![\"ccs-62657-0-02001300-1431026502.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-02001300-1431026502.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nSappi’s Frederick Rossouw is looking forward to the unique challenge Friday evening’s 20km Karkloof Night Race presents while is also relishing being a part of the action of Sunday’s 60km Sappi Karkloof Marathon, the premier event of the 2015 Sappi Karkloof MTB Festival. \/\/ Photo credit: Anthony Grote\/ Gameplan Media.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI did both races last year and really enjoyed them and it is a challenge I\u2019m looking forward to again this weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely possible to be competitive in both, especially if you\u2019ve been training a bit. My build-up has gone really well for me and I will be looking to give it my all at Friday\u2019s night race before seeing how things go on Sunday!\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Starting and finishing at the Karkloof Country Club, Friday evening\u2019s night race see riders head out on a relatively flat 20km loop that affords participants a rare opportunity to take on the challenge of riding the region\u2019s renowned trails in the dark.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Sappi Karkloof MTB Festival never disappoints and is a really great opportunity to ride some of the best trails in the country!<\/p>\n \u201cRiding at night obviously changes things quite a bit compared to what most are used to but the Karkloof Night Race takes place in a very safe environment and is something different, which I really enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n While an established mountain biker in the daylight himself, Rossouw warns that a cycling adventure in the dark offers a dramatically different challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cOne can\u2019t underestimate how different riding at night is!<\/p>\n \u201cNot being able to see where you\u2019re going or predict what\u2019s coming up next is a real challenge of night riding and so knowing the course really does help.<\/p>\n \u201cYou also need to make sure your equipment is in tip-top shape because your lighting is just so crucial when you\u2019re out on the trails in the dark.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving two or even three lights is really useful as sometimes you\u2019ll be going in one direction and need to see what\u2019s directly in front of your bike but are also needing to start looking a little further down the trail to see what\u2019s coming next.\u201d<\/p>\n Rossouw also enjoys the added advantage of knowing the trails of the region better than most as the Sappi employ spends much of his working day on them.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking for Sappi, one of the best parts of my job is getting to explore all of our forests!\u201d explains Rossouw.<\/p>\n \u201cWe get to maintain the forest roads that the event\u2019s riders and I now get to use and enjoy in a racing environment this weekend, which is really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n Seeing his employer back one of his recreational passions is another hugely pleasing element of this weekend\u2019s Sappi Karkloof MTB Festival for Rossouw.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Karkloof festival is one of the top mountain biking events in the country and having your own company support an event of that stature really is quite something!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt Sappi we\u2019re \u2018Inspired by life\u2019 and a major part of that life is family life, which is something the Karkloof festival is big on as well, so the fit is just perfect!\u201d<\/p>\n Despite having won the race before, Rossouw is under no illusions as to the size of the challenge ahead of him this time around is he is to claim victory in Friday\u2019s night race once more.<\/p>\n Rossouw will need to overcome the likes of Darren Lill, Jedson Tooms, Gareth Cook and Klaas Meintjies while women\u2019s defending champ Kim Westbrook will be hoping she too can get the better of the sizeable women\u2019s field.<\/p>\n \u201cIrrespective of who is there on Friday night though, it should be another really fun evening on the bike in the dark!\u201d says Rossouw aptly.<\/p>\n Riders and spectators can follow news and developments via the event\u2019s Facebook page (Karkloof Mountain Bike Club) or on Twitter (@KarkloofMTB<\/a>) while more information can also be found at www.karkloofmtb.co.za<\/a> and entries can be submitted via www.roag.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 20km Karkloof Night Race defending champion Frederick Rossouw will return to the forests of the Karkloof region this weekend as he goes in search of a rare title defence on Friday evening before tackling Sunday\u2019s 60km Sappi Karkloof Marathon, the 2015 Sappi Karkloof MTB Festival\u2019s premier event. Despite the demands of Sunday\u2019s challenging 60km race, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4052,4051,4025],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-20032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-frederick-rossouw","tag-karkloof-night-race","tag-sappi-karkloof-mtb-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20032","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=20032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20032"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=20032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}