Dischem Ride for Sight 12 February 2012 - By Andrew Reeves

On the 12th Febuary the Mr Price vets team lined up at the start for the 116km RP Ride for Sight in Boksburg, Gauteng.


The 7 team riders were; Dirk Barnard, Emile Fouche, Sean Merredew, Gwyn Pine, Andrew Reeves, Werner Venter and Mike Viljoen.

With the undulating but relatively flat route a break away was possible but a sprint finish was also a likely event.

Our large bunch started at 06h35 on an unusually cold summer morning and we took a good few kilometres to defrost.


After only 2 kilometres Werner Venter unfortunately crashed out with a number of other riders. He was unable to continue and we later learned he had broken his elbow.


There were a few attacks early on but the pace was not too hard yet. At about 40km Jeremy Maartens of MTN started attacking up a hill, this caused a break of about 7 riders to get away. We did not stay away for too long though with a lot of other riders eager to chase.


As we were caught Maartens went again and the bunch let him go, many were not expecting him to get far. But being an ex pro with serious time trialling ability he managed to hold off a chasing bunch for 40kms on his own.


After much chasing by Emile, Mike, Dirk, Gwyn and other teams he was only caught at the top of Heidelburg hill 80+kms into the race.


After that there were a flurry of attacks and counter attacks, but every time the large number of riders in the bunch meant the groups were dragged back.


With no James Louter or Jacques Fullard to contend with Sean and I were ready to go for the sprint finish, but Julius Cobbet was ready too.


With a large bunch sprint inevitable we started searching for the best bunch position, and coming in to the final S-bend corners it was MTN leading it out. Unfortunately I punctured within the last 500m but managed to hit the final straight in the lead. Sprinting with a rear flat I was going nowhere and got totally swamped by the bunch.

Sean sprinted well and timed his effort better, getting 4th place in the end.


A charging Julius Cobbet won the bunch sprint convincingly.

Waterside Wimpy Newcastle Road Race – 5 February 2012 - by Dirk Barnard

Sunday morning dawned with the expectation of heavy rain which was forecast but with the weather gods being on our side no rain. It was still heavily overcast with a slight breeze just to keep things cool. For the first time this year we had a full Mr Price Vets Team present at the race. Yes, that means that even the wily old fox BRYAN CUSACK was in our midst and, for the first time, the only rose between the thorns Isabel Moolman. In the mix with us we had to contend with the local lad AC Swanepoel, from Cycle Lab there was Werner Moolman, Brett Berriman and Trevor Row, Martin Atterbury wearing his white outfit (brave considering rain was forecast) and the sprightly Mr Price Junior Liam Mooney.


The start gun went at 06H15 with the Juniors, U 23, Elites, Vets 30-39 and Vets 40-49 all starting together. With the first kilometer being a steady climb the pace was very sedate until we got to the top where Sean Merredew took over and showed us how to descend. As the first couple of kilometers was verily all down hill the first attack come from Mr Price's Sean Merredew. This was however reeled in by the Cycle Lab team. The Mr Price Vets team was riding very aggressively with a couple of attacks one after the other. This made the Cycle Lab team work hard to reel in every break. About 1km before the turn off to the dam another attack came from Dirk Barnard followed by team mate Andrew Reeves, Junior Liam Mooney and AC Swanepoel. A gap of +- 20 seconds opened and with the first real climb of the day it looked like the break might get away from the bunch. As we crested the short but steep climbed I glance over my shoulder to see the main bunch behind splintering a bit with the Cycle lab team pushing the pace to reel us in. The break got caught before the next 90 degree turn from where the pace and bunch settled in for a while. Not being content just riding the auto bus Emile Fouche put in a well time attack getting away on his own. The gap grew steadily. With the Cycle Lab team on the front the gap stayed constant. As we made the final left turn toward the turn around point Emile Fouche was still ahead of the bunch but with the longest and most testing climb just a few kilometers away, it would really put Emile to the test, especially with the road not being in the greatest condition, lots of pot holes and even a +- 50 meter stretch of gravel to contend with. As we hit the bottom of the climb Liam Mooney took up the pace and Emile was back in the pack. With the pace and effort picking up all the time Sean Merredew attacked about half way up the climb followed by team mate Mike Viljoen and local lad AC Swanepoel. By the half way turning point they managed to open a small gap on the following bunch consisting of Mr Price's Andrew Reeves, Brian Cusack, Liam Mooney, Martin Atterbury and Cycle Lab's James Burne.


A small chasing bunch of 6 formed behind the 7 leading guys with the Cycle Lab team having the most to lose. The gravel section on the descent proved to be somewhat of a race decider as unfortunately Werner Venter punctured and Mike Viljoen picked up a slow puncture which was luckily very very slow. Soon after the right turn back to the dam Sean Merredew, Mike Viljoen and AC Swanepoel were reeled in by a hard working Martin Atterbury and James Burne. As the trio was caught Andrew Reeves' chain somehow managed to twist, which left him standing hopelessly next to the road where Emile Fouche and Cycle Lab's Werner Moolman stopped to assist. With great sportsmanship Werner Moolman gave Andrew Reeves his bike to complete the race, taking himself out the race. The leading bunch of 7 were now just watching each other and riding at a steady pace and things would surely be decided on what the locals call “The 3 sisters” just a few kilometers from the finish line.


The chasing 6 become 4, with 2 Cycle Lab and 2 Mr Price riders. Needless to say Mr Price had a nice ride all the way to the main road where we could see that we were not going to catch the main bunch ahead of us. We started to work with the Cycle Lab guys. Up head the battle started on the bottom of the final sister where AC Swanepoel attacked. He was followed by Martin Atterbury with Sean Merredew not far behind. Battling with his slow puncture Mike Viljoen and Bryan Cusack steadily pulled themselves back to the trio in front with Mike Viljoen managing to pass Martin Atterbury. Bryan Cusack used his experience to hold off the two youngsters. Sean Merredew was now chasing hard to catch AC Swanepoel but to no avail.


In all, a tough undulating route that tested the legs.

Final result:


1 AC SWANEPOEL


2 SEAN MERREDEW Mr Price


3 MIKE VILJOEN Mr Price


4 MARTIN ATTERBURY Mr Price


5 BRYAN CUSACK Mr Price


6 LIAM MOONEY Mr Price


7 JAMES BURNE Cycle Lab


8 ANDREW REEVES Mr Price


9 DIRK BARNARD Mr Price


10 TREVOR ROWE Cycle Lab

The New Fast One - 29 January 2012 - by Werner Venter

On Sunday morning, 29 January we lined up for the 2nd edition of the “New” Fast One outside the Midvaal Racetrack. The Mr Price vets team was represented by Emile Fouche, Mike Viljoen, Andrew Reeves, Dirk Barnard and I. With the top club structure falling away, the VA group was fairly large with most of the big teams represented and a few new teams and individuals also joining the extremely competitive 30-39 age group.


The racing started out at a fairly sedated pace of about 45km/h. One or two small attacks was made, but was reeled in easily and it became apparent that this race was probably going to end in a large bunch sprint. Our team was very active and put in a few attacks and covered all the important moves. At around the halfway point in this fast and furious race, our new found strong man, Mike Viljoen put in a big attack that resulted in the move of the day. In the break was Mike, Rowan Tyler (Fego), Craig Harvey (Cycle Nation), two MTN Club 100 riders and a rider from team without sponsor. With most of the big teams represented, most of us were happy to sit back and make the teams who missed the move chase down the break. Mountain biker, Nick Portius (Specialized) tried hard to bring the gap of over a minute down with the help of some of the other smaller teams. With around 25km to go we eventually caught the break and the racing was back on. Through Walkerville and Henley on Klip, the route makes a few twist and turns and we knew that we needed to be at the front of the bunch or risk being dropped from the group. We did just that and with around 10km to we could see MTN Club 100 organising their lead out train and it was then that Dirk Barnard (Mr Price) put in an attack to upset their rhythm. Dirk was soon reeled in and then Andrew Reeves (Mr Price) put in another attack. The finish was a 6.5km drag which was far from flat-but even the incline did not drop the speed below 50km/h! We tried to lead Andrew out for the sprint, but were outdone by a better organised MTN Club 100 team. The race was won by James Louter (MTN), with Andrew finishing in 5th place. All of us came in with the same time. After the race we learned that Emile punctured with around 3km to go-really bad luck after all the work he did for 99% of the race.


It was a very good race for our team, and even though we didn’t get the result we were looking for, we really enjoyed ourselves and proved to ourselves that we don’t need to stand back for the big teams.


Final results:


1. James Louter


2. Jacques Fullard


3. Julius Cobbett


4. Craig Harvey


5. Andrew Reeves

Photo by Mandie Herbst

KZN Champs - 21-22 January 2012 - by Mike Viljoen

This past weekend Durban became witness to arguably the best cycling event ever seen! The annual KZN Cycling champs was run over 2 days - Saturday hosting the Time Trial and Sunday the Road Race. With world class athletes participating over a world class course, the weekend was bound to bring fireworks to the tar!


The 30 + team was out in full force for both the time trial and road race . Most of us did the time trial as training for tours further down the line when there is no choice in doing the time trial. For some this proved easier than others, as on this flat circuit loop, there was no time to relax. We had 5 laps to do for a total of 45km. Sean was able to grab a podium in the 30+ cat with a fantastic third.


The following morning took us up the hill into the mountains for the 126km circuit race around Westville. As tradition would have it the start of the day brought rain – not something we really wanted as the down hills were as brutal as the up hills making an already brutal course even more testing. We were to start with the elite and u23 bunch which contained the likes of Burry Stander, Kevin Evans and David George. Not to mention the many other notable campaigners on various international circuits. If that was not enough to scare off any sane person I’m not sure what would!


Never the less we started the race and the heavens opened. Thankfully that kept the rather large and anxious peloton under control for the first 2 laps before the early break was to make a move. Aston Davies and Myles von Muschenbrook went away and managed to amass about 1m30. The lap circuit was a great way for spectators to keep in touch with the race with the climbs up towards Cowies providing fireworks on every lap! Gradually the pace set by the pros and the gradient split the group with three quarters of the bunch disappearing after about lap 4. At this stage the break was brought back and all was neutral again. A few more accelerations were metered out and on lap 8 another Split happened with about 10-15 riders getting away. At this stage only 3 30+ riders were able to hang in with Mr Price riders Sean and Mike in a perfect position to take the podium.


In the final lap Burry Stander and Kevin Evans attacked the bunch and managed to stay away to the end. With the split having enough of a gap, the final climb became a battle field of attacks with overall and category contenders fighting for line honours. Mike made the first move , attacking Nick Portious. All Sean had to do was sit and wait and then ride across to Mike and take the win in the 30+ cat with Mike taking second . Rounding out the results was Emile Fouche with a fine 4th. A really well worked result for the team!


The chase group still had catagory prizes up for grabs. Recently moving up to the 35 + cat, Mr Price team rider Andrew Reeves had to fight it out with Matt Goetch of Fego eventually securing 2nd spot.


Overall a great weekend of racing and a great start to the season for the team.

Mr Price KZN Vets 2012 Team

Herewith we would like to Introduce the Mr Price KZN Vets team for 2012!

Cat 30-34:

Sean Merredew
Mike Viljoen
Werner Venter
Emile Fouche

Cat 35-39

Andrew Reeves
Dirk Barnard

Cat 45-49

Bryan Cusack
Gwyn Pine

We are looking forward to a great season ahead!

Momentum 94.7 - 19 November 2011 - by Mike Viljoen

Saturday 19 November saw the vets 30-34 racing team very happily leave the misty, rainy weather of kzn behind and make the trek to the sunny skies of guateng. Knowing that we were not going to have any back up vehicle, we decided to use the trailor as practice in changing tyres. True to form, we changed the shredded wheel better than any formula 1 garage would expect(half an hour) and continued on our way, safe in the knowledge that nothing would stop our success !




As tradition would have it a pre-race warm up was had, dinner served at Primi and race tactics discussed for the morning. Thankfully a sneaky back entrance just round the corner from the Town Lodge allowed a not too early wake up and warm up to the start at 05h40. By the time we arrived the main contenders were lining up including: Fego ; Cycle Nation; Computer Smith and MTN Club 100. Two main thoughts for the race were going on : MTN would want to keep it together for their sprinter James Louter who at this stage had good sprint legs. Cycle Nation would want to break it up for either the in form Julius Cobett or experienced craig Harvey. For us, we were outnumbered by all the teams so were hoping for a break to go and at least be represented.


The start was slow to say the least with the m1 not having an early break as per tradition except for a dab off the front from Fego rider David Imrie. This was left alone for most of the m1 but was slowly and easily dragged back . no real attempt was made after that - most knowing that the worst was still to come. Coming off the m1 , the early hills hit hard - shattering the bunch and allowing about 20 of us to get away . luckily MTN sprinter James Louter got caught by the big moves on these climbs and was left behind . unfortunately for us we lost Werner Venter aswell by trying to avoid a rider losing his chain ! Cycle Nation remained in tact with Fego losing Imrie aswell.


Going through the cbd was a semi relaxed affair with the only move going as we left the cbd from MTN rider Jeremy Martens. MTN soon realised that their tactics weren’t going to plan so spent most of their time on the front doing the work with Cycle Nation making the big attacks. It did become evident that TCS rider Jaco Fereira was turning out to be the one to watch as he sat quietly at the back of the bunch hardly breaking a sweat and using his team to perfection to bring moves back and hurt the bunch when required.


The second set of hills that followed were ridden at a fairly tough tempo with a few moves going off the front but not enough were represented so were dragged back. Once on the n14 , computersmith riders suddenly woke up and started attacking the bunch , knowing that the hardest part of the ride was about to hit us once we left the highway. Luckily the bunch was able to stay intact leaving the N14. Summit road was where it all went down with a massive attack coming from Jaco Fereira and Julius Cobbet which in the gutter wind was the decider. Going with was an MTN rider and later Craig Harvey aswell as Brand du Plessis from TCS. Unfortunately us and Fego missed this move and a flat out chase was on. This was the move of the day as Jaco and Julius attacked again and rode clear to the finish, leaving us all to fight for the minor placings.


Julius was able to out sprint Jaco for the win with the remainder of the final move coming in to complete the top 4. Andrew was able to take 10th , Emile 13th and Mike 15th. Not exactly what we wanted but a hard fought race non the less .

KZN Lassen Series Race 11 - 13 November 2011 - by Andrew Reeves

On the morning of 13th November a bunch of about 60 dedicated roadies lined up for the final race in the 2011 Lassen clothing road race series.The weather was perfect, a little overcast with no rain, comfortable tempratures and only a slight wind. The race was held on the NMR circuit, a 5km flat criterium type circuit. This was a nice change from the hilly Vans circuit where all the previous races in the series had taken place.


Just after 7am the racing got underway, and the bunch was straight into it, as there were points and cash hotspots up for grabs at the end of nearly every one of the planned 20 laps. The attacks were going off the front all the time but with a lot of fresh legs in the bunch they kept being reeled in. The cash hotspot sprints caused major accelerations and the bunch began to split up. A few breaks got small gaps but with the wrong combination of riders they were chased down.


At the halfway mark Deno van Heerden (Fego) attacked and Sean Merredew (Mr Price) followed him, Brett Berrimman (Cycle Lab) then jumped across to them with myself on his wheel. With riders from 3 main teams represented the bunch did not chase seriously and the break was allowed to move clear.


This proved to be the winning break and once the riders settled into a working rythmn a steady gap of about 1min was held over the bunch. Some riders did try to cross over to the break but since Mr Price had 2 riders in the break they wouldn't allow riders to get away and neutralised their attacks. Myles van Musschenbroek did manage to get into the break and then we had 5 riders in the break.


The finish of lap 19 was a cash sprint and Sean asked if I was going for it, I did and got the sprint. Myles then came steaming past me and I jumped onto his wheel and we were away. That last lap was a blur of flatout pacing as we worked hard to stay ahead of the 3 riders behind.


At the finish Myles opened up the sprint and kicked really hard but I just managed to squeak past him and win by a tires width. Sean came 3rd with Deno and Brett finishing off the top 5 places.

All the riders agreed it was a good race on a nice fast circuit and the race was enjoyed by all.


The Mr Price Vets team would like to say a BIG thank you to all the organisers, marshals and officials who worked so hard to make this race series a success. Of course a huge thanks goes to Lassens sportswear and Crusader Logistics for their generous sponsorship of the races.






Andrew Reeves

OFM Classic – 6 November 2011 - by Emile Fouche

On the morning of the 6th of November 2011 we lined up for the start of the 2011 version of the MTN OFM Classic. Our team was represented by Andrew Reeves, Werner Venter, Bryan Cusack and me. The other teams we knew we had to keep an eye on were Cylce Nation, Fego and a very well represented MTN Club 100 Team.

Five minutes behind the Pro’s and Elites our start gun sounded and the VA batch rolled down Nelson Mandela Avenue towards the right hand turn into Markgraaf Street. The attacks started early with us trying to cover as much as we can. The route took us through a bit of a Tour de Suburbs through Pellisier, Fichardt Park and Universitas before we turned right onto the N1 North. Amashova winner, Jeremy Maartins, was ahead in a solo break and we knew we would have to work to get him back. As Jeremy was a MTN rider we had help from Cycle Nation and Fego. An acceleration from the bunch eventually reigned him in but it was not long before another attempt went and we missed it again.

A strong break represented by Cycle Nation, MTN and Fego went of the front and we knew our work for the next lot of kilometres were going to be cut out for us. A couple of the names of the riders in the break were Craig Harvey, Julius Cobbett (both Cycle Nation), Rowan Tyler (Fego) and Jeremy Maatens (MTN). It was up to me, Werner and Bryan to lead the chase. The MTN team were doing a good job at blocking riders from rolling through. The route turned back onto N1 South and Sunning Hill and then left on Andries Pretorius. We were working our butts off. Every now and then some individual riders would make suicidal attempts trying to bridge the gap instead of helping us with the chase. I couldn’t help myself having a word or two with one of these particular riders. It was only once we turned left onto Rudolph Greyling road where the chase got momentum and we also received a lot of help from some individuals and our PE allies, Donovan O’Reilly and Awie Jacobs. On the N8 towards Lesotho we gained a lot of distance on the break and just when we were about to turn left on De la Rey road, Andrew attacked the bunch, crossing over to the break which now split. The break was reigned in but the bunch made a fatal error not continuing with its momentum as Julius and Jeremy was still ahead and gaining distance on the bunch again.

Yet again the chase was on. As we neared the first kick I could feel I was starting to get in trouble. Team mate Bryan Cusack was setting the pace on the hills and probably knowingly getting me dropped. I managed to stay in touch over the hill in Albrecht Street but when we reached the Lucas Steyn climb I just could not keep contact and had to watch the bunch go.

Meanwhile in the bunch Werner and Bryan were working like demons. The break was caught and it was going to end in a sprint finish.

The sprint was on! Unlucky for us Andrew suffered some mechanical issues with his chain as it started skipping and he could not risk standing. James Louter (MTN) won the sprint followed by Craig Harvey (Cycle Nation), Julius Cobbett (Cycle Nation), Dylan Joseph (Fego) and our team mate Andrew Reeves (Mr Price), finishing off the prize money positions. Bryan and Werner finished in the bunch with Bryan getting a top ten position.

This year’s OFM was a challenging route and hopefully the organisers keep it this way for a few years to come. Afterwards we went to prize giving to enjoy the live Afrikaans music and beer drinking vibe.

Well done to the MTN OFM Classic organisers for hosting a great event.

UCI WORLD CYCLING TOUR - Msunduzi Road Challenge - 30 October 2011 - by Mike Viljoen

As the name suggests, this was a very a hugely important race, especially for those wanting to qualify for the world masters champs next year in August. In essence - this was racing at its highest quality – an SA champs type event ! What we were blissfully unaware of was the quality of the course and field.


The day started out slightly overcast but humid as we warmed up for what was going to be a long day in the saddle. The who’s who of cycling arrived and by the time we lined up to start , the sun was out in full force - a sign of things to come . We all knew that the course was hilly but little did we know how hilly. The suspects to keep an eye on: Mtn club 100, Cyclenation, Team Computer Smith, Fego and various other classy individuals .


The first couple of km took us winding through the streets of Pietermaritzburg at a rather moderate pace and then onto the first climb of the day at 7km. This was the first of many tempo climbs of the day. This was where the first move of the day went clear with Sean Merridew(Mr Price) riding casually off the front half way up the climb. Seans move was soon covered by Julius Cobbet of Cycle nation. I suppose with 90% of the race still ahead of us everybody thought that it would not stick and let it go. It was now left to the individuals, Fego and Mtn to do the chasing. The pace however remained at a moderate tempo and the break managed a maximum of 4min!


No major moves really stuck after that with the course taking its toll on the bunch. With no effort from the chase, the course managed to slowly cut the group down. Slowly but surely the hills left groups scattered all over the road. The next major move came at about the 50km mark on the climb towards Dalton where the Computer smith boys made a telling move half way up the climb. At that stage the wind had reared its ugly head and was blowing us all over the place. The group was split in two with myself and Emile and Andrew not making the move. Unfortunately for Werner, he punctured and had to wait an hour and a half for assistance .This was perhaps the biggest let down of the event. If team vehicles are not allowed then maybe a better system of back up is needed?


The top of the climb was no time to rest as we worked hard with our bunch at between 55 and 60km /h in hectic cross winds to try and regroup. Unfortunately the wind and the previous hill mixed with the talent in the move, we were unable to bridge and settled into an uncomfortably hard pace in the cross winds to manage the damage. Again the course had its way, throwing second hand chip and spray, heavy cross winds and blazing heat. This took its toll and the group number shrunk all the time. At this stage it was only me and Emile left. Going up Brunys hill to the highest point of the race the bunch shattered and a small group of chasers made their way to the final climb of the day before dropping into Pietermaritzburg to contest the sprint for the final positions. I managed to make it into the final group but was in no shape to contest the sprint. The final climb saw Mtn take control, launching attack after attack to try and get there rider - Jeremy Martens away. This along with a lack of water and the still blazing sun made the final few km into Pietermaritzburg extremely tough. Luckily the end was in sight and after the criterium style finish and a speed bump interrupted sprint it was over.


The race in the 30 to 34 cat was won by Julius Cobbett, with Jaco Ferreira in 2nd and Hannes Botha in 3rd. Well done to Sean for keeping the Mr Price name high and finishing 4th in the category.

Amashova - 16 October 2011 - by Emile Fouche

We lined up for a 6h05 start in a very, very wet Pietmaritzburg on Sunday morning the 16th of October. Originally the race register showed that there were 123 entries for the VA category (Age 30-39), but on the day there were only about 75 on the start line. The rain probably indicated to the rest that they should stay in bed. Riding for the Mr Price KZN 30+ team on the day was Sean Merredew, Andrew Reeves, Werner Venter, Mike Viljoen and me. There were quite a couple of other well represented teams namely Fego, MTN Club 100, Brothers Sport and the Bring it On Puza Thursday team.


Everyone expects the bunch to split up going up Fox Hill, with a break going off in the sunrise (or rain storm in this case) and the remains trying to catch it until they reach the finish line. This year it was different, it seemed half of the bunch did bring their climbing legs and got over Fox Hill. The pace was high going up Fox, but not as high as last year when only about 15 guys went over the top. Maybe it was because of the fact that Jaco Ferreira or Jacques Fullard were not in the bunch driving it. Sean tried hard, but no one else showed interest.


Heading towards Umlaas road an attack would go off every now and then, but all of it got pulled back. After Camperdown Spar there was another attack from an MTN rider heading towards Cator ridge. I went to the front to chase but ended up opening a gap behind me. I was closing in on the MTN rider, and the bunch was closing in on me so it was pretty much mission accomplished. Once the bunch got back together another MTN rider, Jeremy Martins (Ex DCM Chrome) attacked with Werner on his wheel and that was the first real break of the day. On Harrisson Flats it was sad to see Bring it On rider, Darrell Seed sticking his hand in the air, indicating a puncture (He also mentioned something about Vark Steaks). The break was still away going up Inchanga and the commissaire told us that the VB bunch were right behind us with a 1 minute 30 seconds gap.

At the top of the climb we noticed that Jeremy had punctured and we caught Werner going up Alverstone. All was back together again and stayed like that until we reached the M13. The second break for the day happened just before we reached Hillcrest with Deno van Heerden (Fego), Andrew, a MTN rider and another two riders. We were happy with this break as we had confidence in Andrew to be able to finish it off. Unfortunately MTN did not have confidence in their rider and they chased the break down. The break was reigned in on 45th cutting from where Jeremy Martins sneaked away. Once we got onto the N3 Andrew asked me to try and help pace, even though I felt stuffed. I went to the front, rotating with Mat Goetsch (Fego), Werner, Mike and some other guys. Jeremy brought his time trialling legs though and stayed away to take the win in the VA-batch. For MTN that wasn’t enough and they also took 2nd and 3rd, with Deno in 4th and Sean wrapping up the final podium in 5th.


It was a wet miserable 2 hours and 37 minutes in the saddle, but a great race with the whole Mr Price team finishing in the main bunch.

Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge, October 2 2011 - by Werner Venter

Sunday morning October 2 saw the Mr Price Vets team line up outside Moses Mabhida stadium for the start of the 2nd running of the Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge. Our team was represented by Andrew Reeves, Emile Fouche, Mike Viljoen, Gwyn Pine and myself. We finally got the opportunity to race in our own age category (VA 30-39) and not just hang on for dear life in the Cat 1 Elite bunch. The race organizers decided to group the VA’s with the VB’s (40-49).

We started at a very relaxed pace rolling along the beach road. As we turned onto the M4, Emile put in an effort and got away from the bunch (pretty much the same way he did so successfully last year!). No one in the bunch was interested in chasing him so his lead grew with the kilometers rolling by. The main breakup of the bunch happened as we started the climb of the M19. A select group of around 20 rides rode away leaving the rest of the bunch chasing back. Gwyn, Mike and I could always see the leading group and we put in huge efforts to close the now 40 second gap. Through Pinetown the gap kept coming down, with Martin Atterbury (Marty’s Cycles) now also contributing to the chase. We caught the leading bunch as we started the decent of the M7. From here the race was hard and fast, with various attacks being put in, but all quickly reeled back. Emile was caught by the bunch near the N2 intersection and he rolled to the back of the bunch to recover from his solo effort. The section through the Bluff was particularly hard and it was here that the break of the day got away. The break contained Andrew Reeves (Mr Price), Mark Davel and Brett Berriman (both Cyclelab), Deno van Heerden (Fego) and Stefano Madies( Dimension Data). As most of the teams in both the VA and VB categories were represented in the break, the bunch allowed the break to get away.


In the end Andrew Reeves marginally beat Brett Berriman on the line with Deno van Heerden in 3rd place in the VA race. Mark Davel won the VB race with Stefano in 2nd and Werner Moolman (Cycle Lab) in 3rd.


It was a fantastic race and thanks must go to the organizers and Cycling KZN for staging such a great event with full road closure. As a tweet read from one of the Elite riders “All classics in KZN have full road closure, we need more races like these”. I cannot agree more!

Stihl & Cycle Lab Midmar Notts road race - 25 September 2011 - by Andrew Reeves

The Mr Price Vets team that lined up for the start of the Midmar Notts 80km race comprised of Bryan Cusack, Emile Fouchè, Gwyn Pine, Andrew Reeves, Werner Venter and Mike Viljoen. Team strongman Sean Merredew was away at a mountain bike race.


The start was a calm affair with a relaxed rollout. The weather was cool with a steady headwind on the way out. The first attack came after a couple of kilometres from Martin Atterbury, he was soon joined by Robert du Preez and Nic Smith. The 3 got a decent gap but the headwind was hurting them and Nic came back to the bunch at the bottom of Happy Hill.


Werner Moolman and Andrew Hill then turned up the pace on Happy Hill and the 2 Marty's riders were caught by the top.


The headwind was slowing the bunch and not many riders were prepared to commit to pacing on the front. A few individual attacks went off the front, 2 attempts from Emile, but nothing was staying away.


Just after Nottingham road we hit the 3 climbs and Bryan rode hard on the first climb to soften up the bunch. Some attacks went off the front on the second rise, and Mike was in one of them.


The bunch was not happy though and all moves were pulled back before the turn around.


As we took the turn around we saw the leading Tandem, having started 10mins ahead of us, was now only about a minute ahead. Gwyn started getting excited and, together with Werner Moolman, decided to hunt the Tandem down.


And so the speed went from 30km/h on the way out to 60km/h on the run back. The downhills and tailwind were making the speeds high and the carrot of the Tandem was keeping it fast. The tandem of Andrew and Leon held the charging bunch at bay until after Nottingham road but were then caught.


This now meant that attacks would start, after a few attempts, one from Werner Venter, a good move of 2 Cycle lab riders went clear. This meant Fego and Mr Price had to chase, although Fego only commited one rider to the chase. The one Cyclelab rider dropped from his teammate who now had a 30sec gap on the bunch.


The Mr Price team put in some strong pulls and brought back the Cyclelab rider Brett Berriman, but as he was caught with 3km to go Fego's Deno van Heerden countered hard and I hesitated to see who would chase.


The bunch was now tired however and that hesitation would cost us the race as we had a case of Deja Vú from the last Midmar race when Mike Adey rode away in a nearly identical way to win solo.


Deno had about 5 seconds on us at the line, I hit the corner first but Brett Berriman surged past me to take 2nd, giving team Mr Price a 3rd with a charging Mark Davel taking 4th.

All in all it was a good race and tactical lesson learned.


PS: If you want to sprint against Bryan, be ready for some elbows and knees...

Mpati Cycle Challenge - 10 September 2011 - by Werner Venter

On September 10, 2011 we lined up outside the Dundee primary school for 80km of the Mpati Cycle Challenge. The Mr. Price Vets team was represented by myself, Emile Fouché and Gwyn Pine.

The racing started with a short neutral zone to get us through the town of Dundee. As soon as the racing proper started, attacks started left, right and center. At about 10km into the race Emile and myself got away and open a gap of about 20 seconds to the chasing group. Werner Moolman (Cyclelab Durban) knew that the two main contender in the group- AC Swanepoel and Victor Grobler (Team Intelibus) was not going to make the racing, but rather sit wheel to the end and then attack, so he made the pace hard, unfortunately in so doing he closed the gap to us, dragging the group back to us. Werner Moolman then straight away put in another attack to which AC Swanepoel and Victor responded. Emile and myself knew we couldn’t let them go, so we worked hard to cross over. We crossed over at around 30km done and from there on the 5 of us rode away from the chasing group.


The out and back route was more demanding than we expected and the headwind all the way back to the finish didn’t make the ride any easier.


With around 3km to go I put in an attack to try and break the breakaway up, but didn’t really succeed. Emile then went, also with no success. Victor and AC then went, with Werner Moolman chasing.


In the end Victor took the win overall with Werner Moolman 2nd and AC Swanepoel 3rd. I crossed the line in 4th overall and 1st in the Vets 30-39, closely followed by Emile. My first podium and my first win-great feeling I must admit.


It was a fantastic race and a good day at the office for the Mr. Price Vets team.

Dome to Dome – 4 September 2011 - By Emile Fouche

After the Margate South coast challenge has been canned for the second year in a row, we decided to head to Johannesburg to do the Dome to Dome which took part on the 4th of September. The team members going up were Werner Venter, Mike Viljoen, Andrew Reeves, Gwyn Pine and me. Gwyn , being the Ballie between the 30 plus year old laaities raced in the 40+ category. We weren’t allowed to race with the licensed VA category as we were registered as a Top club team.

We lined up in the start pins with the Pro/Elite/u23 bunch. You know, it is that category where the paid riders and those with the prospect of being a paid rider start (Those who can train while the not so lucky sit at work). At 6h15 the shout was given by the commentator to start the race and there we went. The Dome to Dome, which should now be called “Back to School”, is not an easy event and it turned out to be a hard morning of sucking wheel. It was a new route this year, starting at the top of Sterkfontein heading out past Tarlton, up past Maropeng, a lap of the Cradle and back to the top of Sterkfontein. The race started off on a drag from Protea Rif School and then a bit of a breather until you turned right onto Robert Broom Drive. We encountered a climb and unfortunately we lost Werner there as he had a bad day. We got onto the R24 and then turned right onto the T7 where the bunch was going at a high pace over a drag that made me almost spit my back teeth out. This is where Mike decided he had enough and only Andrew and I were left. Unlike me Andrew can handle himself at the front of the bunch with the Pro teams. A break of ten riders strong formed where most of the Pro-teams were represented and the bunch went into cruising mode, which was still at a speed of between 45 and 50 kilometres an hour at stages.

There was a long drag before we reached the actual climb towards the finish line and the pace of the bunch was high, too high for me and I popped off. Going up the climb, I could maintain a good pace and saw Andrew just a couple metres ahead of me. Andrew crossed the line as the 5th (No chip) Vet with me in 6th with a time of 2h15:07. The race was won by Reinardt Janse van Rensburg from MTN Qhubeka in a time of 2h11:33.

After the race we made the decision that we would be withdrawing from the Top Club team status, as we want to be able the race. An established Sub Vet racing format was destroyed to help get the country’s top and Pro cyclists used to racing in bigger bunches. Maybe a good idea at a time, but Top Club failed. We want 30+ racing back and we want to be able to compete against riders in the same situation as us, working for a life and cycling as a hobby (Although we don’t always want to admit it).


Bring back Sub Vet racing! We are not the only team that feels this way!

Toti 69er by Sean Merredew - 3 July 2011

The morning started dark and cold. Luckily the cops were late, so we got to defrost a bit before shooting up the hill from the start.
With us having a full team back from all types of recovery, we were definitely the dominant team, reflecting in our numerous attacks in the first half. Although we kept trying to get a few guys away, with the head wind and the numerous lone riders, the groups didn’t get far before being brought back. The back of the 50 strong group was the place to be until the road took its toll and a few riders went down, reminding us that we needed to up front out of trouble but in the wind.

A good move went away just before the hill of the day at Scottburgh, with Andrew Reeves, Sean Merredew, Deno van Heerden (Fego) and Dave Imrie (Fego).


It seemed like the move of the day but once 2 riders came across on the hill, it all fell apart as riders were not putting the same effort in and the group came back together.


By the turn around the group hadn’t changed too much and there were still the usual contenders and a few new faces.


From the turn the racing was showing to be harder and faster with attacks going right away, again with our numbers we were able to ensure that only the moves that we allowed would stay away .


Approximately 25km to go, a move went off that included 2 Mr price riders, a Fego and a Martys rider. With everyone represented in the break, the group was hesitating and the break got further until they were out of sight.


There were numerous good attacks attempting to get off the main group but all got pulled back quickly.


The move of Andrew, Stephan, Rowan and Aston was now more than a minute up the road and was sure to stay away with only 10km left.


The surprise of the day was when Rowan from Fego was dropped from the break, with only 7km left, causing the group to panic and start the racing again.


Up front Aston was trying hard not to get worked over by the two Mr price riders but that was not happening.


What was explained is that Andrew led Stephan out for the win, leaving Aston for third.


The group was larger than hoped for, making the final few corners much more exciting and dangerous, luckily we were able to secure 4th as well, ending off a great race were the team really worked well together and achieved the results with numbers.


The cold weather was still hanging around making the Mr Price tent a popular place with the club ensuring there were plenty of drinks and snacks as usual.






Results:


Overall:


1. Stephan van Eck (Mr Price Junior)
2. Andrew Reeves (Mr Price 30+)
3. Aston Davies (Marty’s Cycles)
4. Sean Merredew (Mr Price 30+)


30+ Category:


1. Andrew Reeves (Mr Price)
2. Sean Merredew (Mr Price)
3. Deno van Heerden (Fego)

Midvaal Tour Stage 5 by Emile Fouche - 19 June 2011

After three days and four stages of freezing cold mornings, hard racing and suffering we lined up for the 5th and final stage of the Mid Vaal Vets Tour. Andrew Reeves and Sean Merredew were the highest placed Mr Price team members on the overall GC, with Andrew being 1 minute and 26 seconds behind the yellow jersey rider, Julius Cobbett, from Cycle Nation. There were only five riders left who was in actual contention for the tour win, that being Julius Cobbett (Cycle Nation 7:00:15), Jimmy le Roux (7:00:27), Craig Harvey (7:00:56), Andrew (Mr Price 7:01:40) and Sean (Mr Price 07:02:31). The next best rider on GC was almost 10 minutes behind which would be an impossible task to get to the yellow jersey. Mr Price was on the back-foot, but we sure as hell were going to fight for it!

The race started with an easy cruise with a lot of chitchat as if nobody was actually in the mood to race hard. After probably almost 10km of this, Andrew decided that was enough of the snail speed ride and went to the front upping the pace. Gwyn Pine (Mr Price) took over from him and the racing was on. It was a flat course and the bunch pretty much stayed together with Mr Price and Cycle Nation controlling the front of the race. We were heading for the Hotspot at 30km and you could feel the vibe in the group change for those important points. Sean pulled off next to the road and I assumed it was a mechanical or puncture (Only later we found out it was a mechanical of a different sort). The sprint for the line was on and Julius took it with Andrew in second. Jorge Faria (Cycle Nation) attacked just after the Hotspot as we turned right on the R42. I rode across to him and we rolled through to create the first break of the day. At some stage we were a minute up the road, but the bunch reigned us in near the 50km mark and the KOM was just ahead. I was glad to see Sean is back in the bunch. Sean gave Andrew a great lead out for the KOM, but Julius was greedy (Like another Julius I’ve read about) and outsprinted Andrew for the Polka Dot points. The bunch stayed together until we turned right onto Karee Road. Sean came up next to me and told me we need to start attacking to try and split the bunch up. Andrew put in an attack, got caught and then Sean attacked. When Sean got caught Andrew attacked again with Craig Harvey (Cycle Nation) on his wheel but for some reason Craig was not keen to roll through. As they got caught I found some energy and launched an attack. My companion from the earlier break, Jorge Faria, followed with Pieter Swemmer (Cyclelab) on his wheel. The three of us rolled through and opened a gap. I was feeling pretty good, but I wasn’t sure this break was supposed to work. In the last 4km I decided to slow the break down and stopped rolling through. If we got caught, Andrew and Sean would be there to finish the race off. If we did not get caught, I was hoping to have the fresher legs in the trio.


Meanwhile, Gwyn and Werner had orders to chase the break down. We got caught with just over a kilometre left and the sprint was on. Unfortunately Sean got boxed in and had to start his sprint early. He overtook Julius, but Julius had another kick for the line. Julius won the stage and tour for Cycle Nation, with the Mr Price boys, Sean and Andrew rolling over the line in 2nd and 3rd.

The Mr Price team did not win the tour, but we never stopped fighting and came back home with two yellow jerseys, two stage wins, two second places, one third and plenty of Spar Vouchers for our team piggy bank!


Photos by www.cyclenation.co.za

Midvaal Tour Stage 4 by Gwyn Pine - 18 June 2011

The tour had gone well up to this point and after loosing the yellow jersey to Cycle Nations Julies Cobbet on the Mornings Stage we now had the TT on a flat route but with tired legs the chances of taking time back was good.
Andrew Reeves was our best placed rider on Gc and next was Sean Merredew, the times where a little slower on the day after the mornings stage of 90km ,Gwyn pine was the best placed rider in the TT also winning the stage for the Team, then Sean Merredew ,Andrew Reeves, Werner Venter, Emile Fouche.

Good Riding by the Team on The TT which is always a hard race against the clock, it was sad that Andrew Reeves saddle moved down on the TT making it not possible to pull back some time which was seconds at the end for a podium position.


Well done for the good effort Mr. Price Team we will be back

Editors Note: Gwyn was very modist in saying he won the TT. I would like to add that he not only won the TT in the 30-39 category (as a 40+ year old), but did the best time overall! Well Done Gwyn!

Photos by www.cyclenation.co.za

Midvaal Vets Tour Stage 3 by Werner Venter - 18 June 2011

Stage 3 of the 2011 Midvaal Tour started out as very cold and windy Saturday morning, June 18th. The 30+ race started at 9 am with our team mate Andrew Reeves in yellow after 2 stages with a slender lead of 6 seconds over Julius Cobbet (Cyclenation). The day’s stage saw us doing 3 laps of 30km each with hotspots at the start/finish of each lap with time bonuses awarded at each hotspot. We knew that we would have to get Andrew to the line to try and take the hotspots or prevent Cyclenation from claiming the hotspots.



From the gun we worked hard with Gwyn Pine, Emile Fouche, Mike Viljoen and myself(all Mr Price) pacing at the front. As we approached the first hotspot, all the main contenders kicked and opened a gap on the main peleton.Unfortunately for our team, only Sean Merredew and Andrew Reeves were in the break with Craig Harvey , Julius Cobbet(Cyclenation) and Jimmy le Roux.

Once the break went we were happy to sit up and not chase the break-in hindsight probably a bad decision as we left our two main contenders to fend for themselves-a decision that ultimately cost us the yellow jersey.


Up front the racing was very hard. Eventually Jimmy le Roux and Julius Cobbet broke away and rode to the finish where Jimmy won the stage. Sean and Andrew had to work very hard to chase the two riders down, but with no help from Craig Harvey, they spent themselves and with 1 km to go, Craig kicked and opened up a gap on Sean and Andrew to which they could not respond. Craig went on to take third place. Sean and Andrew came across the line in 4th and 5th place.

Gwyn, Emile and myself rolled in a few minutes back with the main peloton.


A very disappointing day for our team to loose the yellow jersey, but valuable lessons was learned.


Photos by www.cyclenation.co.za

Midvaal Tour Stage 2 - by Mike Viljoen 17 June 2011

Stage 2 - Friday 17 June - of the Midvaal Vets Tour was staged at the Midvaal race track. A crit stage of 1hr15 min plus one lap - enough to scare anybody into a coma – especially after the previous day’s excursion in the howling wind.
What was annoyingly becoming evident was the fact that:


1. The wind was going to pump - all day
2. It was dang cold!!!


So at 9am with the wind at a steady 50km/h at a comfy 5 degrees, we arrived to start our battle. We had already figured that our main competition for the day would be hard at us from the gun to try and wrestle the yellow jersey from the shoulders of our man, Andrew Reeves. Try as they did, we brought it back and made it a hard day of racing.


With two major teams going at each other, it opened the door to the few strong individuals to play off this. The result was a really exciting stage. From the gun the pace was hot so Gwyn Pine set off up the road on a solo attack. Left on his own he raced off to a sizable lead which remained unchallenged for a few laps. It soon became evident to the others that this man of legendary time trial skill was getting away and the screws were tightened. A few flat out laps followed and Gwyn was eventually pulled back into the bunch. As soon as the pack was together (groupo compacto for those that followed on twitter!), the counter attacks followed from a very active Cycle Nation.


Anthony Field-Buss (Cycle Nation) was the next to make a telling attack. The name of the game for us was to follow and sit, defend what we had and follow moves. Yours truly chased Anthony and we made a getaway. Unfortunately Anthony had ideas other than the logical “work together to get away” and attacked me a lap into our get away. Riding away at a furious pace i decided that fighting a 2 man battle was silly and slowly lost the wheel. After 3 or 4 laps i made my way back to the bunch led superbly by a snarling Emile, seeing that I was losing interest fast. After recovering we all hit the front and hunted Anthony down. It did not take us long to reel him in which again led to furious counter attacks.

Luckily for us we were all on point. Sean and Werner were the next to weather the attacks as they came one after another. Riding on this track was extremely difficult. Hitting a wall of frigid air after a long back straight broke many attempts at getaways. It did not however stop guys from trying.


The remaining 20 minutes was a furious affair with many flyers going off the front. The back straight became a hunting ground for attacks and counters and we were all kept busy chasing and chasing.


The bell rung for the final lap and all hell broke loose. The back straight was again the scene for deadly moves which we gamely covered. Unfortunately we were so attentive to Cycle Nation that we left the door wide open for Jimmy le Roux who attacked into the wind off the final s- bends. He was able to open a sizable gap and held that through to the end. Coming into the last corner we managed a small lead out for Sean and Andrew.


Sean managed to annihilate the field running close to the pit lane for a second with Anthony Field-Buss in third.

The result was that we kept the yellow and brought Sean up higher in the points standing. It was a tough, but exciting day at the track. A well fought team effort.


Photos by www.cyclenation.co.za

Midvaal Tour Stage 1 by Andrew Reeves - 16 June 2011

The first day of the Vets tour arrived and it was a cold but not freezing morning. We had 120km stage on the Thursday along a flat route with a few rolling hills.

The start was at 9am and the wind was blowing hard already. Our 30+ bunch had 27 riders and there were teams from Cycle Nation, Cyclelab, Panda and a few others.


The start was steady until after 3km the Cycle Nation guys started attacking, this was a sign of things to come. I got away with 2 Cycle Nation riders at this point but the bunch was still fresh and pulled us back after a few kms in the lead.


At the 1st KOM sprint at 15kms Jimmy le Roux attacked early and got away alone to take the points, Anthony Field-Buss from Cycle nation sprinted for second spot and I came 3rd, when we looked back we were away so we kept going until we caught Jimmy. The 3 of us were working well together for about 10kms but then I flatted. I received a wheel from a following car and jumped into the bunch as they passed.


Now Mr Price had to chase because we had nobody in the break. Sean spoke to the team and they hit the front and started a hard chase.


In the gutter winds this made things very hard and the bunch started to splinter.


After a 20km chase with Gwyn and Sean pulling hard on the front most of the way, we managed to bring the 2 escapees back.


After we turned left there were some more attacks and I found myself in the break again, but after a few kms a flurry of attacks behind saw the group catch us, but now there was far less riders.


Coming into the last 20km there were 7 riders up front, 3 Cycle Nation, 1 Cyclelab rider, Sean and Myself from Mr Price and Jimmy. We worked well together until at 12km to go Julius Cobbett attacked and I went after him. I worked with him to get away but soon his teammate Craig Harvey rode across to us. I was now worried with the 2 on 1 scenario, and tried to sit on, but Craig would just sit up and let Julius ride away when I did so I rolled through but saved as much energy as I could.


Coming up to the line I was expecting Craig to attack but he never did, so it came to a sprint. Craig led it out and I got behind Julius, but I was surprised when Julius started his sprint early at 400m to go. I followed Julius and came over him with 100m to go to take the stage.


Sean out sprinted the rest of the break to get 4th on the stage.

Photos by www.cyclenation.co.za