{"id":91254,"date":"2017-04-15T05:53:20","date_gmt":"2017-04-15T03:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/george-cross-country-race-focuses-on-development\/"},"modified":"2017-04-15T05:53:20","modified_gmt":"2017-04-15T03:53:20","slug":"george-cross-country-race-focuses-on-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/george-cross-country-race-focuses-on-development\/","title":{"rendered":"George cross country race focuses on development"},"content":{"rendered":"

George cross country race focuses on development<\/a>: <\/p>\n

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The opening leg of the Madibaz XCO Series will take place on the NMMU campus in George on April 23. Photo: Supplied<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Providing a cross country racing opportunity for mountain biking enthusiasts in the Eden region is at the core of the second Madibaz XCO Series, which kicks off next Sunday.<\/p>\n

Based at the NMMU campus in George, the series will comprise four events, with further races taking place on June 10, August 27 and October 29.<\/p>\n

The August leg will, for the first time, include an intervarsity division for top student riders from around the country.<\/p>\n

Race director Jan Venter, of NMMU, said the series was aimed at attracting riders to the sport and that was why they had opted for a cross country course rather than a point-to-point route.<\/p>\n

“As our main focus is on development, cross country, which is an Olympic sport, is the way to go in setting up the course,” he said.<\/p>\n

“In addition, while there are plenty of marathon races, there have been no cross country events of this nature in the Eden region so we wanted to create something for the riders.”<\/p>\n

Venter said they would like to see the series – now in its second year – grow and for this reason they had deliberately kept entry fees reasonable.<\/p>\n

“It is R50 for children and R90 for adults, so it is not expensive. We are cautiously optimistic that we will see a rise in numbers this year.”<\/p>\n

He added that they had attracted about 60 participants per race in the inaugural series and hoped to improve on that, thanks to a sponsorship from Old Mutual Private Wealth Management.<\/p>\n

“This sponsorship has enabled us to offer some attractive prizes while Old Mutual will also be bringing some of their clients to take part,” said Venter.<\/p>\n

Further support for the event, which is open to anyone, has come from Ridelife George, Giant South Africa and Tippeton.<\/p>\n

He said the length of the laps were 5.1km for sub-juniors (12 years) and up and 3.2km for the younger categories.<\/p>\n

“In cross country racing there is a nice mix of everything, with some technical areas, single-track and normal gravel roads making up the course.<\/p>\n

“There are some challenging technical bits but we have created A and B lines, so you can just take the B line if you want to, although you will lose a bit of time.”<\/p>\n

Venter added they had collaborated with the Mountain to Ocean Forestry company in the construction of the course as part of it crossed their land.<\/p>\n

“We have also worked with the Hillbillies Cross Country Club, who have built a lot of trails in the area, and we also built some trails.<\/p>\n

“The loop nature of the course, which is partly on the campus and partly off it, means you can see the riders often.”<\/p>\n

He said the series champions would be determined by adding the points from riders’ top three finishes together.<\/p>\n

“The top three in each age category – from nippers to grandmasters – will receive medals.”<\/p>\n

Go to www.madibazmtb.co.za for more info or to enter.<\/p>\n

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