Flat corners are a true test of a rider’s ability to maintain momentum, find traction, trust the tyres and resist the urge to grab the brakes. There’s going to be a fair bit of that at Round 2 of the 2023 Mpumulanga Enduro Series which takes place this Saturday, 20 May at the Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve, Lydenburg.
After the success of the Enduro at the wilderness venue last year, the series returns with all the same stages. There are four stages in total, with the Lite version getting three of those.
According to Trent Sinclair, the local trails master, riders shouldn’t expect any manicured lines. “Because this is a nature reserve, we use the natural gradient and features to create stages that are fun to ride and even more fun to race. There aren’t any berms so expect to be challenged on the corners. This is Lydenburg Thornveld which has a pristine wilderness feel and a range of wildlife too. It’s a bit different from the other venues,” he explained.
Here are the stage descriptions, courtesy of Trent:
Stage 1: Shake, Rattle and Roll
At close to 3km, this is the longest stage. The start is the highest point of the Enduro at 2000 metres above sea level. The first part is an old jeep track with some pedally sections, but it’s quite raw, rustic and rocky. The big challenge is that the technical part is right near the end when your upper body is tired and your lungs are burning.
Stage 2: Church
This stage starts just below the end of Stage 1 and is about 1.2km long. It begins in grassland, goes through a pocket of indigenous forest and then into some eroded areas where there a some drops and jumps before you finish through some sharp embedded rocks.
Stage 3: Valley Road
This stage incorporates some of the road that was the Long Tom Pass pioneer trail. Essentially the original Long Tom Pass road. Small, embedded rocks and cobble stones are the primary surface feature. The faster you go over these, the smoother your ride is. There are some very fast sections where you can clock more than 55kph!
Stage 4: Volla
This is the oldest run at the venue, developed many years ago. It includes a number of drainage lines and fast step-downs and a ‘bombgat’ before a fast section past the old Volkswagen wreck after which this trail is named, that has some cheeky bumps and rock jumps. Next you go through The Rectum, a stony bottleneck followed by a G-force donga. If you get this wrong you see your rectum! It gets a bit pedally towards the end, but there’s one big step-down almost at the finish to negotiate.
The full Enduro covers a distance of 23km with 700 metres of ascent. The Lite Enduro will skip Stage 3 and covers 13km with 400m of climbing.
“We’re looking forward to taking the Series to Gustav Klingbiel Nature Reserve again this year. We like to offer a wide range of venues in our series and showcase the variety of riding in Mpumalanga,” said Schalk Potas, of Trail Awareness Crew, the series organisers.
“Once again we will use TAC Timing, which times accurately down to 1000th of a second and we are hoping for another good showing of riders from Gauteng, and North West provinces to give the Mpumalanga riders some additional competition,” added Potas.
For more information or to enter Round 2 online, head over here.
