Greg Minnaar/Mongoose DH series #5 - Giba Gorge - 17 July 2011

Over a month had past since the national at cascades and it was now the turn towards provincial series again. The track at Giba Gorge had gone under some renovations and the super fun track was now looking sweet. Myself and some friends traveled down from Pietermaritzburg to Giba Gorge the day before the race and got some good riding in on the new track. It was flowing a lot better than before and I was loving every moment of the time spent on the course.

Switch Back corners during practice

When race day arrived on Sunday, the vibe was awesome. The last provincial of the year and a lot of work had gone into the track. Nigel Hicks and his team of guys fixed up the track and made sure it was race ready. I squeezed in a good couple of practice runs before racing started, found some sweet lines and was ready to race. Practice did claim a few riders though, some nearly escaping what Giba can throw at them and some having to unfortunately abandon the race.

The entrance into the last flat rock garden

When the race runs started, it was back to the usual at the top of the track. The jokers of the downhill fraternity always causing trouble and giving us a good laugh, and some have their game faces on. As we watched some of the downhillers ride the first section time past rather quickly and before I knew it I was warming up and getting ready to race. Sitting in the start gate waiting for the count down seems like a life time, but when the gate drops its as if your run goes by in a split second. My first race run was not a good one, I was bogged down in a rock garden and lost a second or two. I pushed on to be placed 3rd junior.

The entrance into the last flat rock garden

My second race run started off super pinned. I was feeling a lot better than my first run but still had some problems on the super tight corners. I lost valuable time and came down to the finish line to still finish 3rd junior but my time had still improved. I was less than a second off second place, but I was still very happy to finish the Greg Minnaar/Mongoose DH series on a good note.

The step up in the Quarry

A big thanks must go out to Nigel Hicks and Dave Dinkleman and their team of guys that helped build the tracks this season. The tracks were awesome. Another thanks to Morne Odendaal for putting the season together.