It seems that I missed a beat. Ewald Sadies photos of the event were forgotten in the aftermath of the event. Sorry Ewald. Follow this link to his site. His photo’s are fantastic.
Tag: wc mtb champs
Leading up to the Western Cape MTB XCO Championships, below you will find additional information about the venue and track for the upcoming races.
VENUE
A sincere thank you to Dr. Corrie Muller and Hanno Lategan who were the inspiration behind the track at Stellenbosch University. In addition I would like to extend a special thank you to Mrs. Ilhaam Groenewald [Chief Director:Sport], Ms. Cindy van der Merwe [Maties Sport: Events Co-Ordinator], Mrs. Kim Coetzee [Maties Sport] and Ms. Candice Appollis [Sport Manager] at Stellenbosch University for making this possible.
It would be amiss to also not thank the administration, marketing and communication teams from Novus Holdings for their contribution and without whom this event would not have been possible.
TRACK
The track that you will be riding during the championships is in its first stage of evolution. It is the same track that will be used for both the South African University Games and South African MTB National Championships.
After the completion of the Western Cape Championships, the second phase of the evolution will commence, adding more purpose built single track and technical sections for the South African Championships. Thank you to the University of Stellenbosch who has completely financed this track and to Bennett Nel and his team who have worked tirelessly to get this track into a position of readiness for tomorrow. The track itself has 210m of climbing and measures 5.3km’s. The features are steady changing climbs with rewarding down-hills. Spectator points will be indicated on the track.
All those participating, we wish you the best of luck!! To those who are not participating, please join in on the atmosphere and fun in the spectators area.
| This series is brought to you by the WP MTB Commission in partnership with: |
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1. Venue
- Please do not ride on the soccer field at the University of Stellenbosch.
- From tomorrow this area will be cordoned off.
- Please follow the signs for parking, registration, restrooms and walkways and respect the University property.
- The relationship with the University of Stellenbosch is a long term one with the track being used for the SA University Games and the SA Championships as well.
2. Race Commissaire
- Sharon Ruddock will be operating as Race Commissaire with the help of assistants.
- Complaints have been registered this season alleging unprofessional behaviour and transgression of rules.
- All complaints must be served to Sharon in writing within 15 minutes of the completion of the race in question supported by a lodging fee of R 200.
- Sharon can be found at the finish area under the timing gazebos.
- Special attention will be given to behaviour in the feeding/tech zones, start areas and non-riders presence on the track.
- Please consult the CSA Rules & Regulations for MTB on www.cyclingsa.com
- Any additions Sharon and her assistants can be approached on Saturday.
3. Marshalls
- Apart from the usual parents who assist, additional marshals are being employed forSaturday.
This series is brought to you by the WP MTB Commission in partnership with:
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Gratefully, due to the tireless efforts of our media officer, the WC MTB / DHI Champs were well attended, and bar a few – few being the operative word – accidents along the way, the event proved to be a resounding success. Although a number of our elite riders were drawn further afield in search of glory on the international stage, racing was tough and at times hair-raising (particularly looking through some of the DHI photos over at ESP).
We are grateful to a number of portals and online publications for making the most of it leading up to the event:
And although we have to wait for our hard copy publications to get the fantastic story of the WC Champs to print (Bicycling, Ride and Die Burger), here are some teasers:
- The Hub SA covered the XCO and DHI.
- Enduroplus had some post race commentary from an exceptional team.
- Enduroplus also had some tweets during the event that make us feel part of the 21st century too:
- https://twitter.com/EnduroPlus/status/472617754240225280
- https://twitter.com/EnduroPlus/status/472637816238006272
- Then Enduroplus with more fantastic action photos of the day from Chris Hitchcock.
- Enduroplus even added a results page for those who did not find it here. Thanks…
- And don’t forget the Pinkbike post
Enjoy the awesome photos. And thanks to all who made it a great day.
I must say, that I have learnt much from Ewald Sadie (Ewald has some great shots over at his site of all the races and participants) and Chris Hitchcock regarding framing a good action photo. But the shot of the day must, for now anyway, go to Ewald for this fantastic shot down the valley on Sunday (reminds me of when I was in the Isle of Man).
Contermanskloof in all her glory
The results are in from this weekends racing. The weather held off during racing and all things considered, it was a fantastic weekend. Well done to all the riders who participated. If you have any feedback about this weekends events, please do not hesitate to use the comments section below this post.
W-Cape XCO Champs 2014 Results 1
W-Cape DHI Champs 2014 Results 1
WC MTB Champs 2014 Poster
Saturday, 31 May 2014 was a very important day in the MTB racing calendar for many of our Cross Country (XCO) riders. Besides the fantastic day of racing, it was the last chance for riders who did not accumulate sufficient points in the first three races to qualify for provincial colours. It was also the opportunity for the qualified riders to stamp their authority on the 2014 season.
The racing took place at the Contermanskloof MTB trails on the H.L. Starke farm. There were predictions of strong winds in the morning which thankfully never transpired. Riders and spectators only had to endure a sharp drop in temperature (at one point it was only 9 degrees!) due to mist, which cleared in time for the Elite race at 12h55.
This event was made possible by a number of generous sponsors; NMC Construction Group, Paarl Media Group, PWC, Mondi, Durbanville Commercial Printers, Cycle Funatic, Gecko Cycles, Dragon Sports and Red Bull. We are also grateful to Rob Starke for making the farm available to us.
Bryan Strauss, better known as “Oom Bryan” to some, laid out a challenging course with about 150 meters ascent from the start to the top of Cheeky Corners. At some points on the climb the incline reached up around the 17% mark which proved to be a challenge for many riders. At the bottom of Cheeky Corners the riders dived into the gum trees and raced down towards the big jump of the day (although many favoured the chicken run).
The morning started out with the Nippers race on a shortened version of the course. Alec Coleske dominated the boys’ category with Hendre de Villers coming in shortly after second. The Nipper girls podium was claimed Anna Marx in first and Olivia Penfold in second.
The Sprog boys and girls raced alongside the Sub-juniors for the first time this year as both categories raced the same full course. Luke Moir (of TeamPaarlMedia) who was racing the in the Sprog category, broke away and convincingly, not only placing first in the Sprogs, but Sub-juniors too – an impressive effort from the young rider.
Renay Groustra won the Elite men’s race, with Nico Pfitzenmaier coming in second to close the days racing. Lolita van Aardt took first place in the ladies with a convincing win over the rest of the field.
The hero of the day goes to Manie Lubbe who completed his race after puncturing twice and also breaking his chain right at the start. Hats off to this young man, we have great hopes for his future in this sport.
Full official results of the all the category races are available here or right here on our website.
The official photographer has posted all the event pics for you which you can view here and purchase if you wish.
We are certain the folks from Big Shot Media got some great footage as we are really looking forward to the fruits of their labour. We will keep posted of when this production will be aired on SuperSport.
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(All Photo's courtesy Shane Wilson, unless otherwise specified)
Today was an early start for the organisers of the Western Cape MTB and DHI Champs to be held at Contermanskloof on the 31st May and 1 June 2014. It has actually been quite a busy week for those of us who hold down day jobs as well. Sunday was spent laying out the course with master course builder Bryan Strauss, Tuesday refining it and the course work was completed on Thursday with a few welcome tweaks.
Today, Friday, was spent laying out the feed and tech zones and erecting the numerous signs and sponsors banners, gazebos etc as well as helping the various refreshment suppliers get a good spot in preparation for the weekends events.
I even managed to sneak in some photo’s of the riders practicing on the course (the course was open from 14:00 and the last riders left around 18:00). Most of the action was on the big jump down to the dam with at least one visit from the ambulance – so take it easy tomorrow…
Enjoy the pics…
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PS: I guess we all easily forgot how much effort is involved in preparing for an event like this as well as how many people are involved to make it happen…