Totalsports Xterra Grabouw
- michaellordtri
- Feb 22, 2015
- 2 min read
Grabouw is definitely my favourite race of the year.
Arriving at the venue on race morning is always exciting with loads of super keen participants and spectators in one of the best race village settings anywhere, the mountains forming a perfect bowl down into the Eikenhof dam.
It was going to be a good time.
We had a long wait in the water before the swim and we were starting to get lekker chilly by the time the start gun went off. I had an average swim, my body was sleepy and I wasn't amped on the whole idea (started dreaming about stuff I have to do, class etc) but the wall of sound at the swim exit got me amped again and I passed Ruan Van Zyl to move into first within the first 10 metres out the water.
The run out the water and up into transition was just one big jol with hundreds of people shouting and some lekker music playing – it really got me in the mood! I had a quick transition and went really hard up the first hill out transition. By the top I knew I had a decent lead and I was starting to enjoy myself. From then on I was riding alone and could relax and play around on some of the best single track Grabouw has to offer. Roosts and two wheel drifts were the order of the day and I was smiling all the way back down, finishing the bike leg with a lead of just under 2 minutes. Once again the crowd was amazing – you kind of forget that you're racing and just want to go say hello to people and somehow communicate to the masses how happy you feel and share a bit of the joy with them. Racing is always a jol at this race.
I knew I had time to spare on the run, and I could enjoy the route as it wound up into a beautiful little kloof and accompanying water crossing, with some fun single track on the way. The last lunar landscape section alongside the dam is one of my favourites, and my mom had my dog Shenzy there so I could run the last K or so with her going mal, running around chasing the lead motorbikes and trying to get me to pet her. The whole way along the beach you can slowly hear the crowd volume turning up, the finishing chute is properly loud and you really pick up that energy off the crowd. It felt super good to have a convincing third win in what will probably be my last Lite event and ending with a 2 minute lead made it that much better.
A quick complementary massage (Stillwater Sports has the best race organising and facilities I've ever experienced) and it was sleepy time for me, hoping to have some energy to spare for my first Xterra Full the next day.
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