The 2015 edition of the Nedbank sani2c began amongst a flourish of nerves and excitement in Underberg on Tuesday morning with riders in the first of the three races, the Trail, heading off on their three-day journey to Scottburgh on the South Coast in some fresh conditions although the day cleared up as riders arrived at their first stop at Mackenzie Club on the outskirts of Ixopo.
Intrepid riders set off from Glencairn Farm in some brilliant conditions on the first day of the Trail at the 2015 Nedbank sani2c on Tuesday. // Photo credit: Darren Goddard/ Gameplan Media.
With a spit of overnight rain in the Southern Drakensberg riders were greeted with some muddy conditions early on in the day but as the batches made their way from Glencairn Farm the tracks dried up and the riders enjoyed some quality trails.
The usual thrills and spills came to fruition as the’ least serious’ of the three races wrapped up on Tuesday with the colourful BSi Steel Team Refreshhh pair of Candice Hobday and Alexandra Hill taking centre stage with their fairly outrageous outfits that caught the eye of a number of the other riders that were out on the course.
“We managed to turn a few heads today which was exciting!” said Hobday. “We wanted to try and make as many people as we could laugh and I really think that we managed to do that today which makes us quite happy!
There was some brilliant track for riders to enjoy on the first day of the Trail at the 2015 Nedbank sani2c on Tuesday. // Photo credit: Darren Goddard/ Gameplan Media.
“We have a big obsession with birds so that was a bit of inspiration in our outfit and we thought that the colour would go well with the rest of our kit and we wanted to be pretty out there with our outfit for this year.
“It is such an outrageous event we really thought that we would just try and be as outrageous as we could,” she added.
With the rain settling a lot of the dust overnight for the riders the pair made the most of the great conditions as they had a clean day throughout and managed to get to finish line with smiles on their faces and tutu’s intact.
“We really had a super day today and it was so much fun for both of us and we avoided any big issues which is something that we wanted to do through the race and we are really looking forward to the next two days even though we a bit tired,” a wary Hill mentioned.
The colourful duo of Alexandra Hill (left) and Candice Hobday take some time out from a busy ride on the first day of the Trail at the 2015 Nedbank sani2c on Tuesday. // Photo credit: Darren Goddard/ Gameplan Media.
The Trail has a strict ‘no racing’ policy and winning the day equals a face-full of cake. The day one winners were the FreeWheel pair of David Wright and Mark Misselhom and as tradition suggests they were on the receiving end of some sponge cake on their arrival over the finish line.
Tumbles come with the territory in races of this nature and day one of the Trail was no different with a number of riders coming out of the day with some bumps and scratches but others were not so lucky as there were a handful of race ending injuries.
Race doctor Grant Lindsey confirmed that two riders had their races cut short by injury as they suffered broken or fractured collarbones whereas one rider ended in the medical area with a fractured cheek as well as a number of facial lacerations and another rider’s race was also halted by a shoulder injury.
Riders got to tackle one of the iconic floating bridges on the first day of the Trail at the 2015 Nedbank sani2c on Tuesday. // Photo credit: Darren Goddard/ Gameplan Media.
The second day of the Trail gets underway from the Mackenzie Club on Wednesday morning whilst the second instalment of the Nedbank sani2c, the Adventure, gets underway from Glencairn Farm early on Wednesday morning.
More information can be found at www.sani2c.co.za.
