A group of six adventurous mountain bikers from Louis Trichardt took on a gruelling 24-hour race at the Rietvlei Cycle Park in Alberton on 3 and 4 December.

The race was around an 8km course, of which half was on a forested, twisting single track. During his first lap, local cyclist Riaan de Swardt fell heavily on the tight single track, but managed to recover with the help of the medics and to complete his lap. With the wounds to his knee stitched and dressed, his racing was over for the weekend.  However, he took on the role of team cheerleader and kept the rest of the team fed and updated with the scoring and positions of the opposing teams.

Being one member short did not make much difference as the rest of the team, consisting of Jody du Randt, Hardus Joubert, Terence Tucker, Ayerton du Randt and Johan Steyn, led their category throughout the event, despite being pushed hard by other teams. During the day, the riders did one lap each before changing riders, but throughout the night they did two laps each, which allowed for a longer rest and a brief chance of sleep. The first day was hot and so windy that the team’s gazebo was blown away and destroyed. This did not help when night fell, which was chilly and just as windy.

At dawn on Sunday, they resumed the one-lap-per-rider tactic. It clearly worked for them. Despite being reduced to a five-rider team, they won their category for eight-man teams, recording almost 400km with 49 laps in total. The R2 000 team prize was very welcome to offset the entry cost and cost of travel.

During the event, a total of 22 496km was covered by participants in almost 3 000 laps. The team thanked the organizers, and their sponsors, Archer Paint Centre, Trentyres and Phoenix Screen Printers, for their contributions and help.