The annual SA Downhill Champs was held at Contermanskloof, Cape Town. This was my first national event for the year, as I didn`t compete in the African Continental Champs, and I was eager to see how I performed against the other riders, and see if all my training and effort will pay off. I flew down on Thursday everning, and arrived later that night. My team mate Kyle had walked the course already, and told me a bit about it, so I was super keen to check it out and ride it.
Fridays practice was very hot, and there was no shade on the track what so ever, and pretty much none at the end either. I caught a shuttle up the track, so that I could walk it and see it for myself. The track was amazing, with lots of switchbacks on the steep top part, leading into a road gap, and then into some fast sections with rock gardens and a few jumps near the finish. I only managed to get one practice run in after that because of the extremely long shuttle. I was a bit disappointed about that, but I had done everything on the track so I could use Saturday to get my lines dialled in.
Saturdays practice went much better than Fridays for me, firstly because I got more runs in, and secondly because the track was so much fun once you got to know it a bit better. The first shuttle of the day did take rather long, but huge thanks to Morne for giving us shuttle up for the rest of the day. Ended off the afternoon with a good trip to the beach.
Sunday morning arrived, and the nerves started to kick in. I just wanted to get to the event and get on the Morewood and ride! Thankfully Sunday morning was overcast, and so the one practice run that I did do, I was nice and cool the whole way down. I relaxed untill my seeding run.
My seeding run went well. I got the top section absolutely dialled except fot the first corner, where I had to put a foot out, but I knew I could push much harder on the bottom half of the track. I posted a seeding time of 2:36sec, which seeded me third in Juniors. One thing I wasn`t sure of though, was whether the track would hold up after everybody`s seeding runs, because it was so dry and the corners were getting ripped up.
It was then time for my race run. I was hoping that I could get the top section pinned and have no mistakes there. Unfortunately that didn`t happen, and I ended up unclipping and putting my foot out in about three corners, which I think were costly mistakes. After those hick-ups, my run went absolutely perfectly, and I got all my lines dialled. I hit the last table, and then sprinted flat out to the finish line. I posted a time of 2:35.17secs which put me in second Junior. There were only two more juniors left to come down the track. One of them being my team mate Kyle Davids. My time was just faster than Kyles, and I held onto second. The last junior rider came down the track, and had a faster run than I did, so I ended up 3rd in the Junior category and 18th overall. I am super stoked with my result!
A huge thanks must go out to the race organisers for putting on this event, and to all the people who helped out. My Morewood worked like an absolute dream, thanks to Grant and Matt from Adrenaline. I really appreciate all the help!
Photos: Radiate Sports Photography- Stephanie Davies
