While it remains unclear if women’s Sappi Howick MTB Classic defending champ Cindy Theunissen will be part of the 2016 race on Sunday, 6 March, a wealth of KZN’s other female MTB talent will be on the start line for the clash. Anthony Grote\/ Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\nSarah Drew, a strong Sub-Vet rider who has recently started competing again in 2016, enthused that, \u201cThe Sappi Howick MTB Classic is such a good race; it\u2019s a solid 40km where you need to concentrate on the technical aspects and then pin it in the open areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the race on Sunday, particularly as it\u2019ll be the first race on my new bike!\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
While the Sappi Howick MTB Classic is known for its technical aspects, the 20km offers a brilliant platform for women \u2013 and men \u2013 wanting to try out their first mountain bike race or to build up their base of 20km rides.<\/p>\n
Megan Els, 2014 Motorbike Cross Country Championship winner, explains that for her the Howick trails offer something unique.<\/p>\n
\u201cMountain biking in general is so different to the motorbike industry,\u201d said Els. \u201cIt\u2019s far more social and the vibe is what\u2019s so important!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can ride with your friends at a different pace and you progress after every ride.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 20km race offers me beautifully prepared trails thanks to all the effort goes into preparing the trails for the race, and that alone makes the event worth riding, as well as the social element!\u201d<\/p>\n
While the 40km looks to be competitive with the young guns likely to lead the pack, those out to enjoy perfectly prepped trails are in for a treat with the weather looking favourable for the weekend ahead.<\/p>\n
Participants are also reminded of title sponsor Sappi\u2019s social media competition during the event.<\/p>\n
While the racing snakes battle it out at the front of the field, less serious riders are encouraged to snap a photo of themselves when they pass the Sappi photo frame en route.<\/p>\n
Built at the Shafton Fire Tower, the frame is a fun way to take a break from pedalling and create a few digital memories and, by posting the images on the HMBC Facebook page using #HMBC and #InspiredByLife, riders then stand a chance to win one of several prizes including an Apple iPod.<\/p>\n
The Sappi Howick MTB Classic & Enduro takes place on Saturday, 5 and Sunday, 6 March 2016. More information can be found at www.howickmountainbiking.co.za or www.facebook.com\/howickmtb while entries can be submitted at www.roag.co.za.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 2016 Sappi Howick MTB Classic takes place on Sunday, 6 March and the women\u2019s field is looking increasingly competitive as the entry list fills up ahead of the race\u2019s 30th anniversary celebrations. The route for the 40km tussle suggests it will be a technical and challenging day in the saddle, giving those with strong […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[732,731],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-18617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-howick-mtb-classic","tag-sappi-howick-mtb-classic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18617"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=18617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"ccs-62657-0-58598900-1456934380.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-58598900-1456934380.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Kargo Pro Cycling’s Frankie du Toit (front) and Hayley Smith (background) are looking forward to taking on the trails of the Sappi Howick MTB Classic on Sunday, 6 March. Anthony Grote\/ Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\n