By Mark Etheridge
Two of Team South Africa’s Commonwealth Games mountainbikers, Alan Hatherly and Cherie Redecker, rode their way to victory at the African Continental Championships in Egypt at the weekend.
Hatherly battled to bronze in Gold Coast, Australia, up against a trio of strong New Zealand riders, while Redecker had tyre trouble early on and ended 11th.
But both were winners at the Wadi Degla Protectorate with wide open spaces between them and the respective runners-up in the elite categories.
Hatherly had a gap of more than six minutes over fellow South African Stuart Marais while Redecker was also just over six minutes clear of Kenyan Nancy Debe Akinyi.
‘It was my first time racing in Egypt and quite an experience,’ says Hatherly. ‘The weather was actually not too rough on us with an average of around 26 degrees Celsius in the day. So we didn’t have to adjust much.
‘But the traffic was crazy during the week so instead of going out training I took the chance to rest a few days before we start [our] preparation for the European block of racing.
‘The course was really fast with average speeds being around 23km’h. There weren’t too many technical aspects but the 100m or so of climbing that there was, was really steep so eight laps of that course was quite tough.
‘I knew from the beginning that it would basically be me and Stuart. I went out setting my own pace and after the first lap I had a 10-second gap and it just grew from there. I paced myself to push my limits and the more racing for me the better right now, especially after the injury [he broke his wrist bone in February] so this all helps with getting up to race speed and intensity.
‘Overall, I’m happy to get the elite continental title and the points will be a big help with seeding in my first year of elite racing.’
As for Redecker (pictured above), she was happy to get an energising Egyptian pick-me-up after her frustrating experience Down Under.
‘This was a great motivator after Commonwealth Games to keep me going for the rest of the season,’ said Redecker who turned 29 on Monday.
‘I’m super happy to be the African champion and knowing that I gave it my all. It was also great to ride consistent lap times.
‘The courses were completely different with the Neranga course being in a forest and the Egyptian course very rocky with just a few shrubs.
‘But they were similar in that it was a power course with short punchy climbs, the African course saw you constantly having to keep your power down but with a few technical sections built in. I’d say it was very similar to the course in Swakopmund, with nice pebbly terrain.
‘All in all it was a good experience… next up for me this weekend is the Bike the Rock event in Heubach, one of the MTB Bundesliga courses.’
Photos: Hatherly (supplied) and Redecker in Egyptian action, by Stephen van der Walt