Buys's reasoning was that he was not racing fit, because the last two weeks since winning the MTN 50-Miler in KwaZulu-Natal he hasn’t touched his mountainbike.
He was more interested in mastering the techniques of rock-climbing and doing other fun things where pedal strokes are not needed.
But on Saturday morning once Buys got on his mountainbike and the adrenaline kicked in he just could not resist racing to win.
"For the first eight or ten kilometres I was taking things easy, but then we got to the one big climb of the race I decided what the hell lets go for it....let me burn my lungs and get it over with.
"By attacking on the climb I was taking a calculated risk. I knew one of two things could happen. Either I would get away on my own, recover on the technical downhill and from then on just ensure that I am riding at a nice consistent pace until the finish. Or I would blow totally and end up finishing second last. Luckily that did not happen."
At the top of the climb Buys was out on his own in front and from then on his lead just increased kilometer after kilometer.
His winning time for the 60km race was 2 hours 20 minutes and 34 seconds. Bryce Munro (DCM) finished 2nd in 2:22:59 and Justice Makhale (MTN) was third in 2:33:30.
By winning on Saturday Buys ensured he made a clean sweep in the Nissan-series. He has also won the previous three races.
"When Philip attacked on the steep cement road I tried to follow but couldn't. From that moment I played catch up and rode by myself for the rest of the race.
"It was still an incredible race. With all the mud, single track and low tunnels it made for a fun-filled day. Towards the end I closed the gap on Phillip but he still won by a good couple of minutes," Munro said afterwards.
Munro was full of praise for Fritz Pienaar and his team for putting together the interesting routes they have for the adventurous Nissan-series.
"It was a fantastic series. I enjoyed all of the races and especially all the technical single track sections they managed to find for every race in the series."
Carmen Bassingthaighte won the women's race over 60km in 3:12:52.
Photo credit: Carl Scholtz
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