S.A. downhill ladies

[Wyatt Earp]

During our morning ride yesterday me and a few mates were pondering over the state of the quality of riders we have in this country to be able to compete on the international circuit.

The issue of Max Knox came up and his approach in what he wants to do (hats off to him and all the best)

 

But as we discussed , S.A. is very marathon focussed and even there the girls we have are not at the level where we can see them making waves and putting S.A. on the map.

 

Before anyone also comments.

SS World champs is a fun ride.

 

We had some ladies not do too badly at the World Champs XCO recently and some of our veteran men also did exceptionally well on the downhill circuit and where do we even begin with the Mighty Greg Minnaar.

 

But the issues that were raised, our elite ladies don't feature well on the XCO circuit against their international peers, perhaps a bit of an eye opener and a wake up call for them.

 

The big question.

With Greg at the top of the game, what are the chances of us seeing a South African lady on the top of the downhill podium step ?

Have we ever had South African ladies on the international downhill circuit ? (I can't recall any names)

 

What do you all think ?

[ChUkKy]

We have some ladies that are genetically engineered for downhill

[LazyTrailRider]

Wyatt, the answer is no, we haven't had anyone on the circuit.

 

We do however have one or two ladies who are very very good. Rika Olivier for example, can man(pardon the pun)-handle a DH bike smoother and with more consistency than half the male field. She's already a vet though. In pure skill level terms, I rate her *very* highly.

[DIPSLICK]

Wyatt, the answer is no, we haven't had anyone on the circuit.

 

i am trying to remember someone told me a story of one of the hubbers he knows said she was on the international circuit.......it will come to me my memory is not what it used to be

[Wyatt Earp]

Wyatt, the answer is no, we haven't had anyone on the circuit.

 

We do however have one or two ladies who are very very good. Rika Olivier for example, can man(pardon the pun)-handle a DH bike smoother and with more consistency than half the male field. She's already a vet though. In pure skill level terms, I rate her *very* highly.

 

Wow, never realised she was good on a downhill rig.

I heard via-via about some girl who claims she raced on the downhill circuit overseas (but call BS on that one)

Thus me asking.

Thanks for the answer, I did think it was a big no.

 

Here is my logic however.

On the XCO side I don't see an S.A. ladies champ for a long time, on the XCO Marathon circuit, I fear the same.

 

However on the DH circuit there is a lot of vibe around these athletes and much media exposure around them.

How could would it not be if we had an S.A. lady on the circuit.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Wyatt, the answer is no, we haven't had anyone on the circuit.

 

We do however have one or two ladies who are very very good. Rika Olivier for example, can man(pardon the pun)-handle a DH bike smoother and with more consistency than half the male field. She's already a vet though. In pure skill level terms, I rate her *very* highly.

 

Yeah. Rika is a machine on the bike. She is really, really good. Trains with Devon Katzen, who is also a madman on the bike.

But as you say, she's already a vet, so no chance of being on the world circuit, unfortunately.

 

In terms of women in DH - I really don't know. Only other people I know are Hayley (who doesn't own a DH bike yet) and a couple of other people. Not a lot of ladies at all in the DH crowd. Sad, really...

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Wow, never realised she was good on a downhill rig.

I heard via-via about some girl who claims she raced on the downhill circuit overseas (but call BS on that one)

Thus me asking.

Thanks for the answer, I did think it was a big no.

 

Here is my logic however.

On the XCO side I don't see an S.A. ladies champ for a long time, on the XCO Marathon circuit, I fear the same.

 

However on the DH circuit there is a lot of vibe around these athletes and much media exposure around them.

How could would it not be if we had an S.A. lady on the circuit.

 

Yeah, Wyatt - agreed. There is a lot of scope for improvement in womens MTB in all disciplines.

[LazyTrailRider]

Only other people I know are Hayley (who doesn't own a DH bike yet).

 

No pressure at all Hayley

[Super_mil]

Rika also happens to be the current WORLD CHAMP in her age group only just beating Gina Nixon. Both Rika & Gina were hitting the majority of the A lines during the Maters world cup (Dr Evil, Driftage Double etc). They can ride a DH bike & both AFAIK have a BMX racing background. Kath Fourie placed 3rd at the Masters for her efforts in the 30-40 category.

 

http://p.vitalmtb.com/photos/users/11976/photos/51075/s780_6.jpg?1362488308

Rika Olivier

 

http://meanderchronicle.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/2013M4RikaOlivier.jpg

Gina Nixon

 

Kath Fourie

[SwissVan]

There have been a few of recent (fairly recent) times, mostly saffas living / racing abroad

 

Anka Martin

Joanne Petterson

 

Not sure what they have been up to lately

 

There have been a few XCO / marathon ladies in Europe but its hard coming here and having hundreds of competitors to race against vs just a few in SA. It would take more than spending one summer in Europe to get anywhere. There some promising young ladies but they going to need to come live here for a few years....

[patches]

During our morning ride yesterday me and a few mates were pondering over the state of the quality of riders we have in this country to be able to compete on the international circuit.

The issue of Max Knox came up and his approach in what he wants to do (hats off to him and all the best)

 

But as we discussed , S.A. is very marathon focussed and even there the girls we have are not at the level where we can see them making waves and putting S.A. on the map.

 

Before anyone also comments.

SS World champs is a fun ride.

 

We had some ladies not do too badly at the World Champs XCO recently and some of our veteran men also did exceptionally well on the downhill circuit and where do we even begin with the Mighty Greg Minnaar.

 

But the issues that were raised, our elite ladies don't feature well on the XCO circuit against their international peers, perhaps a bit of an eye opener and a wake up call for them.

 

The big question.

With Greg at the top of the game, what are the chances of us seeing a South African lady on the top of the downhill podium step ?

Have we ever had South African ladies on the international downhill circuit ? (I can't recall any names)

 

What do you all think ?

 

Totally agree. Our ladies were taken to the cleaners on that XCO course.The technical of the XCO and XCE course left a lot of them taking chicken lines, walking/running throuhg the treehouse rock garden, and trying to jump when they really shouldn't... that said, I will not deny that they are still top class athletes... just lacking in the technical in those 2 arenas.

 

As for DH ladies, whilst we don't have any on the elite world cup circuit, we do have some that have done pretty well. I know the field was small, but a fair few SA ladies podiums at Masters World Champs (Kath Fourie, Gina Nixon, and Rika).

 

And although she might not be in the country much, but Anka Martin is damn fast on a DH bike.

 

In KZN they have a pretty decent DH ladies field. A few of which have an MX background. I'm sure that with proper coaching, exposure, and practice some of these could make an impact on a global level.

 

Another area that might be worth recruiting from is the BMX pool. There are some world class young female BMXers in SA.

[Wyatt Earp]

Looking good SuperMil.

Pity these girls don't get enough media exposure.

[Escapee..]

Is DH even a real sport?

 

I really thought its just a hobby/fun ride type of thing

[Mats]

Not to burst anyone's bubble but masters world champs for the ladies in all disciplines was a joke.

Most of the categories did not even have 10 participants.

And then 9 of the 10 were saffas.

Come one how can you call that World champs

[Super_mil]

There are not a lot of girls involved in the elites age group. Only Stacy Bryant (also from BMX) and Nadia Botha who won SA Champs & SA Circuit. Nadia would have represented SA at World Champs but there was some issue with her citizenship... She is from the UK but married a Saffer.

 

But to answer the question... I doubt we'll see a SA lady on the circuit anytime soon. We simply do not have big enough numbers to make it happen unless some sort of anomaly crops up. SA DH riders get very little support & exposure from the local cycling scene. Our male national champ pays for his own bike, which he bought 2nd hand. I seriously doubt that would happen in XC.

[Kranswurm]

Totally agree. Our ladies were taken to the cleaners on that XCO course.The technical of the XCO and XCE course left a lot of them taking chicken lines, walking/running throuhg the treehouse rock garden, and trying to jump when they really shouldn't... that said, I will not deny that they are still top class athletes... just lacking in the technical in those 2 arenas.

 

As for DH ladies, whilst we don't have any on the elite world cup circuit, we do have some that have done pretty well. I know the field was small, but a fair few SA ladies podiums at Masters World Champs (Kath Fourie, Gina Nixon, and Rika).

 

And although she might not be in the country much, but Anka Martin is damn fast on a DH bike.

 

In KZN they have a pretty decent DH ladies field. A few of which have an MX background. I'm sure that with proper coaching, exposure, and practice some of these could make an impact on a global level.

 

Another area that might be worth recruiting from is the BMX pool. There are some world class young female BMXers in SA.

 

Gina Nixon ...