Magaliesburg...Where legends are born and rediscovered. This past weekend 12 of Paul Roos' best mountainbikers had only one challenge in front of them: to defend their title as South Africa’s best mountainbike team. The team consisted of Hendrik Venter, Matthew Lombardi, Stephan Senekal, Harrie Malan, Michael Lord, Daniel Binedell, Jannes Buijs, Stian Venter, Dean Morgan, Willem Marais, Gerben Draaijer and Johan Pretorius. Our manager was the famous old boy Hanno ‘Tjop’ Lategan.
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| Harrie Stander getting em shoes polished |
With bikes packed and checked in on Kulala flight MN458 the team first went for lunch at Mugg and Bean and almost ate their whole food supply. Next on the agenda was the ol classic shoe shining parlour where our school shoes were shined to the brim , because you know we as mountainbikers must look the part...We boarded the plane and left a cold and rainy Cape Town and were welcomed to a sunny although very small Lanseria Airport.This was received with smiles all over, we were tired of the wet and muddy conditions of the Cape. The boys were so anxious to get their bikes that they cleanly forget about their other luggage, but after a 5 minute wait all was well again and we were reinstated with our bikes .
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| The packed bus ride to Bekker School |
Our transport from Lanceria Airport to Bekker High School , where the Spur Finals would be held, came somewhat as a suprise...a 1900’s something bus drove us at a walking pace to our final destination and what was to be our accomodation for the weekend “Bekker hostel”. Not even 5 minutes and the riders were already unpacking their bikes and getting to know their fellow competitors. With the bikes assembled and ready to shred some track we went for a few test laps of the track. We were pleasantly suprised by the amount of singletrack and technical sections - which the boys loved! The track had a bit of everything ; flowing corners, tight turns and a challenging rocky uphill. There were no major climbs whatsoever and with only 50 meters of climbing per lap some fast powerlaps were expected! The last training lap was ended with
Gangnam style blasting out of Krullie’s shox speakers and showing that our “Gees” was still with us. The day ended with a carbo-loading pasta dinner ensuring we had the energy we needed for the day to follow.
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| Steph showing his skills |
That night we anxiously turned in our beds, with thunderstorms crashing down (something we are not used to at all) and the heavens making sure that every droplet of rain fell on Magalies - our hopes of a dry track were shattered. Saturday morning dawned upon us…Race day was finally here! We were woken by the local alarm, the Songo Info team making sure we were up and ready for the day that lay ahead. At 7o’Clock sharp breakfast was served and the news came that the schedule would be delayed by an hour . Hendrik Venter was competing at half past 9 in the sub junior category, and as luck would have it, there was a collision at the start which led to Hendrik starting last, but this only motivated him to finish in a respective 22nd place. Next up was the youth boys, and after a gruelling 5 laps Matthew Lombardi took second place, with Stephan Senekal following closely in 3rd. Things were beginning to look good for PRG mountainbiking. The big event, the Junior Men was fiercely contested by Jannes Buijs and Dean Morgan. Jannes had a very strategic race and after a sprint finish Jannes took first place with Dean Morgan in fith position.
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| Hendrik Venter going full gas |
The Team Relay was next and Paul Roos, consisting off three teams domininated again. PRG A – Jannes Buijs, Dean Morgan, Stephan Senekal and Matthew Lombardi finished in first, showing incredible powerlaps! Second place went to PRG B – Harry Malan, Gerben Draaijer, Daniel Binedell and Michael Lord with the C (Gees) team not far behind. In last event of the day, the Managers/ Teachers/ Parents race, where they rode one lap of the course, Hanno Lategan our manager came in second and Oom Corrie taking third showing that the old men still has it, winning the legend: Mannie Heymans who came in 5th ;)
The day ended with Paul Roos being crowned as The National Boys' School Champions for the second year running. After the three-course dinner the boys took things slow on the sportfield. We were greeted by a few other schools, with Dean Morgan showing some interest in a Montana Rider, but that is a story for another day…
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| The boys enjoying their Spur burgers |
Sunday morning loomed upon us with a sunny and warm day ahead of us. We all kitted up, and went down to the start of the last event: the inter-provincials race. In the Junior Men race, Meurant Botha put R200 (out of his own wallet) down for the first rider, after one lap, at the Ama Rider banner. This insured that it was full gas from the start and Jannes Buijs managed to take the "hot spot" prize, and also managing a third place in the Junior Men race. After that everyone settled down to a well deserved Spur burger, chips and a cool drink hamper. The weekend was ended on another high with the Western Cape winning the inter-provincial race, thus becoming the best Schools Mountainbiking province in South-Africa. The boys packed their bikes eager to get back home, and got on the bus to be taken to Lanceria airport. The flight deck restaurant served us well, we checked in, and took off for Cape Town. After a hard weekends racing, Paul Roos Gymnasium’s MTB team, went home for a much deserved recovery.
We thank each and every PRG MTB supporter out there for all the help with the Spur league and helping to contribute to an amazing year! Also a huge thank you to Spur and Amarider for making all of this possible by investing time and money into the future of South African Mountainbiking! Keep an eye on our
Facebook and
Twitter accounts for the video of the weekend. - Willem Marais
Results of Paul Roosers:
Sub junior boys:
22nd Hendrik Venter
Youth Men:
2nd Matthew Lombardi
3rd Stephan Senekal
8th Harrie Malan
14th Michael Lord
61th Daniel Binedell
Junior Men:
1st Jannes Buijs
5th Dean Morgan
22nd Willlem Marais
30th Gerben Draaijer
35th Johan Pretorius
Click here for the full results.
Here is some more pics for your viewing pleasure: (Shot by Hanno Lategan & Corrie Muller)
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| Steph ready for the flight |
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| Matt and his bike bag... |
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| Matt in full flight |
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| Harrie and Matt at the start |
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| Matt and Steph winning the sprint |
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| Junior Men podium |
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Western Cape - The best MTBing Schools
Province in SA |
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| Youth Men podium |
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| PRG - The best MTBing School in SA |
For more photo's of the weekend check out the album on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4185372626273.2168844.1043244947&type=1
