Christie Hearder will race all out in the hopes of overcoming some strong opposition when she seeks to defend her Kamberg Classic title at Glengarry on Sunday.
Christie Hearder will seek to successfully defend her Kamberg Classic title at Glengarry on Sunday. Photo: Deds Photography
The 21-year-old, who won her maiden race last year, will face other talented youngsters such as current national U23 road and time-trial champion Frances Janse van Rensburg, Claudia Slattery and possibly Tiffany Keep.
“Last year I raced as hard as I could and I will do the same this year. I think as long as you give your best that’s enough,” said Hearder.
“I’m really excited for this year’s race. I know there are going to be some amazing women there, from Frances to Claudia and maybe even Tiffany. It’s always great to chase them.
“It’s also a fairly new race on the Roag calendar and probably my favourite of the series,” said Hearder, who was the overall winner of the season-long Roag Series last year.
She added that heading into the race this year she would say her goals were to go out and enjoy the route, the scenery and vibe, while hoping to successfully defend her title.
“I absolutely love that part of the world and being able to explore trails we don’t get to ride often is awesome.
“This race is different. It offers a variety of terrain from awesome climbs, fun singletrack and gravel roads – a little of something for everyone.
There is also a really nice vibe at the finish.”
Hearder said she enjoyed the route for the 60km mountain bike classic.
“I love the climbs. Well I did last year at least, and I love that it gets interesting at the end.
“You think the hard racing is over, but the last 10km throws in a bit of fun singletrack climbing and a few technical sections just to spice the race up a little and keep you concentrating till the very end.
“I’m not sure if they’ve changed the route or added anything new, but I’m excited to see if they have.”
The Pietermaritzburg local, who rides for Absolute Motion, felt that pacing yourself early in the race was important.
“The end does throw you a bit of a curve ball if you have blown all your matches.”
She says every race in the series is important if you are going for the overall win.
“Anything can happen and you might not make it to one or two of the other races, so competing in all of them does help.
“I love the series and the purpose behind it: ‘getting people out and active with their families’. So I’ll try to compete in most of the events and who knows what will happen at the end.
“All in all, this year I’m mainly focusing on local races, with the odd stage race in between. I’m trying to finish my degree and working, so I’m choosing a few races to focus on,” said Hearder, who is doing a BCom finance degree through Unisa.
