The Nissan Trailseeker adventure

What sort of a name is the; Nissan Trailseeker? Some sort of mystic battle set in the heart of Gauteng? A battle between smog and cars to see who triumphs in finding the smoothly crafted trails in amongst the hidden forests?

I have always loved my mountain bike, training in Nelspruit for the season ahead

I wasn't familiar with the races and only competed in the National Mountain bike series last year. My dad had been pestering me about entering another race. He could smell my weakness and lack of fitness uploaded on the god of cycling-strava. One week before the race I let down my guard and decided to enter us into the Third race of the series at Curro Hazzeldean. 

"Well somebody needs to do the 40km as well so we can get the feel of the whole day, so I will do that one,"I said, clearly hiding my true thoughts about doing the 70km. 

The morning of the race was bitterly cold as if every single bit of bad weather had finally broken through from Cape Town during our winter period. The elites and other 70km participants hurried off at 7:30 and left me peacefully in my car to absorb some heat and motivation before deciding to brave the conditions. The profile indicated the race would be fast, full of single track and generally flat. Unlike the National MTB Series, the profile was truthful, there were no horrid surprises, bull runs or sharp climbs the required climbing rope and picks to escalate. Don't get me wrong, I love the National series, its a true test of character and if you are serious about cycling its a must, and besides who would pass up the chance to see grown men cry. 

The name of the race described perfectly what it was all about. Its as if thousands of cyclists head out into the farmlands of Pretoria in search of trails. We twisted and turned out of town and entered the single tracks with less than 10km on the watches. The tracks were immaculately smooth and fast which is pleasant change to the technical single tracks which test your talent every conceivable second. We headed over jeep tracks, district roads. We headed over bridges and smooth obstacles. The fact that nothing was angled sharply uphill or downhill made it an incredible race for beginners and those looking to post fast times as well. It was even perfect for an unfit semi retired 23 year old cyclist lavishing in the limelight of his glorious Cape Epic in years gone by. 

Jokes aside, this race fed me some inspiration. I returned home to the car, and despite the cold was motivated to enter the next Trail seeker. The team at advendurance have rely put together a top race for the whole family. Theres stalls for food and coffee and race merhcanadise, theres music playing and kids jolting around on their bikes. It helped me remember why I had joined this incredible sport.

With all the variations of adventure races and mountain bike races going on, this is certainly a classic and must remain a race series on the calendar curled by top cyclists and those looking to have some fun on some trails. 1:39 minutes on the 37km course was far from admirable but it signals for me, the start of my training for many adventures to come.