A smashing new venue awaits the KwaZulu-Natal cross-country specialists this weekend as the second round of the 2016 KZNMTB Provincial XCO Series takes place at Mazarat MTB Park in Waterfall on Saturday 5 March. 2015 KwaZulu-Natal Veteran Men’s Champion, Warren Price (Jowetts Cycles) will be at the next event, either racing or supporting his son, or both.
The 40-year-old has not always been a cyclist. “I have only been cycling for about five years and of those five, competitively for four of them,” he said. “I have however been a competitive sportsman for almost twenty years now. I used to be a very keen canoeist, where I earned six gold medals at the Dusi Canoe Marathon,” he added.
KZN XCO Champion, Warren Price (Jowetts Cycles) is ready to head to Mazarat Farm for the second round of the 2016 KZNMTB XCO Provincial on Saturday 5 March. Photo credit: Paul Botma
After a few years of Adventure Racing, getting married, and starting a family, Price took up cycling. He has many accolades under his belt for cycling, including winning the Imana Wild Ride from 2012-2015, and is the current SA Masters Marathon Champion, as well as the 2015 KZN MTB XCO Veteran Champion, to name only a few.
Cross-country hasn’t been his only discipline, however, as he also enjoys longer distances and endurance-like stage races.
The KwaZulu-Natal community seem to always highlight the importance of family at these events, and Price could not agree more. The family man of four puts family above everything. When asked about how he balances work, family time and training, Price said: “We are fortunate enough to self-educate our children, well my wife does 99.9% of the work. But it’s great because I get up and ride from 04:30 to 06:30 in the morning and the children only start waking up. They then only start learning at around 9:30 so I get to spend time with them in the morning and in the evening after work.”
Price loves cycling for the balance that he is able to put into it. “There are so many things I wished I had known back in my days of competitive canoeing that I have learned from cycling. I wish there were people to lead me in the right direction. This is why I have begun to slowly coach a few people and assist them in terms of training and nutrition suggestions and the science of cycling, not to just go all out and tire yourself out. I feel like it’s my contribution to giving back to the sport,” said Price.
Price took the win at the first provincial XCO last month, and looks carefully at his decision to ride on the weekend. “I don’t want to go all out and cause injury as I hurt my ribs a few weeks ago. I don’t want to do something silly so close to the Epic. I also, however know that I need to do this to keep my points up to get a chance at winning the series. A lot of thought is going into this decision,” he added.
Price then heads to the Western Cape to take on the ever-anticipated Absa Cape Epic with his partner, Andrew Davies. “He called me up, I didn’t know him before, but he had seen my stats from last year and asked if I wanted to ride with him. Epic is totally my thing; I am more of an endurance rider and do a lot of these cross-country races to also work on my speed. But I have wanted to do it for so many years, and this year Safire has come on board to sponsor my Epic dream. It’s truly a dream come true.
“I’m not a pro cyclist, I’m not anything special, I’m just a common guy living the dream,” he concluded.
Warm sunny weather is headed for the province this weekend and a large crowd is once again expected to take advantage of the sunshine by either racing or supporting friends and family at the stunning Mazarat Farm.
Pre-entries have closed, but late entries will be taken at registration on race day – Saturday 5 March – from 06:00 to 11:00.
For any further details, please visit www.kznmtb.co.za. For more information, contact Rebecca van der Linde info@kznmtb.co.za.
Absolute gentleman.