Frank Meyer and Arielle Behr are the King and Queen of Thaba Trails after winning the men and women’s overall titles respectively at the 2023 Gauteng Enduro Champs, presented by Suzuki and Balwin at Thaba Trails on Sunday 6 August.
Photography: Dominic Barnardt and Justin Barlow
Sub-veteran, Meyer (main image), secured the overall victory after completing the seven stages in a total time of 11min 28.452sec. He was originally scheduled to shoot and produce a video of the event, but the commitment by SuperSport to do an insert for their Toyota Cadence TV show gave Meyer the opportunity to race and he embraced it with his usual enthusiasm.
His overall time was just one second faster than fellow Sub-Veteran and overall runner-up, Bryce Munro. Third place went to Veteran ace, Danny Fowler in 11:44.177. Rounding out the top five overall were Wade Prinsloo (11:48.892) and Joel Hieber (12:10.533) respectively.
The conditions were dry and dusty and the weather was warm. Stages 1, 2 and 4 were primarily rocky with no flow, while Stages 3, 5 and 6 were flowy, with the two latter stages having more challenging endings compared to previous events that used them. A seventh blind stage was added, which was short and rough and which added a twist to the event.
“Thaba Trails is literally in my back yard so, needless to say, I did know the lines pretty well. I did some practice runs on the Monday or Tuesday not knowing if I would be able to race or not; but I felt so good on the bike and decided I should give it a bash. After that was cleared up in my mind, I only practised certain sections of the trails to figure out where to hit the brakes, shift down and pedal like a beast,” said Meyer.
“For the most part my runs went well. I felt like I nailed Stage 1. I felt really good on Stage 2, but I did overcook it a bit at the top of the rock slabs into the right-hand loose corner, but the foot came out and it was proper fun. I almost came off in the trees. Stage 3 was really good – I pedalled hard and almost started crying because pedalling is not fun. I messed Stage 5 up in the first right hand berm and had to pedal really hard to make up for lost exit speed,” added Meyer.
“I love racing at Thaba Trails. I knew if I rode like I practised and kept the mistakes to a minimum and pedalled hard, I stood a chance to take the win. Looking at the entry list before the race, I also knew it could be anyone’s race, so I just wanted to have fun and give it my all. When I scanned in at the end and saw my result, I was super stoked. It’s always awesome to win at Thaba Trails and Gauteng Enduro Champ has a nice ring to it.
“I’m super grateful that I was able to race and want to thank the organisers for a great Enduro season. Also, thank you to Wendell and crew for making the stages so lekker – the trails were running great!”
In the women’s event, 2022 Gauteng champion, Julia Kotze was the favourite, but rising star, Arielle Behr, mounted a spirited challenge and secured the overall win in a time of 13:16.235. She won all seven stages and finished a respectable 19th overall, collecting the Youth title in the process. Kotze finished second in 13:53.435 with Tashane Ehlers rounding out the top three overall in 15:30.124.
“It feels really good to win because it means the effort I have been putting in and the coaching from Bryce Munro is paying off. Most of my stages went smoothly, but Thaba always has its surprises! For instance, Stage 1 I could have been a lot smoother since a lot of my lines were wrong and I hit rocks that I wasn’t supposed to. But luckily my bike handled everything like a dream,” said Behr.
“My favourite stage was Stage 2, because I properly messed up on this stage in the previous race. But this time, it was just fast and fun, so it felt pretty good to get it right.”
Behr returned recently from a few weeks of riding in Morzine, France, which she feels has benefitted her riding.
“I rode some ‘steeps’ there with Sharjah Johnson. It was completely blind and I followed him down lines I never thought I’d ride, so I feel like I can approach features with more confidence and I can handle and control my bike better. I now have a very ‘I’ve done worse than this’ attitude,” smiled Behr.
It’s important to mention that top South African Enduro racer, Sam Bull, citing a lack of fitness, contested the event on an eBike and recorded the fastest overall time of 11:17.250.
The event doubled as the final round of the 2023 Gauteng Enduro Series, presented by Suzuki as well as the final round of the Limpopo and North West province’s provincial series. This saw a number of series titles awarded too.
This season was another success and saw Enduro gain a stronger position as an official Cycling SA sanctioned discipline. Paola Damilano was once again the series organiser, who, with her family and committed Series sponsors and venues, ensured that Enduro has a solid foundation from which to build on in 2023 for the ‘northern provinces’.
Suzuki was the presenting sponsor the 2023 Gauteng Enduro Series. Other brands that have invested in the sponsoring the Gauteng Enduro Series are Balwin Properties, EcoLogic (bike wash products), 100% (eyewear products), 32GI (performance supplements), Med Guys (medical support), Complete Cyclist and Lynnwood Cyclery (technical support), Send It (timing) and SHRED (media partner).
Leading results
Overall Men
1 Frank Meyer 11min 28.452sec
2 Bryce Munro 11:29.518
3 Danny Fowler 11:44.177
4 Wade Prinsloo 11:48.892
5 Joel Hieber 12:10.533
6 Joshua Kanis 12:16.294
7 Divan van Straaten 12:20.313
8 Ricky Tomaselli 12:29.615
9 Henre Myburgh 12:36.274
10 Max van Zyl 12:36.998
Elite Men
1 Wade Prinsloo 11:48.892
2 Joel Hieber 12:10.533
3 Josef Bester 18:50.146
Under-23 Men
1 Ruben Fitton 12:38.701
2 Tyrone Anders 12:46.629
3 Mateo Damilano 13:38.172
Junior Men
1 Divan van Straaten 12:20.313
2 Henre Myburgh 12:36.274
3 Max van Zyl 12:36.998
Youth Men
1 Joshua Kanis 12:16.294
2 Joshua West 12:43.354
3 Hanro Ehlers 13:07.301
Sub-Junior Boys
1 Michael Kannis 13:28.142
2 Luke Stafford 13:30.405
3 Warren Greene 18:37.951
Sub-veteran Men
1 Frank Meyer 11min 28.452sec
2 Bryce Munro 11:29.518
3 Rob Keen 13:19.552
Veteran Men
1 Danny Fowler 11:44.177
2 Ricky Tomaselli 12:29.615
3 Carl Deary 13:07.869
Master Men
1 Sean O’Flynn Madden 12:39.710
2 Sean Badenhorst 13:52.396
3 Barry Crouse 13:59.102
Grand Master Men
1 Mike Behr 15:50.158
2 Mark Oliver 19:12.481
eBike
1 Sam Bull 11:17.250
2 Christian Kuys 13:53.630
3 Kalvin Christie 14:02.170
Overall Women
1 Arielle Behr 13:16.235
2 Julia Kotze 13:53.435
3 Tashane Ehlers 15:30.124
4 Carla Janse van Vuuren 15:37.873
5 Philippa Spies 15:39.755
Elite Women
1 Julia Kotze 13:53.435
Under-23 Women
1 Talia Behr 16:47.804
Junior Women
1 Tashane Ehlers 15:30.124
2 Carla Janse van Vuuren 15:37.873
Youth Women
1 Arielle Behr 13:16.235
Sub-veteran Women
1 Philippa Spies 15:39.755
2 Amanda Keen 16:38.737
3 Kerstin Muttukat 19:09.381
Veteran Women
1 Mattie Viviers 17:27.212
2 Kelly Marnewick 17:38.906
3 Irma du Plooy 17:53.610
LITE (4 Stages)
Sprog Boys
1 Ethan Duvenage 7:26.078
Nipper Boys
1 Joshua Oosthuysen 9:02.042
2 Liam Marnewick 12:03.954