MTN OFM Classic - 7 November 2010

We were a bunch of round about 85 riders that lined up in the VA batch for the 2010 MTN OFM Classic that was held on 7 November in Bloemfontein. The Mr Price 30+ team was represented by Werner Moolman, Mark Davel, Iven Scharein, Gwyn Pine and me. Other teams present were Fego Cafe (Our rival team from KZN) and Wiehann (a Bloemfontein based team). It was nice to see some familiar faces from the days when I first started cycling three years ago, like Manie Smith (with who I also trained with in my karate days) and Jean Fourie (from Cycle World where I bought my first entry level road bike).

At 6h25 we heard the gun shot and we headed for the left turn into First Street. I wanted to make sure I am close to the front of the bunch at the start of the race as I knew the route like the back of my hand and knew what lay ahead for us in this first 20km. As we turned right into Nelson Mandela I was just about on the front of the bunch with Iven. After turning left into West Burger Werner told me to hang back a bit as he wanted me to be able to react if someone tried to put in an attack on these first two hills that were just around the corner. A Wiehann rider was leading us over the first hill going passed “Oranje Meisies Skool” (This name just does not sound the same in English). We turned left down into Happy Valley and then right into Albrecht Street, which is a short steep climb. I crested the top first with the bunch on my back wheel. Our whole team stayed near the front most of the time. Turning left into Generaal Hertzog Werner went off the front with another cyclist (I think Paul van den Heuvel from Cyclelab) on his wheel. From there the route took us to a right turn into Jan van Riebeeck, right into Generaal dan Pienaar and then left into Lucas Steyn which was the last steep hill for the day.

The VA bunch was split when we reached the top of Lucas Steyn with a select group of 30 cyclists in this front group, now the leading bunch. Lucas Steyn extended into Frans Kleynhans Rd. The road changed direction into a crosswind and Werner rolled to the front, taking us to the right hand lane, guttering the bunch. I decided to roll through to help Werner out a bit, but momentum allowed me to roll off the front and I found myself opening a gap on the bunch so I went on a flyer. The route took us left into Kenilworth Rd and then left on to the R64 (Dealesville Road). I was hoping for another cyclist to cross over to me in this time but no one did. The bunch was closing the gap on me and on the small climb going past Langenhoven Park towards the N1 I needed a breather. Rowan Tyler (Fego) seized the opportunity and attacked the bunch on this climb, overtaking me and Turning left onto the N1 North, I could not react. The bunch caught up with me and we got on the N1 together. I rolled up next to Jean (Wiehann) and told him that Rowan is a strong boy and that they (his team) might want to put on a chase. Werner and Gwyn rolled towards the front. A Cyclelab rider attacked the bunch to cross over to Rowan. Werner looked at me to react, but I couldn’t and then Gwyn went with a couple of riders following him. The bunch closed in on Gwyn’s group and then the chase was on to catch Rowan and the Cyclelab guy. Mr Price contributed to the chase with a couple of other riders and we caught the two riders going up the drag near the Engen one stop.

From there all the way to the Glen off-ramp the bunch pretty much stayed together. We went left on to the off-ramp, turned right and right again to get on the N1 South on-ramp. The bunch stuck together as we turned left into Andries Pretorius. Mark put in an attack but was rolled in before we reached the circle where we turn left into Rudolph Greyling. Werner told me he was going to put in an attack sometime and when he gets caught I must go. The bunch had an idea of its own though and the wind played a huge factor in this race. We turned left onto the N8 heading towards Thaba Nchu. Werner tried to get off the front before he turned left into Dreyer Ave but the bunch would not let him go. Jean Fourie (Wiehann) put in an attack before the turnoff as well but all was together as we turned left straight into a headwind. I was definitely too far at the back of the bunch now as my team was close to the front and it was just one long line of cyclists trying to survive. I slowly worked my way forward and by the time we turned left onto the Maselspoort road Werner set me up perfectly to put in an attack and I did. This was the perfect place for me as I would be off the front of the bunch passing my parents house and was looking forward to see them cheering me on, but to my disappointment they weren’t there! Later I found out they left too early to go to the finish, which they also missed.

Another rider caught up with me and gave me a breather. We rolled a little bit but the bunch was on us as we were heading for the airport. Iven was leading the bunch turning left at the circle all the way till we turned right, back onto the N8 heading back towards the finish. There was a cross wind from the right and we stayed on the left of the road guttering the bunch. Werner rolled through and we started working. Paul and another cyclist went to the front and eventually the whole bunch was riding gutter until we turned left into Nelson Mandela Dr. Werner told me to go on that small kick on the left turn and I tried, but my legs wouldn’t let me do a decent effort so Iven pushed the pace going up there. The pace was fast heading towards First Street and Werner put in an attack going around the corner. The bunch was together turning right into At Horak and to get a result was up to Mark now as he is our sprinter. Unfortunately for Mr Price Deno van Heerden (Fego) pipped Mark on the line with Paul van den Heuvel (Cyclelab) in third.

It was an awesome well organised race and we worked hard as a team to get a result. Our hard work paid off thanks to Mark for getting a 2nd on the podium.

Emile Fouche

Jacaranda Satellite Classic 2010

It was a huge batch of 83 VA riders lining up on the start line of the Jacaranda Satellite Classic on Saturday morning the 23rd of October. The Mr Price KZN Vets team was represented by Werner Moolman, Mark Davel, Iven Scharein, Norvyn Pitout and me.

The start at Pelindaba was quite tricky. We had a couple of hundred meters of neutral zone towards a T-intersection and turning left we had to be very careful not to hit cyclists or the cars of cyclists who is starting in the later batches. I was lucky enough (or unlucky enough) to find myself quite near to the front of the bunch early in the race and could easily respond to the first attack. I managed to find myself in a small break with Johan Joubert from MTN, one or two Cyclelab guys and another couple of other riders. We all rolled through but were caught by the bunch a couple of km further. Another move went that was brought back almost immediately and then Pieter Calitz from Cyclelab rode off the front while the bunch watched him go. I was sitting on the front not exactly sure where my team mates were when a Blackrock rider attacked the bunch crossing over to Pieter. Nobody else was responding and that was my signal to follow the third move of the morning.

I do not know what the rider from Blackrock’s name was but he was definitely the stronger of us three pushing the pace hard. The route took us to the Dam’s edge, over the Dam and left towards Van Gaalens. Then towards Magalies and after that to the base of Hekpoort hill. We were rolling through just about all the time, except for on some sections, where the Blackrock rider was pushing so hard that I decided that it would be suicide to do anything but sit his wheel until he slowed down enough for one of us to roll through.

After being in the break for 50 to 60 km we were caught at the top of Hekpoort by a chasing bunch and I was very happy to see both Werner and Norvyn in the mix. I managed to hang on for a little while but got dropped at Skeerpoort. A bunch with Mark caught up with me but I was spent. A couple of kilometres further I also got dropped from this group and I started to solo home until Iven caught up with me and I could sit his wheel back to Pelindaba.

The chasing bunch with Mark caught up with Werner’s front bunch. Werner was keeping an eagle’s eye on Jac Louis van Wyk (Blackrock), but let his attention drift to elsewhere in the bunch for a small instant. Unfortunately it was right at that instant when a move happened and Jac Louis got away with Julius Cobbett (TCS) and Paulo Contente. Jac Louis won the race with Julius in 2nd and Paulo in 3rd.

Emile Fouche

MTN Amashova 2010

It was the 17th of October and the event most, if not all, Kwazulu-Natal based cyclists had been training for was here. Amashova is pretty much the “Argus” of Kwazulu-Natal although it only attracts about a 5th of the amount of entrants from all over the country. The Mr Price KZN Vets team was represented by Werner Moolman, Mark Davel, Norvyn Pitout, Gwyn Pine, Iven Scharein and me (Emile Fouche). Some of the other teams present were Fego Cafe and Team Computer Smith.

After a week of rainy days the weather gods played along perfectly and allowed us to have a dry start when the gun was sounded for the 52 cyclists in the VA group to leave start the pins at 7h00am in the morning. For weeks we have either been dreading, or anticipating Fox Hill as that is the place where the bunch would be split up. As we started ascending on Fox Hill Mark had a mechanical and had to pull out of the race. He was only too happy that the mechanical was near the bottom of the hill and not after he went over the top. As we were climbing the hill there were a whole lot of attacks from especially Jaco Ferreira and Julius Cobbett from TCS but all of those attacks were covered.

At the top of Fox hill we still had four team members in the bunch as Werner, Gwyn, Norvyn and me managed to get over. From the Thornville road to the bottom of Inchanga it was hard racing with attack after attack happening but they were all pulled back. Werner got into a move going up Inchanga and Gwyn, Norvyn and me just had to follow the wheels of the riders trying to catch them. It was mostly together again at the bottom of Alverstone and going up the hill I rolled to the front to try and control the pace with Deno van Heerden from Fego Cafe. Unfortunately we lost Norvyn and Gwyn on that hill but Werner and I were still left with the front bunch.

Going down Botha’s Hill and into Cassier Road Werner managed to get a gap on the bunch with one of the TCS riders but they were pulled back by the time we reached the M13. From Cassier road to 45th cutting there was some hard racing taking place with one or two attacks almost getting away but then being pulled back by Werner, me and some other riders rotating to share the workload. Going passed Pinetown and through Westville Werner told me just to keep rotating with Matt Goetsch and Rowan Tyler from Fego Cafe to keep the tempo going and try to prevent Jaco and Julius from attacking. As we were nearing 45th cutting Werner told me to watch Julius but as we hit the bump going towards Tollgate bridge my legs exploded like the Christmas fireworks show in Welkom and I got dropped from the bunch, leaving Werner to fend for himself. Sean Merredew made a huge comeback overtaking me on Tollgate bridge and riding himself back to the bunch just before it was time for the sprint.

Sean Merredew (Mr Price Club member) won the sprint with Jaco Ferreira (TCS) in second and Carl Lotter (Northcliff cycles) in third. Werner finished in 6th position and I had a solo ride to the finish in 12th postion. Iven, Gwyn and Norvyn crossed the finish line in the next bunch.

Even though we did not feature on the podium, it was good hard racing by the whole team.

Time Freight Midmar Notts – 10 October 2010

It is that time of year again where everyone cycling in KZN wants to test their legs for the upcoming Amashova race. It was a very misty morning and the start of the race was delayed by 15 minutes, waiting for the mist to clear up and safe racing conditions.

The 30 to 39 age category and the 40 to 49 age category started together. It was a huge bunch of almost 180 cyclists (according to Mr Price Timing) heading out of the gate of the Midmar dam resort when we got the go ahead to start the race at 7h30 am. The Mr Price Vets team was represented by Werner Moolman, Gwyn Pine, Iven Scharein, Mark Davel, Norvyn Pitout and me. I learned my lesson from February about starting at the back of the bunch in this race and Mat Goetsch (Fego Cafe) and I led the bunch out of the gates. Nothing too exciting, aside from the odd joke and fake attack, was happening until we reached the foot of Happy Hill. Justin Short went to the front with me on his wheel and the pace went up quite a couple of notches. About half way up the hill I rolled through and pulled the bunch at what I thought was quite a pace, when Rowan Tyler (Fego Cafe) attacked. I was very happy that Werner followed the attack as I just did not have it in me to follow at that stage. It was still early in the race and I was thinking by myself that I was in trouble.

We watched the two cyclists riding away as the road started flattening out after Happy Hill. With the two stronger teams of the day each having someone in the break it was not up to Mr Price or Fego Cafe to pull the bunch and put on a chase. There were a couple of flyers attempting to get away from the bunch to cross over to the break, but they were all chased down. The cyclists from Bring it On cycling club were sitting at the front, pulling the bunch, with Martin Atterbury doing most of the work.

One or two times a small group of riders did get away and opened a gap on the bunch but they were all closed down until Deno van Heerden (Fego Cafe) and Andrew Reeves (Bring it On) got away on Mount West. The pace up Mount West caused a couple of cyclists to drop from the bunch before the 40km Turn-around point.

On the way back from the turn-around the pace was extremely fast, especially after Nottingham Road where the tar turned from rough to smooth again. The wind was having its way with us and I was actually glad that I was not racing with deep section wheels. Both Deno and Andrew were eventually caught and 5km from the finish the guys with sprinting legs positioned themselves close to the front of the bunch for that last corner into Midmar Dam Resort.

Andrew Reeves (Bring it On) outsprinted the bunch for 3rd place after Werner took the win from Rowan in a two man sprint finish. Mark finished in 4th with Deno in 5th.

The Mr Price team rode well together and I think we can look forward to a fantastic Amashova coming up on Sunday the 17th of October.

Emile Fouche

Campus to Campus 26 September 2010

When we lined up for the start of the VA batch at the Campus to Campus, it was at least a little bit of a bigger bunch than we had the previous day at the Harties challenge. Werner Moolman, Gwyn Pine and me represented the Mr Price team. Some of the other of the more familiar riders present were Gary Rabie (MTN), Johan Joubert (MTN) and Carl Lotter (Northcliff Cycles).

Our plan as discussed before the race was for Werner to go with the first break. If they got pulled back I was supposed to go with the second break and Gwyn would have gone with the third break if we got pulled back. If it was going to be a bunch finish the plan was that Gwyn and I made it as hard as possible on the front to try and give Werner a proper lead out.

The race started fairly subtle with a rider taking a flyer every now and then, but all got pulled back. In the 5km to 10km mark we got to a bit of an uphill drag and another one of these flyers happened. The next moment Werner went to catch up with the lone rider out front, but the guy was not keen to sit Werner’s wheel as he went passed him. Gary Rabie crossed over to Werner and that is where the first break of the day happened. Gwyn and I just hung back on the front of the bunch and everyone else watched as the two riders rode away. Both the Mr Price and MTN team were represented, so it was up to the individuals to put on the chase.

The racing in the bunch was very negative as no one put in a real effort to chase the break down. Gwyn told me that he is thinking about trying to cross over to Werner and Gary, but I told him I’m concerned about pulling the bunch back to them. On one of the kicks before we reached the “big” climb of the day which was on round about the 50km mark, Gwyn did put in an attack and took another rider, Willie Liebenberg with him. A TCS and a MTN rider tried to cross over to them but the bunch pulled those two riders back in on the “big” climb.

I stayed near the front of the bunch for the whole race and although I was just sitting in the bunch I could feel I was taking a bit of strain, I think the previous day’s effort in the Harties challenge took a bit out of me. It just shows what a quality cyclist Werner is to be in the break day after day.

Gwyn and Willie caught up with Werner and Gary and the four of them raced to the finish. Werner put Gwyn’s diesel engine on the front a lot of the time.
Gary Rabie (MTN) won the sprint with Werner in 2nd, Willie Liebenberg in 3rd and Gwyn in 4th. I did not content the sprint for an apple and had a bunch finish about 3 minutes behind the break.

Well done to Myles Musschenbroek who won the junior category, making it a back to back win as he also won the Harties challenge the previous day.

It was a good weekend in the office with awesome results from the Mr Price KZN team.

Emile Fouche

Harties Challenge 25 September 2010

We pitched up at the Harties challenge with half a team that was represented by Werner Moolman, Gwyn Pine and me. It was a rather small field when we lined up in the start pins for the start with no other recognised teams present. There were a couple of familiar individual riders though.

At 6h40 the gun sounded and we were off. I was sitting on the front of the bunch at an easy pace until a Cycle lab rider rolled through and I was just sitting second wheel or staying near the front. Going through Magaliesburg on the R24 Werner went to the front and made the pace hard, we hit some traffic there that interfered with our race a bit. Luckily we were close to the front when we hit the hill going passed Magalies. I rolled to the front and just kept going, nobody was sitting my wheel, I was in a solo break!

We turned left heading to the R563, looking over my shoulder I could see two riders crossing the gap and I was happy to see the red booties on one of those two riders, it was Werner! When they caught me the three of us started rolling through, working nicely together. The third rider with us in the break was Carl Lotter from North Cliff cycles.

The route took us on the R512 near Hartebeespoort dam and then to the R560 heading back to the Bekker School where we started. We worked together until about 20km from the finish when Werner told me just to hang back and not roll through. When he got a chance he told me to attack on the next kick and about 3km later I did, riding solo again. Werner’s plan was to get a gap on Carl and bridge to me so that we can roll to the finish. I looked back every now and again but they were still together every time I looked. Eventually I started taking strain, got in a zone and just put my head down and pedalled. Later I learned that it was in this time when I did not look back when Werner got a gap on Carl, but I did not notice it.

Carl caught Werner and Werner decided to just sit his wheel as Carl was in a bit of a predicament. If he did not catch me, I would win the race. If he did, Werner would attack and that is how it played out at the 10km mark. We got to a bit of a kick and my legs told me that is enough. As Werner attacked Carl and went passed me he told me to stay on Carl’s wheel and so I did.

For the last 10km Carl pulled me to the finish, Werner had the win in the bag. As we went around the last corner of the race and I could see the finish line I attacked Carl with the last bit of energy that was left in my legs. I was expecting him to be on my wheel, but when I looked back, he wasn’t, I had a 10 second gap and rolled over the finish line in 2nd place.

Lionel Scholtz and Gwyn rolled over the finish line ahead of the bunch in 4th and 5th place.

Well done to Myles Musschenbroek from the Mr Price junior team who won the Junior Category
It was a good day at the office for the Mr Price KZN.

Emile Fouche

Dome to Dome 2010 (or should it be Silverstar to Silverstar)

As the Margate cycle challenge was cancelled we decided to do the Dome to Dome Cycling challenge on the 5th of September, which for 2010 started at a different venue namely Silverstar Casino. The Mr Price team was represented by Werner Moolman, Iven Scharein, Gwyn Pine, Norvyn Pitout and me.


The first couple of 100 meters out of Silverstar Casino and turning right onto the N14 was a neutral zone. On the N14 the bunch stayed together and as I followed Norvyn to the front of the bunch we had to make a turn left and then right and then left again to end up in Drift Boulevard. I think this caused the main bunch to stretch a bit or even split as the front guys put the hammer down, luckily we were close to the front and could just follow wheels. From here a couple of attacks happened but nothing that got away from the bunch. Werner got into a break and we just stayed in the bunch following any wheel that would try to cross over. I was sitting second wheel in the bunch for a long time not rolling to the front when indicated to do so as it was not up to us to chase. We turned left into Muldersdrift road and then when we reached the T-junction we turned left into Kromdraai road.


There were a couple of attacks in the bunch every now and then as guys tried to cross over to the break but we covered them all. As we were heading for Sterkfontein Caves Road I found myself in a small group that had a gap on the bunch and decided to roll through as I thought that if I can get to Werner we can help to get a bigger time gap on the main bunch. We closed in on the break, but the bunch closed in on us as well so everything got together as we turned right into Sterkfontein Caves Road. I went to the front there working thinking we still had a gap on the bunch but when I realised everything was still together I decided to drop back to save some energy.


Another couple of attacks happened and Werner and Gwyn managed to get away with a small group. I lost the plot a bit and rolled too far to the back of the bunch to recover. I tried to at least stay close to Iven and Norvyn who was ahead of me in the bunch. Norvyn had a mechanical and had to drop from the bunch to fix it. We turned right onto the R563. I did not realise that the break was wheeled in until I saw Werner sitting up in front of the bunch and I knew he was looking for us. I rolled to the front, knowing that I was riding like a plonker and got some well deserved verbal abuse from Werner telling me we should stay near the front of the bunch as we cannot afford to lose it if a move goes. Werner’s words were hardly cold when a move happened and I found myself in a break with three other guys. Four teams were represented in that break, me for Mr Price, TCS, Cyclelab and a rider from Northcliff cycles. We all worked nicely together and managed to get a 1 minute 10 second gap on the main bunch. Werner mentioned later that Paul van den Heuvel (Cyclelab) said that that was the winning break. The MTN team realised it as well and they all went to the front of the bunch chasing as if they were possessed. We got time gaps from the race commissar and every time we got a new time gap we knew the gap was getting smaller and smaller. On 35 seconds the Northcliff Cycles rider decided it was time to drop back to the bunch, there were three of us left now. We tried pushing harder, I could feel I was starting to take strain (Definitely not the same form I had at the Engen DCC in Durban two weeks ago). We kept rolling through. Eventually I looked back and could see the yellow army in the bunch hunting us down. I still tried to stay in the break a bit but thought that we would be swallowed up by the bunch at anytime and decided to drop back when there was about a 10 second gap. When the bunch caught me Werner asked me if I was okay, a nod was all I could get out. There was a bit less than 20 km left.


At the start of the hill that indicated we were near the finish my legs decided they had enough and I just could not push hard enough to stay with the front guys anymore. There were small groups of riders on their way to the finish now. I went passed some of the MTN guys that chased our break down, after the race I found out they all popped at the bottom of the hill as well, the chase was expensive for them. I caught up with Iven and we cycled to the finish with a small group of other riders.
Meanwhile both Gwyn and Werner were still in the front of the race. Gwyn had some bad luck and was sent in the wrong direction by one of the marshals. Werner was in contention for the sprint now. Unfortunately the sprinters left Werner behind and he finished in 5th position, 1 second behind the winner.


The Results for the VA bunch were as follows:
1. Richard Burnham 2:19:15
2. Willem Bezuidenhout 2:19:15
3. Rowan Tyler (Fego Cafe) 2:19:15
4. Craig Harvey (Bulk Pack Meat) 2:19:16
5. Werner Moolman (Mr Price) 2:19:16

Emile Fouche

Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge 22 August 2010

It was a brilliant day for cycling when we lined up at the start line in front of Moses Madiba Stadium. The Mr Price team was represented by Werner Moolman, Mark Davel, Gwyn Pine, Iven Scharein and me. The field was not too big with 26 cyclists lining up for the VA race. We knew a tough day in the saddle was ahead as we had quite a bit of climbing to do. When we discussed tactics the morning before the race I understood it that the plan was to get as much of the team as we can to the top of M19, trying to get a break and have a team time trial from there. As usually things did not go according to plan during the race but this time it was for the better.

It was 6h06 and off we went. Gwyn must have missed the race briefing because he was off the front of the bunch even before we turned right into Battery Beach Road, which is only like 100 metres or so from the start line. Werner, Iven and Mark were at the front of the bunch and I rolled to the front to join them. As we turned left into Snell Parade Martin Atterbury (Bring it On) went off the front of the bunch to cross over to Gwyn. I asked Werner if I should follow and he told me I should, so I got on Martin’s wheel and he pulled me to Gwyn.

Now usually in my reports I can write what was happening in the bunch, in this case I can’t.

As we reached Gwyn I rolled to the front and Gwyn and I started rotating with Martin sitting our wheel. We turned left into Athlone drive, right onto the M4 north and left into Riverside Road. Martin was at a disadvantage because it was him against two Mr Price riders, but he was not getting a free ride and he started working with us after Gwyn had a chat to him. Looking behind us there was no sight of the bunch, they weren’t chasing. We worked together to the bottom of the M19 where I went to the front and led the three of us up the climb. Martin could not maintain our pace and dropped off at about half way up, I kept going making sure Gwyn was in contact. Leon Grobler managed us better than Johan Bruyneel would have and he gave us time gaps, asking us if we were alright and telling us what was happening behind us.
At the top of M19 we had about a 2min30 sec gap on the bunch. Gwyn is a specialist when it comes to time trialling and the next part of the route was his kind of riding. We kept on rotating taking turns on the front. We went through Pinetown, down the M7 heading to the Bluff. It was nice seeing familiar faces, next to the road and riding, cheering us on. We turned left into Bluff Road, where the next session of climbing started, then right into Lighthouse Road which becomes Marine Drive and then right into Badulla Drive. I was still feeling strong and Gwyn was looking on form, although he said he was digging on the hills a bit. Gwyn asked me here how many races I have won this year. My answer was that I have not won a race ever. Then Gwyn said that I am going to today. I was in doubt if we were going to stay away but it motivated me to keep going and so we did.

We caught up with the leading tandems on Himalayas Road, apparently the driver of the winning tandem took them on a bit of a scenic route. The stoker on that specific tandem looked like he was scared to death!

From there we went on to the R102 South Coast road, turned left into Prospecton Road which becomes Andrew Zondo Road and where our last big climb (or rather kick) for the day was, did a loop through that area and then back down Andrew Zondo, right into South Coast Road and entered the M4 Northbound. Leon was motivating us all the way and was giving us heads up on what was ahead on the route and happening behind us. I was pulling on most of the hills and then Gwyn and I rotated on the other sections. On the M4 Leon told us that we had this race in the bag and that Werner and the team was controlling the bunch behind us.

With 15km to go both Gwyn and I were taking strain. The route led us left into Margaret Mncadi Ave and then left into Samora Machel Street (Aliwal) which becomes Masabalala Yengwa Ave. Gwyn assured me the race was mine calling me a Lion. Well, I was about to roar of pain! I never in my life would have thought I would be so glad to see Moses Madiba Stadium. We cruised over the finish line with me in first and Gwyn in second. How was that for a 100 km break!

In the bunch, attack after attack followed on the M4. Werner, Iven, Michael Adey (Mr Price club rider) and Andrew Reeves (Bring it on) got a lead on the bunch and contested the bunch sprint. Andrew finished in 3rd, with Michael in 4th and Iven in 5th which made up the podium for the day.

Thanks for the win Gwyn!

What a great route and race it was! I am looking forward to this one next year.

Emile Fouche

Mid-Vaal Vets Tour 7 to 9 August 2010.

The first time when I was introduced to the Mid-Vaal tour was in 2008, when I was an up and coming “fun-rider” (Which I probably still am). That year I was asked to help in the service vehicles and I was in awe of the Mr Price Vets team and how good they were racing, not expecting I would get my chance to be in the team to do this tour two years later.

I could not help to be a bit nervous when we left Hillcrest heading for Walkerville on Friday the 6th of August. After registering for the race at the Boswell Wilkie Circus (No, we didn’t see any clowns), we headed to Lapeng Hotel where we unpacked and then went for a warm up ride. The team that went was Werner Moolman, Mark Davel, Norvyn Pitout, Gwyn Pine and myself. Michael Adey entered the 30+ category as a club member. David Yapp entered the 40+ category.

It was freezing when we got on our bikes on the Saturday morning when we cycled the 30 odd kilometres towards the start of the 8km time trial. I had a discussion with Werner on Friday night where he said I did not have to concentrate on the time trial that much, as I was already was at a disadvantage without the proper equipment and should save my legs for the 70km stage the afternoon, so my plan was to give a good effort without exhausting myself too much. The time trial route was more or less at a descending gradient all the way and we were lucky enough to have a tail wind so good time results were expected. I was quite happy with my result in 12th position with a time of 00:10:26. Werner klapped Gwyn with 1 second to be in first place and at that stage our biggest threat was James Louter from MTN who finished in 3rd place, 6 seconds behind Werner.

The results for stage 1.

1. Werner Moolman - 00:09:20
2. Gwyn Pine 00:09:21
3. James Louter 00:09:26
4. Paul van den Heuvel 00:09:32
5. Russell Lund 00:09:39
6. Gary Rabie 00:09:46
7. David van Straaten 00:09:56
8. Gavin van Aswegen 00:09:59
9. Michael Adey 00:10:05
10. Adam Sargent 00:10:07
11. Norvyn Pitout 00:10:12
12. Emile Fouche 00:10:25
13. Martin van wyk 00:10:26
14. Mervin Scorgie 00:10:29
15. Deon Calder 00:10:35
16. Gavin Jacobs 00:10:41
17. Carel Bosman 00:10:44
18. Christo van der Merwe 00:10:45
19. Lyle Hanekom 00:10:47
20. Hannes Wessels 00:10:52
21. Mark Davel 00:11:02
22. Willem Bezuidenhout 00:11:02
23. Carl Lotter 00:11:11
24. Johan Joubert 00:11:28
25. Andy Robertson 00:11:31
26. Zuko Nonxuba 00:11:51
27. Tijl van den Winkel 00:12:01

At the start of the 70 km stage at 14h00 on Saturday afternoon we had both the yellow jersey (Werner) and green jersey (Gwyn) wearers in our team. The pace started off quite leisurely and I rolled to the front and just kept it quite easy waiting for some fireworks to happen as requested by Werner. It was nice to race with radios as the race bible said nothing about radios not being allowed. A couple of attacks started to happen and eventually I got in a break with Mark, Martin van Wyk (MTN) and another individual rider. We kept the pace going as we wanted to make sure none of the contenders got any bonus seconds at the hotspot that was coming up at the 18km mark. Martin van Wyk took the hotspot with Mark second and me in third. As we completed the task Mark and I sat up and we waited for the bunch to catch us. Not too long after that another break formed containing Mark and Gwyn with 6 other riders. We were happy that we had two riders in the break so we did not have to put on a chase and for a while the rest of the bunch seemed content with that as well. Mark contended the KOM and got a 3rd. From the 50km mark the pace went up quite a bit so that we can keep the gap close to a minute. Werner, me and Norvyn were doing hard pulls on the front with the other riders like James Louter. I got shelved at the 10km to go mark and a split happened in the chase group containing Werner, Michael Adey and 7 other riders. In the front bunch of the race Martin van Wyk got away with a 7 second lead to take the win with Russel Lund in second and Gavin van Aswegen in third. Gwyn took over the overall lead and was now in the yellow jersey.

The overall results were as below after stage 2.

1. Gwyn Pine 01:49:26
2. Russell Lund 01:49:36
3. Gavin van Aswegen 01:49:58
4. David van Straaten 01:49:59
5. Martin van wyk 01:50:16
6. Werner Moolman 01:50:21
7. James Louter 01:50:27
8. Paul van den Heuvel 01:50:33
9. Mervin Scorgie 01:50:34
10. Gary Rabie 01:50:47
11. Mark Davel 01:51:05
12. Willem Bezuidenhout 01:51:07
13. Michael Adey 01:51:30
14. Adam Sargent 01:51:35
15. Christo van der Merwe 01:51:51
16. Emile Fouche 01:51:52
17. Hannes Wessels 01:51:58
18. Deon Calder 01:52:00
19. Gavin Jacobs 01:52:09
20. Carl Lotter 01:52:12
21. Carel Bosman 01:52:12
22. Lyle Hanekom 01:52:15
23. Zuko Nonxuba 01:53:19
24. Tijl van den Winkel 01:53:29
25. Norvyn Pitout 01:56:42
26. Johan Joubert 01:57:41
27. Andy Robertson 02:11:50

A long day in the saddle was ahead on the second day’s 126km stage 3. The race plan was to keep it together and close any attacks, but James Louter (MTN) had other plans. Luckily Werner noticed at the start line James had something up his sleeve as he had his bike on the big chain ring already. From the word go James put in an attack! Werner followed with Michael Adey and Paul van den Heuvel on their wheel. Gwyn asked Werner if we had to chase and Werner told Kelvin to make the call, we decided to let the break go and so it did! No-one in the bunch was interested to chase. For kilometres and kilometres we just rolled through without putting in any real effort. Norvyn mentioned at some stage that we are rolling through at like 200 watts which was a cruise. When Kelvin asked if anyone wanted to return to the car to get bottles everyone in the team who were in the bunch were keen to drop back. When a commissaire came to tell us that the break of the 40s categorie was on their way, some of the individuals in the bunch decided it was time to increase the pace and about six guys went to the front to work a bit and it was our turn to suck wheel. Eventually we did get slowed down by the commissaire to let the break of the 40s category overtake us and long enough for them to get away. That opened the gap to our break even more up to about 10 minutes. In the last 40 kilometres of the stage there was an attack from a Bulk Pack Meat rider with another rider on his wheel. The wind was hectic so the second rider dropped back saying it is nuts to ride away in that conditions. We cruised along forgetting about the Bulk Pack rider until Gwyn mentioned to us that he is still up ahead, from there we decided to put on a bit of a chase as Gwyn was still on 5th position on the GC. After the lone rider was caught it was quite a hard ride home. The wind was having its share of the fun and we had to fight for a sweet spot in the bunch not to be guttered too much. This guttering caused a couple of riders to drop off. Meanwhile in the front there were some politics being played out and Paul van den Heuvel (Cyclelab) managed to get a gap on Werner and James towards the finish. Paul went over the finish line first with a lead of 1 minute and 16 seconds over Werner and James. Michael finished 4th about 22 seconds behind Werner and James. Gwyn was having a good go at the bunch sprint when we got to the finish but some intelligent taxi driver thought it was in his best interest to slow everyone down. Everyone in the bunch was given the same time, 10 minutes behind the stage 3 winner. Werner said afterwards the strongest guy in the break definitely won the stage.

The results after stage 3

1. Paul van den Heuvel 05:11:23
2. Werner Moolman 05:12:27
3. James Louter 05:12:33
4. Michael Adey 05:13:58
5. Gwyn Pine 05:20:29
6. Russell Lund 05:20:39
7. Gavin van Aswegen 05:21:01
8. David van Straaten 05:21:02
9. Martin van wyk 05:21:19
10. Mervin Scorgie 05:21:33
11. Gary Rabie 05:21:46
12. Mark Davel 05:22:04
13. Willem Bezuidenhout 05:22:06
14. Adam Sargent 05:22:34
15. Christo van der Merwe 05:22:50
16. Emile Fouche 05:22:51
17. Hannes Wessels 05:22:57
18. Carl Lotter 05:23:11
19. Carel Bosman 05:23:11
20. Lyle Hanekom 05:23:14
21. Tijl van den Winkel 05:24:28
22. Norvyn Pitout 05:27:41
23. Zuko Nonxuba 05:42:14
24. Deon Calder 05:44:23
25. Gavin Jacobs 05:44:26
26. Johan Joubert 05:47:20
27. Andy Robertson 12:11:50


It was freezing cold when we arrived at the Mid-Vaal race track for the 4th stage, which was a kermesse. We were in an interesting scenario. Paul van den Heuvel was now in the yellow jersey with Werner in second, 1 minute and 4 seconds behind Paul. How we were going to close a minute on the yellow jersey was nearly impossible, but as we discussed on the Sunday evening before the race, anything can happen.

The kermesse started at quite a pace and had quite a different feel to it than normal road racing. I was wondering how many of these 2.4km laps we were going to be able to fit into one hour before they sound the alarm for the last lap. There were quite a couple of attacks and eventually two riders got away on the front. On the following lap I got a small gap on the bunch and tried to cross over to the two riders, but couldn’t. Luckily I was caught by the bunch as I did not realise that Paul was sitting on my wheel (Werner told me later). Norvyn managed to cross the gap and so did James Louter, so the chase was on as Werner had only a 6 second lead on James. Werner, Gwyn and Mark were pulling hard on the front to close the gap down. Eventually I worked myself to the front on the S bends of the track to try and help Werner who was sitting on the front of the bunch. After receiving some verbal abuse from Werner to slack a bit down so that they can get on my wheel I did my share on the front and then got shelved back to the back of the bunch trying to recover. Disaster struck for Paul as his chain dropped, Werner tried to give him a helping hand but Paul was uncleated and committed to stop to fix his chain. On the next lap there was a split containing Werner, Michael, James and Gary Rabie, with Paul chasing trying to get back to the main bunch. The pace of the bunch slowed down as not we or any of the MTN riders was working anymore and Paul hooked back on, going straight to the front and started pulling the bunch trying to limit the damage to the time gap already done. Unfortunately for Paul and fortunately for us Paul had absolutely no one to help him chase the break and the time gap increased to just over a minute. Gary Rabie won the stage with James in 2nd and Werner in 3rd.

We were concerned that Paul might still be in yellow after stage 4 but was pleased to find out that Werner just managed to get yellow back. For the first time in the Mid-Vaal tour’s history the first two riders had exactly the same overall time and officials had to determine the overall yellow jersey winner by looking at the previous stage results. Paul had one stage win, Werner had one win and two third places.

The yellow jersey is back with MR PRICE Cycle Club KZN.
What a great first Mid-Vaal tour for me it was!
Thanks Werner for giving me the yellow jersey!


The Results after stage 4

1. Werner Moolman 06:15:41
2. Paul van den Heuvel 06:15:41
3. James Louter 06:15:47
4. Michael Adey 06:18:16
5. Gwyn Pine 06:24:47
6. Gary Rabie 06:24:58
7. Gavin van Aswegen 06:25:19
8. David van Straaten 06:25:20
9. Martin van wyk 06:25:37
10. Mark Davel 06:26:22
11. Willem Bezuidenhout 06:26:40
12. Adam Sargent 06:26:52
13. Christo van der Merwe 06:27:08
14. Emile Fouche 06:27:09
15. Hannes Wessels 06:27:15
16. Carl Lotter 06:27:29
17. Mervin Scorgie 06:29:06
18. Russell Lund 06:31:12
19. Norvyn Pitout 06:31:59
20. Carel Bosman 06:33:44
21. Lyle Hanekom 06:33:47
22. Tijl van den Winkel 06:35:01
23. Zuko Nonxuba 06:52:47
24. Johan Joubert 06:57:53
25. Deon Calder 15:44:23
26. Gavin Jacobs 15:44:26
27. Andy Robertson 22:11:50


Emile Fouché

Toti69er 2010 Vets Team Race Report

By Emile Fouche

As there has not been any local racing since the Tour Durban which was at the start of May, I think all local cyclists were looking forward to some racing when the Toti69er took place on the 11th of July.

The Mr Price Vets team was represented by Werner Moolman, Mark Davel, Gwyn Pine, Norvyn Pitout and myself. Some of the other teams and riders present at the start line of the 84km event were House of Paint, Fego Cafe, Burry Stander and Peter-Lee Jefferies.

The race started fast and aggressive from the word go. As the bunch climbed out of Amanzimtoti House of Paint attacked and a split happened containing Dean Edwards, Dusty Day, Jason Bakke, Richard Baxter, Burry Stander, Jonty Tivers (Mr Price Junior), Mat Goetsch, Peter Lee Jefferies, Kelvin Beneke, Werner and myself. Jonty had a hard time keeping up with his junior gears and dropped back to the bunch. Werner and I managed to stay with them up to the climb going past Scottburgh. Both Werner and I got dropped from the leading group there, I just didn’t have the legs and Werner was still recovering from the flu. Werner and I tried to chase them down for a while but their pace was just too fast for us. From there Werner and I just rolled through until the main bunch caught us at the turnaround mark.

The overall and elite podium positions were being fought out by the guys in the break, Mat was still with them so that sorted him out for 1st in the 30s category, but 2nd and 3rd was still undecided. From the turnaround mark the bunch more or less stayed together, with us taking a turn in the front every now and again. Nothing too exciting was happening except for a couple of accelerations here and there. In the last 10 km the pace went up drastically with Fego Cafee making it hard in the front of the bunch. I burnt my matches when I was in the break and just could not get myself to the front, but was happy that I could see Mark close to the front that definitely had a chance for a podium position when it comes to a sprint finish. Unfortunately Mark punctured in the final kilometres to the finish line. Not I or Norvyn were in a position to contest the sprint so our chances for a podium pretty much went out of the Window there.

The sprint was won by Deno van Heerden with Rowan Tyler right on his wheel. So it was an all Fego Cafe podium in the 30s category which was a great result for them.

Well done to Gwyn who got a 3rd in the 40s category.

Burry Stander outsprinted Dean Edwards to win the race overall.

Once again the Toti69er was a great event.

Tour Durban – 2 May 2010

The Mr Price vets team lined up at the 30-39 start group, eager to make an impression after riding in the previous week’s Panorama Tour. The main competition on the day was going to be the in form Fego Coffee team. It was rather unfortunate that the Black Rock team and the complete Bulk Pack Meat team was not present.

The race started briskly with several attacks going immediately after the gun. One of these attacks stuck and a group of 7 riders got away. Emile Fouche and Gwyn Pine represented Mr Price in this group along with Fego coffee’s Matt Goetsch. This meant that the rest of the Mr Price team sat in and simply covered any riders trying to bridge to the break group.

Gwyn drove the break hard up the M7 resulting in Martin Atterbury popping out of the back of the break group to join us in the chase group.

On the M7 Werner Moolman intelligently revved the pace of the chase group sky high so as to shake out all the hangers on. At the top of the M7 the chase group had been reduced to about 15 riders and it was here that Fego Coffee had another rider join the break group.

With Gwyn driving the break group the gap ultimately got up to around 1:20 on the chase group before Werner called us to increase our pace to bring the gap down a little. The idea was to get the gap to around 1 minute and hold it there in case any one of our team mates in the break got into trouble.

With the pace drifting up and being pushed by those individual riders who had missed the break, the break away group was caught about 3 km before the La Mercy turn around. Thereafter the attacks started coming again with each one being covered and no one letting anything go. As we approached Durban it was obvious that it would be a bunch gallop to the post and we would need to rely on Mark Davel to blitz over the line for a win.

The last 2 corners were quite messy and Mark needed to be well placed going into them. He was not lucky enough to be perfectly positioned and approaching the line he opened up, leading the pack to the line. Unfortunately he went a few meters too early and just as he started fading, Deno Van Heerden edged passed him on the line.

We were ecstatic with the 2nd place the Mark Davel got. Well done also to Gwyn and Emile for the long time you spend in the break.

MTN Panorama Tour 24 to 27 April 2010 – Sub Vets

By Emile Fouche

Werner asked me to write a report on our Panorama Tour this year and I decided to write the report from my perspective.

We couldn’t believe that the Panorama Tour was here already when we packed the vehicles to leave for White River on Friday morning. Saturday morning would be the start of the first stage and I was unsure of how prepared I was for what was laying ahead for us in the next four days, as I had just returned from a four week bout with the dreaded flu.

The Mr Price teams entered for the event were made up as follows: Sub Vets (30 +): Werner Moolman and me, Vets (40+): Iven Scharein and Gwyn Pine, Masters (50+): Derek Tivers and Flip Krugel, Mixed: Mark Davel and Isabel Moolman, Ladies: Sandra Haywood and Marina Smuts.

It was overcast when we left the house for Casterbridge to line up at the start line. It was a bit unfortunate that about all the Mr Price team riders were seeded in the lower batches even though we were all some of the higher seeded riders in our respective categories. That made things a bit difficult from the gun as we had to race past many teams in the neutral zone to catch up with the front teams that was having a jol and a cup of tea behind the neutral car. Just before the 25km mark some action started to happen as it was the MTN hotspot for the Mens, Ladies and mixed teams ahead on the Da Gama Dam climb. Werner and I managed to end up in a break with a couple of strong teams including riders like David Garret, Moolman Welgemoed, Gary Beneke, Calvin Beneke, Jacques Fullard and Jac-Louis van Wyk. We were off and on this front group a couple of times but we managed to stay there with Werner pushing and dragging me behind this group. I was taking a lot of strain. At the bottom of the Spitskop climb Werner told me that we should move to the front of this group and as I was about to try and move forward when one of the younger riders in the group decided to change direction and take my front wheel with him which caused me to crash. We lost quite some time here as my bike (and I) was stuffed and we tried to get it ride able again. Another bunch caught up with us. I realized my front brake calipers were completely loose, so I had to remove them and hook them around my handle bars which created some interesting riding conditions on the descends as I only had rear brakes now. With Werner pushing and dragging me along we managed to stay with this bunch and finished with a time of 3 hours and 28 minutes. We were in fourth place for the Sub Vets after stage one, about twelve minutes behind the category leaders. Stage two on Sunday morning was overcast yet again. At least we were seeded in the A batch now and did not have to race through the neutral zone to be in front with the race leaders. I was feeling a lot better than on day one and managed to give Werner a bit of a break from pushing and dragging me up the hills for the first 60 km. This is a fast stage but from the 50 km mark the front bunch was rolling quite slowly and another bunch caught us from behind. Mark, Isabel, Derek and Flip were in this bunch. The real racing only started with about 20 km left to go as this was where teams could hurt one another on the hills before the finish. We were six minutes behind third place and the plan was to make up some time. Werner went to the front with me sitting his wheel and drove the pace hard. Unfortunately I was not on form and the stronger riders in the bunch got away from us (This included the team SAfindit which was in 3rd place). Werner, Iven, Gwyn and I were riding together now. The three of them working hard and I were just trying to hang on for dear life. We finished this stage in 2 hours 12 minutes, about four minutes behind the stage winners and category leaders. We moved into 5th position for the Sub Vets now and 3rd place was getting out of reach.

Stage three started in some light drizzling rain. On about the 20km mark Werner shouted at me to follow him and we had a bit of a break away to try and take the Hot Spot on the 35km mark. The other teams weren’t letting us get away though and riders like David Garret, Moolman Welgemoed and Nico Bell followed us up to the top of Spitskop. When they went to the front they were too strong for me and rode away from us. After a couple of kilometers a chase group caught up with us. Yet again I could not stay with them but managed to stay on the wheel of a tandem and the the SAfindit team. We stuck together for quite some time but on the downhill to Sabie bad luck struck yet again and my cassette on my rear wheel came loose. There we lost the tandem and SAfindit and watched them ride away as we rode into Sabie. We started the climb up Long Tom pass and I was not having a good time at all. A bunch caught us from behind containing the 40+ category leaders. Gwyn and Iven was in this bunch as well. I tried staying with this bunch as long as I could but even with Werner dragging and pushing me along I could not. I was spent. We started the long descent from Long Tom Pass all on our ace when Werner spotted one of the official backup vehicles. We switched bikes and Werner told me to ride so long on his bike while he changed my rear wheel. Werner caught up with me again in a bunch a couple of kilometers down the road. At least I managed to stay with them. Later Mark and Isabel’s bunch caught us and now we were quite a big bunch rolling on to the finish. On 105km we hit another climb and this bunch got stretched out quite a bit. We finished this stage in 3 hours 32 minutes, still 5th in the Sub Vets and 21st overall.

At last the final day was here and we were ready for the time trial with at least one podium in mind. It was on a tough 24 kilometer with the same grueling finish as on stage two. I could not do any work but I sat on Werner’s wheel for all I was worth. We caught a couple of teams that started in front of us. With 9 kilometers left to go disaster struck once again, Werner’s rear wheel punctured. Werner told me we are still going on and he carried on with a flat rear wheel. We finished the Time Trial in 41 minutes and 38 seconds, missing 3rd place on the podium with 34 seconds.

We finished the tour in 9 hours, 54 minutes and 38 seconds. Our final result was 22nd overall and 5th place in the Sub Vet category. This tour is a must do and I can’t wait to take revenge on these killer hills of White River and surrounds next year!

Well done to Gwyn, Iven, Isabel, Mark, Flip and Derek with all their podium positions. Thanks Werner for your patience during this tour. It was an honor having you as my partner.

Panorama Tour 2010 – Veteran’s category report

Team “One Click” represented Mr Price Cycling Club at the 2010 Panorama Tour in the veteran’s category. It was Gwyn Pine’s and my first time at this event and we unfortunately were seeded into start batch “D” on the first day. This meant that we had to go all out to get to the front of the race at the start of the first stage.

Stage 1 (115km, 2213m ascent). The racing started out fairly briskly in cool, misty conditions. Despite our initial hard effort, Gwyn and I managed to hang on to the front of the race until the first hot spot at 25km where I blew up. Gwyn, the strong man, helped and encouraged me but we still lost contact with the leaders of the Vets category and we grovelled for another 90km over many energy sapping climbs and down some fast descents (max speed just on 90km/h). With Gwyn’s tenacity and strength we finally made it home as 5th Vets (23rd overall) 4 minutes down on the other 4 Vets teams.
Stage 2 (80km, 1192m ascent). I had heard about the neutral zone and that it was very easy to get dropped in it because of the high speed that the peleton rode at. However, nothing could prepare me for the actual experience. It seemed as if the speed was the same going up the hills as going down. Fortunately after the neutral zone the pace became a little more manageable. The peleton rode a fairly comfortable pace for the first 50 km but with 30 km to go the road suddenly kicked up all the way home and the pace hotted up. All the leading Vets teams stayed together in the second group with the front group being made up of the top overall GC contenders. Somewhere along the line a Vet team got away and ended up wining the stage despite being some 10 minutes down on the GC. Gwyn and I had a far better ride and ended the stage 4th in the Vets (24th overall). Our GC position remained unchanged at 5th even though we had made up a few seconds on the stage. We gained confidence in this stage because we started seeing cracks appearing in some of our opponents.

Stage 3 (113km, 2055m ascent). Again the neutral zone was far from being a normal neutral zone but at least Gwyn and I knew what to expect. The racing was again fairly brisk with Gwyn attacking the peleton in the first 6km of the stage which forced me to try and bridge to him. We were quickly brought back on the first real uphill and the peleton split up as we began the climb up Spitskop (5.5km at 5.3% gradient) to the hot spot. Gwyn and I both gained a small gap on the leading Vets teams on the early parts of the climb but at the hot spot we had been caught. The pace however caused a split and with some teams puncturing, 3 Vets teams got away. On the decent into Sabie we reached speeds of up to 85km/h and covered the next 11km in just over 10 minutes. Unfortunately Long Tom Pass loomed and put an end to our speedy run. The next 8.1km were all uphill with an average gradient of 5.2%. Once over Long Tom the remaining Vets teams worked together to maintain the gap that we had over the chasing teams which also meant that Gwyn and I could potentially move into 3rd on the GC. Fortunately we were able to maintain the hard effort and were rewarded by gaining 7 minutes over the next Vet team to put us comfortably into 3rd for the stage and on the GC. We were still around 4 minutes down on the 2nd Vet team on GC, we knew that the time trial would require our best effort. The first place GC was beyond our reach over a 24km time trial.

Stage 4 (24km time trial, 454m ascent). We started 19th last (being 19th overall on GC) just behind Graeme Cronje and Cherise Taylor with the 4th placed Vets team 1 minute ahead of us. Gwyn, being the time trial specialist, set a cracking pace which had me on the rivet from the gun. He powered us through the time trial both up the drags and down the descents enabling us to catch the 4th placed Vets team within the first 10km of the time trial. Now we knew that we had gained another minute on the 4th place but still pushed on hard unfortunately not being able to catch Graeme and Cherise! We ended the tour with a rewarding 22nd best TT overall (42:23) and 2nd Vet for the stage. Despite gaining more than 30 seconds on the 2nd placed Vets team on GC, we remained 3rd on GC at the end of the tour and 17th overall in a time of 9:58:38.

Many thanks to Gwyn Pine who is not only awesomely strong but also always so positive.

Congratulations to Isabel Moolman and Mark Davel for a fine, consistent performance to take 2nd overall in the Mixed category.

Iven Scharein

MTN Panorama Tour 2010 - Mixed

Day 1:

The Panorama Tour 2010 for the Mr Price Team started with an early wake up on Friday (just after 3am) to meet at Werner's place for the long drive to White River. Leaving just after 5am we finally arrived at our accommodation at about 2:23pm and then straight off to register and grocery shopping.

In all the training we jokingly referred to raining for the neutral zone as this is always one of the hardest sections. While there is some sort of seeding system in place, the lead car typically heads of at such a pace that only the strongest teams survive the neutral zone in the lead group and this year it was to prove true to form on day 1. The seeding system was supposed to put all riders in the same category together in the start pens, but some teams managed to get themselves re-seeded so while Blom and I started with the majority of the groups in "C" batch, the favorites in the Mixed section (Greame Crionje and Cherise Taylor) managed to move up to "A" batch. Although the race is supposed to be a mass start with the seeding just determining how close you are to the front, by the time we moved out of the start pens onto the main road, the leaders must have been almost 500m ahead and despite sprinting as fast as possible, we never managed to catch up to the lead group before the end of the neutral zone and as a result were only ever going to be racing for second.

The first stage is about 115km and there is almost no flat road. With well over 2000m of climbing it was really tough. The first half of the stage has a number of small but nasty climbs as you head towards Hazyview and then left towards Sabie where the fun really starts with a 12km climb to the top of Spitzkop. Although we did not know it at the time, heading towards Sabie we were in the group with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Mixed teams and I jokingly told Blom that we would attack the group (about 30 riders) as we reached Sabie and started the climb. I was feeling really strong on the day so true to my word,as we reached the left turn I grabbed hold of Blom and we attacked - quickly opening up a gap of about 100m before one of the stronger male teams rode across to us. Just as they reached us and I thought we would work together, they pulled off to the side of the road to fill their water bottles at the water point. We were not going to hang around and wait so we pressed on - all the time conscious that were were pulling out a bit more distance on the chasing group.

Finally we had some good fortune as we started catching some of the teams who had dropped off the lead group and just near the top of the climb the team who had stopped for water also joined us. Now with a really strong group of about 10 riders we rode really hard for the last 30 or so km back to White River, and despite dropping off this group on the final kick up to the finish we still managed to finish almost 5 minutes ahead of the next Mixed Team who had been with us at the start of the Climb out of Sabie. Our time for the stage was about 3hrs 45mins, well behind the leaders (Greame and Cherise) but they did have the advantage of being able to ride comfortably with the leading group without having to put in the effort themselves.

The other Riders from Mr Price also put in strong performances with Werner and Emile 4th in the 30-39's despite Emile crashing, Gwyn and Iven 5th in the 40-49 ad Derek and Flip 4th in the 50+. Sandra and Marina finished in the top 10 in the Ladies section.

Day 2 is a bit easier and with a bit of a buffer over the 3rd place team and no chance of catching the leaders (unless they have a serious problem) we looked forward to recovering a bit before the challeng of Stage 3 with 2 major climbs over another 115km or so with again more than 2000m of climbing.....


Day 2:

Probably the easiest stage of the Tour but still over 1100m of climbing in 80km and most of this climbing is in the final 30km.

Fortunately Blom and I were in the top 50 overall after day 1 so we were "seeded" and able to start at the front of the field for day 2. After a short "neutral zone" there was a nasty couple of km at full pace which split the bunch and unfortunately we were the last team dropped from the lead group as the pace was incredibly hard. We were however fortunate to end up riding with quite a big bunch which also included the 3rd placed mixed team so we were not too concerned.

After a tricky first 20km we hit the fast flat section down to Nelspruit, and were fortunate to have a strong tandem in the group as we really flew with little or no effort. From Nelspruit we took the left turn taking us towards the airport road After another few km we were really surprised to see the lead group just ahead and they seemed to be riding really easy. as it turned out there were a few riders away but it was nice to have actually caught the lead group.

This situation was sure to change and did as we took the left turn back towards White River past the airport. What goes down must come back up.... Blom and I rode relatively hard at the start of the hill and managed to get in a group ahead of the 3rd placed team. We worked hard to stay in this group and at the end of the day were rewarded with another 2nd place, gaining another 4 mins on the team in 3rd, but Graeme Cronje and Cherise Taylor were just in a different class finishing a few minutes ahead of us to extend their overall lead.


Day 3:

Another really tough day including 2 major climbs each about 8-10km long. The weather at the start did not look promising - light rain and heavy skies overhead. The start followed the same route as day 2 and once again the group split just after the neutral zone but we worked hard to get us back to the leading bunch. As the climbing began in earnest once again we were dropped off this group and riding with the 3rd placed mixed team. Riding up the first big climb of the day we made a point of sticking near the front of the group, and this paid off as we were fortunate enough to be caught by a strong tandem (I think they had punctured earlier) in the last few meters of the climb giving us an opportunity for a fast descent into Sabie. Looking around we were pleased to see that we were now the only mixed team in the group.

From Sabie we turned l,eft and began the grueling climb up Long Tom pass. In a way it was a blessing that we rode into the mist as it made it impossible to see how much further we still had to climb. Near the Turn back towards Nelspruit we had another bit of good luck as we caught another Tandem. With almost 30km of downhill from this point it was the best news ever. At stages we were going so fast the group nearly split up on the downhill. At this pace we were constantly catching teams who had fallen off the pace of the leading group. To our absolute surprise one of the last groups contained Graeme and Cherise as well as Werner. An even bigger surprise was that Werner was riding Emile's bike!!! (Emile had a problem with his wheel so they had swapped bikes with Emile riding on ahead on Werner's bike while Werner waited for a spare wheel).

The final 10km proved just too tough for us to be able to stay with Graeme and Cherise and contend for the Stage win, but all the good fortune (and tactics) of staying with the Tandems paid off as we were now almost 30 mins ahead of 3rd (and a long 19mins off 1st) going into the final day's 24km time trial.

Day 4:

Nice to have a bit of extra sleep as the TT start list was reverse order on overall classification and we were now 33rd overall. With the time gaps between us and our closest competition the TT was merely academic in terms of the overall position. With sore legs from 3 days of hard racing and little motivation for being able to improve on our overall position we decided that we would push hard but not as Iven might put it "Super-Hard".
The 24km route for the TT was not flat and at the end of the day our 47:21 time was only good enough for 3rd on the day, but there were no changes in the overall positions. Having been on the podium every day and finishing off 2nd overall meant a really successful tour and a lot of trophies for Blom and myself.

A couple of special thanks.

Firstly to my partner - Blom, you were amazing. Sorry for abusing your body like that! Secondly to all the other Mr Price teammates for making this such an enjoyable weekend. Well done to Iven and Gwyn for your 3rd Place overall in the 40-49 category - an excellent result. Finally thanks to Taryn for all your support and giving up your long weekend to be babysitter for the mini-Moolmans.

Mark

MTN Panorama Tour starts this Saturday.

By Emile Fouche

On Saturday the 24th of April would be the start of the 5th Panorama Tour with the starts and finishes of all four stages at Casterbridge, White River. The distances of the stages from stage one to stage four are 115km, 80km, 113km and a 24km Time trial on stage four. It is a two man team event and Mr Price Cycle Club Vets Team has riders competing in about every category at the event.

Watch this space for Race Reports after the event.

McDonalds 21 March 2010

By Werner Moolman

Good turnout as there’s not a lot of racing happening in and around KZN.
The plan for the day was just to make it as hard as we can and see where we end up in the results.
The juniors really impressed me as they were in the mix all the time going on breaks and attacking left right and centre.
With it being a flat race it was always going to be difficult to stay away. Compliments to other the other guys like Sean Merredew, Deno van Heerden (Fego), Rowan Tyler (Fego) and Rough Cruser (DCM) that also wanted to race hard.

On the last two laps Iven got into a break with Rowan Tyler (Fego) and I though that this would be lekka if it stays away, but they where reeled in, in the last 5km’s.

The bunch sprint was hectic with al those corners.
Congrats goes out to all the podium finishers as you guys got way bigger …. Than me as I just watch from the back.

Thanks to my team and heads up for the juniors, hope you guys kick butt at the junior tour. OFF THE FRONT OR OUT THE BACK….

Midmar Notts – 28 February 2010

By Iven Scharein

This race is always a favourite for those wanting to test their form for Sani2C and the Argus. The number of participants on Sunday did not disappoint despite the weather looking a little gloomy before and during the early part of the race.

The Mr Price Cycle Club team started in the 30-49 age group even though we would have like to seen a mass start. Right out the Midmar resort the hammer was put down by Werner Moolman and Norvyn Pitout making the racing tough for those who had hoped to get over Happy Hill with the front of the race. On Happy Hill itself, Werner Moolman launched a big effort which saw the field split up and many screaming legs were left shattered along the way.

Norvyn Pitout then followed up an attack in which himself and another rider got away. Further up the road they were caught. Unfortunately soon after that a broken spoke in his rear wheel saw an in-form and disappointed Norvyn end his race. Werner attacked immediately thereafter and took a Bring It On and Fego Coffee rider with him. The bunch was content to let this break go as all the teams / clubs were represented in the break. After a short while Martin Atterbury (Bring It On) felt that he wanted to close the gap despite having a fellow club rider in the break.

As Werner and his accomplices were caught, Emile Fouche launched an attack taking with him Matt Geotsch (Fego Coffee). Emile and Matt drove hard and despite some huge efforts by Martin Atterbury and Sean Merridew, they stayed away. After the turn around Sean Merridew put in a big effort which somehow caused a split in the group and simultaneously catching Emile and Matt. This left a group of 7 just off the front.

Both Werner and Mark Davel decided against chasing the front group down because they were getting no assistance from the bunch. Emile Fouche and I were left to figure out how to make the best of the situation. Despite a very sedate tempo returning to Midmar with only Martin Atterbury trying to get away several times, the lead group stayed away which gave testament to the lack of urgency in the chasing group. Without the presence of our key sprinter, Mark Davel, both Emile and I knew our chances were limited in the final sprint. We tried to launch a few attacks to get a small gap but we knew it was like playing the lotto. The sprint was won by Sean Merridew followed by Rowan Tyler.

Mr Price Cycle Club dominated the podium places across all the age groups. We were happy to see that Clinton Olson (Berg Wheelers) won the Ryan Maullin Memorial Trophy because Berg Wheelers has hosted the event so successfully.

Mr Price KZN Vets and Ladies Team photo.

From lef to right: Norvyn Pitout, Isabel Moolman, Mark Davel, Werner Moolman, Gwyn Pine, Emile Fouche, Iven Scharein, Derrick Tivers.
Absent: Flip Krugel, Sandra Haywood

KZN Time Trial and Road Champs 2010

by Emile Fouche

On Saturday the 6th February the Kwazulu-Natal Time Trial Championships was held at the 4.5 km Toyota Test Circuit near Eston.

Arriving there we already knew it was going to be a hard ride in extremely hot temperatures as the tar was about to melt. Flip and Derrick had already won a gold medal in their respective categories and Iven and Gwyn were busy warming up for their start. Gwyn won the Gold and Iven Scharein won the Silwer in their respective categories.

At round about 12h50 we lined up at the start line and I was to find out what time trialing is all about as I have never done it before. At 12h55 Norvyn started and I left just after him at 12h56. The route starts on a nice downhill and you start at a massive speed going down there thinking that you are going to fly through these 7 laps as they shortened the planned 40 km to 30 km because of the heat. But then the route flattens out for about 1.5km, then you go around a loop and find yourself on a slight upwards drag towards the start. Then it kicks upwards to the start line and down you go again for the next lap on the figure 8 route. On the straight you could see your team mates gunning it into the opposite direction. My first two laps felt pretty good but then I could feel the energy tapping out from me with each pedal stroke I took. When you overtake someone in front of you it feels great, but it is no fun to be overtaken by someone who started behind you. By the end of the ride I was absolutely hammered even though I tried to save myself for Sunday’s road race. Norvyn and Werner rode great time trials winning their categories. Mark also won a gold medal in the time trial.


On Sunday morning the 7th of February we lined up to start the 120km road race at the Van der Merwe’s Hotel near Camperdown. All the categories were riding together so it did not matter which category you rode in, if you were the overall winner of the race you would be crowned KZN champion. An honor that usually only went to the elites if they started the race as their own category and were the first category to start. At 6h30 the race started and we were heading towards Thornville. The first 10 km or so was quite uneventful. Sean Merredew, now riding for Mr Price Cycle club decided to stir things up a bit and launched an attack, but the bunch did not let him get too far away and everything got back together again. One of the Café Fego riders took a chance and attacked the group and got a bit of a gap. The bunch did not worry too much yet and left the rider out front on his own a bit. A short while later Werner called me and told me to take two of the juniors, Jonty and Travis, who were sitting comfortably in front of the bunch and try and cross over to the breakaway rider. I might have miss understood or just could not attack properly out of inexperience and ended up just doing a huge pull on the front of the bunch. Myles put in an attack in an attempt to cross over and Werner told me to sit up. But before we turned left to Richmond everyone was back together again. Norvyn and another rider got into a break up one of the hills towards the Eston turn-off. The bunch reined them in and after the Eston turn-off Nic Smith (Leighs Cycling) and Deno van Heerden (Café Fego) got into a break. I was sitting at the back of the bunch suffering with cramps in my legs when Werner came to the back and asked me to go and sit on the front for as long as I could hang out. Gwyn joined me and we rotated until we caught Nic and Deno just before we got to the left turn back towards Van der Merwe’s loop. Most of the bunch overtook me heading for the turn and I had to slow down to avoid Bryan Cusack (Bring it on) who had a nasty crash taking the corner. I was off theback of the bunch and thought I got dropped. Zulu was next to the road handing out some well needed water which I used to cool me down and managed to latch back on the back of the bunch again. Aston Davies, another Mr Price Junior rider got in a break and the bunch seemed to relax a bit. Our whole team was still together. Amazingly Bryan rejoined the bunch after his tumble. Taking the right-hand turn on the Van der Merwe’s loop I went to have a chat with Werner and Mark who was sitting easily on the front as Aston was still in the break. My legs were screaming. The pace changed drastically taking the left-hand turn at the Spar in Camperdown. I managed to get over the first hill on the back of Vans but on the second kick my legs locked up from the cramps and I had to watch the bunch go. I was spent and not feeling good and withdrew from the race when I reached the finish of the first lap.

I don’t know what happened in the final couple of laps but was lucky enough to be a front row spectator of the finish. The first two riders around the corner were Deno and Mark Davel who had a gap on the bunch. Seeing this scenario everyone knew Mark had the race in his pocket as Deno had no choice but to give it all he has got for the finish line. Mark overtook Deno in the sprint to the line taking a well deserved and brilliant win for the Mr Price team.

Medals for the team taken on the championships:
Gold: Derrick Tivers (Time Trial and Road), Flip Krugel (Time Trial and Road), Mark Davel (Time Trial and Road), Werner Moolman (Time Trial), Gwyn Pine (Time Trial), Norvyn Pitout (Time Trial)
Silver: Iven Scharein (Time Trial), Gwyn Pine (Road)
Bronze: Emile Fouche (Time Trial), Iven Scharein (Road)
Werner Moolman was crowned the overall winner for the time trial and Mark Davel was the overall winner for the road race.
A good day in the office for the team indeed!

Race Report – Fast One VA (Vets 30-34) 24 January 2010

By Mark Davel

The batches for the Fast One race were based on 5-year age groups, and thus in order to be able to ride together as a team (riders are allowed to ride “down” in a “younger” age group) we were entered in the VA batch. As it turned out on the day, all the other major Vets teams had the same idea and as a result the VA group was much stronger than the VB group and the winning time was almost 10 minutes faster.....

As the race name suggests, the route is flat and fast, and in our planning for the race we fully expected the finish to be a bunch sprint. As our first Jhb race of the season and also riding in the VA category we were a little unsure about who the real threats might be on the day. The full Mr Price Vets team consisting of Werner, Norvyn, Emile, Iven, Gwyn and Mark was entered
Weather prediction for the day were unfortunately spot-on and we were greeted by very wet roads and continuous rain on Sunday morning. Despite the weather, all the main Jhb Vets teams were on the start line, with Cyclelab, Club 100/MTN, Bulk Pack Meats and TCS as well as the Fego team from Durban all present.

From the start the pace was fast and furious, but for the first 15km no serious breaks developed. At about 15km, a small attack went off the front and Werner, seeing that no Mr Price riders were in the move, rode across the gap to cover the move. Within the next few km a couple of additional riders also rode across and suddenly the move contained just the right group of riders for it to succeed as all the main teams were represented and as a result there was no concerted chase from the peleton.

With no race radios and no following team vehicles it took a while to gather information from other riders about who exactly was in the break, but once we found out that there were no serious sprinters among the break-away group we made the call not to try to chase at all as we were confident that Werner was probably the strongest rider in the break. The slight risk was the fact that TCS had 2 riders in the break but the odds of Werner getting a podium position from this break seemed better than relying on the lottery of a bunch sprint finish in the rain.

The rest of the ride in the peleton was thus a bit “uneventful”, and the chase only really got organised to a certain extent once the MTN riders in the break were dropped and their team suddenly decided to try to close the gap which had grown to well over 2 minutes. In the closing stages, Cyclelab also began to chase once their rider dropped from the break.
By the finish there were only 4 riders left in the leading part of the break, and with an all-out effort up the long and slightly uphill finish Werner managed to get a small gap and hold on to take the win and ensure a fantastic start to the season for the team.

Newcastle Waterside Wimpy Challenge, 17 January 2010

By Emile Fouche

It looked like we might be having a rainy ride when we lined up to start our first race of the season at the Waterside Wimpy in Newcastle on Sunday morning. It was only one big start bunch as all the different age groups raced as one big category. The teams present in numbers were House of Paint, Mr Price Junior Team (Aston Davies, Callum McHardy, Jonty Tivers, Myles Musschenbroek, Travis Meadows), Mr Price Vets Team (Werner Moolman, Iven Scharein, Emile Fouche, Gwyn Pine) and the newly formed Fego Café.

At 6h30 we were off heading towards Ladysmith. About 8 kilometers down the road we took a right hand turn and then had to cross a narrow bridge. The whole bunch was pretty much together at this point. The first hill came up which the locals call “Been Breukertjie” which translates to “Leg Breaker”. The bunch got a bit split up there. Not long after that Jason Bakke (House of Paint) attacked the group and Myles managed to get on his wheel. The bunch just watched them disappear in the distance. Werner was controlling the pace of the bunch to give the two break-away riders a bit of a gap. On about the 35 to 40 km mark we came to quite a big climb and Werner told me just to stay on Christopher Jennings wheel. Unfortunately for me it somehow felt like I was being boxed in by the group and could not stay there. On the big climb I got dropped from the front bunch with another couple of riders. Werner was with the front bunch and Gwyn, Aston and me were in the second group. At the turn around point it seemed that the two break-away riders were caught as we only saw one group of riders heading back to the finish line before we got to the turn-around mark. A third group of riders joined our group consisting of Iven, Callum , Martin Atterbury and a couple of the Fego riders. We were going at a steam roller pace and could just make out the backup vehicles in the distance. We picked up Jason and Myles who had dropped from the front bunch but unfortunately lost Gwyn and Iven due to punctures. Callum gave his wheel to Gwyn who attempted to catch up.

Our group caught the front bunch with about 15 km to go to the finish. Quite a couple of attacks happened from there but all stayed pretty much together. With about 5 km to go we got a bit separated into two groups again. One of the Fego riders, Clint Olsen from Burg Wheelers and me were sitting in front of this group trying to get back. When I got to the front I heard Werner shouting “GO! GO! GO!” and I did one last pull to get us back. My legs were screaming and cramping and I had no choice but to back down and watch the bunch go.

Werner finished the race off for our team by claiming 5th overall and a podium position for MR Price.

The results were as follows:
1.) Jason Bakke (House of Paint)
2.) Christopher Jennings (Zululand Cycles)
3.) Richard Baxter (House of Paint)
4.) AC Swanepoel (Newcastle local rider)
5.) Werner Moolman (Mr Price)