Riders battled through tricky conditions at the final race of the season in Paarl. Up for grabs? – provincial championships, provincial colours and pride.
For those who missed it, more than half of the Paarl DH track is new and with that comes plenty of dust, loose dirt and new lines to learn. The builders – a mix of local volunteers and The Trails Crew did fantastic work to reroute the track to make better use of the available space and avoid the section of the mountain that had recently been felled.
Whilst the top section of the track received some mending, the lines were pretty much the same as in years gone by. However, with the repair work, higher corner speeds were possible which translated into faster riding up top. Amongst the best of the best, speeds were visibly higher than I’ve ever seen in Paarl. Even faster than that one time when a certain Aaron Gwin was riding the track, testing tyres for Bontrager, many many years back. I kid you not.
From just before midway, there’s a new jump line (should we call it Anaheim? – done!) and the challenge here was to keep the speed high and bike low without blowing a lung out – yes, some pedaling is required to carry speed here. Then, as the gradient increased, riders faced a series of huge natural rock features to pick their way through, powdery turns that required a deft touch and the last leg burning sprint to the line.
However, challenge is what this crew live for and the hot and gusty conditions on race day did nothing to deter the spirits of the largest ever start list. Downhill is great again and the youth categories know it – something we have a super efficient volunteer committee to thank for.
To the racing then, a two race run format would apply, with the first being a seeding run for the final that decides who the 2025 champions are. Here’s a snippet of the action, captured by race photographer Chris Taylor and captioned with my impressions and insights of it all.
Incredibly, there were 31 riders in the Sub-Junior Boys category. This is Kai van Rensburg, styling to a solid 16th place in this very competitive category.Jenna Byrnes goes huge on the jump line and finishes second in Elite Women.Christeleigh Bruwer applying precision through a powdery double rock drop.Jake van Schoor turns down for another win in Youth Men and an incredible, sixth overall.Rico Steinfurth, always on control and rallied to fifth in Elite Men on the day.Nate Astbury, took the win in the Nipper Boys category.Luc Rossouw put down another very impressive ride taking the win in the Sub Junior Boys by over 4 seconds.Xavi Gomes, running it home for 8th overall and 2nd in Junior Men.One of the quickest kids in the country, Lian De Jager finished 3rd in Youth Men and 11th overall. Very impressive riding all weekend.Anne Cramer is one of many Namibians who regularly compete in the Western Cape.Cheri Rossouw of the ‘Paarl Rossouw’ clan partly responsible for rebuilding the track told me she had fun all weekend but the track was tricky.Always fast, always smiling, Sven Etsebeth floats over the roots.Committed, calm and collected, Pieter Venter took the win in the Junior Men race.Ethan Hunter was once again in the mix and ended third, just 3 seconds off the win. Benjamin Nash emptied the tank in the pedaling and kept it safe in the techy bits for a win in the Sprog Boys category. Days after finishing the World Cup season as Lines Coach for the YT Mob, Johann Potgieter lined up in Paarl for a go. He said he lacked a bit of bike time but enjoyed the weekend. P4 for the legend.Look out for some announcements on his youth camps coming this December. Literally couldn’t believe the speed of Frankie du Toit this weekend. First in Elite Women and 18th overall – nice riding you.Lovely lazy moto-style whip for Theo Erlangsen during practice. I can tell you there was nothing lazy about his race run – the track speed and aggression from the big lad was impressive. Nobody had answers for this guy. Matt Lombardi was as clinical as can be taking the win in Elite Men and putting 2-seconds into the next best time. Nice one Matt!
