Local riders up against fierce competition

Following an exciting 2014 season, fierce competition marked the national finals of the Spur High School Mountain Bike League that was hosted at Bekker School in Magaliesburg on 4 and 5 October.

Louis Trichardt High School was well represented at the final, with a total number of five local high school riders forming part of the 13-riders Limpopo high school team. The five local riders were Richard Lambert, Douglas Archer (completing his year as rider for High School Louis Trichardt, although he now studies at Ridgeway College), Heine de Jager, Charne Labuschagne and Turner de Swart.

A record number of 355 riders representing the cream of high school mountain bike riders from 69 schools across South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe competed in the two-day event. Up against such fierce competition, it was only Richard Lambert who could secure a top-10 finish in his age group (sub junior), managing an eighth place.

The team from Menlopark High School was in top form and secured four podium positions, as well as logging a number of top-10 positions to secure both the girls and mixed team national championship trophies, while Grey College in Bloemfontein won the boys team category. 

The 4.5km track at Bekker School proved more challenging than previous seasons, boasting a lot of single-track stretches, as well as tricky falls and climbs that required both stamina and technical skills from the riders. The lap-race format of the event saw the various age categories complete a specific number of laps, ranging from two laps for the sub-junior girls to a testing five laps for the junior men.

Points were awarded to the top 26 finishers in each race, with the total school scores based on the top five boys in the Boys Team category, top three girls in the Girls Team category, and three boys and two girls respectively in the Mixed Team category. According to Gauteng league co-ordinator Deon Steyn, it was the depth of the Menlopark team that secured them the top spot, proving that all efforts count.

The league was launched in 2009 as a joint initiative between Spur and AMARIDER to create a fun racing environment for kids and has also facilitated the building of mountain bike tracks on school property and community grounds. Earlier this year, the league cemented its position as one of the leading sport development programmes in the country when it was shortlisted as a finalist for the 2014 Discovery Sport Industry Awards. 

The Spur School Mountain Bike League final is also considered an interprovincial derby, with the top riders from each province selected to compete for their respective provinces. 

For more information on the Spur High School Mountain Bike league, visit http://www.spur.co.za/about-us/event/spur-mtb-league or http://www.amarider.co.za/Spur/siteContent.php. 

Sport - Date: 17 October 2014

Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

Email: [email protected]