English translation: M2ME Christopher Wefing, www.m2me.de spectacular 16 meter jump at the exit of the forest section. Then came an unexpected long flat pedaling section, the like of which I’d never experienced before in my entire racing career. This section took you to the limits of your stamina. A BMX racer would certainly be at an advantage here. The finish section of the track was the same as the 4X track. I finished 16th and was naturally disappointed but at the same time I was pleased that after breaking my collar-bone last season I successfully tackled the big jump. Before the World Cup I took some tome to get to know the people and the country a bit. Before long my team manager, Hoshi, joined us and we got started on our training and race preparation. For the qualification round a new standard was introduced during the run, two split times and a top speed. This was a big help for the training runs and the final. Later our South African Nicolai importer, Grant Walliser, joined us and so our troop was complete. Thanks to Grant we could comfortably plan our trip. In the final I got off to a good start and at the first time-check I was in 17th place but the long pedaling section took back all the time I’d gained and by the second time-check I was back in 32nd place and finally finished up in 33rd place. In the evening, Grant celebrated his countryman’s (Greg Minnaar) victory to the max while Hoshi worked on the weekend’s photos until late in the night. After the World Cup we went with friends of Grant into the interior to the Ixopo on the Umkomaas river. We had the unique opportunity to be guests of Glen Haw, the organizer and host of the legendary Sani2c race. He gave us a place to sleep, our food and drink and showed us around a stretch of the Sani2C track, which starts on a high plateau runs down into the Umkomaas valley. The stretch of track was perfect for a day’s riding. We were shuttled by lorry to the start point and at the end Glen came to pick us up armed with cold drinks and supplies. We were all touched by Glen enormous generosity and hospitality. The next day was spent on the road. We left Ixopo and headed northwards in the direction of Lesotho in the Drakensberg mountains. The mountain plateau reaches its highest point at the 3482m Thabana Ntlenayana mountain. This mountain was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. We spent our final days of the trip amongst the craggy rock faces, vibrant river courses and waterfalls taking photographs which will appear in the 2010 catalogue and on the website. I like to say a big thank you to Grant Walliser, his bike friends, and farmer Glen Haw for organizing an unforgettable trip. Joris Bigoni