The Surname Of A Mountain Biker
Can Sometimes Be Very Misleading

Race Report : Advendurance Media

Take Shaun Silver for example. There was nothing ‘silver’ about his performance during Sunday’s MTN Blockhouse MiWay Half-marathon (40km).  In fact, it was a ‘pure gold’ performance when Shaun outrode his rivals in the last technical kilometres to win.

It was the third time, during five outings in the series, that Silver managed to finish on the podium.  But nothing beats standing on the top-most step of the podium.  Sunday’s victory puts Silver in an excellent position to become the overall winner of the series.

Silver (no sponsor) is at the moment definitely one of the most improved riders, considering the fact that he has only been cycling seriously for about the past two years.  Watch this space …. as the saying goes.

What makes Silver’s performance even more remarkable, is the fact that he punctured after about 25 kilometres of racing.  For a lesser rider, it could have been ‘game over’ on a flat road such as the Blockhouse event.

Silver admits that he stressed a little, but then he decided “bugger this, I will be back”.

“I think about eight riders passed me while I was fixing my puncture. When I got back onto my bike, I just put my head down and pedalled like never before until I caught up with the guys again.  Then it was just a case of waiting for the right moment to attack.”

Lourens Luus (Tuff Stuff) finished 2nd and Thys Koekemoer (Club Circus) 3rd.

Luus, who is from Sabie, had only one complaint after the race.

“The deciding moment came during the last kilometre. That was when the serious sprinting began. Things nearly turned very bad when two riders crashed, but I had no time to worry about them.  For me it was a matter of all or nothing.  My real handicap occurred at the final jump, just before we had to go around a corner to sprint for the line.

“I lost a bit of control. The back wheel of my bike started to slide out from under me as I hit the ground.  The second it took me to regain control of my bike, made the difference between winning and finishing second.  But, well done to Shaun.  He deserves his victory.”

Ms ‘MiWay’ is a title that the 17 year old Caitlin de Wet (Mr Price/ Scott) can surely claim as hers.  Of the five races in the MiWay series, she won four and she finished 2nd  once.  She is well on her way to a third overall victory in the series.

De Wet had a quite bad health scare in May, when the doctors diagnosed here with a heart virus.

“Luckily, it is now something of the past.  Actually I should not complain.  Being sick could be seen as a blessing in disguise,  because it gave me time to finish my matric exams.  Now I can afford to focus only on how to become a better mountain biker.  Actually, I will have to do some really hard training, because in December, when I am going to do the Sabie Experience with my dad, Rudi, I will have to race very hard

“But I have to make sure that he also trains hard.  He is the one who will have to help me to get to the top of the mountains in double quick time.”

Claudia von Tuschek finished 2nd.  

Photo credit: Zoon Cronje