The Munnik Meerkat Mountain Bike Challenge on Saturday, 16 March, once again lived up to its expectation as one of the most enjoyable mountain bike races on the provincial sporting calendar, with hundreds of entries from across the province.

This event is annually hosted by the Munnik Farmers Association, in conjunction with the P&L Cycling Club, and is ever growing in popularity.

This year saw 63 cyclists completing the gruelling 70km race. Overall winner of the race Heine Engelbrecht set a blistering pace, completing the race in a time of 02:41:25. His winning time was almost 10 minutes better than his nearest rival, Eddy Texeira, who finished second in a time of 02:51:06. A mere second later, Henry Hayes cycled home in third place in 02:51:07. Texeira was also the first men’s veteran and Hayes the first men’s master.

The women’s category of the 70km race was clinched by Nicolle van der Greft in a time of 03:17:04. Second place went to Carine van der Merwe in 03:26:23, with Dorothy Rood taking third place in 03:38:49. Van der Merwe’s performance also secured her a win in the women’s sub-vet category, with Driekie Heyens (04:05:02) winning the women’s veteran category.

The men’s 35km race was mainly dominated by local riders, with well-known local cyclist CP van Wyk taking top honours in a time of 01:14:49. Equally well-known local cyclist Christiaan Roos, a team mate of Van Wyk's, finished second in 01:17:34, with Moleke Sekgobela taking third place in 01:18:30. Van Wyk also won the male U/18 category, with two other local riders also securing category wins. Bas Rennings was the first male sub-vet home in 01:20:04, with Cassie Mattheus the first master in 01:36:31. The veteran’s category was won by Richardo Guiterrer in 01:19:01.

First place in the 35km women’s race was snatched up by Robyn Cronje in 01:38:40, with Wendy van Deventer cycling home in second place in a time of 01:39:17. Karin Taljaard finished third in 01:42:51 and was also the first women’s veteran. Marnelle Pessegueiro finished as first sub-vet in 01:43:30, with local rider Amanda Kruger winning the women’s masters category in 01:52:40. Michelle Surmon was the first U/18 woman home in 02:16:22.

As for the 10km race, only the U/16s qualified for a place win. First was Rayno du Plessis in 00:34:35, with local rider Casper John Venter second in 00:36:53 and Janco Coetzee third in 00:38:13.