BICYCLING
Words: Sarah Kobal | Photos: Zoon Cronje
Nissan Trailseeker Behind the scenes
#3
The NISSAN Trailseeker #3 took place on the Van Gaalens Cheese Farm, in Skeerpoort, Gauteng on a sweltering Saturday, 14 September 2013.
Johan Rabie riding right on Gawie Combrinck's tail.
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Gawie Combrinck taking the NISSAN Trailseeker #3 title.
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In an unexpected time of 2 hours 55 minutes and 47 seconds,
Gawie Combrinck took the NISSAN Trailseeker Van Gaalens' title with great pleasure.
Johan Rabie persevered with a broken pedal too claim second place, followed by Nico Bell in third. “It was a very tough race; it started off with a bang as my teammate, Nico, rode everyone to bits in the first half,” Combrinck explained. “Halfway through he had a puncture, but because we had created a really good gap from the rest of the riders, we managed to keep it until the end and win it.” Christine Jansen van Rensburg claimed the Women's title in a time of 3 hours 40 minutes and 43 seconds, followed by Janine King in second and Lise Olivier in third. The Van Gaalens NISSAN Trailseeker was the third race in the five-part series. The 3,000 participants that entered had a choice of four distances that ranged in difficulty: the 66.1 km, 35.6 km, 17.3 km or 8.54 km mountain bike races. The terrain was arid farmlands, with many rocky technical areas along the route. The main features of this race included hand-built trails, bridges, cattle tracks, 4x4 trails, and dirt roads, but the highlights were the water bridges because cyclists had to ride across a floating bridge on the water. These trails consisted of extreme climbs, technical descents, and plenty of single track sections. It was no picnic regardless of which trail you chose.
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A participant who is crossing the main water bridge.
When putting an event of this magnitude together, one often never realises the extent of the work that goes on behind the scenes.
There’s the organisers who put in endless hours to ensure that the event runs as seamlessly as possible. And on the day, there’s the medical team who are there throughout the long day to make sure that any injuries are effectively dealt with. At this event, there were eight people on the medical team, spread out over the route, ready to bring relief to any injured cyclists. And if there were any serious incidents, there was an ambulance on hand at each medical team’s post. Although there are provisions for a helicopter, if need be, no helicopters have been necessary so far in the NISSAN Trailseeker Series. Wiets Botes, one of the medics, explains, “I'm not very worried about the first 50 guys who come past [the water bridge], but the ones who come after them aren’t as prepared or skilled as the professionals, so they are the ones you need to watch. Some competitors decide a few days before the race to enter and just wing it, which can be dangerous as they aren’t very prepared.”
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Cyclists persevering along the Trailseeker track.
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Jasper van der Westhuizen, a participant I met in the medical tent, had a bad fall due to tiredness and riding too quickly on a very rocky section in the 35.6 km race. Even though van der Westhuizen lost his left arm to cancer in 2004, this hasn’t stopped him from having a positive outlook on life and going about his everyday activities, sailing, and entering competitions, like the Argus. In 2008, he took up mountain biking and has designed his bike in such a way that it makes it possible from him to cycle, and competitively at that, in mountain biking races. One of the changes was moving his left bike brake to the right side, so that he can use both breaks with his right hand when need be. “You need a lot of skill to ride and because of losing my arm, I have to concentrate a lot more, which makes you tired a lot faster,” says van der Westhuizen.
The NISSAN Trailseeker #4 will be held on
the 5 October 2013 at Hakahana, near Hartbeespoort.
The number of participants has been reduced from 3,000 to 2,500 to keep control of the bottlenecking when some of the paths from different race distances cross each other, as well as to ensure the safety of the riders when passing each other. So if you haven't registered yet, do it soon before you lose out on this challenging, yet fantastic mountain biking event. •
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