Hill defends his title in spectacular Expedition
The OUTsurance KZN Expedition is a very special ride in a very special part of South Africa. All of the more than 1000 cyclists that took part in the third edition of the event on Sunday were treated to some of the best riding terrain between Pinetown, the Valley of 1000 Hills and Durban.
The Expedition offers something of everything on a route that track builder Devlin Fogg and his crew spent more than a month preparing, resulting in a true masterpiece.
Men’s race winner Andrew Hill (TIB) was full of praise for the event and especially of the route, commenting that it can rival the best in South Africa. “Devlin Fogg did a stunning job and the overall organisation and safety on the day was fantastic,” he said.
Hill claimed the win on a fast and technical race through the Valley of 1000 Hills, out-riding an in-form Shaun Peschel of Marshall World of Sports and technical riding wiz-kid Tyron White.
Hill, returning as the defending champion, rode a solid race from start to finish and used his local knowledge of the route to his advantage.
Hill took control of the race up the first climb, sitting within a big group of riders until the right time came to make his move. The field was not without the top names in the local and national scene and included the likes of Craig Paul (JEEP) and Roan Exelby (Thule/Morewood), both of whom have claimed national podiums in the past.
The first move came from Hill who was tightly marked by White. This came early on the 12km climb out of Giba Gorge towards Hillcrest. The overnight rain had played its part by providing the riders with some tricky muddy riding in patches.
But owing to the diversity in terrain the track became sandier as the riders hit the Valley of 1000 Hills. Luckily the course designers didn’t take the 1000 Hills name to heart and subjected the riders to very few of the valley’s monster inclines.
It was here where Hill made his move from White and pushed hard to break the proverbial elastic band. On a 4km climb at 20km the pair split with Hill moving into 1st place with 50km to go. This proved the decisive move of the race and Hill pushed hard to gain a 3 minute lead going into the last half of the race.
Meanwhile, Peschel was using his endurance and strength to his advantage and started to reel in the top three riders, passing Paul and Exelby with 20km to go. Unfortunately mechanical issues took their toll the 2nd placed White who sliced a tyre in the tight single track below the dam wall.
This allowed Peschel the chance to move into 2nd place and push hard to try and catch the defending champion up front.
But Hill proved too quick for the chaser, finishing in 2:46:52. He crossed the line some 4 minutes ahead of Peschel. White managed to fix the puncture and retain his 3rd place closely followed by Paul and Exelby in 4th and 5th respectively.
The overall race times were incredibly quick this year with the winning time being 15 minutes faster than last year’s. “This can be put down to the track being spectacularly groomed by the organisers,” said Hill.
In the Ladies Race Samantha Oosthuizen claimed over-all victory for a second year running with Amy Jane Mundy and Tammy Taylor rounding off the podium.
As far as the rest of the field is concerned, the riders were clearly delighted. “Thank you so much for organizing such a wonderful ride,” wrote Jenni Manning to the organising committee. “I have taken part in the race for the last three years and still find the route really brilliant and this year the water tables were awesome.
“I am amazed at all the work that was done along the river banks. The police and safety people were also everywhere. All in all it was a wonderful day out. Please extend thanks to all your crew.”
Wade Kershaw, who rode the race with his wife, Melissa, had equally good comments. “Awesome, awesome, awesome! A great race - we will most definitely be back next year,” he said.
For Craig Leat from Burg Wheelers the Expedition isn’t merely a race: “For me it is more than a race; it's an expedition, it's an adventure and it's an exploration of the uniqueness of this lovely province in which I live,” he wrote on the Burg Wheelers website.
He continues: “Imagine for a moment the contrasts that unfolded before me as I journeyed from the Giba Gorge trails and lush riverine bush, through the still slumbering (it was 6:30 am) affluent suburbs of Winston Park and onto the bustling streets of Mkholombe, alive with early morning commuters.
“Within minutes the scene changed again as I dropped down from the urban village into rural Inanda. 15km of remote pedestrian and cattle paths lined with jostling groups of children led down to Inanda Dam.
“The pedestrians paths gave way to surfaced roads and the quality and size of the homesteads improved dramatically. I joined the Umgeni River just downstream of the dam wall and continued my pilgrimage to Durban through areas known to many Duzi paddlers and their seconds.
“I snaked back and forth from left bank to right bank of the river numerous times using vehicle and pedestrian bridges, portaging through the river and even using a high level pipeline bridge.
“The rural scene gave way to industrial areas and I continued my descent toward Blue Lagoon, using riverbank paths, railway service roads and industrial stock yards.
“As quickly as I entered the cramped industrial area the way opened before me again and in moments I was onto the spacious golf course. With a slight detour to avoid riding over the greens, I gave way to my competitive edge and challenge another rider in a sprint to the finish next to the river at the Kingfisher canoe club!
“This is a special event for me because it offers a uniqueness unmatched by other events that I have done and the slogan adopted by the race organisers fits so well: Explore KZN like Never Before.”