As we head into 2023, we look forward to a cracker year for South African mountain biking – races, trails, bikes, gear and people all moving up a level. Since 2009 TREAD Media has been focused on adding value by creating insightful media content for South African mountain bikers. Here’s a quick look at the 12 most read TREAD Media stories of 2022.
It’s hard to believe that we started 2022 in a state of uncertainty with Level 1 lockdown restrictions in place by the South African government in its reaction to the Covid-19 virus. This included a ban on large public gatherings, which affected most mountain bike events/races. Fortunately, by April 2022, the lengthy State of Disaster was lifted and some form of normality was able to return. One thing is certain, we ended 2022 in a much better place than what we started it.
For those curious about readership stats, March was once again our biggest readership month (this is due to the Absa Cape Epic content) with 76 321 unique visitors and the average unique visitors per month – for the year – was 54 653.
Here’s a look, roughly in date-published order, at the 12 most read TREAD articles for 2022. Our criteria to select these articles required that they each received at least 12 500 views. They also had to be pure editorial – not paid-partnership content, which has become a large part of modern digital media content.
HOW DID WE GET SO MANY SKILLS INSTRUCTORS?
Mountain biking skills instructors – they’re everywhere these days. That’s a good thing because most mountain bike crashes are inadvertently self-inflicted and a decent level of skill and confidence can help reduce the risk of crashing. But how did we get so many and is the standard by which mountain bike skills instructors are measured, too low?
Full story here.
2021 SOUTH AFRICAN MOUNTAIN BIKE SURVEY: THE RESULTS
The 2021 South African Mountain Bike Survey, presented by Garmin attracted a total of 3093 respondents. Of the that number, a total 2749 answered every one of the 50 questions (not every question relates to everyone). Here’s the first of four reveals, with links to the other three at the end. The survey results reveal is split into four parts – Rider Stats, Bike Stats, Gear Stats and Performance Stats.
Full story here.
SOUTH AFRICAN WOMEN’S SUCCESS AT THE CAPE EPIC
There was much excitement when South Africans Candice Lill and Mariske Strauss won Stage 3 and then the final stage of the 2022 Absa Cape Epic. The excitement was justified because the last time a South African pair won a Cape Epic stage was way back in 2011! There’s been a relatively moderate amount of success in the Cape Epic by South African women, with only 13 having won stages and seven having won the race overall. Here ‘s the detailed breakdown with photos of them all…
Full story here.
TOUGHER THAN THE 2008 CAPE EPIC? LOOKS LIKE IT
It’s a question asked after many an edition of the Absa Cape Epic – was that the toughest Epic yet? With the most distance and most elevation, the notorious 2008 edition also held the record for the most teams that didn’t finish. But that dubious honour has now moved to the 2022 edition, which, based on our historical stats, was possibly toughest Cape Epic yet. Here’s the data…
Full story here.
SEVEN REASONS DARKFEST 2022 BLEW OUR SOUTH AFRICAN MINDS
After years of watching the videos and absorbing the photos, the TREAD crew finally got to experience Darkfest. While the annual big-jump gathering of many of the world’s best slopestyle and freestyle mountain bikers is a made-for-media event, it’s actually more impressive in person. Here are seven reasons Darkfest 2022 blew our South African minds!
Full story here.
HOW TO PASS SLOWER RIDERS WITHOUT DRAMA
There’s been a steady return to reasonable normality in South African mountain biking after the government’s reaction to the Covid-19 virus. Events are filling the calendar again and it’s just flippen awesome! But what’s not awesome is that not everyone knows how to pass slower riders without drama, so here’s a tutorial…
Full story here.
SA WOMEN’S MTB SURVEY: THE RESULTS
We ran the South African Women’s MTB Survey, presented by Liv during May and June 2022. It was an update on our initial women’s MTB survey from 2018. A total of 1362 women took our 2022 survey, a big jump on the 579 that took our 2018 survey. We have split the reveal into two parts – this is Part 1, which focusses on ‘You and Your Riding’ with a link to Part 2 – Bikes and Gear at the end.
Full story here.
MINNAAR, HATHERLY CARRY SA’S WORLD CHAMPS MEDAL HOPES
They’ve both already been multiple World Champions, but for Downhill legend, Greg Minnaar and XCO ace, Alan Hatherly, the 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships at Les Gets, France this weekend presents the opportunity to create respective historic career milestones that will help grow both theirs and the South African mountain bike racing legacy.
Full story here.
THE END OF RED BULL TV UCI MTB WORLD CUP COVERAGE
After 10 incredible years, we will no longer see the action and hear the voices of Rob Warner and friends as we’ve become accustomed to. Red Bull TV will no longer be the broadcaster partner of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup after 2022. There’s a new broadcast partner from 2023 and it’s still unclear if we’ll get to watch our favourite racing for free.
Full story here.
MINNAAR SUSTAINS SERIOUS INJURY IN VAL DI SOLE CRASH
South African mountain bike racing star, Greg Minnaar, sustained serious injury in a crash at the final round of the 2022 UCI Mercedes Benz Mountain Bike World Cup at Val di Sole, Italy on Saturday. After struggling a little with his rhythm and finishing 23rd in Qualifying on Friday, Minnaar was declared a non-starter when Saturday afternoon’s final got underway. The four-time World Champion crashed in practice on Saturday morning and was airlifted to hospital, raising concerns about the extent of his injuries. He spoke to us from hospital.
Full story here.
THE NEW CHALLENGE FACED BY SOUTH AFRICAN STAGE RACES
In 2017, there were more than 50 stage races in South Africa! That’s no longer the case. But there are still more than in most countries. Blame the crushed economy; blame the government’s restrictions in reaction to Covid-19; blame increasing emigration. All valid reasons. But there’s one thing that’s affecting stage race entries that’s not being addressed and really should be…
Full story here.
MAJOR CHANGES FOR THE 2023 UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP
After the news that Warner Bros Discovery was awarded the task of televising international mountain biking for the next eight years, more details have become available, which include major changes to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup – in all disciplines! Here’s a summary what to expect in 2023 – and the full calendar.
Full story here.
