York Timbers Sabie Experience mountain bike race. 2008

December 17th, 2008 by Conrad Stoltz

I just got back on the farm after riding 3 of the 4 days of Sabie Experience. Sabie is only 80km from our farm and when my good friend (and Specialized Factory team damager) Bobby Behan said we were invited to ride, we couldnt say no. Despite still being in the midst of “ice cream and beer season”.

Turns out were were guests of Ian van der Walt and his newly formed DCM racing team. What a fun group of characters. After 3 days of hanging with these guys my voice box hurt more than my legs. Not they they are slow - its just that the amount and intensity of chatting, cajoling and prank playing was significant.

DCM Chrome’s top two riders Max Knox and Brandon Stewart demolished the field and didnt stay with us- they had their game faces on.

The rest of us rode for fun.

- Off Road motorbike legend in the making Riaan van Niekerk rides about 15hrs a week to keep fit for Roof of Africa, Romaniacs, Dakar and other crazy events.

Unfortunately some of the riders had tummy flu and couldnt ride like they wanted to:

Young upstart Bryce Munro is to be watched- he hides his mad skills behind a quiet and polite demeanor.

Roadie Jacques Janse van Rensburg is already well known, but this guy is going places. He is tall but barely 60kg which makes for a great climber with all round abilities. Well see him in the Tour one day. And he is lekker Afrikaans! (Like me)

Justice Makhale - originally from Venda- has a fair bit of international MTB experience under his belt, but I think his talent is still untapped.

They say Ian is the CEO of DCM, but from my perspective, he is main causer of trouble. Like the time he put red food dye in Bobby’s gloves…

And the time he put rocks in my saddle bag. Or the time he stormed into our room with the fire extinguisher, or the time when he… You get the drift!

Ian is probably the most unselfish giver I have met. His compassion, unselfish vision and desire to help struggling South African athletes reach their real potential in international sport is spot on.

I can write a book about last mentioned and let me tell you- breaking through from neo pro to fully sponsored athlete is the hardest thing you’ll ever try.

Chapeau Ian. But our down hill dice still stands!

It was a lot of pedaling- 3 days of 80km with lots of climbing. The last day was the muddiest I’ve ever had. Mad fun. In fact it was so much fun, we opted out of the even more rain soaked 26km TT the last day. Bobby, fellow XTERRA pro Dan Hugo’s story here, Riaan van Niekerk and myself rode virtually the whole thing together- great fun. Check out flickr slide show below.

As you can see, I made lots of new friends this weekend…