Modern Cyclist Magazine Issue 1, September 2014 | Page 30

MC race report

Team TIB
monsters
dusi2c

It was a powerful display of riding from the TIB Insurance Brokers team of Yolande Speedy and
Eugene Botha as they won the mixed category by a comfortable margin at the 2014 BSi Steel
dusi2c that finished at Blue Lagoon in Durban. Photograph by Anthony Grote

H

by Nick Tatham

aving negotiated some
bitterly cold conditions early in the
day, riders once again had clear
skies and dry trails for the second
day of the 2014 BSi Steel dusi2c.
And it was the Team TIB pair of
Andrew Hill and Adriaan Louw who
inflated their overnight lead by a
minute to cross the finish line at
Blue Lagoon in Durban ahead of
the chasing two teams of Quattro’s
Tyron Bird and Tim Stark and Team
Safire’s Trevor Rowe and Warren
Price.
Following an interesting duel with
Bird and Stark for a lot of the race,
the leaders made a break that the
chasing teams could not match
and it was enough to give them the
second stage win and the overall
crown.

“Coming towards the end the
group came together again but
after the Silver Pipes Bridge the
group split up again and Adriaan
and myself accelerated and
managed to put a bit of time into

It really is an amazing event.
That is all you can say!

But Hill explained his apprehension
heading into the final stage and
mentioned that he knew he and
Louw were going to have work
hard before they could relax.
“We had a nice little lead going
into the final stage but anything
can happen in mountain biking,”
a relieved Hill said. “You just have
to consolidate and make sure that
you put a bit of lead into the guys
before you can rest a bit on your
laurels.”
The route had been changed
slightly with a new, permanent foot
bridge put in and Hill explains that
the changes that were made have
been good for the race. The race
was getting close towards the end
but a push from the leading pair
meant that they opened up a big
enough lead to claim the victory.

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“This year’s route had some
welcome changes with a lot of
things that cannot be changed
and add to true mountain biking
experience that you get at dusi2c.

“

“

“From the gun we knew that we
had a bit of a water crossing
coming up with the change of
route this year and that change
was actually really good. Crossing
the river early on was nice and
then a brand new foot bridge that
is helping a lot of the locals in the
area, was also a nice change.

the guys,” a satisfied Team TIB rider
added.
Arriving at the 2014 dusi2c as a
greenhorn meant that Adriaan
Louw had a fresh perspective and
it seems that the young Western
Cape rider enjoyed his first race in
the Valley of a Thousand Hills and
he explained that he looks forward
to the new concepts that ‘Farmer
Glen’ Haw might offer in years to
come.
“It really is an amazing event. That
is all you can say! “It is a mountain
biking dream and it is the pinnacle
of trail riding. The race will only
get better over time and I believe
that next year they are doing a
non-stop dusi2c which will become
a marathon spectacle and that
should be a fun race to participate
in.”

ISSUE 1 SEPTEMBER 2014 / www.moderncyclist.co.za

The eventual runners-up in this
year’s race Tyron Bird and Tim Stark
were chasing the race on day two
and, with a better knowledge of
the first day, Bird was happy with
the way in which they were able
to stay with the leading duo for the
majority of final stage.
“We were a bit on and off them
for the entire race as they would
make a gap and then make a
mistake and we would catch
them mainly because it is a more
tricky stage today compared to
yesterday.
“I remembered the first stage
better than I did the second so it
meant that navigation was always
going to be a bit of an issue but
we managed to keep the leaders
in check,” he said.
The Quattro star won the inaugural
edition of the dusi2c in 2013 with
Hill but he was still satisfied with the
runner-up finish.
“We couldn’t be happier to get
that second place position for
Quattro!”
Tim Stark mentioned that the
game plan going into the final
day was simple and it was a
matter of keeping themselves in
their position but if the opportunity
arose to put pressure on the
leaders they would give it a bash
but following a mistake from him
that option disappeared.
“Our plan going into today was to
keep our overall position; we were
quite easy on what was going to
happen as long as we maintained
our second place.
“We were thinking about making a
few attacks on the lead guys but
I unfortunately made some stupid
mistakes and went up a hill that I
shouldn’t have and the helicopter
sent me back!

“I spent a bit too much e