Close

June 9, 2014

RECM Day 3: Harkeville Happiness

IMG_3088

Indigenous Knysna forest, coastal views, prime singletrack, minimal climbing and a high speed Enduro section. All of these ingredients put together created an awesome recipe for the final day of the RECM 200. The riders all lined up in the Harkeville forests with smiles on their faces after a very fun past 2 days’ riding ready to make the final dash of 58km back to Knysna which included just 850m of climbing.

Once again we rode off the front of the race 5km from the start, and with solo riders Dominc Calitz and Knysna local Vernon Moos for company we began what turned into a high speed dash through some incredible terrain. The course wound its way in and out of the indigenous forest with some rolling climbs, magnificent views of the ocean and some pretty fun singltrack along the way. The high speed of the day’s route meant that we covered the Kilometres quickly and before we knew it we were just 12km from the finish.

It was at this point where the drama happened. Nico noticed Dominic was hurting a little bit, and on the last climb we pushed the pace which gave us a 30 second gap heading into the Enduro section down the grass ridge. We absolutely nailed the section with Nico eventually beating me by 0.01 of a second (Come on!). We worked well together on the tar roads back into Knysna and came across the finish line alone for the first time in 3 days to take the overall victory! Dominic wheelied over the line 4 seconds behind us, while poor Vernon ground over the line 20 minutes behind us with no front tyre! Unfortunately for him he had cut his tyre really badly, and that was the next best option. Nice work!

Pinning the Enduro section just ahead of Nico.

Pinning the Enduro section just ahead of Nico.

With that drew to a close 3 awesome days of racing. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, better people, better food or a better place to ride in. Garden Route events have pulled together an amazing event, and with RECM as title sponsors committed for the the next 3 years I can definitely see this race growing into something big! Sitting back in Cape Town in the cold while writing this post watching it rain outside makes me long for yesterday.

A huge thanks must go out to the organisers for giving us the opportunity to ride, as well as my parents for hosting us up there, sponsors and the special people who made this weekend a success.

Keep it rubber side down.