{"id":76158,"date":"2026-05-12T17:55:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T15:55:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/?p=76158"},"modified":"2026-05-12T17:55:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T15:55:59","slug":"36one-mtb-challenge-cancelled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/36one-mtb-challenge-cancelled\/","title":{"rendered":"36ONE MTB Challenge Cancelled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>After extensive consultation with the relevant authorities, route inspections, landowners and our title sponsor, 36ONE Asset Management, Dryland Event Management has taken the extremely difficult decision to cancel the 2026 edition of The 36ONE MTB Challenge scheduled for 22 May 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The unprecedented flooding, infrastructure destruction and ongoing severe weather conditions across the Klein Karoo and Garden Route regions have rendered large sections of the event route unsafe and in many cases impassable. Numerous gravel roads, river crossings and drainage structures between Oudtshoorn, De Rust, Calitzdorp, Louvain and the Swartberg region have been severely damaged, while many rivers remain in flood and continue to pose a significant safety risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past week we have worked relentlessly to investigate alternative route options in an attempt to still present the event responsibly. However, the reality is that the proposed alternatives would fundamentally compromise the nature and integrity of The 36ONE MTB Challenge experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 36ONE MTB CHALLENGE is not merely another mountain bike event \u2014 it is one of the country\u2019s great endurance challenges, built around the unique achievement of completing the full 361km journey across the Klein Karoo. With the extensive flood damage and required rerouting, we could barely construct a route exceeding 200km in total. Presenting a significantly shortened version of the event would dilute the authenticity of the challenge and the experience riders have come to expect and respect over many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most importantly, rider safety remains non-negotiable. The prospect of riders navigating unstable roads, waterlogged terrain and active river crossings during the night hours created risks that we were simply not prepared to expose participants, staff, volunteers or emergency personnel to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Importantly, this decision has been taken well in advance of the event date in order to allow riders sufficient time to adjust their travel and logistical arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In consultation with 36ONE Asset Management, all entered riders will be offered the following options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A complimentary transfer of their entry to the 2027 edition of the event; or<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A refund of their 2026 entry fee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Further administrative communication regarding these processes will follow directly to participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We sincerely thank every rider, sponsor, partner, volunteer, municipality, landowner and stakeholder for their understanding and continued support during what has become an unprecedented natural disaster for our region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>\u2013 Dryland Event Management<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After extensive consultation with the relevant authorities, route inspections, landowners and our title sponsor, 36ONE Asset Management, Dryland Event Management has taken the extremely difficult decision to cancel the 2026 edition of The 36ONE MTB Challenge scheduled for 22 May 2026. The unprecedented flooding, infrastructure destruction and ongoing severe weather conditions across the Klein Karoo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":76159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[423],"featured_location":[337],"class_list":["post-76158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-36one","featured_location-top-row"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76158","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=76158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76160,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76158\/revisions\/76160"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76158"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=76158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}