King Price Trailseeker #5 Prime View roared into action at a brand-new venue, Prime View Adventure and Leisure on a crisp and sunny Saturday morning. Being the last event in the series for our Gauteng-based riders, avid mountain bikers and adrenaline junkies from all corners of the province flocked to Prime View, eager to tackle new trails, have new adventures and explore the challenging trails that awaited them.
Prime View offered limited space to work with, but with some creative thinking on the route director’s part, a fun and exciting 10, 20, 40 and 70 km route could be laid out. The routes were mostly flat, fast, twisty and fun. Most notably, they offered safe riding in a closed environment where mountain bikers could absolutely focus on the joy of riding without worrying about their safety.
Elite Racing
For the Elite and other racing categories, the flat route made it hard for anyone to get away and clever tactics would be the deciding factor at the end of the day. Phil Buys made his move in the second half of the race, where the course got tight, knowing that the twisty trails and tight turns suited his cross-country riding ability to a tee. He made the break and took the win 23 seconds ahead of Herman Fourie and Michael Foster.
In the ladies’ race, Danielle Strydom kept her lead from start to end, finishing comfortably with a little over 3 minutes to spare in front of Sam Sanders, and Nicolette Griffioen.
Results
70 km Elite Men
🥇 Philip Buys | 02:12:27
🥈 Herman Fourie | 02:12:50
🥉 Michael Foster| 02:12:51
70 km Elite Ladies
🥇 Danielle Strydom | 02:33:49
🥈 Sam Sanders | 02:37:17
🥉 Nicolette Griffioen | 02:40:10
40 km Men
🥇 Travis Rademan-Ludeke | 01:27:08
🥈 Carter Barnes Olivier | 01:28:54
🥉 Eduard du Toit | 01:28:59
40 km Ladies
🥇 Rachel Jane Green | 01:47:17
🥈 Bianca Botha | 01:47:18
🥉 Megan Boshoff | 01:50:10
20 km Boys
🥇 Matthew Dickons | 00:47:04
🥈 Henko Lombard | 00:47:05
🥉 Liam Espach | 00:47:10
20 km Girls
🥇 Nika Nortjie | 00:49:04
🥈 Bella Grobler | 00:50:22
🥉 Carli Venter | 00:52:04
Congratulations…!!!
SCSA XCM for Gauteng Schools
This was the final event where Gauteng Schools were able to race their hearts out for their school to earn enough points to clinch the Series win! The Prime View course was perfect for an introduction to XCM racing – non-technical with just enough singletrack to make it interesting. As soon as all results have been finalised, the winning schools will be announced!
Provincial XCM Series
#5 Prime View was also the final event in the Gauteng Provincial XCM Series. Results have been submitted and we are eagerly awaiting the announcement of the provincial XCM team for Gauteng.
Series Leaderboard
70 km
With three wins behind him, Phil Buys is the clear leader and the winner of the King Price Trailseeker Series for 2023, regardless of who takes the win at #6 Wellington.
Sam Sanders and Danielle Strydom both have two wins behind them, which means #6 Wellington will be a deciding race for the Elite Ladies winner of 2023!
40km
Henro van der Walt is currently in the lead, but the Series win is still wide open if Travis Lategan-Ludeke manages a good result at #6 Wellington…
There can be no doubt about our ladies’ winner: Rachel Jane Green is the undisputed leader and winner of the Series with an incredible 4 wins behind her!
20km
With Matthew Dickons and Liam Espach both having won two races, it would seem that Matthew pips Liam to the win, except if Liam manages another win at #6 Wellington which would put him at the top of the rankings.
In the girls’ division, Bella Grobler looks set to take the Series win!
Congratulations!
Trailseeker gees in action
Trailseekers, we love doing #TrailLife with you!Â
Thank you for showing up and making every King Price Trailseeker MTB event a party. You absolutely bring the gees and make these events come alive with joy, enthusiasm and zest for life. No matter what the course throws at you, the vibe at the finish line is gloriously happy, spontaneous and elated.
Prime View Adventure and Leisure set the stage for a massively fun day out on the bikes for young and old, fast and less fast – thank you for hosting us!
With the 6th and final Trailseeker event for 2023 taking place in Wellington, WC, on 9 September, we say goodbye to the Gauteng riders and hello to the Western Cape riders. We hope a few Gautengers are up for a road trip and will come down and enjoy the incredible riding in Wellington, WC!
See you there?
The King Price Trailseeker Team
