DIRT and TRAIL January 22
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Le<br />
Matt Green was overcome with emotion to get across the finish line third overall,<br />
it was a tough Motul Roof of Africa.<br />
That’s what The Roof is all about. We<br />
stayed at the DSP to cheer some of our<br />
bronze mates home until after the sun<br />
went down. There were still riders out,<br />
tomorrow was going to be a long day…<br />
Day 3: The Final Race Day.<br />
There was palpable tension at the start at<br />
Thaba Bosiu on the final day. Amazingly<br />
we managed to drag our entire posse out<br />
of bed at four AM so that we could get to<br />
the start from Maseru to watch the front<br />
runners head out. Very glad we made<br />
it though, because you get to see old<br />
friends <strong>and</strong> chat to parents, dealers <strong>and</strong><br />
manufacturers who were at The Roof. It<br />
was great to see the massive Motul bike<br />
wash, the Yamaha workshop <strong>and</strong> the<br />
huge Michelin tyre setup –<br />
stuff that you just don’t notice while you<br />
chase the race.<br />
Some of our team decided to watch<br />
the golds head out <strong>and</strong> then to head<br />
for Bushmans pass so that they could<br />
catch the top riders coming through. A<br />
couple of us stayed behind to watch the<br />
Siver <strong>and</strong> Bronze riders take off. The first<br />
donga that we watched at time trial had<br />
become virtually impossible to navigate<br />
– just a huge mud bath thanks to all the<br />
rain. That’s the Roof for you!<br />
We watched the last of the Bronzies<br />
head out when we were told that thanks<br />
again to dodgy weather, the organisers<br />
had decided to end the Gold, Silver<br />
<strong>and</strong> Bronze classes at Bushmans – <strong>and</strong><br />
as it happened that turned out to be a<br />
good call… so the entire timekeeping<br />
setup, sound etc was moved to one of<br />
our favorite mountains. Bushmans is<br />
great! The riders don’t think so, but for a<br />
spectator it’s awesome because within<br />
walking distance you can get to three or<br />
four climbs <strong>and</strong> watch the fun. You can<br />
literally camp out <strong>and</strong> watch the mayhem<br />
unfold.<br />
It was race on to get to Bushmans in<br />
time to catch the gold riders coming<br />
through on their first loop – <strong>and</strong> just a<br />
few minutes after we arrived, Shercos<br />
Wade Young came storming through.<br />
He headed our quickly not wasting any<br />
energy on niceties. And the weather was<br />
foul!<br />
A cold wind gusted up the valley <strong>and</strong> the<br />
rain… well it was just flippen miserable.<br />
The folks from Avani actually succeeded
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