[Event] 24Hours Of Oak Valley

[Dirtopia MTB Events]

Event Name: 24Hours Of Oak Valley
When: 1 February 2020 - 2 February 2020
Where: Oak Valley Estate, Western Cape
Category: MTB

The 24Hours of Oak Valley returns…

 

You have asked and waited for it to return...the 24Hours of Oak Valley event is back in early 2020.

 

Camp and ride your mountain bike in Grabouw for a weekend with friends and family, while trail runners can join the 12hour.

 

Riding around the clock in the Elgin Valley with various categories and this year the junior team option is back, where we expect a big competition. Note that VERY limited solo entries will be taken, to increase the team participation.

 

Only pre-entries taken, so get your teams together and enter this awesome event. There will be food & drinks for sale and the ever-needed coffee stand. The venue is still a favourite with great facilities and beautiful scenery on the route and at the campsite and start/finish area!

 

E-bikes will also be allowed to join in the fun in their own fun E-class category! The Oak Valley course, with its first half of climbing and the long descents in the second half, is ideally suited to E-bikes.

 

The event is also a great platform to test these bikes and by introducing rules restricting the number of batteries you are allowed to use, gives everyone to see what the bikes are capable of in real-life application. See the website for the E-class rules.

 

Dates: Saturday 1 Feb 2020 (12h00) – Sunday 2 Feb (12h00)

Venue: Oak Valley Estate, Elgin Valley, Grabouw, Western Cape

Format: Ride as many 10km laps as you want or can over 24hours. The trail will keep participants busy with singletrack and jeeptrack sections. The course conditions even changes over night…

Trail runners must run as many 6km laps as they want or can over the 12hour period, ending at midnight.

 

CATEGORIES for the MTB Relay:

• Solo - One person that rides as much as he/she wants during the 24-hour period.
  
• Open (single sex) - team of 4 riders.
  
• Mixed – team of 4 riders (A mix of male and female riders). There must be at least one person from the opposite sex to qualify as a mixed team.
  
• Juniors – team of 5 riders. All under 18.
  
• OneFourZero - team of 4 riders. Collective age 140 years +.
  
• Fun category - teams of 5-8 riders.
  

CATEGORIES for the Trail Run:

• Solo - One person that runs as much as he/she wants during the 12-hour period.

• 4 Man Team –team of 4 runners

 

Don’t miss out on this great outdoor event that offers something for everyone! For more information see the website: www.24hoursofoakvalley.co.za or www.dirtopia.co.za and email: info@dirtopia.co.za or 078 343 3572

Go to Event Page

[BuffsVintageBikes]

I haven't done one of these for years, maybe it's time to try it again, they're great fun

I'm not so sure about the whole ebike thing though, I can see riders losing their sense of humour in the early hours of the morning if getting held up on climbs and descents. Trusting there'll be plenty of overtaking opportunities on the route?

[Blackheart]

Overtaking has always been tricky there (if you have no patience), and there's been a couple of near fistfights over the years. I've done 6 of these and I don't think that adding in another layer of speed, skill and fatigue differential is a great idea.

[dirtypot]

I didn't do the middle of the year one last year but did the previous year solo (I've done it quite a few times in teams as well).  The year I was solo was when there were no school teams, and although the kids are always friendly when they're asking for space to pass I must say that it was nice to not have them there.  It made it feel much more chilled which is nice when you're just dawdling along at a solo riders pace.  

Now having school teams back as well as e-bikes is going to change that again which makes me hesitant to enter.  But at the same time it is an awesome challenge...  Hmmmm....  

[News bot]

The mountain bike community can not wait for 1-2 February, when an old favourite returns to the trails in Grabouw. This awesome event is a relay team event with different categories, but you can also do it solo or even on an E-bike.

Click here to view the article

[Velouria]

I didn't do the middle of the year one last year but did the previous year solo (I've done it quite a few times in teams as well).  The year I was solo was when there were no school teams, and although the kids are always friendly when they're asking for space to pass I must say that it was nice to not have them there.  It made it feel much more chilled which is nice when you're just dawdling along at a solo riders pace.  

Now having school teams back as well as e-bikes is going to change that again which makes me hesitant to enter.  But at the same time it is an awesome challenge...  Hmmmm....  

 

Maybe this is just the sort of event we need for us to learn how to be civil to each other again. I've never had an issue, both as someone passing people, or as someone being passed. As long as both parties are polite and patient, the course provides enough space to pass. "Please" and "Thank you" have an amazing effect in miraculously widening the trail.

 

As for the E-bikes - the purest in me isn't convinced, but if we want events like this to continue, we need numbers, and if the numbers are riding E-bikes, so be it. I think I would take the E-bikers over the trail runners - at least we have a few more things in common.

[Shebeen]

Maybe this is just the sort of event we need for us to learn how to be civil to each other again. I've never had an issue, both as someone passing people, or as someone being passed. As long as both parties are polite and patient, the course provides enough space to pass. "Please" and "Thank you" have an amazing effect in miraculously widening the trail.

 

As for the E-bikes - the purest in me isn't convinced, but if we want events like this to continue, we need numbers, and if the numbers are riding E-bikes, so be it. I think I would take the E-bikers over the trail runners - at least we have a few more things in common.

You sound like a noob, ever done one of these before? the kids say "track asseblief" and "dankie oom" then disappear.

[Karman de Lange]

You sound like a noob, ever done one of these before? the kids say "track asseblief" and "dankie oom" then disappear.

Hope the comic sans means your not serious....

[Velouria]

You sound like a noob, ever done one of these before? the kids say "track asseblief" and "dankie oom" then disappear.

It's been such a long time that I think I am a noob all over again!

 

Watching a solo rider pass another rider (not a common occurance) is like watching a Formula 1 overtake move in super slo motion - the whole procedure takes about 3 minutes! So, I can afford to be polite and have a whole conversation - in fact, I often enjoy the company, the slower pace, and the distraction. My passing phrase is "Hi there - passing on your left/right when you get the chance", followed by a "Thank you", and it seems to work like a charm

[Jewbacca]

It's been such a long time that I think I am a noob all over again!

 

Watching a solo rider pass another rider (not a common occurance) is like watching a Formula 1 overtake move in super slo motion - the whole procedure takes about 3 minutes! So, I can afford to be polite and have a whole conversation - in fact, I often enjoy the company, the slower pace, and the distraction. My passing phrase is "Hi there - passing on your left/right when you get the chance", followed by a "Thank you", and it seems to work like a charm

hahahaha I remember a few years ago I was tailing a guy 17 laps in at night and he kept saying 'do you want to pass' while we climbed up those steep windy switch backs near the top of the lap.

 

When it opened up on that straight road up to the dam and the A frame on the left I 'opened the gas' and left him for dead. I was at least half a wheel ahead of him!

[Karman de Lange]

Im in such 2 minds about doing this again. ... I don't mind the suffering myself, but my poor wife need to sit around 20 hrs looking after me.  Not sure I can do that to her again ...

 

anyone have tips on doing this unsupported ?

[Velouria]

Im in such 2 minds about doing this again. ... I don't mind the suffering myself, but my poor wife need to sit around 20 hrs looking after me.  Not sure I can do that to her again ...

 

anyone have tips on doing this unsupported ?

I always say that riding the bike is the easy part. Being the brains of the operation is the hard part.

 

I think doing it unsupported solo should be a separate category!

(My only advice would be a very big cooler box with 30 premixed bottles!)

[Karman de Lange]

I always say that riding the bike is the easy part. Being the brains of the operation is the hard part.

 

I think doing it unsupported solo should be a separate category!

(My only advice would be a very big cooler box with 30 premixed bottles!)

 

Last time I managed to fill my bottle  on each lap at the water station,  it takes only few seconds ... its the food and coffee part.... nothing like a nice hot mocha to boost your mood...  and you never know what you going to crave after few hours, so pre making food always risky.

[Grease_Monkey]

Entered, very keen for this. Always fun doing some night riding!

[Velouria]

Last time I managed to fill my bottle  on each lap at the water station,  it takes only few seconds ... its the food and coffee part.... nothing like a nice hot mocha to boost your mood...  and you never know what you going to crave after few hours, so pre making food always risky.

And the shoulder to cry on at 3 in the morning when you want to go home!

[PhilipV]

And the shoulder to cry on at 3 in the morning when you want to go home!

Only applicable if you camp at Camp Velouria. You want to cry yourself to sleep, while we are already asleep.

 

Your wife is smart, she rocks up with a gazebo and one chair. So that she can sit down.

Edited January 8, 2020 by PhilipV