What a jam-packed month this is turning out to be. I knew it would be that’s also partly why I decided to come home for a week before heading to Europe, the other part is financially, and logistically it made the most sense this way J…
Last weekend was the 3rd round of the SA XCO Cup held in Limpopo and it was a fun track. This was my first time at Summerplace and it lived up to my expectations.
I decided to fly straight there from African Champs and I think it paid off. This meant I could spend some time with friends as well as get to the track on Wednesday already. I arrived Wednesday afternoon and it really is a beautiful spot, about a 3hr drive from JHB but well worth the trip.
The track was technical with a lot of jumps and some amazing naturally rocky features, well everything was perfectly built and would make for a tough race. Soon enough it was time to line up again and we had another 6 lap race ahead of us. To start off with I decided to run my tire pressure slightly harder due to the rocks and jumps we had in store for the race. I also did not have support, so ensuring I kept everything in one piece was crucial.
There was a long open drag to the first single track on lap one so I decided to not go out too hard and blow up. I was into the single track 2nd behind a flying Candice and then put in an attack on the 2nd part of the course and opened about a 15sec gap in the last kilometer of the course. From there I knew I had to keep the pressure on if I wanted to extend my lead so that’s what I did. By the end of the 2nd lap, I realized I had a massive gap so I eased off slightly on the rocky technical terrain to ensure I get home safely.
I am truly blessed and excited to take home another win and those valuable UCI Points also do not hurt. I have some ground to cover after my horrible season last year.
I loved pushing myself and enjoyed the track and the challenges it presented. Now I’m back home for a week before making my way to the 3rd round of the UCI World Cups in Nove Mesto next week already.
Thank you to everyone that supports me on and off the bike, it really means more than you can ever know.
Chat soon,
Mariske