What a great day of gravel riding was had by all. Traversing the beautiful Waterberg escarpment was indeed a treat! Well done to all who took part.
We were blessed with lovely cool weather; a stark contrast to the 40+ degree scorcher we had last year! The rains in the week prior to the race were a bonus, helping to compact the surface nicely for gravel riding.The fresh headwinds on the final third of the 130km route, did however, make it feel as though the already- challenging 130km loop was one continuous uphill! Well done to all who conquered that bite of a climb 15km from the finish of the 130 km route.
We had two riders enter this year on gravel bikes instead of their trusted mountain bikes, the encouraging feedback being that the routes are very well suited to gravel bikes on the whole.
By all accounts people loved the new section through Jembisa Private Game Reserve. The feedback has been very positive, and we will be keeping this section as part of the route for next year’s race.
Well done to our overall winners:
130km
-Rohan Du Plooy was in a league of his own in the men’s 130km, winning in an impressive 4h 44m (27km/h).
-Jessica Edwards took the honours for the 130km ladies overall, also in an impressive time of 5h 53m, averaging just under 22km/h. Interestingly, Jess was one of the two entrants who chose to use a gravel bike.
-Our Master Men’s category was super competitive. The first three ‘ballies’ finished in the top seven: a very impressive ride by Awie Hattingh, finishing second overall in a time of 5h16 (24.5km/h), Dobri Stanisavljevic came fourth overall in 5h 39 (22.7km/h), and Johan Joubert, seventh overall in 5h 44 (22.3km/h).
42km
- The men’s 42 km was won by local rider Livingston Banda who took the honours in a time of 1h 37 (26km/h)
- The ladies’ 42km was won by Jolande Marais (who also grew up in the area) in a time of 1h 53m (22km/h)
16km
- Chris Shields made short work of the 16km route, taking the win in a blistering 49min.
A summary of the results is listed below, and a full set of results can be found on:
www.rorevents.co.za
Photos of the day have been uploaded onto an album on our Top of the Waterberg Facebook page.
Each year we run three Top of the Waterberg events. The dates (still to be confirmed) for next year’s events are:
- Trail Run: 22 & 23 April
- Mountain Bike: 15 July
- Gravel event : 28 October
Diarise these dates! We can’t wait to see you all back next year.