Stan Engelbrecht

The second time will be a breeze!

Nice!

Happy to hear it! See you guys there.

Event Name: Eroica South Africa & NOVA Eroica When: 16 March 2019 Where: KWV Gallery, Kohler Street, Montagu, Western Cape, Western Cape Category: Road On the weekend of 16 March 2019, one week after the famed Cape Town Cycle Tour, we are celebrating our fourth Eroica South Africa in the beautiful village and surrounds of Montagu. Come celebrate vintage Italian road cycling culture with us - bring your classic racing bicycles and ride with us through the beautiful Karoo around the dirt roads north of Montagu in the Western Cape. For those of you who are into a more modern approach, come and race our enduro-style NOVA Eroica race on your gravel bikes! Of course there will be great food and wine, and lots of old bicycles to lust over. With South Africa's rich cycling history, we’re proud to have this celebrated Italian event honoured on African soil. For 2019 we are adding a vintage bicycle concourse, so prepare your most beautiful and rarest old bicycles for display and judging - it’s time to see what South Africans have hidden in their bike collections! Enter soon, and secure your accommodation and dinner bookings - it’s going to be a fantastic weekend. See you there! Go to Event Page

Hello KAROOBAIX followers! It's almost time for KBX 2018 - our dirt-road race specifically for gravel bikes. A true gravel race - no mountain bikes allowed. On 5 / 6 / 7 October this year, come and join us for the second edition of this epic traverse of the spectacular Tankwa Karoo. The format has changed a little from last year, but it's still a tough event - on Friday 5 October we do a short social time trail around Calvinia (where the race is based this year), and on Saturday we take on a 245km looped route through the Tankwa. It will be tough, but you will never experience the Karoo like this again. There will be basic support, and fantastic food at the start, throughout the event, and at our final celebratory breakfast on Sunday 7 October. Have a look at the website for more information - https://www.karoobaix.co.za - and come and join us! - Stan.

Event Name: KAROOBAIX When: 5 October 2018 - 7 October 2018 Where: Hantam Huis, Calvinia, Western Cape Category: Cyclocross KAROOBAIX is a one-day 245km race (with an individual time trial prologue) for modern gravel / cyclocross bicycles through the South African Karoo over 5 / 6 / 7 October 2018. The route is almost exclusively gravel, and range from super smooth hard-packed dirt to soft sand, sharp rocks and corrugations. The race will be semi-supported, and there will be two rest stops with good food, coffee and fresh water along the the 245km stage. The name KAROOBAIX (pronounced ka-roo-bay) pays homage the Paris-Roubaix race, the murderous European Classic that earned itself the nickname Hell of the North, and our unique, spectacular and sometimes inhospitable semi-desert region of the Karoo. Race outline... Friday / 5 October 2018 - 11:00 arrival in Calvinia and check-in / 13:00 Lunch / 15:00 Time trail prologue / 19:00 Dinner / 20:00 race briefing Saturday / 6 October 2018 - 04:00 Breakfast / 04:30 Start / 17:00 (onwards) Dinner served informally Sunday / 7 October 2018 - 09:00 Breakfast and prize giving / 12:00 Checkout and departure Go to Event Page

Hi Pall. I'd have to totally disagree with you. None of us are doing this because we think it's 'cool' or because we're seeking approval from anyone. Most of the people I've met through my interest in old bicycles are truly and genuinely dedicated to their interest and love for the history of the sport and the equipment. Trust me, we have a very well-rounded and diverse group who attend Eroica, many of them predating hipsterdom by decades. Don't be so quick to shoot it down, rather come join us and see for yourself - I promise you'll have a good time.

See you in Montagu!

Event Name: Eroica South Africa & NOVA Eroica When: 17 March 2018 Where: KWV Gallery, Kohler Street, Montagu, Western Cape Category: Road It’s time to start getting ready for Eroica South Africa 2018! And we have some exciting news too - we’re introducing a Nova Eroica enduro-style race category! We’ll have our usual three great vintage bike routes on Saturday, along with our Eroica Festival, or you can bring and race your modern gravel bike in the new 155 kilometre Nova Eroica category. As before, we still have Eroica South Africa on the weekend after that other well-loved and very famous event, the Cape Town Cycle Tour. This way we can give our international visitors a little more incentive to travel all the way to Africa to come and ride with us. So, clear the weekend of 17 March 2018, one week after the Cape Town Cycle Tour, and come celebrate vintage Italian road cycling culture with us - bring your classic racing bicycles, and ride with us through the beautiful Karoo around the dirt roads north of Montagu in the Western Cape. Of course there will be great food and wine, and lots of old bicycles to lust over, and now a bit of modern gravel bike racing too with Nova Eroica. With South Africa's rich cycling history, we’re proud to have this celebrated Italian event honoured on African soil. So, remember - 17 March 2018 in Montagu! We hope to see you there! Registration is open! Go to Event Page

Entries for KAROOBAIX 2017 close soon! Only 2 spots left! Come race with us.

Hi ettienne_jordaan. Personally I'm riding a pretty wide spread on my Mercer - 46/34 x 11-36. Something similar is possible running a 1x drivetrain, but I'm set up with a 2 x 10-speed group.

It's a mean one...

See you at KAROOBAIX 2018!

Hi nathrix. Yes please, all riders must carry lights. You'll find it listed on the Rules page on the website...

Quite right, Kranswurm. It eats tires and people too.

Hey Eppie! That Gary Fisher is going to make a super cool KAROOBAIX bike. Glad you'll be joining us!

: )

Hi Yusran. Nice Mercer - I've seen you zoom past me a bunch of times as well! I hope you'll join us on KAROOBAIX this year! The more Mercers the better. Dave is doing some exquisite work. I'm very proud to have his bikes in my race.

I think you misunderstand 'us' nonky. Those who've raced in Tour of Ara are not a bunch of hipster assholes. We do this because we love riding, we love bicycles and we love adventure. To (roughly) quote a friend, "These guys pre-date hipsterdom, they're true believers". Come ride with us some time and see.

Sorry johanrissik - no tandems!

I don't think KAROOBAIX is for you , Buff_SA.

Hi Slowbee. Actually, I would say that if you were to own only 1 bike in our country with such diverse and beautiful and challenging riding, it should be a gravel style bike. Road, off road, touring, commuting - they can do it all. It's an undervalued genre that has existed for a long time, it just seems to have a name now...

Hi Jewbacca. The entry fee is R5500. A pretty good deal I think that includes all shuttles and great food for 3 days. Check https://www.karoobaix.co.za/enter/ for more info. Join us!

Hi rider#35. The reason I prefer doing the event in the week is so we can bring a bit of income to these town in the week when they're not busy. Also, roads are quieter for us to get to and from the race. Oh, and the shuttle does take us to Calvinia the day before to enjoy some skaaptjops and Karoo hospitality. : )

Ha ha tubed. I never cancel.