Sunday's National Champs were the first time EVER that nationals were held outside of Windhoek and I would just like to thank Adriaan, Marita and their crew for an outstanding event! The route was fabulous with the loops around town and it was a very refreshing to race on a new circuit in Nam.
On the racing front, I was equally impressed with the other categories. Having a front row seat as we passed all of the other bunches several times as we did the loops and the out and back course to Gross Barmen. I actually thoroughly enjoyed seeing the others and was intrigued to see how some groups were splitting up while others were staying together virtually till the end.
Our race had a whole ten starters and I was the only rider from the Namibian Giro team present, which was a great pity. Not wanting to spoil the ride I kept things rolling with 'through and off' for as long as possible, until Jacques opened up the real racing and we had some fun. Victor K put on a good show but did way too much too early, so was spat out the back pretty quickly. Jacques, doing his first really long race in a long time held on very well but eventually faded and left me alone in front with Tjipee.
Tjipee had a good ride, but it included a lot of wheel sucking. Obviously the best tactic for the day, as long as that does not become a normal state of affairs for him.
With a few clicks to go I accelerated up the last bump and left Tjipee behind to go on for a nice win and the National Jersey for the 2008 season! What a great feeling!
Now I have to design the thing as it's never been made before...
Any suggestions?