Local mountain bikers once again took on the gruelling Turbi Hills Mountain Bike Race over the past weekend.

This annual race is hosted by the MOTHs’ Turbi Hills Shellhole in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) in the Roodewal Plantation.

This year’s 50km event attracted 17 die-hard local cyclists. The podium in this event was male dominated, with Kombo Bere racing to victory in a time of 01:59:17. Fellow club mate Marco Roets followed minutes later in second place in 02:02:19, while Nico Geldenhuys was third in 02:03:16. Bere was also the first junior, while Geldenhuys was the first sub-veteran.

Jernay McLeod, the only rose among the thorns in the 50km race, took an overall 12th position in a time of 02:38:53.

Rick Coetzee of the P&L Cycling Club was the first senior cyclist in a time of 02:15:45. Casper Venter was the first veteran in a time of 02:08:42, with Fanus Eksteen the first master in 02:05:36 and Elmo Barnardt the first grandmaster in a time of 02:32:06.

In the 30km race, the overall winner was junior cyclist Zian van den Heever, with a finishing time of 01:03:51. He was followed by Francois Labuschagne in a time of 01:08:14 in second place and Douglas Archer in third with a time of 01:10:59.

Marnelle Pessequeiro was the first woman home in the 30km in a time of 01:12:53. Her closest rival, Nicola Foord, cycled home more than 20 minutes later to take second place in a time of 01:40:58. Third place went to Mandy Hugo in a time of 01:41:22.

In the 8km fun ride, the first U/12 boy home was Hugo Rennings, followed by his brother Pepjin and Wessel Furstenberg in third. Leandrie de Jager was the first girl, followed by Lieve Rennings in second.