Dirty Harry MiWay Half Marathon Set To Be A Humdinger

Press Release : Adventurance Media

If mountain biking had been a betting sport, the ‘safe money’ would be on riders from Mr Price/Scott to win the men’s, as well as the women’s races of the MiWay Half-marathon Junior SA Championships in Harrismith on Saturday.

At the MiWay ½ Marathon in Induna, the previous race in the MiWay-series, Mr Price/Scott’s three musketeers totally dominated.  Caitlin de Wet won the women’s race and James Reid and Arno du Toit came respectively first and second in the men’s race.

De Wet is unbeaten so far and she is leading in the women’s category, while Du Toit, who has won the Chandelier Race, is the leader in the men’s series.

Reid can be considered to be one of South Africa’s most successful cyclists at the moment. Last year he finished 3rd overall in the South African u.16 tour.  Subsequently he decided that he needed more of a challenge and switched from being a ‘roadie’, to being a mountain biker. He is the reigning South African champion and in July he became the African Cross-country junior champion as well.

‘At the moment cross-country racing is all that really matters to me. In three weeks’ time I am off to Australia to represent South Africa at the World Championship. It is really important for me to do well there. But I still enjoy competing in the odd marathon.’

If one reads Reid’s blog, it is obvious that mountain biking is really his first priority.

He writes: “ I am an ordinary kid involved in an extraordinary sport. My world is one of pain and success.  Mountain biking is the toughest sport out there. A race consists of roughly two lung-busting, leg-punishing hours of pain, and only the strongest survive. Ok, maybe that's a bit over-dramatic, but I am the type who would gloss things over. I enjoy a good clean, solid race, and I live for competition. I have always been competitive from a very young age, and I draw inspiration from small things every day. On a mountain bike, the challenge is tougher and the routes are harder than on a road bike. Follow my progress throughout the year... (dramatic pause)... for a journey of pain and fun, and a teenage view on life in South Africa!”

According to Reid, Burry Stander (Specialized), who can be considered to be the “Godfather” of the Mr Price/Scott-team, has had a major influence on his cycling career.

“The most important thing I have learned from Burry so far is that, if you think you are doing enough training, you are in all probability over-training. When you become worried about the amount of training you are doing, that is when you are just doing it right. One of the most common problems for many of us youngsters, is that we over-train.”

Reid said this was the first year that he competed in the Dirty Harry.

‘Things did not work out well for me. I got away with Bryce Munro and was feeling very good.  But then, when it really mattered, my bicycle’s chain broke. Being without a sponsor at that stage, it meant that the race was over for me.

‘Hopefully it won’t happen again. In short, my race plan for Saturday will be to make the racing hard from the beginning. When we get to the big climb, I will try to make it even harder. Hopefully Arno and I will get to the top first and then we will work together to the finish.  But if riders from any other team are still with Arno and me after the climb, I will have to see if I can get away on my own.’

Shaun Silver, Ruan Pretorius and Petri van Jaarsveld will be some of the other riders to watch on Saturday. Pre race favourite Rourke Croeser (DCM Chrome) won’t be competing in the MiWay half-marathon race.

“The World Cross Country Championship in Australia is just too important to me. I have explained that to Ian van der Walt, DCM Chrome’s team owner, and he totally supports me.

“That is why I will be doing the 75 kilometre race. Not only is it longer but it is going to be harder and that is what I need at the moment.

“What is exciting about the 75km-race is the fact that we start the same time as the top professional riders. My goal will be to see for how long I can keep up with them.”