Hard work is paying off! This past weekend was the African Continental Championships held in Windhoek, Namibia. The track was rocky and technical with about 170m of climbing per lap, which we got to do 6 times. I have to say the guys really put on a great event and I always love racing here. The track was similar to the track we races two weekends ago at the C1 race.
I flew up to Windhoek on Thursday afternoon and knowing what to expect after the last visit I just needed to loosen the legs and rev the engine for the showdown on Saturday morning.
No matter how many years I race it seems the nerves never go away, but I think that’s also a good thing.
You need the nerves… it proves you have something to fight for and fought I did. My game plan was to go out as hard as I could ( partially in prep for the World Cups coming up soon ) and I must say I was super happy with my start. I controlled the pace and on the first longer climb a very strong Candice Lill came flying past me J. ! I thought to myself this was going to be a hard one but I knew there was a long race still ahead and being at altitude I did not want to completely overcook things. I fought hard and pushed on the technical descends to try to make up the time she pulled on me and it worked
brilliantly. I managed to close the gap towards the top of the final climb and then kept the speed to try to pull a gap. From there I worked on increasing my lead every lap to finish close to a minute ahead of the field.
It was a super race and I loved fighting it out with amazing ladies. I finished 1st and with that secured the African Continental Title for the next year, as well as gaining some valuable UCI points.
The past couple of years have been hard but if there’s one thing I’ve learned to do is to keep fighting and following my goals. I still have some work to do but the form is definitely coming along and really I am loving the journey.
Next up will be the 3rd SA Cup, held in Limpopo, this coming weekend. So stay tuned for more racing coming up.
Massive thanks to Rola Motor Group, Liv CyclingSA as well as GarminSA for their support and contributions to making my racing journey possible. Then I would also like to thank everyone that has helped me along the way and supported me this weekend on and off the bike without you this adventure would be a lot harder.
Till the next startline… Stay safe and enjoy the ride J
Mariske
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