This post is for the #wednesdaywalk challenge and the #makemesmile challenge collaboration. This collaboration initially took place once a month, but due to its popularity, 
Currently,
About 3 weeks ago, I mentioned the up-and-coming cycling event, the Amashova Durban Classic Race.
Well, the time has arrived and it took place last Sunday, October 23, 2022.
My wife normally joins me on these outings to take photos, but last weekend, all three of our grandkids decided it was time to visit "Oupa and Ouma" (Grandpa and Grandma)...lol.
So, this time around my wife decided to stay at home with the little ones as I wanted to get some photos of the Amashova action.
There were three distances to choose from:
- 38 KM Starting from Shongweni at 05h00. This distance was more family-orientated or for the fun/casual riders.
- 65 KM Starting from Cato Ridge at 05h00. This distance was a bit more challenging, but still not on the level or as intimidating as the 106 KM category.
- 106 KM Starting from Pietrmaritzburg at 06h00. This was clearly for the serious-, and professional cyclists.
So, obviously, the participants on the two shorter distances had a massive headstart both in distance and in time, starting a full hour before the main 106 KM event.
I had a look at the route they would follow, and I decided I would like to catch the professional guys coming down Botha's Hill, which would be a nice, fast part of the route with some challenging bends at high speeds...
My only problem was that I was not sure ahead of time how and where I would be able to get access and how close I would be able to get while having to find a place to park the car.
The ideal for me would have been if I could get access and go at least halfway up Botha's Hill where I expected to get some nice shots.
From my experience of checking their times in the past, I knew we could expect to see times between 2 hours and 15 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes. That is an average speed of about 45 KM/H over 106 KM.
From my calculations, I knew I should expect to see these riders coming down Botha's Hill and entering the Hillcrest area at roughly about 7h15 to 7h30.
I got to the bottom of Botha's Hill just after 7h00 am. There was plenty of space to park the car and get right up to the road where they would pass me, making a right turn into Kassier Road, heading down to the M13 highway where they would take a left again towards Durban.
Unfortunately, the road was closed off entirely and I couldn't move higher up on Botha's Hill. There was only a small little lane to enter the suburb on the side. So I waited at the bottom.
I didn't have to wait long before I started seeing the first cyclists coming by, but these were clearly some of the more casual/amateur participants.
Then a marshal casually came down the hill, checking that all is in order...
And then I saw the first signs of the real deal and I realized my timing must have been right.
The Traffic Police passed by in two vehicles, followed by the "time-keeping" vehicle...
...with the guys I've been waiting for right behind them...
There were 6 guys riding together, although the guy in the lead has slightly broken away from the others and was riding solo at this point...
Out to the outside shoulder of the road...coming in for the bend...
Starting to cut into the inside of the bend...
Smoothly coming through the bend...
With the other five cyclists following not too far behind him...
After about two more minutes, another pack came chasing those guys in the front.
These guys were clearly pushing in an attempt to catch up with the guys in front. It was as if there was more aggression in their approach coming into the bend, approaching at quite a high speed...
These guys were really pushing it...
Not even completely out of leaning into the bend, and some of these guys were already out of the saddle again, accelerating as fast as they could, making the most of the little downhill that was still ahead of them!
Four more riders coming in for the bend...
Another solo rider was coming through...
The race was on for this guy...
...as he had another cyclist breathing in his neck...
This all took place in a matter of minutes.
I decided to get in the car and head out to Gillits where they were supposed to pass again on the M13 Highway.
As the cyclists were moving around Hillcrest now, via Kassier Road towards the M13 Highway, I took the shortcut straight through Hillcrest, also heading back towards the M13 Highway, hoping to beat them and get to Gillits first.
I have made it in a nick of time.
I was barely ready, and they were approaching me on the M13 Highway. (You can see the Gillits Station in the background where I have taken some action shots of the fun steam train during December last year).
The cyclists who are visible in the next photo are some amateur cyclists who were doing the shorter routes and who were on the road since 5h00 am already.
The amateurs kept to the right, while the traffic police who escorted the leading cyclists, kept to the left of the road...about to pass the amateurs at this point.
The leading pack was now down from six guys, to five...
This is what I call serious cycling...
Not far behind them, the second pack was chasing to see if they could catch those five in front...
Within moments after the first five passed me, these guys came passed me as well, pushing hard.
Time to talk/consider strategy amongst teammates while using the slip-stream in the pack...?
From there I went down further by car. I went down as far as Westville, but following alternative roads and having to navigate through regular road traffic, these guys were too far ahead of me to catch them before they would enter the Durban area.
I decided that I was happy with the shots I got and returned home to my wife and the grandkids.
The winner of this year's Amashova was the 23-year-old Marc Pritzen. He completed the 106 KM in a time of 2 Hours, 22 minutes and 20 seconds. His average speed was 44.68 KM/H.
You can see all the final results here.
I have to admit, I am not so up-to-date with the current cycling scenario. As a youngster, I was very interested in cycling and followed the sport closely. I did some cycling with a friend of mine and on one of our training routes, the then South African Champion, Dries Oberholzer, saw us, and invited us to come to ride for his club. All events took place on a Sunday morning though and I had to choose between attending church or cycling. My choice was to go to church and my sporting career took a turn in a completely different direction...doing something completely different.
My friend ended up doing extremely well in cycling until he had a bad accident, coming down during one of our early-morning rides (we continued riding together each morning), and he decided to stop riding.
And that's it for today folks.
Thank you for reading my post. I do appreciate it!