95 Laps in 24 Hours Earns 2018 PBHS 24 Hour MTB Relay Challenge Title
The six rider team, representing law firm Savage Jooste & Adams, of Hansie Joubert, Jaco Ferreira, Markus Haasbroek, Stefan Booyens, Wayne Forrester and Wyatt du Plessis completed a massive 95 laps to earn the title of 2018 PBHS 24 Hour MTB Relay Challenge champions. The race, which took place on the 10th and 11th of November at Pretoria Boys High School, in Brooklyn Pretoria, also witnessed the crowning of women’s, mixed, solo and school’s race victors.
Savage Jooste & Adams were pushed all the way by the eight man Mooiplaats Mounties team, who despite their numerical advantage finished four laps down on the winners. The third position in the flagship 24 Hour Relay race was claimed by the Rhymes with Punt Team who completed a very credible 88 laps. In the women’s team category there was no stopping the seven women team of Aleida Stoltz, Bonny Swanepoel, Kathy Rees, Maretha Bezuidenhout, Nadine Visagie, Nontobeko Beauty Ngobese and Odette Guy. Having dubbed themselves the MFV PainCave Ladies they circumnavigated the 6 kilometre long course 65 times. The first placed mixed team also completed 65 laps, handing Jacek Zawada, John Bevington, Melissa Koetje, Ryan Louw and brothers, Richard and Robert Wright the title.
The real heroes of the PBHS 24 Hour MTB Relay Challenge were the riders brave enough to take on the full 24 hour event as solo competitors. Most noteworthy of those were the men’s and women’s champions Andre Gibhard and Jolene Matthysen, who completed 57 and 42 laps respectively. Declan Hohls is also due a special mention, as he won the solo category in the schools’ competition, racing through 17 laps.
Rounding out the 24 hour event’s victory roll was the winning schools’ side, Hotwheels. Having completed 32 laps Kaelin Chetty, Nathan Moolman, Nicholas Botha and Ross Barnard will boast the bragging rights among the scholars until the 2019 race.
It is not often that a 6 hour mountain bike race can be considered a sprint distance, but when compared to the full 24 hour lap race the shorter event in the PBHS 24 Hour MTB Relay Challenge was just that. The event was fiercely contested. Just a single lap separated the winning Hairy Canaries, on 25 laps, from the second placed The Coaching Corner 1 team. Ovies, were a further lap off the pace having notched up 23 circuits. The 6 hour women’s relay was won by the Awesome Four Some, who completed 21 laps, with the Coaching Corner Girls Team in second and Women on Wheels in third. The mixed category was won by 2 times 2 – in one of the more dominant performances across all categories and events – by three clear laps. In the solo men’s 6 hour race Guy Dion managed 22 laps, to beat Bryce Hennesy into second and Anton David into third.
Not content to allow the young men to have things all their own way on their home turf Kayla Hodgman and Lourene Dreyer upset the odds to take the schools’ title in the 6 hour race. The Coaching Corner Girls Team racked up 20 laps. In doing so they beat the four man Reily Speed and PBHS Wee Free Men teams by two and three laps respectively.
To view all the photos from the PBHS 24 Hour MTB Relay Challenge like the event’s Facebook page, PBHS MTB Challenge, while for more information on the event visit www.pbhs24hrmtb.co.za.
