Songo.info at the XC Provincial race in Stellenbosch
Songo Fipaza’s racereport from the weekend:
Yesterday morning the Songo boys and girl to part on the Western Province cross county finals.
They left Kayamandi at 08:00 and it was pouring with rain while they cycled to Coetzenburg where the event was.
The event started at 09:00 with the ladies at all ages.
Yoliswa was the only girl from the Songo.info after being sick for a week and she came and race with out training for 2 weeks.
The ladies started with a lot of rain and had to do 6km x 4 laps.
Yoliswa finished 2 laps and she was out as she had no more power to carry on with the race.
It was under 23 and Elite where Odwa, Thembisile, Thabo, Loyiso, Bongani, Sivuyile and Sipho.
They had to do 6 laps of 6 km and started very well pushing very hard the first lap.
Sipho finished 6th; Thembisile 7th; Bongani 8th and Odwa 9th on the under 23 event.
At is was very wet 3 of my kids crashed and Odwa bend his front wheel; Thabo slide into a tree with his shoulder and Loyiso crashed on rocks and hurt his ankle but they are all fine.
On youth men it was Azukile; Elton and Luyolo and they all had lots of fun.
Many thanks Mitzi Moo Knipe for organising the entries for us.
Kind regards,
Songo Fipaza
Songo.info video 1 from ESPN Brazil
A Brazilian journalist who is a regular attendant at every years Cape Epic spent some of her time with Songo and the kids to make 2 small documentary films which have featured on ESPN brazil. This is the first of 2, will post up the second one in the near future. Enjoy!
Spur High School Race Gallery
Spur High School Mountain Bike League race
Molweni,
I would like to start up by saying thank you very much to Mearent and Arina Botha from Amarider for giving the Songo boys an great opportunity to participate in their races since last year.
They have provided entries and transport in to all the Spur High School league races since last year.
Many thanks to Contego for the trailer it makes my life very easy now with the trailer.
Yesterday afternoon the Songo boys took part on the second Spur high school league in Helderberg Farm in Somerset West.
The weather was nice and warm and there was a good tern up from school.
We left Kayamandi 13:45 so that we can be there in time for registration and warm up.
The kids did very well on the race as I picked them up from school with out eating lunch as they are no longer allowed to go home for lunch now any more.
On the first start-up group junior men (17-18) and intermediate men (19+) it was Azukile, Sandiso; Thabo; Luyolo; Siphenathi and Sipho.
They started very well Sipho was on the 2nd place on the first lap and crashed on the single track and Azukile and Sandiso we on the 6th and 7th.
Sipho finished in 4th and Siphenathi 8th they showed a lot of improvement from their last race.
My 12 year old Zola did very well as this was his second mountain bike race.
He say to me after his race they must watch out for the next one as he will come prepared as he was racing on a empty stomach.
I was running around getting everything ready for them and I for got to bay them food so they had to race with water.
I was very happy to see the excitement; passion; enjoyment; determination and aggression.
The next 2 league races will be on the 4th September in Princessvlei-Cape Town and on the 16th September in Helderberg Farm-Somerset West.
We would like to take the kids to Nationals on the 16 October 2010 in Johannesburg and things that are preventing them from going it is transport, accommodation and food.
It would be a great eye-opener and great motivation for them to race on the nationals.
Thank you all for all your support to the Songo project your impacting life in a great way.
Salani kakuhle;
Die Burger MTN Bike Challenge 2010
Last weekend the Songo kids took part in Die Burger Mountain Bike Challenge in Stellenbosch. It is known to be a challenging route and this time round Songo got some of them to write their own race reports.
My name is Sandiso Xetu and I am a member of Songo.info since January 2010.
I took part on the Die Burger Challenge on Saturday and I did the 30km.
I was on E start shot that started at 09:30 and I won my group and I broke away from my group and chase group D and I have managed to catch up most of the people in group D.
I told myself that next year I am going to wine the Die Burger race.
I have pushed very hard this year and next year I will push even harder to win it.
I also going to work hard in all the races so that I can start on the front group as it is not easy to pass the slow ride in the groups that started before me.
There were so many people on the race and it was not easy to pass them as most of them were just working in front of me.
I had lots of fun on the race and I am very grateful for the opportunity.
Thank you!!!
From Sandiso Xetu
Race Report from Bongani Bhusakhwe
We left Kayamandi at 07:30 and we were there at 07:45 but I only started at 09:15 I was in group C.
I had a good race as I left my group after 5 km and chase the group in front of me.
I have managed to catch up many people and I finished on the top 30 in overall on the 30km.
I could have catch up more people but when you get to a 28km point there is a bridge were all the races go in before the finish and that is were all the 15km people were pushing their bikes so I had to wait for them.
I have enjoyed the race very much the route was great.
I started at 09:15 and 10:30 I was finished!
Thank you,
Azukile’s Race report of the Die burger Challenge
My name is Azukile Simayile and I am a member of the Songo.info since last year.
I took part on the Die Burger Mountain Bike Challenge on Saturday in Stellenbosch.
It was a great day and the weather was good and for the first time it did not rain a day before so the route was nice and dry.
There was a lot of sand on the route and when you get to the sandy part most people just push their bikes and it was not easy to pass them at all.
On the last 4 km and I catch up with lots of people from the 15km and it was mostly children and they were allover the road so I couldn’t pass them.
It was a great day and I have enjoyed myself a lot.
Thank you,
Azukile
Grabouw Triathlon 2010
Race report by Songo Fipaza
On Saturday at 06:00 my kids and I we left Kayamandi for Grabouw.
We got at Grabouw at 07:15 and went for the registration and did the warm up.
The juniors started their race at 08:30 with 2.5 km run; 13km ride and run 1 km so the juniors it was Abongile and Lubabalo.
They started the run together as Abongile was the youngest on the race Lubabalo ran with him all the way for the 2.5 km run and they were the last once to finish the run.
On the ride Lubabalo chase the leaders and he manage to ketch them and he was on the 2nd place on the bike and he went for the 1km run.
He ran very well the win as saved by the finish line as Lubabalo was very close to him.
It was a great ride by my kids and you have remember that it was on road duathlon and my kids were racing with their mountain bikes.
At 10:00 the 16year and open started and my kids dominated the 5km run and they were in 2nd; 3rd; 5th; 7th places and they did very well the first 5km but they could not hold on as they were on mountain bike and everyone was on road bikes.
The distances were 5km run; 26km ride and 2.5km run.
They did very well and from my kids Thembisile was the first one to finish and followed by Sipho and Azukile.
I was very impressed by their performance and they are looking forward to the next event.
Thank you for give these kids a chance to show their talent.
Kind regards,
Songo Fipaza
Robertson Winery MTB Challenge
The songo boys did the Robertson mountain bike race over the weekend.
On Friday afternoon they meet up to clean the bikes and Reginald who joined them and help to fix all the bikes for them.
On Saturday we left Kayamandi at 05:00 am and we registered for the race,
I did the 42 km; 11 did the 29 km and Abongile a 12 year old BMXer and Yoliswa did the 12km.
The weather was very good and good turn up as well.
All the people who are not PPA member had to start last as they were starting in groups from A to Z and temporal licence rides started at last.
As my kids had to start at the back the had to play catch up all the way.
Sipho managed claim the 3rd place on the 29km while Yoliswa claim a 2nd on ladies on the 12km and Abongile finished 3rd on the kids on the 12km.
Sipho did the cross country in Durbanville on Sunday and he was leading the under 23 on the first lap and he got a puncture on the second lap and he also crashed.
We helped him to fix his puncture and he went back he did well and we will see on the next XC and it will be close to Stellenbosch and we would be able to take more kids.
Watch the space very soon the songo boys will be claiming all the podiums.
Thank you all for your support without you we will not be able to give these kids a chance.
Thank you,
Christoph Sauser wins Stage 1 of Trans Germany!
Christoph Sauser has won the opening stage of the 4 day Trans Germany…read below for a race report with a difference!
This is how i won the race:
(I am not afraid getting hot, but scared being cold!)
feeds:
strong plastic bag, duct tape, and socks.
warm clothing:
fleece short pants, knee warmers, under jersey, fleece jersey
water proofs:
goretex baggy pants, goretex jacket
helmet:
the best Specialized invention ever… plastic cover over helmet
This is how the other lost the race:
shoe covers without tape, thin lycra pants and jersey, vest only
I was completely dry and warm for the whole race. I might looked a bit baggy, but my body kept warm on the long descents. My legs were on race temperature coming into the last long steep uphill and I could break away right there.
NOTE! I won my first race on the Stumpjumper 29er!! Rolling was amazing! It felt like free pedaling the whole race long…
UCI World Cup 1 this weekend in Dalby Forest, UK.
This weekend Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser will be taking part in their first UCI World Cup for the 2010 season in Dalby Forest in the UK. Check back to www.i-am-specialized.com and www.songo.info for race results and a full report on how the Specialized FactoryRacing team did!
Songo.info Racing update
Molweni Nonke,
It has been a great weekend full of action and excitement for my kids.
On Saturday it was the BMX at Velokhaya in Khayelitsha.
We took 12 kids where 8 lost on the Semi finals.
The 4 went on finals and Songezo finish on the 3rd place and Zola on the
2nd place.
They all performed very well and I was very proud of them all.
The mountain bikes have been training very hard and hungry for a race.
On Sunday 10 kids from the mountain bike by 06:00 were knocking at my
house ready for the race that only starts at 09:00.
They took the keys and went to park the bikes and they left Kayamandi at
06:45 and they were the first riders to arrive and register.
It was the Momentum Health I-Flex Duathlon Series at Zevenwacht Wine
Estate.
Azukile; Elton; Lavisa; Luyolo; Sandiso and Yoliswa did the junior 16 to
19 year olds where they did 5 km run; 10km mountain bike and 2.5 km run.
Yoliswa was very nerves about the running leg.
It was a hard and technical route but my kids had lots of fun.
As it was a hard route there were also lots on mechanical problems like
getting lots of punches and some had broken chains.
That gave Yoliswa chance to beat the most on the boys and she also
finish first on ladies.
She was so happy to bring the 1st prize home as I lost mine on the
adventure race.
On juniors it was Azukile who finished 5th and 1st from my kids followed
by Yoliswa(girl); Elton; Sandiso; Luyolo; Lavisa (girl)
On open it was Sipho who finished 1st from my kids followed by Sivuyile;
Ndiphe and Bongani.
They are all looking forward to the coming Saturday’s race in Papergaai.
On Saturday the 24th April 18, 2010 Songo.info and Buyaendaweni will be
hosting a 11km fun ride and 5km fun ran.
The main purposes of this even it to bring the 4 communities together
people from Papergaai; MidleVlei; Stellenbosch and Kayamandi.
It’s going to be lots of fun! My kids have taken a ownership on cleaning
all the single tracks and the routes in Papergaai.
Thank you all for your support.
Kind regards,
Songo
