With the Grahamstown-to-Sea (G2C) mountain bike event beckoning this Sunday, family rivalries are starting to rear their heads.
With the Grahamstown-to-Sea (G2C) mountain bike event beckoning this Sunday, family rivalries are starting to rear their heads.
Lena Britz and dad Peter are among those who will be cycling the 58km route from Grahamstown to Port Alfred. For these two, the journey should not be too arduous, however, considering they completed the Argus cycle tour last year.
At 109km, the Argus is almost double the distance of the upcoming G2C. “The Argus was my first big race,” said Lena, 16. “I also did the Half Herald before that, but the Argus was definitely my favourite.”
Lena started to cycle seriously only last year and still sees it more as a fun way to exercise than as a competitive activity. Her older sister, Alexandra, 22, also cycles, but missed the Argus because of illness.
“He usually competes,” Lena says of her father, “but for the Argus he stayed with me. He put his hand on my back and pushed me up Chapman’s Peak.”
With her dad’s support, Lena managed to finish the event in a time of six hours and 19 minutes.
She and her sister agree that although there is not much competition between members of the family, when it comes to other father-daughter teams, the race is on.
“We’re not at all competitive; we’re chilled.” “It’s the dads; they compete," says Alexandra.
"It’s about the type of bike and the cycling. They’ll talk about it at supper for like an hour."
"That one gets the gloves from Italy, then that one gets the iPod. It’s more fun for the girls; we can just cruise and have fun.”
Even if the sisters consider it just a hobby, training in the Britz household is no cruise.
In the summer, Lena gets up at 4.45am and cycles until 6.30am. And that’s considered a short ride. A good session should be at least three hours.
With the G2C just over the horizon, Lena feels prepared. “I could have trained harder, but I think I’ll be fine.” In future, Lena would like to cycle the Argus competitively.
