By Sean Badenhorst
It took a bit longer than other provinces, but Gauteng now has a provincial Enduro Series. The Sox Footwear Enduro Series, presented by SHRED is a four-round series that will be staged by Gauteng Cycling and cater for all levels of rider in an effort to both grow the discipline and reward the best Enduro racers.
The Grootfontein terrain and gradient ranges from mild to moderate.
Despite having by far the most mountain bikers, Gauteng province has limited gradient, which has led to the flourishing of marathon, ultra-marathon and XCO disciplines, but a fairly justifiable lack of focus on gravity disciplines, with Gauteng gravity riders having to travel to KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga to compete in Enduro events.
But the recent establishment of Grootfontein, a new mountain bike park east of Pretoria that’s built around gravity-friendly riding with Enduro runs and a Flow/Jump line, combined with the disruption of mass events during the Covid-19 Lockdown, stimulated an increased interest in Enduro riding/racing.
Another Pretoria trails park, Wolwespruit, invested heavily in creating a number of exciting flow lines recently, which has fuelled the descending desire among not only younger riders, but also older riders who are converting to trail bikes in order to embrace the ‘new’ discipline. Buffelsdrift Trail Park north of Pretoria recently revived it’s gnarly enduro lines, which have been seldom ridden in the past three years and the Dustin Rudman Invitational events at Thaba Trails, Johannesburg in 2020 and Fort Klapperkop, Pretoria in 2021 have helped fan the Enduro flames.
Currently details for the Sox Footwear Enduro Series, presented by SHRED are:
Round 1: Grootfontein, Pretoria – Sunday, 22 August
Round 2: Buffelsdrift, Pretoria – Sunday, 17 October
Round 3: Buffelsdrift, Pretoria – Saturday, 6 November
Round 4: Grootfontein, Pretoria – Sunday, 5 December
More venues will be introduced for the 2022 series.
Gauteng Cycling organised a skills day with professional coaches at Grootfontein last weekend.
A large field is expected at Grootfontein for Round 1 this Sunday. Competition-starved riders from Downhill, Enduro XCO and even Marathon disciplines will do battle on all seven of the park’s Enduro lines, some of which have been updated for the event. The terrain and gradient range from mild to moderate, making it possible to complete the event on a hardtail.
Timing will be done with the iTime system by iRideAfrica, which is an established Enduro timing company based in the Western Cape. Riders wear a transponder on their wrist and tag at the start and finish of each run with on-the-day results guaranteed. It’s a relatively costly system, but it has a high level of reliability and gives the rider a portion of the timing responsibility.
Because this is an official provincial series, run by Gauteng Cycling, a Cycling South Africa Membership (licence) is required for all entrants. There is a R50 day licence option, but for riders that want to be considered for the provincial series, which carries official recognition on a regional and national racing level, a full 12-month CSA membership is required. This costs R250 for adults and R150 for Youth (under 19). This, along with the Provincial affiliation fee of R75 are both one-off payments required.
Although there are some obstacles, such as this gap jump, B Lines around them allow for all riders to be able to complete each Enduro Run.
Round 1 entry details:
FULL RACE – 7 Stages (30km)
Sub Juniors up to Grand Masters: CSA Membership & Racing Licence for UCI categories
Sports Category (combined ages): CSA Day Licence
eBike – 19+ years (combined ages): CSA Day Licence
LITE RACE – 3 Stages (10km)
Sports Category (combined ages): CSA Day Licence
Sprogs and Nippers: CSA Membership
CSA Membership required @ R250 adults / R150 youth + R75 Provincial Levy – valid for one year from date of issue offers:
* Separate age categories
* Podiums & medals per age category
* Results per age category
* Results will appear on the Provincial Log
* Points earned, which will accrue towards overall results for the Provincial Series
* Recognition at the end of the Series towards GC Presidential Awards for this year (which will become Gauteng Provincial Colours in 2022). Selection Criteria will be distributed in due course.
CSA Day Licence required @ R50 offers:
* All age categories combined
* No podiums or medals
* Overall results only – no age category results
* Results will not appear on the Provincial Log
* No Provincial Series points earned
* No recognition for Presidential Awards Provincial Colours
For a full breakdown of the benefits of the CSA membership, which includes a level of medical insurance at CSA sanctioned events, click here.
“We’re excited to recognise and grow Enduro as a discipline in Gauteng. At a time when many traditional and established large events have been hit so hard by the varying levels of the national lockdowns in response to Covid-19 over the past 18 months, it’s a great way to offer some official competitive events for all ages and skill levels,” said Paola Damilano, Gauteng Cycling MTB Chairperson.
“This inaugural series is intended to be the first of an annual Gauteng Provincial Enduro Series from 2022, where provincial colours will be awarded for top performers. We appreciate the support of Sox Footwear, SHRED media, various officials and skill coaches and the two venues we are using for this first series, Grootfontein and Buffelsdrift. We look forward to kicking the series off with a successful Round 1 on Sunday,” she added.
Entry is done online via the Cycling South Africa website here. You need to register and create a profile in the Membership Portal on the site if you don’t already have one. Click on EVENTS and scroll down. Entry fee is R350 per rider (before the CSA and Provincial fees) or R300 per rider for the LITE event or for CSA registered Nippers and Sprogs
For enquiries, contact Paola on 083 2523752.
To stay up to date on any changes/progress, join the Gauteng Cycling Gravity Group on Telegram here.
