Sabie O-ringen Day 2
Sabie Klipkraal SE
Brown, 8.0km, 260m
Chasing starts, so I was off first with Nico +3 and Matthew +5. Didn't see anyone behind me at any part of the course though. Didn't make any major mistakes, much better than day 1 although the area is easier and higher speed than day 1.
I was slow out of the start but hit #1 perfect. Almost ran onto #2 before I was expecting it, and 3 and 4 were perfect. At #5 I decided last minute to attack from the right instead of the left past the green outcrop. This was a mistake and cost about 20s. No problems 6-7-8. To 9 I was tempted to go left on the roads as I knew the block had a lot of trimmings on the ground. In the end I went straight and it was probably the best decision.
No other problems until 17 where I could have shaved off 5s going more direct into the control inside the circle. Started dicing with Connor (on blue) from hereon, with a mix of parallel and same controls. I was a bit slow and high through the low vis trees to #19 but hit it spot-on after that, giving the control location away to Connor. Lost about 10s not staying in the main clearings.
Went left route to #20 whilst Connor went between the hills, allowing him to catch about 10s. Then he sprinted away but it forced me to find another gear, rather critical in the end as I just beat Matthew's time by 12s.
So overall a good run, loosing only about 35s in total. Body was a bit tired after day 1, but the spring in the step is coming back. I just don't have the speed of some of the juniors.