IS THIS SOUTH AFRICA’S MOST COMPLETE MTB EVENT?

There are over 500 mountain bike events on the South African sports calendar each year. That’s almost 10 a week. It’s not surprising really when you consider how popular mountain biking has become. Marathons, half-marathons, stage races, XCO, Downhill, Enduro – so many options. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to combine those disciplines in one event?

By Sean Badenhorst

Well, five years ago that’s exactly what happened when the York Enduro MTB Rally made its debut. An ambitious crew of employees at York Timbers held the first edition of what is now one of the most coveted events on the calendar. Most coveted? But how can it be one of the most coveted events if most people haven’t heard about it? That’s just it. It’s not an event that appeals to everyone because you need to be prepared, physically and mentally, to tackle a wide range of mountain biking challenges over four days. You also need to be invited.

The York Enduro MTB Rally is essentially how York Timbers, a JSE listed company and the largest employer in the Sabie region, spends a big chunk of its annual marketing budget.

A total of 30 pro mountain bikers are invited and paid an appearance fee by the organisers. Then there are 30 corporate teams that are invited. These are a combination of companies that do business with York Timbers and others that have invested in the growth of mountain biking in South Africa. Each corporate team has four members, usually all fit mountain bike enthusiasts with corporate careers.

The event has its own app and a month before the start, the pros and corporate teams are finalised and listed on the app. A week before the event a voting system kicks in where the corporate teams can bid for ‘their pro’. Each pro then gets assigned to a corporate team for the duration of the event and helps them score points in the various disciplines. Points are awarded to the Pro and the corporate team members and it’s in each team’s interest for their Pro to give them tips and guidance as well as his/her best effort in each discipline.

The Pros include full-time racers from the disciplines of Downhill, Enduro, XCO and Marathon and are mostly South African. There are eight females and 22 males.

The racing schedule is real mountain biking smorgasbord, designed to challenge every rider on every stage. Because the majority of the participants aren’t pro mountain bikers, the trail obstacles aren’t unreasonable and certainly achievable for any rider with a decent level of skill and fitness.

For the 2017 edition, the schedule is as follows:

Thursday 15 September

Morning: Seeding time trial: 8.5km 260m ascent

Afternoon: Enduro Stages 1-4

Friday 16 September

Morning: Downhill racing

Afternoon: Enduro Stages 5-8

Saturday 17 September

Morning: XC Race

Afternoon: Enduro Stages 9-13

Sunday 18 September

Morning: Relay race followed by Dual Eliminator

The event takes place in Sabie, the small Mpumalanga town that’s in a valley surrounded by forest-covered mountains. It’s in these forests, largely owned by York Timbers, where the racing happens. And it happens on purpose-built trails built and maintained by York Timbers staff under the leadership of Jakes van Staden, one of South Africa’s most under-rated mountain bike trail-builders.

According to York Timbers, it takes an estimated 10 500 man hours to build, mark and maintain the routes – mostly singletrack – for the annual event. Although the event is invitation-only, the trails remain open for enjoyment throughout the year for anyone that’s keen to experience authentic forest singletrack by booking various packages.

While the York Enduro MTB Rally focusses on challenging 150 mountain bikers across a variety of mountain bike disciplines over four days once a year, there’s a substantial social investment drive by York Timbers in the town of Sabie that sees year-round impact.

York Timbers employees are given opportunities to buy Qhubeka bikes, which the company subsidises. This ensures they have increased mobility which leads to improved lives and the gradual upliftment of communities. In Year 1, a total of 100 bikes were bought for York Timbers employees, in Year 2, that went up to 300 bikes. This year, 400 people’s lives will be improved by bicycles via York Timbers and Qhubeka, bringing the total in three years to 800 life-improving bikes.

To find out more about York Timbers’ various community upliftment initiatives and adventure-style events, visit the York Adventure Club page on Facebook. For more info about York Timbers, visit www.york.co.za

York Enduro MTB Rally 2016 highlights:

Days 1 & 2: Highlights 

Day 3: Highlights

All rights reserved.