Stadium race draws many
Daniel Pienaar pupil becomes first winner, Andrea Shirley top woman
GERRIT Rautenbach won the inaugural Nelson Mandela Bay Mountain Bike Challenge 36km race held in and around the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth at the weekend. The Daniel Pienaar schoolboy clinched the bragging rights as the first winner when he came in at one hour, 13 minutes and four seconds.
Franco McLeod was a minute later in second, followed by Lloyd Vos, who took third place.
The race started in front of the stadium’s Royal Lounge and saw riders complete laps which took them around the stadium’s outer perimeter, over the practice fields and in a clockwise direction around the lake.
From there, competitors entered the stadium and made their way to the stadium’s top floor before returning to the start/finish line.
Andrea Shirley won the women’s race in a time of 1:22.00 and also came 10th overall.
Shirley said the variety of surfaces on the course made the race interesting.
“It was a fun event and a nice variety of course that we had to race. I thought it was well organised and it was great fun. “I really enjoyed it,” she said. “I like the fact that they had a variety of surfaces along the courses like concrete, brick paving, grass, and there was some gravel, which was great. The race is a cross-country-style event.
“It was amazing and being able to ride inside the stadium was a privilege, not something that many people would [have] the opportunity [to do] if it wasn’t for this type of organised event.
“I would like to see more of that happening in PE [an] urban-style event where people can appreciate what the city has to offer.”
The rider, 44, said the win came as no surprise to her as she knew most of the women she was up against.
However, runner-up Andrea de Waal did give her some competition in the first lap.
“I had not raced mountain bike against [De Waal] before so I wasn’t 100% sure of what to expect. I just followed her and I kept her pace,” she said.
“I could see at one point that on the first lap she had gone a bit too hard, and then we rode together for a little while.
“I just kept my pace and finished eight minutes ahead of her,” she said.
“I have done a lot of races and I am quite experienced [in] cross-countrystyle racing, but anything can happen when you are racing like that. You can have a flat tyre or you can snap a chain.
“It’s good to be confident, but you’ll never know until you have crossed the line that you are the winner.
“I was lucky my bike went well and I felt really good.”
Shirley said she would be back next year to defend her title.
“I would not miss the race for anything. The race was all about having fun.
“I must commend the stadium management and the race organisers for putting on a fun event because, in the end, that is what it’s all about.”