Photo: Paul Nielsen<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a nice family outing and was very well-supported. We couldn\u2019t have asked for better weather and the scenery was fantastic \u2013 so, all in all, it was a very successful first event.\u201d<\/p>\n
An experienced rider, Paulse easily finished the shorter distance but the Capetonian\u2019s co-host Janina Oberholzer found her first off-road race a little tougher, coming in at the back of the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cShame, she was broken,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a tough day for Janina but I\u2019m proud of her for finishing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s namesake and anchor, former Springbok prop Toks van der Linde, was also seen sampling the local wines and chatting with the farmers along the route.<\/p>\n
Paulse joked that his aim was to get Van der Linde to eventually ride the race. \u201cWe\u2019re busy building a four-wheel bike for Toks; at 190kg, he wouldn\u2019t fit on a normal one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Race organiser Wynand de Villiers, of ASG Events, seconded his plan. \u201cWe might have to build Toks a special course too, maybe just take him around the polo field and leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to De Villiers, the participants\u2019 lighthearted approach to the day was exactly what organisers had hoped for. \u201cI don\u2019t want this event to get too serious because it\u2019s just so much fun!<\/p>\n
\u201cMost riders stopped for about 10 minutes at each waterpoint to socialise and sample wine with the farmers. It was more like a bazaar than a bike race.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, good riding remained a priority with exciting racing upfront and a well-marked off-road course that did not include any district road, said De Villiers.<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of people came across the line and said it was the best race they\u2019d ridden in the Western Cape, so we\u2019re very chuffed with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the local community had pulled together to make the race happen. \u201cWe\u2019ve made so many friends here \u2013 it was just a great time and an absolutely unique event.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a serious note, De Villiers said the local Rotary and Vrede Foundation for young cancer sufferers would also benefit from the race.<\/p>\n
The event was the second fixture in the new Kia series, which includes the Walkerville Classic in July, the KZN Expedition in November and the Krugersdorp Game Reserve Mountain Bike Challenge, which takes place in February next year.<\/p>\n
For more info, contact ASG Events on 076 621 1807 or eventsupport@asgworld.co.za<\/a>. For updates, follow @CyclingnewsZA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Springbok wing Breyten Paulse, Olympic swimmer Ryk Neethling and rally driver Gugu Zulu added a touch of celebrity glamour to the field of almost a thousand riders who took part in the inaugural Kia Val de Vie Estate Mountain Bike Challenge in the Paarl-Franschhoek valley on Sunday. Photo: Paul Nielsen The 60km race, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":53574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-22201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22201","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22201"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=22201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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