The inaugural Bonitas Michaelhouse MTB Festival, one of the new events on the Bonitas Wild Series closed yesterday with over 800 entrants having enjoyed one of the most picturesque and challenging courses to date on the calendar. The 75km Marathon drew a field of just over 200 riders, and the challenging course provided sweeping views of the snow covered Drakensberg and Balgowan Conservancy.
Burry Stander (Mr Price/GT) powered his way to another convincing win, with JP Pearton (Mazda Merida) coming home in second place. David Leihman, a new member of the Mugg and Bean team, powered his way to a respectable third place. Stander made an early move on the first section of single track to open up a two minute gap, but he was later hauled in at the 55km mark by Pearton. The two of them rode together for some 10km, after which the experience and power of Stunder allowed him to break away and claim the crown of the first event winner of the Bonitas Michaelhouse MTB Festival.
In the ladies race, Maverick Momentum’s Tania Raats was in top form as she powered her way to a convincing win. “It was a real challenging course, a proper MTB Marathon”, explained Raats who has just recently returned from riding overseas. “The hills were grinding, especially the last one, but it was a really awesome ride through such a beautiful area”.
The final entry tally reached 800, and the clear skies played host to one of the most successful first time events on the mountain bike calendar. “We have been overwhelmed by the entries we received. To have had some 800 riders enter for this first time event is an amazing achievement”, organiser Stu Berry from Impi Concept Events explained. “Michaelhouse as a race venue is simply ideal, the facilities are outstanding and ample, the field is in top condition, and the surrounding areas provided us with so many options when designing the courses. We have had good feedback from riders, and we now know where we can improve the course for next year.”
The 35km half marathon was also a huge success, drawing some 400 entrants, with the 10km fun ride/walk pulling in an additional 150 young and old riders. “As a first time event, we are over the moon with the support that the mountain biking community has given the event, with all our profits going into conservation within KZN” explained Dr Andrew Venter, CEO of the Wildlands Conservation Trust, the controlling body of the Bonitas Wild Series.
Results will be posted on the race website (www.michaelhousemtb.co.za) from Tuesday morning. The organisers would like to encourage any comments to be submitted via the website so that next years event can be fine tuned and made that much more memorable.
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)