In its 28th year the Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic is not only the oldest classic cycle race in South Africa but also one of the premier cycling events in Kwazulu Natal, and is regarded as the safest event in the South African cycling calendar. IMAGINE was there to share in the action.
For the pre-event to this race the team gathered at the bar of the hotel in Pietermaritzburg. Once the race packs were handed out and we’d had a few drinks it was time to carbo-load so we headed to the local Quincy’s Café where we had a delicious meal and then headed back to the hotel for an early restful night. As we listened to the heavy rain fear of an unpleasant wet ride could not escape our thoughts but to our delight we awoke to clear warm skies. We had been warned about severe winds and were not even allowed to have our banners up at hospitality due to weather conditions.
The majority of our riders stayed at the Protea Imperial hotel, which proved once again to be very convenient, being only a few 100 meters from the start. The riders met for breakfast and then we all gathered around for some pictures and good luck wishes! The most nervous of our riders were our three lady cyclists Lori Manson, Angie de Costa and Claudia Condie – all three had been training hard and were keen to do their very best in this race, motivated by Rob Wesselo and Colin Branson (two of our usual racing snakes) who decided to do this ride with their partners – well done Rob and Colin and thank you for the inspiration. Thanks also to Tamaryn Nicholson and Carol Shaw for coming to Durban to support dad and husband as well as Team <strong>IMAGINE</strong>.
First at the finish line was Cameron Condie with a time of 03.00.15 looking very calm and collected after having a very bad ride last year, breaking a spoke and not finishing. Well done Cameron on a great race! Second in was Simon Shaw. His wife Carol had rushed to the finish line to see him come in but decided to have coffee along the way and completely missed it as he whizzed in … Simon was in at a time of 03.20.24 beating his previous time by more than 13 minutes – well done Simon! We were pleasantly surprised when Rob Hawley arrived at the finish ahead of get-to-the-finish Nicholson with a time of 03.49.11, over 7 minutes faster than last years’ time – Well done Rob Hawley! We anticipate some hard training with Rob and Rob as they fight for their place in our next exciting Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge. Lori Manson was our first lady in with an excellent time of 03.52.58 improving on her time by over 17 minutes – wow and well done Lori! Congrats to Angie and Claudia on completely their very first Amashova 106km race and in such good time.
Cameron Condie
03:00:15
Simon Shaw
03:20:24
03.33.31
Robert Hawley
03:49:11
03.56.33
Lori Manson
03:52:58
04.09.01
Rob
Wesselo
Did not race, rode with Lori
n/a
Rob Nicholson
03:53:55
03.45.32
Claudia Condie
04:04:35
Angie da Costa
04:07:37
Colin Branson
Did not race, rode with Angie
03.20.33
Qunitin Walker
04:17:19
Alex Georgiladakis
04:17:19
Kirk Walker
no result on racetec
04.11.10
Tristin Urwin
no result on racetec
As usual no IMAGINE event is complete without an after party. After all our riders were in and had refreshed themselves and caught up we made our way to Woodcutters in Westville for lunch, liquid refreshments and live music. Entertained, ironically, by MAD (Mike and Deon). Sean Permuy joined his father on stage to captivate the crowds with his rendition of The Gambler because Amashova is not done and dusted until that is done. Tamaryn Nicholson also took the stage and got us all up and dancing. Thank you MAD, Sean and Tamaryn! Sean also kindly arranged transport to Westville so thank you Sean for that. We are really looking forward to having Sean back on his bike on the 16th November at the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge.
Thank you to each and everyone one of our AMAriders for proudly supporting our cause and helping us raise awareness from Pietermaritzburg to Durban for people living with Cerebral Palsy – you are all winners! Special thanks to SIS Global and Palladium Accounting for the sponsorship of our cycling shirts.
And last but most certainly not lease <strong>IMAGINE</strong> extends a big thank you to Kavini Govender for getting up at the crack of dawn to be at the hospitality site, for all her hard admin work in the background with registrations, pack collections, queries, distributions, etc. and for doing it all with a smile.
This race was made possible by our riders, supporters and volunteers so thanks to you all!