The quality of the race venues and caliber of racers seems to get better and better each and every year. And this year’s second sprint race proved to be no different.
120 teams lined up at the start of what was to be a fast and furiously contended event. Big name teams such as Giant/Salomon, New Balance, Cyclelab and Jeep jostled for prime starting position, while other, less competitive teams out for a big of Sunday morning fun milled about at the back, waiting for the start of the race.
At promptly 9am, 250 sets of feet set off on a mad run around the Oak Valley Estate rugby and soccer pitch for an 800m dash. This served as a “seeding system” of sorts in order to prevent bottlenecks on the up and coming mountain bike leg.
The start of the mountain bike leg proved problematic for some teams who ignored/didn’t see the first turning marker and they charged off up a tarred road that was not part of the course. Everyone soon realized their mistakes and charged back down the hill to continue on the correct path. Tempers flared and chaos reigned for a while as top teams got stuck behind the leisurely riders for the first 250 meters of windy single track.
A special mention must go out to Pieter Visser and his team at Oak Valley estate for the construction of a sublime mountain biking trail. The route proved to be one of speedy single track, awesome forested sections and a few nasty leg sapping climbs. Right in the middle of the cycle, teams had to abandon their bikes and complete a mandatory 150m tube crossing on one of the farm dams. This proved to be a welcome cool off for some teams and a hindrance to others. The water leg done, teams shot off downhill to complete the 3km trail run/scramble and kloofing section.
Once again the route proved to be problematic for some of the top teams who all decided that they would be taking a shortcut through the forest instead of complete the full course. Time penalties were imposed on all who were guilty.
The running leg was a flat, shady leg with some clambering in and out of a small stream that ran through the farmlands. Once again this proved to be a welcoming respite from the heat of the day.
All in all a fantastic days racing was had by everyone. Look our for the up coming 3rd and final race in the 2008 Quantum Adventures Sprint series.
The following from Team Jeep
“I just want to thank you for the most awesome race on Sunday – Ronel really enjoyed it and I think the venue was amazing. Besides our small mistake on the run, the rest of the route was great.
I don’t know if you can forward this to the people at Oak Valley but a Huge thanks to them – WOW, they rally made an awesome MTB route. Well worth the day out.
