The country’s best cable riders were at it again during the second stop of the Pro Cable Tour held in Johannesburg at Stoke City Wake Park recently for the [RE]aWAKEning Competition, with yet another brilliant turnout, despite the weather. The Saturday morning kicked off at 08H00 sharp with the rider’s briefing to get everyone prepared for the water and to spring the surprise that the format of riding had changed from previous competitions.
Basically, instead of getting a run around the cable and getting a chance to watch the others ride and go again in qualifying, it came down to one kicker hit straight off the dock followed by a rail hit; the rest of the run would continue halfway through to the other side of the cable where you could come around for one last kicker hit and one pick up only. That’s the qualifying run done and the same went for finals. It was clear that this threw the riders a bit in qualifying and added some pressure, but it didn’t seem to get anyone down.
The Novice riders took to the water first and it was great to see all the development riders from the Stoke City Learn2Ride program on the water and there was no shortage of talent on display! 180’s came to play, Ollies and even Ollie 180s – just about all of them could do at least a kicker hit and some even a full pull over the flat bar. The Novice division had 11 riders, which is fantastic as this is where the future of the sport is sitting. Keke gave his all to get podium and that’s exactly where he ended up, taking a second place next to Dylan Dugmore in first spot and Jason Pearce in third.
