Modern Cyclist Magazine Issue 3, November 2014 | Page 33

WIN Hi again fellow cyclists The year 2009 was probably my best season. The reason for me saying this is I became the only rider of the local racing scene who has won the Pick ‘n Pay Cape Argus (now called the Cape Town Cycle Tour), the MTN Amashovashova (now called the Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic) and the 94.7 Cycle Challenge (now called the Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge) in the same year. How this happened is I always rode for club teams. I rode for the House of Pain team in 2008. Malcolm Lange, who I always looked up to as a big rider in South Africa, approached me and asked me whether I’d like to join his team. I thought, geez, Malcolm wants me to ride for his team, he wants me to be his lead out man. It’s funny because when you look up to them you seem to underperform. As soon as I joined his team, I started hanging out with him more. I realised that he is actually a human being, he eats what I eat, and we are the same. So then I naturally progressed to winning races because I surrounded myself with winners who were used to winning and the confidence they portrayed. So then I naturally progressed to winning races because I surrounded myself with winners who were used to winning and the confidence they portrayed. And that was a great year because I was surrounded by Nic White, Neil MacDonald, Malcolm Lange, Waylon Wilcocks, Hanco Kagelhoffer and we were a great team. I was surrounded by guys who had years of experience. So all of a sudden when I lined up at the Cape Argus, these guys said to me: “We Two photographs showing the sprint finish that started Arran Brown’s best year in 2009. 33