Howick – A new record field of mountain bikers from every corner of the country will converge on the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands this weekend for the 2013 Sappi Karkloof Classic MTB Festival which looks set to challenge riders with numerous significant upgrades to all of the routes and trails and the prospect of three days of varied, challenging and highly competitive MTB riding.
With the drama of the ABSA Cape Epic still fresh in everyone’s minds, many of the elite MTB stars have confirmed their places in the starting line-up for Sunday’s signature 60km marathon race, the possible inclusion of the vastly experienced Brandon Stewart, who is hoping to extend his record of having done every single edition of this popular marathon race, is also still firmly on the cards.
Also amongst those tackling the weekend’s longest race will be top international under 23 competitor Rourke Croeser (Kargo Pro MTB) and 2012 Quattro ROAG Series champion Andrew Hill (TIB Insurance).
Thousands of MTB riders from around the country will descend on the KZN Midlands for this weekend’s Sappi Karkloof Classic MTB Festival.
Impi Concept Events/ Gameplan Media
Croeser, returning from injury, will be eager to impress this weekend as he begins his preparations for this year’s World Cups abroad whilst Hill, having constantly been knocking at the door in recently and after putting together a string of top performances in 2012, will be out to claim the highly-sought after title himself.
The pair, and the rest of the men’s field, may however have the presence Stewart to contend with as the FedGroup – Itec Connect competitor seeks to find a way to head back from the Mzansi Tour a day early to be able to compete in the local MTB event.
In the women’s race late entries from some of KZN’s premier female MTB cyclists has seen the battle for the ladies’ title hot up remarkably in the few hours before entries closed and Sunday morning’s encounter promises to be a mouth-watering one.
Very few would be brave enough to pick a winner from the talented bunch set to be a part of the challenge, one which is shaping up to be an intriguing clash between experience and youth.
With Natalie Bergstrom (Coffeeberry Momsen), Brenda Potts (Enviroshore) and Julia Colvin (Hattons Cycles) all on the ‘over thirties’ team and Ashleigh Moffatt (BMC SA), Hayley Smith (Bell) and Heidi Dalton still only approaching the ’21 years old’ mark, there certainly will be many a debate before the starters gun goes as to who will walk away with this year’s spoils.
With the landowners Sappi now happily ensconced as title sponsors, the event has grown even closer to one of its key and long standing stakeholders whose plantations have played host to large portions of the hugely popular routes for many years.
It is these plantations, together with a host of other mind-blowingly scenic viewpoints within the Karkloof region, which have been course designer Hylton Turvey’s playground for the past few weeks as he and his team have carefully altered and prepared the fresh, new routes for this year’s events.
The massive field set to take part in the six event schedule will enjoy a multitude of first hand experiences of the local environmental and conservational efforts sponsors Sappi and many other bodies are responsible for in the area, adding further value to an already hugely popular mountain biking experience.
The festival’s feature race, the Sappi 60km Karkloof Classic, takes place early on Sunday morning and will see hundreds of MTB enthusiasts making their way out from Karkloof Country Club and onto the highly anticipated course.
The weekend’s programme gets underway with Friday evening’s Peri Night Race, which affords participants a unique experience of tackling the region’s trails guided solely by their personal headlamp, before those seeking a slightly greater adrenalin rush tackle Saturday’s Stihl Karkloof Enduro.
Sunday’s action also includes the aQuellé 40km Half Marathon, 20km Family ride and 10km Kids Ride which promise to offer a variety of interesting twists and turns for all members of the family.
The Sappi Karkloof Classic MTB Festival takes place from 19-21 April at Karkloof Country Club. Riders and spectators alike can stay up to speed with all the news and developments via the event’s Facebook page (Karkloof Mountain Bike Club) or on Twitter (@KarkloofMTB). More info can also be found at www.karkloofmtb.co.za
