The racing was fast and furious from the off.
This past Sunday, 2 April, 11 children accompanied by myself and Ntlantla Nonkasa traveled to the newly rebuilt BMX track at the Kraaifontein Sports Club. This was an important race as it served as a trial run for the SA Cup that is taking place this coming Easter weekend. Wrote Bradley Stow.
Songo.Info was represented by the following riders: Likho Mayekiso, Onesimo Ndzonyana, Lakhanya Skhobongwane, Kanya Xhapha, Mihlali Stuurman, Uviwe Tshali, Awethu Mtekeli, Tsholofelo Letlola, Luminathi Nkoko, Ovayo Ntsege and Mivuyo Mndini.
The Stow brothers, Darryn (in the Flow Rider Coaching kit) and Brad (representing songo.info) in the Super Class.
The top performer of the day was without a doubt Lakhanya who won his final in the Super class category. Super Class is the equivalent of Elite Men so he was racing the fastest guys in the province as well as a few riders from other provinces who are already down preparing for the national this weekend. It was an extremely exciting race to watch and he displayed great skill and maturity to win by a few centimetres.
Lakhanya Skhobongwane won the Super Class showdown.
Other notable performers were Mihlali, Ovayo,Uviwe, Nkoko and Khanya who all finished on the podium. Ovayo had a particularly competitive class and dominated most of the day but just couldn’t get the win in the finals.
Once again I feel like the kids behaved well and supported each other like team mates should. Tsholofelo was his usual self and has made a name for himself as the unofficial race commentator with his sideline cheering and support. I witnessed Tshulu screaming “PEDAL LAKHANYA” from behind while they were both in the same race which shows the type of person he is.
I think we are learning and growing as a team and each race has its slight challenges but it really helps when everyone supports each other and knows it’s not about individual results but rather the combined performance, behavior and sportsmanship of the entire Songo team.
The renovated Kraaifontein track is super fast and fun to race on.
I’m really looking forward to the SA Cup this weekend which is a great opportunity for the Songo kids to experience a national BMX event.
A big thank you to our sponsors Ninety One and Specialized who made this trip possible. Without their generosity and support this trip would not have been possible.
