Barely cycling calendar 2008

The Ride Mag folks have a hot new cycling calendar is available, the 2008 “Barely Cycling” calendar is a unique initiative and first in the cycling fraternity! A limited edition has been printed and due to demand, orders are on a first come, first served basis. This unique and first to South Africa initiative will raise funds for junior cycling development.

Cost per calendar is about R 300.00. They should be available from middle to end November. If you are interested mail us to book your copy now

Absa Cape Epic 2008 Route

“We don’t intentionally make the route harder and harder very year”, these were the words from Kevin Vermaak at the Cape Epic 2008 route launch gala last night as he introduced arguably one of the toughest routes yet. Launched at the Gala evening the route with 966km and over 18000m of climbing including the extra prologue day is going to be one serious ride. The evening was packed with the who’s who of SA MTB as well as some international MTB legends and local SA celebrities. It was a bit difficult to recognise the cyclists in black tie attire, but the local MTN Raleigh road and MTB team were there, as was Christoph Sauser and MTB pioneer Gary Fisher in amongst the other SA bike industry leaders. It was clear that the Cape Epic had reached a new level and become a truly world class and trend setting event.


The footage shown had images of climbs, rocks sand and awesome scenery showed just enough to alert the scenes, but not enough to scare you off. Introducing the new route Kevin Vermaak said the intention was not to make it harder every year, bat rather to go to new places in the Western Cape. To show off the spectacular scenery the route had to be stretched a bit to include some new technical and challenging sections. He said that history had shown more and more riders finishing the race every year, so to continue the trend this year and extra bit of training would be required.

The 2008 race route is as follows:
Prologue: 17km 310m in the Pezula estate
Stage 1: 123km 3091m : Knysna to Saarsveld
Stage 2: 137km 2518m: Saarsveld to Calitzdorp
Stage 3: 133km 2340m: Calitzdorp to Riversdale
Stage 4: 121km 2620m: Riversdale to Swellendam
Stage 5: 146km 1819m: Swellendam to Bredaarsdorp
Stage 6: 130km 2095m: Bredaarsdorp to Hermanus
Stage 7: 91km 1985m: Hermanus to Grabouw
Stage 8: 68km 1760m: Grabouw to Lourensford

There are no easy days on this route and long distances in the first 6 days are going to be challenging. Day 1 will be as tough as ever and day 2 has the potential to be the toughest day ever with a really long and hard climb towards the end of the stage. The other days are long and hard. Don’t be fooled by the shorter distances on the last two days, the climbing and the terrain will make them interesting and hard after 7 days on solid riding. It looks like there will be a fair amount of technical rocky and sandy stretches following the standard set by last years superb route. From experience the route organisers highlight the easier parts and smooth over the difficult parts, this was definitely evident from last night, with a few subtle warnings of extra training, rough conditions and long days and no mention of so called rest days. It promises to be another awesome event.

Gary Fisher was clearly impressed when he said that this type of race was exactly what he had intended back in the days when he was riding klunkers down the hills of Southern California. Clearly not a fan of the Olympic format XC racing, he was excited about taking part in the 2008 Cape Epic Event. He will be out there with some other local SA celebrities and past sports stars like Robbie Fleck, Brian McMillian, current MR SA, a previous idols contestant and a radio DJ. They will be riding for the newly launched Big Tree foundation, the formalised charity arm of the Absa Cape Epic. Asked whether he thought any of these guys would finish the race, Gary answered “No Way!”, but the bets are on the table as they ride to raise money for charity.
Full details are at www.cape-epic.com

How mountain biking is changing

While I was out this morning on one of my many to come Cape Epic training rides on a familiar route, I was wondering if I was quicker or slower today than the other day. So then I thought to myself, “Why am I doing this, why am I riding so much to try to get a better placing at Cape Epic 2008?” And so my mind wandered onto racing, what is the point, why bother? Why not just ride for enjoyment and not bother with training, programs, races, times etc. How did I land up here, in this racing mode?

Well I guess I started riding just like everyone else on weekends for fun. But with limited routes, places to ride and know how there was not much progression. Wanting more excitement, destinations and some challenges from friends, and here I am riding MTB races. Not a bad thing at all, great for fitness, health and sense of achievement having completed some of the tougher events around. But if you look carefully through the woods you will see the MTB landscape changing, there are signs all over the place.

The recent 10th anniversary edition of Ride mag shows just how everyone is into MTB. It has kept bike shops going as traffic and safety has people leaving the tar for dirt. Mountain Bike innovation is a whole topic to itself. MTB race organisers continue to innovate as MTB races have become lifestyle events. Mountain Bike Parks like Logwood and Giba Gorge start emerging and mountain bikers get stuck into trail construction like the various work parties at work in Tokai, Groenkloof and even around Braamfontein Spruit. Mountain bike holidays by South Africans in South Africa is a reality with the likes of Cycle Mashatu getting return visitors back every year.

And so the pressure mounts on both sides of the MTB fence, namely the property owners and the riders. A recent insert on 50/50 about mountain biking in the Melville Koppies area had local MTBers up in arms as does regular moans and groans from other trail users in the Cape Peninsula area. Cycling South Africa tries desperately to get more riders to register and continues to think up better ways (seems like more complicated ways sometimes) to license riders. But quietly a whole movement is gaining momentum as racing becomes just another thing to do and not the thing to do.

African Mountain Bike Association or AMA for short is the way forward for anyone who likes riding MTB. Why? Well because it is a trail advocacy organisation affiliated to IMBA (International Mountain bike Association). It is there as a voice for mountain bikers, flying the flag. AMA Rider is a mountain bike advocacy organisation aimed at improving mountain bike opportunities on the African continent. There are really exciting things in the future of MTB with long travel trail bikes starting to filter into bike shops and more riding opportunities opening up, get behind the AMA www.amarider.co.za - Its the future of MTB.

New trails bikes and rides

These last few weeks I have been fortunate enough to ride on some new trails and try out some new bikes. It reminded me how interesting and varied mountain biking really is. It also refreshing and really fun to ride some new tracks that I had never ridden before.

One of the greatest things about mountain biking must be to ride a new route. Not knowing what to expect really keeps your eyes wide open and focuses your attention. I have ridden some new fast downhills and tricky single track in the last few weeks, a welcome change from the routine of the regular routes. The feeling of blasting down a hill not knowing what is coming up and only being able to see a few meters ahead is one of the greatest feelings around. It got my adrenalin pumping and I new that if I slipped up there would be consequences.

Some of these new trails I rode with friends in various parts of the country. They showed me where to go and lead the way, a great way to get to know a new area. But some of the others I just discovered by riding out and following some paths and tracks. Exploring and finding new routes also has to be one of the great things about riding mountain bikes. It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to find new routes. More often than not you will find some great new riding by just venturing out and looking for something new.

Riding a different bike on an unknown trail is also a sure way to keep the blood flowing. I took my first real ride on a 5.5” trail bike, the Commencal Meta 5.5 – what a blast. I rode some really sweet singletrack and rocky trails at Groenkloof in Pretoria. If you are going to ride some new technical singletrack then I can recommend a long travel bike, especially the Meta 5. When I got the lines all wrong and was heading for trouble I just held on and blasted over the rocks, with the suspension looking after the rest. It was amazing and seriously fun. After riding this long travel bike I can see what all the fuss is about. Here I was on someone else’s 5.5” trail bike going faster downhill that I could with my own bike that I know backwards. The combination of the trail tuned geometry and extra suspension gives this bike the ability to push past your previous limits and discover some new ones. It is seriously fun mountain biking – when everyone else realises this you can bet the race numbers will be dropping and the bike park and trail side numbers will pickup.

So the last two weeks were really fun just by doing something different, riding some different routes and swapping out bikes and getting a feel of something completely new.

U23 World Champs

MTBOnline wants to congratulate Burry Stander on a world class performance at Fort William. The young South African placed a very respectable 6th overall in the U23 race.

Good Work!!

Mountain bikers, mountain goats, dust and mud

Some of the recent mountain bike races in the Cape have left me wondering if there are any easy MTB races south of the Karoo. Cape riders are quick to chirp the GP counterparts when it comes to mountains. But having lived in GP land for many years I know that the riding there is not just gravel travel like most Capies will have you believe. Cool west rand singletrack, technical Klaperkop decents and the holly Bredesneck rides will convince you of that. Races like the Fort to Fort, this years Heritage classic and the aptly named Magalies Monster can be technical challenges of note.

But having spent almost 3 years riding in the Cape now I have to admit that race organisers here are either not scared to throw in mountains or more than likely don’t have a choice. While GP riders wallow in the dust scared of the west Cape winters, the local riders are spoilt for choice. Just this weekend you had a choice of some green Swartland singletrack or trusty Stellenbosch mud. Koringberg in the Swartland had cool cloudy weather to tackle 70 odd kilometres with almost 1600m of climbing, mostly on technical singletrack climbs and decents. While in Stellenbosch they had mud and 40km with over 1400m of climbing on some fresh single track.

So some things are guaranteed and other not. Like if you ride in the Cape make sure you have your climbing legs on, and yes it may be wet. If you are in Gauteng, you can take your MTB along, just find some of that dusty singletrack, it is quite different to the mud.

Koringberg Singletrack

Eurobike 2007 - 1

Custom Paint Ellsworth

Industry 9

WOW!

There were plenty cruiser type bikes.

Yeti For Racing Only carbon.

Meeting an old friend.

Eurobike 2007

2008 Rock Shox SID


XTR Shadow.


XT Wheels

Merida Prototype.

Scott was showing a 6.7KG MTB!

Real Mountain biking

So you thought that the Cape Epic with its 140km 3000m ascent was a hectic mountain bike race stage? Well that ain't nothin when you look at some races in Switzeland. Christoph Sauser, winner of the ABSA Cape Epic spent over 6 hours in the saddle at the recent Swiss Bike Masters Race, and that was good enough for 2nd place after a sprint finish.

The route was 120km long with 5000m of vertical ascent, plus it was raining and wet. If that is too much then you could choose to do the shorter route at 75km and 3000m ascent. So the next time you are out on a tough MTB race route, just think that it could be so much worse - or better depending on your point of view.

Swiss Bike Masters

The end of a legend

Today is a sad day for team Subaru. Subaru South Africa will no longer support the team in the forth coming ABSA Cape Epic. To keep in line with new company strategies Subaru will be unable to continue its sponsorship of the team.
Alan and Albert would like to thank Subaru for their support over the last 3 years. It has been a great ride!

With little less than a week left until entry fees must be paid, it was doubtful that these 2 stalwarts of the Cape Epic will complete a fourth event.

But then the good news came - Team BBB Maxxis was born. Look out for news of this new team flying the flag for average guys everywhere.

Full Suspension vs Hardtail

Reading a race report on the African championships held recently in Namibia I see that a full suspension bike came out tops. Granted it was piloted by Burry Stander who has really picked up speed since he has been racing full time in the US with the GT team. But this is not the first time that Burry has won a cross country race on a full suspension bike. With most of his competitors opting for the conventional hardtails for the apparent benefits of acceleration and weight, it has to make you wonder?

Sure some sponsored riders have to ride what they are given. But when you are gunning for the top like Burry with Olympic qualifying on your mind, you take the best weapon available, as Burry puts it in his blog, “we were off to the track, i rode the ht at first to see how it would go but after two laps i decide to head back to the hotel and fetch the full suss. the gt marathon was the perfect bike for the job as the course was super rocky and the descents were long.”

Burry won that race by a comfortable 9min !

The Marathon Team has a 100mm travel carbon fiber monocoque I-Drive 4 frame. The carbon rear swingarm assembly is new and is outfitted with a full XTR group and Fox 32 RL fork. The bike is stiff and light and both Todd Wells and Burry Stander have been getting impressive World Cup results on the new frame.

Check out Burry's Blog for latest news, http://burrystander.typepad.com/

Ryan cox R.I.P.

It is a sad sad day for anyone related to cycling. Ryan Cox one of South Africas great cyclists passed away today.

He was a two-time SA road cycling champion, also won the Giro del Capo and the Malaysian Tour de Langkawi and represented South Africa at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne last year and part of the Barloworld team.

He died after recovering from a recent operation to fix a knotted artery in his leg. More on this

Long live his memory and what he achieved in cycling.

Ryancox.co.za

The Dope Fest

Cycling is under assault by the dope show. Being a mountain biker, roadie, downhiller whatever, you can’t help being drawn into this and being tarnished with the poisoned needle. I cannot agree more with the harsh penalties being dished out, there must be consequences and standards, and if you want to win the game you must play by the rules.

But it makes me wonder if it is going to make it all go away. Are we treating the cause or are we treating the symptom. The big stick approach seldom works because often you are beating an already broken man. Should we not be trying to fix this broken man. I wonder if we really understand this doping thing, I mean really understand it. Where does it all start, what drives someone like Vino to dope knowing the risks of being caught? What is someone’s state of mind when they make this decision?

Why is taking an illegal substance worse than taking a legal substance, are you not improving your performance artificially in both cases?

David Miller a reformed doper talks about and understands these things. He points out how grey the area is that when these guys start it is not for the glory and the money but more like desperation, obligations etc. Only they will know, and when no one is really talking how will we ever know what it really is all about.

But I guess for now the only route is the UCI stick route, but somehow that just seems to damage and make for the worst PR ever.


Maybe the pain we all feel is the way it is meant to be. Fact is it is happening everywhere, denying that is they got here in the first place. So the fact that everyday someone gets booted out is the right thing for now, but it can’t be the only long term solution.

South Africa on the international MTB Map

In today's Transalp stage 6 Brandon Stewart and SA Marathon champ Kevin Evans crossed the line first! They edged out Cape Epic winners; Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm in a sprint finish.

It is truly a great day for South African Mountain biking! Everyone here at MTBOnline just want you guys to know that you ROCK!!


http://www.bike-transalp.de/englisch/

Join an MTB community

Mountain biking communities are alive and well on the web. Infact they have been a real contributor to the growth of the sport in the last few years. The oldset and most estabilished is probably the warthogs group. Based in the Cape and setup as a ride notification list, this group is still as active as ever. Run as an e-mailing list you subscribe to it and can then receive all the mails and post replies. The other major mailing list out there is the spinman group which has most of its users based in Gauteng. Also an e-mail list this group of mountain bikers discuss anything and everything related to mountain biking. these lists are great to get to meet fellow riders and join on some of the informal rides organised. Find out more of these lists here



But if you are not into e-mail lists and the inevitable volume of mail, chit chat and addiction that it brings then maybe a web based forum is more for you. The recently re-vamped MTBForum is a dedicated online mountain biking forum for South Africa. It is just the place to pop in and find out some relevant info or see what is going on. There is also a facility for buying and selling bikes through a free classifieds forum. Organisers and event managers are encouraged to make use of the events forum to share information about there events.