Buys Like A Moth To The Flame When It Comes To Mountains

Race Report : News Center

In Philip Buys’ opinion there are many ways to climb a mountain and he seems set to give all of them a try and living a life less ordinary. The MTN Hilton 50 Miler was the final event in the MTN National Series for 2009 and Philip Buys ended the season on a high for his Garmin adidas team by claiming the win.

Buys rode a brilliant race from start to finish and won convincingly. His win catapulted him into second place on the series final rankings behind series winner Kevin Evans from MTN Energade. Worth mentioning is that the Garmin adidas team finished with 3 in the top 5 on the series final standings only missing Mister African Mannie Heymans who missed a few races due to a broken elbow.

Like a moth to a flame Francois Theron and Philip Buys (Garmin adidas) can’t resist the challenges mountains offer.

For them it is not enough just to cycle or run to the top of mountains. They needed another challenge and started rock climbing.

The past weekend on the Buys’s family farm in the Weenen district of KwaZulu-Natal Theron and Buys had first opportunity to put to practice what they have been taught by a friend

According to Theron it was really a different challenge.

“We were climbing a 15 meter cliff which can be quite nerve wracking. I realize now that in rock climbing you can’t afford to make any mistakes. One stupid move could lead to you falling quite a few meter and that is not going to be good for the human body.

“So you have to be really focused the whole time and think before you do. I did not realize that you also need to be really fit to climb a cliff. Your upper body take huge strain.”

Theron made it clear that the weekend’s rock climbing expedition is definitely not their last.

“We are going to make the most of our time off our bike’s to master the arts of rock climbing. We have just got to find out where all the nice cliffs are. But climbing a rock wall  is also a nice challenge. I did not realize that there are so many climbing routes you can do on just one wall. You basically create a new challenge for yourself every time you climb.”

The past weekend was actually a weekend of first’s for Theron because during MTN’s 50 Miler-event at Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal he experienced what is to be just a spectator at a mountain bike race.

It could be said that Theron fulfilled the role of  Buys’s “trompoppie” during the MTN 50 Miler shouting words of encouragement to his teammate, giving him time gaps and taking action photo’s.

“It was nice to have seen mountainbiking from another perspective but it is certainly not something I would get used to. I want to be where the action is and that certainly is not riding in a bakkie or standing next to the route.   But it was nice to see how Philip managed to increase his lead kilometer for kilometer.

“And it was sort of special when the organizers consulted with me when it temperature soared to 35 degrees as to whether or not they should stop the ultra-marathon or just make it shorter.”

It was decided to shorten the race to 75 kilometers.

One thing that is clear is that Buys and Theron are living the Garmin brand and living a life less ordinary.