sports-and-lifestyle
Ladies mountain bike weekend

Ladies Mountain Bike weekend at Arabella Hotel & Spa

October 22, 2013 / by / 0 Comment

Mountain biking is the fastest growing sport in South Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world, with exponential growth specifically in the woman’s market. Ladies want to get a piece of the action too!  Mountain biking is, however quite an intense and highly technical sport to master, which makes it intimidating for women to master the sport in this mostly male-dominated arena. Enter Vanessa Haywood – internationally and locally known as the leading lady in the film District 9 and also a top model – Vanessa has moved into the extreme sporting world of endurance mountain biking with perceived ease, including completing two ABSA Cape Epic’s and the Leadville 100 miler in Colorado.  “When I first started mountain biking, I was thrown into the deep end! Not many women were mountain biking at the time either. I didn’t acquire the much needed skills until many years later & I found myself a bit isolated within a mostly male-dominated sport,” explains Vanessa.  So to ensure other women do not go through this, Vanessa has organised a mountain biking weekend specifically for woman at the beautiful Arabella Country Estate from the 6th to the 8th of December 2013. It […]

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Leadville 100 miler & Ride to Nowhere

September 21, 2013 / by / 0 Comment

I’m not even sure where to begin! The last 2 months have been a whirlwind of fun, massive altitudes, mountains, rad people and miles of cycling.. the way I like it! Half way through July, we left the cold, wet embrace of Cape Town and flew off to Colorado, the US of A – one of my favourite places on earth! Colorado is one of those special places with incredible landscapes, interesting little towns and friendly people. Ryan and I were both there with a mission in mind – the Leadville race series. After 3 weeks of adjusting to the altitude, a bout of flu and lots of training, I was ready to kick some mountain butt… well, sort of. Coming from sea level and performing at 3100m above sea level, climbing to a magnificent altitude of 4000m, is tough. Really tough. Imagine sucking air through a thin straw whilst running or cycling, and that that tiny stream of life-giving air is your only source of oxygen. That’s what it’s like. Add a bit of asthma to that equation and you basically have a wheezing 95 year old…me! Never-the-less, come race day, I put my big-girl panties on, jumped on […]

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fitness-and-food
Avoiding the mud....

Glacier by Sanlam Storms River Traverse

August 14, 2012 / by / 0 Comment

Lush green indigenous forests, a good dose of mud, icy streams, great company, fantastic wine and a whole lot of fun! That’s the best way to describe the Glacier by Sanlam Storms River Traverse – a 3-day stage mountain bike race I’ve just returned from. It was just the second time that Dryland Events had put on the race but I can see it having a very long future! The event focuses on family and the social aspect of mountain biking, and believe me when I say this: Mountain bikers know how “socialise”! My mixed team partner, Robert Bateman and I flew up to George last Thursday morning and drove through to Tsitsikamma where we stayed at the Village Inn – a gorgeous hotel abundant with history dating back to the 1800’s! Since it was Woman’s Day, Glacier by Sanlam made it a very special occasion for all the woman there – both riders and supporters – with bursting goodie bags filled with everything from jewellery to body products! We auctioned off a beautiful Craig Port dress the same evening, which he kindly donated, the proceeds of which went to the event’s community project which involves both renovating a local […]

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Glacier by Sanlam Storms River Traverse

Vanessa Haywood to ride the Glacier by Sanlam Storms River Traverse 2012

August 06, 2012 / by / 0 Comment

Dryland Event Management and Glacier by Sanlam are excited to announce that Vanessa Haywood will be riding this year’s Storms River Traverse. Vanessa confirmed her involvement as ambassador late last week and is looking forward to the challenges that the race will bring. “I have always been an avid mountain biker and I am looking forward to the Glacier by Sanlam Storms River Traverse. Even though I am sure the race will be a challenge, I am also looking forward to the social and community aspect that is synonymous with this race. The stunning area of Tsitsikamma is also going to make for some interesting routes as well as beautiful scenery.” Vanessa, who is a keen athlete, has competed in some of the most grueling mountain and road biking marathons as well as triathlons, road and trail runs over the years, and continues to search for races that will challenge her both mentally and physically. Vanessa has donned the covers of both local and international magazines and was cast as the leading lady in the critically acclaimed District 9, which was nominated for 4 Oscars. Glacier by Sanlam and Dryland Event Management are thrilled with Vanessa’s involvement in this year’s […]

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