Sunday, 24 February 2013, will see the exciting and prestigious St Francis Bay MTB Challenge with distances of 15 km, 35 km, and 80 km taking place once again at the five-star St Francis Links Golf Estate.
The event will start and finish at the St Francis Links with the main race of the day being the 80km, which will be a totally new route this year. The 80 km will start at 8 am, the 35 km at 8.15 am and the 15 km at 8:30 am, giving cyclists from afar the chance to get here without a rush.
Entry fees are R150 – 80 km (non CSA members + day licence of R35), R100 – 3 km (non CSA members + day licence of R35), and R50 – 15 km.
There will be jumping castles and food stalls and PC screens keeping supporters up to date with the status of bikers. Prize giving will be at midday at the Links Club House with great prizes.
But this is not the only MTB race that weekend. There will be other MTB races at the Port over the weekend from Friday 22 -Sunday 24 February, organised by St Francis Sport. The races will be suitable for young and old, the serious and dedicated to the casual young cyclists.
First off on the Friday is the Balobi MTB Day Ride from 6-7 pm. It is a corporate challenge and team event – team members must be working for the same company and will sure bring loads of fun.
“Entries already received include a ladies team from Balobi Processors, Grant Marais with some of his workers, two teams from the St Francis Links and more . This is a nice way for team building and will be very exciting,” says race organiser, Eric Stewart. Teams must consist of 3 members and will race to see who can start the most laps between.
Then the more serious individual Night Ride will take place between 7.30-830 pm. The challenge is to see who can start the most laps within 60 minutes. “We expect to see fast laps of around 14 minutes,” says Eric.
The circular 5km MTB track at the port includes beach, single track through fynbos, jeep track, grass, steps, a wooden walkway, and a short section over the harbour wall. The entry fee is R40 per person for the Day Ride an R60 p/p for the Night Ride.
Saturday is the Port Hole MTB Kids Fun Race at 9 am and is a great introduction to MTB cycling in a safe environment. It is limited to cyclists under 12.
They will follow the same route as the night ride, and experienced junior riders will cycle with them (front, middle and back of the pack). This is a charity event and all entry fees (R20 per person) will go to the St Francis Sustainable Seas Trust.
“The kids are welcome to stay and enjoy what the centre has to offer, swim in the pool and enjoy the monthly family fun fishing competition off the jetties between 10 am – 2 pm ,” St Francis Sport says.
Accommodation specials are available, including from Cape St Francis Resort. The St Francis Links has a special golf package available to all cyclists.
Online entries are open on www.stfrancissport.co.za and will be open till Thursday 21 February at noon. For more information, phone Eric on 082 394 7363.
Online entries will be open till Thursday 21 February for the annual St Francis MTB Challenge, however, with only 500 cyclists allowed for the main event, it might be a good idea to get your entry in as soon as possible.
(edited)
St Francis Chronicle 