Home for university holidays, local Frankie du Toit lines up at Saturday’s KZNMTB Provincial XCO Championships taking place at Aloe Wildlife Estate in Camperdown.
Crowned African Youth Games MTB champion in 2014, Du Toit moved to the Western Cape to study at the beginning of this year. ‘I’m loving Stellenbosch. I’m loving living there, but the famous Cape Town winter is still to come, so let’s see how I’m feeling afterwards,’ she said, while laughing.
The Absolute Motion rider is enjoying her new training routes and a fresh set of trails. ‘My training hasn’t really changed too much, but it is definitely a lot shorter and more intense, as I don’t have as much time as I had last year. It’s also been a little bit of a struggle to settle into a routine, but I have one now and its working well,’ she added.
After the Championships come the Inter-Varsity Championships for Du Toit, being held in Pretoria in the second week of July. She chatted about what is in store for her: ‘All the universities come together and we do six stages in four days. There’s a cross-country race, a criterium, a time trial, a hill climb, a short stage, a long stage and a normal stage.
‘Apparently it’s really competitive as well. I’ve heard from other Maties Cycling riders that they have been gearing up for it the whole year, so I’m excited to see what the hype is about. I think its going to be good prep for SA Champs, as its going to be four days of intense riding, and then I can taper down a bit before Nationals.’
Du Toit is happy to be home with her family and is appreciating everything a lot more after living as a student. ‘It’s great to be home with mom’s cooking,’ she added.
Du Toit will be competing at Aloe Trails for the first time this weekend, but mentioned that she was very much looking forward to get the legs going on the track.
Picture of Du Toit courtesy of BOOGS Photography