig Chapman (vet) 8.22, Penny Chapman (vet) 8.22.
- 45kms: Malcolm Wallace (master) 2.33, Nic Papadopoulos (vet) 2.49, Billy Bridge (grand master) 2.56.
