On Saturday, the 20th of August 2022, 11 children including and 2 coaches, Songezo and Ntlantla, travelled to the Boland Landbouskool in Paarl to take part at the WC Primary Schools League Race 3. songo.info was represented by two girls and nine boys: Uviwe Tshali, Khanya Xhapha, Simamkele Magoqwana, Lingomso, Ovayo Ntsenge, Lunathi Isakhanya Vimba, Yongama Mndletye, Mihlali and Luyolo.
The three youngest boys in the group; Mihlali (8 years old), Kayone (9) and Lingomso (also 9) did their first ever mountain bike race and their excitement levels were high. Sipho Madolo had a chat with their parents, in the morning as they were dropping them off at the clubhouse, they all mentioned that they didn’t sleep as the boys kept asking them to check the time to make sure they don’t miss the race. They definitely didn’t disappoint either! Mihlali finished in 8th place in sub-nippers and Lingomso was inside the top 15. That was a perfect start to their mountain biking careers. They enjoyed the race too, of which is the most important part riding a bike!
Excitement levels were sky high!
songo.info’s girls, Khanya Xhapha and Uviwe Tshali did superbly in their age groups too. Khanya finished 2nd, after leading half of the race in Sub-junior girls, and Uviwe finished 3rd in Sprogs girls. They both rode impressively; it was amazing to watch and cheer them along.
The good performances continued from the songo.info sprog boys, with Ovayo finishing in top 10, and in the sub-junior boys, where Luyolo placed 7th and Yongama 8th. It’s incredible to see the improvement every race and they loving it. They are so excited for the next one in Grabouw in two weeks’ time.
The racing has been a lot of fun and it’s great to see the numbers returning to their 2019 levels again too.
“This is where I started racing back in 2009,” reflected Sipho Madolo. “There’s definitely no better way to start XC racing than this. I really enjoy watching the kids race and listening to them sharing all the stories afterwards. Thanks to Meurant Botha of Amarider and Western Cape Schools Cycling for the support and for keeping this event going. It is really amazing to see the big numbers again like 3 years ago!”