Amanzimtoti teen spins her wheels in MTB circles

She’s riding on a fast track to mountain bike success. And with champion MTB rider Hendrik Bester as her dad, Silke is not only following in his tyre tracks, but blazing the trails open for other young girls to take up the sport.

The 13-year-old Kuswag biker is on a steady climb up the ranks each year, finishing on the podium in third spot in last year’s Spur MTB Schools U13 League, one step higher than her fourth place previous showing. “I feel like I’m improving every year and I was happy with my third place,” said Silke, who has started high school at Kuswag this week.

The league was held at four different schools last year, with the girls riding four to six laps of a loop to total between 12km and 15km.

“I started riding when I was about six-years-old. With my dad being a member of Amanzimtoti Cycling Club for 12 years, he was the reason I started. One of the club members gave me a bike, a Momsen, a few years ago, which I’m still riding.”

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She trains at least two days a week, in the saddle two hours at a time on the MTB trails around Amanzimtoti Sports Centre. She is part of the eight-member Kuswag MTB Club which started last year and they were chuffed to finish 11th out of 54 participating schools in the 2019 league.

“I hope our club will start growing and more of my friends start riding. It’s lots of fun and you visit some awesome places during the league. You just have to believe in yourself. If you want to try it, just get up and ride.”

Silke is also an ace in the classroom, finishing with a 90% aggregate and fourth in her class last year.

However, despite her top achievements on the bike, MTB is not her first love or her best sport. Last year she was awarded the Kuswag trophy for Sportsgirl of the Year for her prowness on the hockey field and her sterling captaining of the primary school’s first team. In 2018 she made the KZN coastals hockey team. She also enjoys playing tennis, long distance athletics running and cross-country.

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“To relax I enjoy reading or chilling by the pool or beach.” Her and her family have just returned from a dream three-week road trip to Namibia. “This year I’m aiming to do even better in the league, so second is my goal. I want to participate in more KZN MTB races and practice more to continue to improve and achieve my goal of one day finishing first.”

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