Let me first say I lied the last time I wrote about this hill been medium fast, its freaking fast. Houwteq is a great hill to host an event, located on privately owned land the owners have allowed SAGRA to host events whenever they like. The hill has two roads leading to the bottom, allowing one road to be raced on and the other for the shuttle going back up. This setup is great as it allows for more practice runs so as you finish your run there is a shuttle waiting to take you back up. Both roads have been raced on in the past but for the December 2005 race the organizers decided to use the road leading down the left side of the hill to race on. The road runs like a backwards C. You push off down a straight which leads into a sweeping right hander, back into a flat straight. Now all you can see is the horizon and no hill. As you fast approach the edge the hill just drops. Here you reach maximum speed of 80km/h plus. For the December 2005 race the organizers made a chicane about 30 meters before the last right hander. The chicane was not too tight and the riders who were confident could take the chicane without air braking. So you head down the drop at 80km/h make it through the chicane and start preparing for the last right hander. Reaching high speeds the right hander is not so much a sweeping corner more a hang onto your balls corner which leads into a flat finish.

Finally the weekend of the 3rd December 2005 arrived and Houwteq was on. Fueled by AC/DC's song "are you ready" I made the hour long journey to Grabouw. With still 20mins of driving before getting to the event, I could see that the wind was pumping and it was going to be a tailwind. I started to get butterflies in my stomach as I knew a few days before that we were going to race on the road going down the left side of the hill and with the added tail wind it was going to be fast. Upon arriving and speaking to everyone the first thing said was "tailwind and fast". This year the standup riders were 16 strong with a good turnout of international riders coming out with some new faces and old ones returning. All the local Cape Town riders were there to represent.

I set up a new board, put my gear on and headed to the start line. There was a strong head wind coming across as I pushed off down and into the first right hander. Everything changed when I entered into the flat straight rushing towards the drop with the wind now behind me. My speed increased as I made my way down the drop, adrenaline pumping through the chicane and finally the last right hander which was sick at that speed. With the first few runs over the adrenaline was pumping and the stoke was high. Utilizing the hills setup most riders got maximum practice runs. The level of riding had grown since the last event held at Houwteq. A lot of the riders were pushing each other, going head to head into the chicane before one had to give way. Martin Seigrist and Luis Lin both brought GPS systems which they strapped to their ankles before they bombed the hill. Both recorded 82-83km/h which seemed to push everyone as now they knew what speeds they were reaching and how to approach the last right hander.

After a good days riding Martin Seigrist had the number one spot, making it down the hill in 59,97 seconds. With the day over everyone made their way home grinning from ear to ear knowing that they had a good session.

Sunday was race day. The weather conditions had not changed and the wind was still pumping. Everybody got there at the same time and got their gear on. Martin's first run down the hill he came in hot into the last right hander and slide out. After getting up and finishing his run he checked his GPS and to his surprise, reach a speed of 92km/h. That basically set the tone for the day as we all knew that racing was going to be fast and intense.

It was a great morning with some of the riders taking advantage of so many practice runs while others conserved their energy for the races. The afternoon rolled on, lunch was over and it was time to race. The day was hot, the course was hot and the wind was still pumping. Some riders changed their wheels, adjusted their boards and got ready. Heats were run with four riders at a time till the finals. With the course so short positioning was essential as there was not much room for overtaking with only two places to do so, one before the drop and the other going into the last right hander. Special mention must go to Tibor Hery a Cape Town local, who in his semi finals was in third position going into the chicane. The only way to make it to the finals was to get a second place. He waited till the last second and went balls to the wall and over took Kent Lingeveldt in the inside of the right hander to make it to the finals and displayed some sick and confident riding. In the finals it was Mike Zietsman, Martin Siegrist, Tibor Hery and Luis Lin. Mike got a good start and stayed in front from start to finish showing once again his skills as one of the top downhill racers in the world. Martin was a close second with Tibor charging it in third came in way fast into the right hander, Martin held his line which made it difficult for Tibor to take him on in the inside and he slide out allowing Luis Lin to take third place. All in all it was a sick weekend of racing and the spectators witnessed spectacular levels of intense racing which made it great to watch. Big thanks go out to the organizers for hosting an excellent weekend.