Mild temperatures and Alpine-like landscapes made for an idylic weekend of racing!
Wikipedia will tell you that the Jonkershoek mountains are home to leopard, caracal, klipspringer, baboon, honey badger and mongoose, however, all but the baboons are very secretive. Birdlife include kingfisher, black eagle, fish eagle, spotted eagle-owl, sugarbirds, orange-breasted sunbirds and protea seedeaters. On any given weekend you’ll also find bunches of Endurance and Gravity mountain bikers enjoying the outdoors and some of the countries finest single-track. Last weekend however, the mountains were swarming with another kind of wild – the not so elusive or secretive – Downhill Racer.
Welcome back to Jonkershoek.The ever-improving Neo Dekker gets an early morning sighting lap in.Riding on home trails Roxy “Gucci” Baynes hustled up her maiden win in the Elite Women category. Bravo!
After a slow Track Roll on Saturday morning to take a good look at the taping and features, the hundred strong field of riders began to up the pace and work on their race lines.
It was good to see Sven Etsebeth back between the tape — and ripping — after a recent injury.New Dad Michard Meets said he ‘only had about five hours sleep’ the night before the race. Cat-like reactions helped him save this off track excursion to place a credible third overall. #UndercoverPinner A 15-minute hike gets spectators to the road gap where action awaits.
A dry and somewhat hardpack track soon rutted and roughed up a little. However, the weekend-long classic Cape autumn weather ensured mostly sublime track conditions for the riders this weekend.
12-year-old Tom Foerster took the win in the competitive Sprog Boys category.Jonah Gray, riding his new bike looked fast and composed all weekend.
From its inception, this SRAM Western Cape DH Series has always been organized with a specific goal in mind: to promote the sport and foster new talent in the region. Dedicated to the cause is a crew of volunteers who run the committee. They take care of the many elements that go into organizing a Downhill race. Things like the timing system, the marshals, medics, shuttle vehicles and drivers, food trucks, course taping, sponsor and partner liason, venue negotiations – the list of things to do just to hold a race like this is really endless.
Always entertaining, the affable Waldo de Wet was 0.6 seconds off the win in the Sub-Vet class.Lian De Jager on the charge.19-year-old Philip van Schwalkwyk is a young man on a mission. No doubt the slim (0.8 second!) deficit to the mighty Theo Erlangsen this weekend will fuel the fire in Philip.In the middle section of the track, this series of jumps and rollers demands precision — Tom Foerster obliges, with style to boot. The shredder from Switzerland Janis Lehmann, on the gas in the super fast lower section.
What is most impressive with this grass roots racing series is the overall level of professionalism involved. Thanks to the committee, the weekend runs incredibly smoothly. I mean, in my time I’ve been to many international races that haven’t always run smoothly. Late starts, delays, long shuttle lines are seldom seen here in the Western Cape. To everyone involved with the running of the event, I say take a bow. You guys do an incredible job.
10-year-old Levi Ulyate, on the rails.The progress is real! Under the constant guidance and tuition from her father, 16-year-old and Youth Women SA Champ Tricia Rossouw is looking visibly faster every time we head to the races. Samuel Courts looking for traction on the top section of the track.Clinton Nosworthy on a heater for the win in Sub-Vets.Dale Barnard snuck in another win in the Masters Men category.A rare image of Matt van Rosenveld with both wheels on the ground — almost.Pieter Rossouw has a new bike and a lot of pace. He opted out of racing on Sunday but I bet he’ll be a threat to all the age group racers at the next round.
Regarding the little shredder categories, it’s very impressive to see how many riders are entering the younger age groups as these events. It bodes well for the future of Downhill in the region and in SA.
13-year-old Luke Futter has already been shredding for many years and has a very distinct (and rad!) style. P10 in the very competitive Sub Junior Boys class this weekend for Luke.Myndert Laubscher’s move from a Trail bike to a Downhill bike coincided with him working hard on his fitness. The result: seventh place in the overall this weekend. Keep up the good work bru!Eyes on the prize there Myndert.
As always, the standard of racing in the categories is impressive and this weekend the times were very tight. It’s a very competitive racing scene with none of the categories dominated by a run-away winner.
Zander Du Plessis was the fastest Junior this weekend and is also a rider who is making impressive gains at every race. Did you see his Bike Check? The fastest Physio in Stellenbosch Jeanie De Villiers shows no fear.59-year-old Christo van den Heever living his best life as the most *experienced rider in the field this weekend. 34th overall out of 97 riders ain’t half bad bru. William Nelson was an unstoppable force in the Sub Junior Boys category this weekend. Excellent win young man.Absolutely working all of the speed out of every inch of the track is Luca Zietsman. It paid off with an eventual third in Junior Men this weekend.Zak Jones has also moved to a Downhill bike and I’m happy to report hasn’t lost any of the moves. This guy can ride!Always a pleasure having the professionals taking part at regional racing here in the Western Cape. This time it was Theo Erlangsen who dazzled the crowds with crazy speeds and shapes all weekend. Next stop for Theo — Europe and the World Cups. Stay tuned for his Bike Check video, dropping soon.
In the end it was the World Cup and Free Race superstar Theo Erlangsen who took the win and Tricia Rossouw with the fastest time of all the women.
All images courtesy Chris Taylor | *Click to enlarge
Looking for racing images? Purchase yours from the official photographer of the SRAM WC DH Series, Chris Taylor on info@christaylorphotography.co.za
Yea Duran. Yes yes yes!
Click here to see the full results. The next round is scheduled for the 18th and 19th of May, at Zevenwacht Wine Estate. See you all there! //
