Ridemag Crater Cruise

Otherwise known as “The dirty dash for cash”, the Crater Cruise has always been a popular event in which riders from all disciplines come to compete for the biggest payout in mountain biking for the year. This year was no different and along with the usual offroad teams, Neotel, Medscheme and Konica all had riders there to compete for the overall title.
The race began with a 5km neutral zone, and once over the Vaal River, it was race on. The roadies like to go hard on the tar and the first hotspot comes before the tar turns to gravel. The first 30km is fairly straight forward, the corrugations were as bad as ever, and the early sections of jeep track helps to thin the big group out a bit. I was planning on saving all my energy for the end of the race, as I’ve learnt with experience in this race that it boils down to elimination. The road up to the King of the mountain is not actually much of a mountain but the speed up there was fast and the pace hard. I was feeling good and decided to have a small dig here. I rolled over the King in second position and when I saw the bunch splitting and in a single line, I rode a hard tempo all the way up the concrete track to hurt the bunch a little deeper. Strong winds on the day made the race even harder, and I could see guys were on the ropes already, and we hadn’t even got to the hard climb yet! I followed Garmin’s Phillip Buys up the steep rocky climb and once down the other side, the only other riders to have made it through this split were Marc Bass(Garmin), Rodger Beuchat(Neotel), Jacques Janse Van Rensburg(DCM), Phillip and myself. I told the guys to roll together as the same break worked the previous year, the gap too big for any other riders or groups to cross.
The only real confusement happened at the halfway mark, where Jacques had taken on bottles, contrary to the pre-race briefing. However after I spoke to the organizers the day before the race, feeding was permitted at the feed zones, but vehicles were not allowed on the route. I think the fact that he had a assistance from the motorbike and took bottles from it, that was following on the course would eventually lead to his disqualification. This was very disappointing as I don’t think it would have changed the result at the end, however these rules will need to be clarified prior to a pre-race briefing in future.
As the race drew on, it started to take its toll, Marc Bass was the first to be eliminated as I bridged a gap to Rodger who was looking good but would soon pay the price for his efforts earlier on. Once we were back onto the district roads, with about 20km to go, I put in a big tempo effort in the same place I have in the past. Only Jacques was able to get onto my wheel, the other two riders trying not to loose us. Once we started to roll through together, it was over for the other two guys though. As we turned under the tar road, I pushed another hard tempo effort and soon had a gap as I passed the final water point. Only 12km remained between myself and winning the race I’ve tried so hard to win in the past. The final 12km was obviously tough, the rough route combined with strong winds from the side and front, as well as an extra 2km at the end took its toll on everyone, including myself. I was going as hard as I could but was never sure if it would be enough, constantly checking over my shoulder for other riders. Only once I reached the bridge over the road, did I finally ease up and enjoy the victory that was a long time coming! Jacques came in a few minutes down in 2nd place, but his disqualification would mean that Phillip Buys(Garmin) would then get 2nd, Nic White(Medscheme) would get 3rd after just passing Rodger Beuchat(Neotel) who was riding on a flat wheel and fatigued legs would land up 4th. 5th place for the day would belong to two time event winner Ben Melt Swanepoel of Specialized.
What a way to end off my mountainbike season, with only two more road races left, I’ll be looking forward to taking some good time out before preparation starts again for the 2010 season with Team MTN/Energade.

Provisional results:
1st Kevin Evans (MTN/Energade) 3hrs32
2nd Phillip Buys (Garmin) 3hrs38
3rd Nic White (Medscheme)
4th Rodger Beuchat (Neotel)
5th Ben Melt Swanepoel (Specialized)

MTN Clarens Marathon, #6

The penultimate leg of the MTN National Ultra Marathon series took place over the weekend in the picturesque town of Clarens. The last time one of the series races was held here was in 2004, and then the race was tough. Now we were back there to race an ultra marathon, over 110km and no one expected it to be easy!
Most of the big teams were there, and being the second last event in the series, riders would still be racing for overall positions. Weather on the morning was cool and overcast, but with heavy afternoon showers the previous two days, the course would have its fair share of slippery sections.
The race started with a 2km neutral zone, and the guys settled into the race as everyone was expecting the course to take its toll later on. Also being up at over 1800m above sea-level, would also make the riding harder. The organizers had set out a true mountain bike marathon, not very far off what you might find in the European Alps! The longer distances went up to about 2000m, where we were racing on slick rock, which appears smooth from far away but is actually really rough and made the going tough on the hard tail. The front group of about 10 riders stayed together until this climb, and it was Garmin’s Phillip Buys, currently wearing the King of the mountain jersey who made good use of his technical skills on a very tricky climb, to get a gap on the group which was splitting into pieces. I was chasing hard, not wanting to give him too much of a gap before the hectic downhill section. Ben-Melt Swanepoel (Specialized) joined me near the top, and from there on we would stay together for the rest of the race.
At the bottom of the descent, Phillip had put 2minutes into Melt and I, with Marc Bass chasing us about another minute behind. Once the technical section was over, Melt and I worked together to start catching Phillip. It took us about 15km to get to him, and he stayed with until about 20km to go. I sensed him taking strain and forced the pace, Melt and I still sharing the work load.
With a uphill finish of about 300m, I gambled on saving my energy for a sprint, and fortunately for me, I had a little more left in the tank to get a gap on Melt in the final 300m, taking my third win in this years series, and securing my 5th consecutive overall marathon series win. This year was special too as MTN have been the title sponsor for the series and was the first year of the new ultra marathon distances. MTN/Energade team mate Adrien Niyonshuti rode really well to take forth place ahead of Francois Theron (Garmin). Buys held onto a well deserved 3rd position.
The next race will be in Hilton, the 50miler, and I have my doubts I’ll be racing there, but for sure I’ll be there to support my team and sponsors.
Provisional results:
1st Kevin Evans (MTN/Energade) 4hrs13:15
2nd Ben-Melt Swanepoel (Specialized) 4hrs13:22
3rd Phillip Buys (Garmin) 4hrs20:22
4th Adrian Niyonshuti (MTN/Energade) 4hrs26:00
5th Francois Theron (Garmin) 4hrs28:23

Pics by Zoon Cronje

The family, photos by Warren Mckay (Kari's boet)

The Raleigh LTD

It's going to be the end of an era for me as I start my last month of racing this weekend. I've been on Raleigh bikes for the past 5years and they've taken me to some amazing places. Although it's time to move on, I do feel a little sad to say good bye to the Raleigh "Probike" stable. They have done an awesome job in being the professional supplier to the MTN Cycling team over the years and myself and Doug have been with them for some time. So just a small thanks and good luck in your new directions. It's good to know there are companies like Probike who support South African Cycling as you guys have.

Herald Newspaper front page picture

Karoo to Coast

Karoo to Coast Mountainbike Challenge

The 11th edition of the classic mountainbike race, The Karoo to Coast took place on Sunday in near perfect conditions for the event. This year would also see a record number of entrants, in excess of two and half thousand riders! And there is only one distance in this event, the grueling 100km, from Uniondale in the Karoo, over the Prince Alfreds pass all the way down to Knysna. The event featured on the Drifter series for a few years, and though it’s not part of a series anymore, it’s great to see a continuous growth in this event. As usual the organization was really good, and everything went like clock work at registration and on the day.
The race is fairly straight forward, apart from the first 15km which goes over the “Ou Wapad” or wagon trail, the rest of the race is on good gravel roads, but with plenty of climbing and fast speeds. I was content to sit back as the race started and see who would make the racing. It was Team GT’s Arno Viljoen who set the tempo up the first climb, followed by team mate and SA XC Elite champion Erik Kleinhans. I decided to ride cautiously down the other side to try and avoid my regular flat wheel in this section. Soon afterwards, the three of us were caught by 2 other riders, C Muller (Maties Cycling) and Dominique Calitz also from the Cape.
After the long descend down the Alfreds Pass, I took over setting the pace on the next climb and soon it was just myself and the GT boys for company. I kept working with them, slowly putting in bigger efforts to begin wearing the guys down. As we traversed from the Karoo into the indigenous forests of Knysna, I managed to ride Arno off as he was tiring from his first hard efforts of the day. Now I was left with Erik who was still looking good. When I won the race in 2005, I did it on the final climb up Gouna, a steep 3km pull before dropping down the last 5km into Knysna and the finish. I threw everything I had left into the last climb, and made a big effort as we started it to get a gap. As soon as I had a gap, I pushed on to extend it as much I could to the top. It was all down from there into Knysna where I had amazing support from all my local supporters who’d come to watch.
It was probably my tenth time in the race, and having only won it once before, it felt really special and ended off a good hard week of training. So I should be ready for my final month of racing coming up, hope to hold the form till then!
Provisional results:
1st Kevin Evans (MTN/Energade)
2nd Erik Kleinhans (GT)
3rd Dominique Calitz

Holidays in Mauritius.. mmm

So we back from our holiday on the Island, was great! Ruby had an awesome time and I got some family quality time in. Ruby found a new favorite drink too! Oops, sorry Kari:)

Now we back in Jozi, I'm racing the Dome to Dome Alphapharm race this Sunday, before returning home for 10days. Been away since I left for Worlds. Looking forward to seeing the whole family, hearing from Dr Evil, running the Saeco slob and riding with the OC's!