Riding For Garmin adidas Has Its Advantages

Race Report : News Center

Philip Buys experienced that on Saturday during Nissan’s Down and Dirty Elite Race over 60 kilometres in Centurion.

Early during the race, Buys was not focused and he just followed the other riders with whom he was riding in front. This was a serious mistake because they unwittingly took a wrong turn which led them in a totally wrong direction.

Luckily, his Garmin Edge 705 saved the day for Buys.  After three kilometres of hard racing, Buys looked at the readings on his Garmin.  He instantly realised that they were going in the wrong direction. Without giving it another thought, he immediately turned back.  He had his work cut out to reach the front again because he had to negotiate his way through a number of back markers who were on single-track sections.

But once he reached the front, there was no way of stopping Buys.

“I decided that I would just continue to make the pace hard, because I had nothing to lose. I really enjoyed the race. The best part was the section through the eucalyptus trees. The trail was criss-crossing through the trees which meant that I had to keep my wits about.”

By winning the Down and Dirty, Buys completed a hat trick of victories in the Nissan-series. He had also won the Tygerpoort Valley Race as well as the Diamond Rush in Cullinan.

Bryce Munro (DCM) finished 2nd and Shaun-Nick Bester (Cyclelab-Toyota) was 3rd.

According to Munro, they realised quite early during the race that Buys was on a mission of his own.

“That is why we decided to let him go and have his own race, while the rest of us battle it out for the 2nd place. Shaun-Nick and I and a few other riders were working well together during the greater part of the race.

“With a few kilometres to go, I realised that Shaun-Nick was the rider to beat.  So I made sure that there was never a big gap between us. The last kilometre turned out to be a big sprint between him and me which I managed to win.”

Saturday’s result is basically a repeat of what had happened in Cullinan with Buys winning and Munro second.

Munro is far from despondent about finishing second again.

“After being sick during most of the winter, it is exciting for me to be so consistent again when I race.  I can feel that I am getting stronger every week and hopefully, if I can stay consistent, I might still have a few good results before the year is over.”

Images courtesy of MIH photography