My name is Amber Southern and this is my first year in elite
and my first blog for WXC (a little overdue this one I’m afraid!) It is my
second full year of racing and I try to fit it all in being a full time teacher
and mum to my 3 year old daughter.
The weekend before we flew out to SA at the end of March, I was racing in minus
temperatures and centimetres of snow at the NPS at Sherwood. I’d had a
nightmare race with a punctured tyre and a conversation with a tree which
required stitches afterwards. Least to say, I couldn’t wait to get on that
plane and fly to warmer temperatures to train and race in the SA National round 2, as well as see family. My coach had loaded up my training programme
and I couldn’t wait to hit the trails that I’d spent hours You Tubing (I’m the
queen of procrastinating when it comes to marking!) and I think you’d all agree
that after the weather we’d had recently, the opportunity to ride dusty dry
trails would get anyone slightly giddy!
It was safe to say, I wasn’t disappointed! I rode most days on
a game reserve called Umgeni Valley where I regularly came across zebra,
wildebeest an d giraffe.
The mountain bike community in SA is amazing – everybody was
so friendly and willing to take me out on guided rides. One of those rides was
the most epic I’ve ever been on. It began at 5am in the dark (crazy I know!)
with the head lights on, but what a way to see the SA sunrise. We rode the 15k
too
and from Karkloof, then rode the 30k route there which was amazing. It’s a
natural trail which demanded so much more of the rider – natural rock gardens,
tight corners and trails with different textured grounding. From start to
finish it was all single track and fire road. If SA didn’t have its problems, that would
have converted me to move!! We spent a few days in the Drakensburg Mountains at
a resort we usually stay at which have just recently added in mountain bike
trails – heaven. The resort is 2,500m above sea level, so it was tough on the
lungs and burning on the legs as there was some epic climbing involved.
We also checked out the World Cup course at Cascades on a
number of days.
I decided to rest my leg until the Friday when I got in some
teeth gritting practice laps on the course with my leg strapped up to the max.
I’d come all this way – I was not going to give up! The course was fantastic.
The first 1K was being used for the World Champs XCE and it was made up of a
super fast fire road start, splitting single track, a rock garden then a real
technical section made of rocks, jumps and logs. The rest of the course was
climbing, climbing and more climbing. There was little recovery, but the
descending single track flowed so well and was so much fun to ride. The course
included the Tree House but after the accident a few days earlier, I’d decided
to stick to the B line. There was a decent field for elite and U23. I found
myself on the start line with Marisske Strauss who told me she had never ridden
in snow or felt those kinds of temperatures when she took the win at Sherwood a
couple of weeks previous – wow! Anyway, the start was super fast. I went into
the first bit of single track 9th. The technical section caused a
rider in front of me to crash, and then the rider behind her crashed on top of
her – it’s certainly going to be a crowd pleaser! I managed to stay out of
trouble and move to 7th. I maintained this position throughout the
incredibly fast race, overtaking for 6th place on the final lap. I’d got so used to racing in mud, wet, sluggy
conditions, that this blew my heart rate sky high! I had loads of support from
family and friends and this does really help!
I came in 4th elite and 6th overall
and grabbed my first UCI points. I was happy with that. It was a great way to
end a fantastic holiday!
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