Event Date:   16 October 2010

Event Venue:  Start - Amalienstein;  Finish - Ladismith High School

Join us again - or for the first time - for this exhilerating mountainbike challenge  through the magnificent Seweweekspoort and picturesque Hoeko Valley.  Three distances are on offer:  80 km for the serious bikers, 40 km for the juniors and 25 km Mini Challenge for families and not-so-fit.

   The race will start at Amalienstein, 25 km from Ladismith on Route 62 in the direction of Oudtshoorn.  From the start in front of the Lutheran Church at Amalienstein, participants in the 80 km Challenge will first traverse the orchards of Amalienstein farm, before joining the  gravel road through Seweweekspoort.  This part of the road traverses the Swartberg Nature Reserve and water catchment area. The first part of the route is 26 km long and climbs approximately 600m.  The second part (back) is downhilll and a really exhilarating section!  At the northern  exit of the Poort in the Great Karoo, riders will do a 10km loop and then join the gravel road for the return through the Poort back to the starting point and then follow the same route as the 25 km Mini Challenge.

  Riders will follow a footpath to Zoar and then cross the R62 main road.  From here a single track, jeep track and gravel roads will take participants through fruit farms in the picturesque Hoeko Valley and across the farm Spera to join the Hoeko road via Knuyswagensdrift to Ladismith, where the Challenge wil finish at the Ladismith High School.  This section is no fun ride - a few streams will be crossed (water level depends on the rainfall) and there is some singel track.  Blacktop has been limited to a single 2 km stretch in the Hoeko Valley.  The most strenuous up-hills are encountered in the last 10 km before the finish line.  There are no technical sections and all dangerous areas will be clearly marked and flagged.

For more details, contact:  Carel Herold  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ;  Cell:  082 379 1177

ON LINE ENTRIES:   www.dryland.co.za