This past weekend saw the crème of the Della crème of Mountain biking assemble for a first place purse of R 60 000, the winners of the Men and Ladies category at the MTN Crater Cruise 2010 would be well rewarded. The event organisers had set a challenging 103km course with flowing single-track and fantastic facilities to compliment an already well attended event.

Picked by many as a wildcard to podium or even upset the apple cart on the day was Jock Green of Team Ghost BBT, alongside him competing for glory in the Single Speed category was Dana Coetzee riding a one of a kind Single speed Ghost Dual Suspension, Coetzee having won the single speed competition the previous year had a target on his back and the heat was not going to be the only contributing factor to the days racing. The racing was going to be even hotter!

Sanet Smal, Saffron, Savannah and Simone Vosloo were also present and ready to put the hurt on their competitors and hurt it did.

The racing was a gingerly pace at the start, an Early break saw Erik Kleinhans of Team GT break away and claim the king of the mountain title, this sparked an attack by Jacques Janse van Rensburg and Jock Green, they opened a lead of a couple of seconds on the chasing group and swallowed Kleinhans that had seemed to have spent all his savings in the effort to secure the king of the mountain title and prize money. Soon after a niggling ear infection had Jock Green fighting to end, so much so that he lost concentration and made an error that proved to be very serious for the team as Jock fell and injured his hand. This left him out of contention for the top spot and he fought bravely to claim a top ten finish, he finished in well deserved 9^th overall. The race was won by Kevin Evans followed by Jacques Janse van Rensburg and Brandon Stewart.

Dana Coetzee had a near Perfect day and his result confirms it, Dana Managed a 20^th place overall and absolutely decimated the field of single speed riders, in his own words he said “the bike is perfect”. He had set out to defend his Single Speed tilte of 2009, he did what he set out to achieve and was noticeably happy with the result.

Sanet Small seen below had a tough day in the office, the heat and racing at the front had taken its toll, she still managed to secure a Podium as 1^st senior lady for the day and 9^th overall woman for her efforts.

Saffron racing the 28km Dirt Flirt started fast as she normally does and managed to finish first in her category, her efforts on the day confirmed her domination of the age category (sprogs).

Simone and Savannah Vosloo raced the following day in a massive field of over 1500 riders in the 56km Crater Cruise Half Marathon. The race was fast paced, that took its toll on the young and relatively inexperienced duo, race tactics played a big role as the race has been dubbed a road race on the dust and with windy and hot conditions forcing riders to find shelter amongst others, the Vosloo sisters found themselves chasing the leaders the whole day.

Savannah finished 3^rd in her category and 15^th woman overall whilst Simone was 2^nd in her age group and 20^th overall in the woman’s class. Both commented afterwards that races like these make you dig deep and only make you stronger, they learnt a great deal and vowed to be back next year and conquer the Crater.

Despite the Injuries to Jock Green it was a fantastic day out for Team Ghost BBT and we would like to thank all our partners that make this  possible.

Look out for the Mixed Team of Dana and Sanet competing in the Isuzu 3 Towers race this upcoming weekend.

Race results http://www.spectrumsport.co.za/index_files/MTBResults2010.htm