Jarred Abbot rides for the school in the mountain bike club and he enjoys it but, he confesses, he finds the 20km ‘sprint’ distances in those races a bit short for his taste.
“I’m an endurance rider – the longer the better,” he says. Like the time he rode 220km in a day back in December when he joined his dad, Michael, in The Desert Dash in Namibia
The Desert Dash is the longest one-day multi-stage mountain bike race in the world and it goes through some of the oldest and toughest desert terrain in the world.
The race is a 397km, 24-hour epic that starts in Windhoek and climbs the Khomas Hochland up to an altitude of 2000m above sea level before ending in Swakopmund on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
“I was actually part of two teams,” Jarred explained. I rode some stages with my dad, some with his partner from work, and some with his partner’s son. There is a 24 hour time limit to complete the course and we did it in 22. I was 16 at the time, the youngest entrant in a two man team.”
Michael, Jarred’s dad points out what an achievement that was. “His was a massive accomplishment for a 16-year-old considering 40% of the field does not complete the challenge,” he said.
When he’s not on his bicycle, Jarred plays cricket at Jeppe. He was in the 3rd XI last season and his hoping to make the 2nds next term. Before then it’s the MB season, though, and he is looking forward to it. There’s even talk that there may be some longer races this year, and that will suit him fine.
