[Event] Sanlam MTB Invitational

[LeoKnight]

I always love it when they have piesang brood on the table, they nearly ran out of water at waterpoint 3, but luckily they had lots of ice  

 

Yeah the start and bottlenecks at the start did make for some frustration, but I will look past it (and remember the lekker food and cold one they had at the end)

 

Think tomorrow is going to go even better, but I am for sure going to try and start more to the front of the field

 

Overall not a bad event. Good admin & organising - everything ran smoothly.

Route generally enjoyable except for the sandy bits, bottlenecks on singletracks and some of those farm road sections which felt like they'd been included to add distance. Waterpoints well located and stocked with all the right stuff...especially the one with fresh slap chips - legendary addition that was!

[LeoKnight]

What a race day, sooo thankful for that bit of a wind that kept blowing,never an irritation just bit of cooling affect. As a backmarker all went well with all waterstations properly stocked (so thankful after reading about other races where that is the biggest gripe). especially being able to stock up on ice.

 

The single track at the end. OMW it is really something, however I did decide you won't see me on a hot day after 8 the morning.

 

Overall the event had something for all and want to congratulate SANLAM investment and ASG on a well run event.

[Skubarra]

 

Overall the event had something for all and want to congratulate SANLAM investment and ASG on a well run event.

 

Don't know about day 1 but yesterday's route was awesome as usual. Nice hospitality & well organised. Also a very big turnout, For a expensive 2-day event right between the W2W and Origin of Trails weekends the turnout was huge, the event certainly has potential to grow even bigger.

 

My only gripe - if you have 300+ riders and singletrack within the first 2 kilometers then you either need a proper seeding system or some extra farm roads at the start to spread out the field - I was held up queing behind "self seeded racing snakes"  for the 1st hour of the race, I trust this is something the organisers will look at in the future.

[Look586]

I had the opportunity to take part in the Sanlam MTB race over the past weekend & would like to give the following race review:

The first question will always be, was it good value? I can truly say that i have done all of the big stage races (with the exception of the Epic) & this one rates right up there. Awesome hospitality  & great vibe make for a truly memorable experience. Considering that the goody-bag was packed with goodies, worth probably the same as the entry, gave it an even bigger value for money "tag"! A lot better than most stage races.

The route was absolutely awesome. If I recall correctly the race had access to more than 50 farms around the mountain & getting buy-in from all the land owners plus trail building, accumulates to 100's of hours of meetings & hard work.

The 2nd stage, on the Sunday, ended as a family affair with kids running around on the beautiful Rhebokskloof wine estate & everyone enjoying the incredible hospitality. Usually post race the organisers struggle to keep the people at the venue for the prize giving. This was not the case at the Sanlam MTB race. Hundreds of people stayed well after the prize giving enjoying great food, Rhebokskloof wine & even some well deserved CBC beer.

The only thing I can say is WOW, what an event!!!!

To the race organisers, sponsors & race venue I can only give a big       !!!! What an event!!! A true gem & one to mark in the calendar in 2017!!!!!