BY SABELO GWEBU
CYCLING – The Kusekhaya Cycling Club members who had gone to attend two races in South Africa during the past weekend returned home safely.
The athletes had gone to attend The Grind which was a 150km gravel race and Montecasino Classic which was a 90km road. Two members did both events while two were only billed for the Montecasino race which took place on Sunday.
Both events were incident free with all riders able to complete their challenges. Mpendulo Mdlovu, who was doubling as team manager during the gravel race was impressed with the team’s performance.
“Our two riders put out a very good showing given that we don’t have such long races in the country. Their time was quite impressive for the first 100km and then slowly normalized in the last 50km which was a lot of climbing. From what I have seen here, I am going to attempt this race next year but I need a partner so that we ride it as a relay,” he said.
The team principal who was also taking part in the race had nothing but praises to the race organizers.
“This is my first gravel race; gravel is slightly easier compared to our local MTB races but the distance requires more effort. It was fun to ride with other cyclists who were aware of the club and some races that happen in the kingdom and this means we have more opportunities to market our country as a cycling destination. On Sunday I had a bit of a hard time as fatigue in the legs was evident. This was my first time doing the Montecasino Classic so I did not have any reference point but all I know is that it took a lot of effort to finish the last 20km of the race.”
RESULTS:
THE GRIND 150KM
Dlamini Thando – 09:01:01
Kaudi Mduduzi – 09:20:03
MONTECASONO CLASSIC 90KM
Dlamini Thando – 03:37:03
Kaudi Mduduzi – 04:06:50
Mdlovu Mpendulo – 04:15:03
Oliveira Victor – 03:28:51
