Gravel burn 2025

[Eugene Oppelt]

📸 @katermachen

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, Rowl said:

Matt wins and Ashleigh is off the podium... Seemingly the French lady took it back?

Wow!!! That is a turn around of note

[Headshot]

21 hours ago, jcza said:

This 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 yes the start had to be neutral but everyone still rode it. However, sections of the course were simply unsuitable for gravel racing. The event is great for South Africa and tourism but in my opinion the route does not showcase the gravel we have available in South Africa. 

Why were they unsuitable? It was gravel roads wasn't it? 

[jcza]

30 minutes ago, Headshot said:

Why were they unsuitable? It was gravel roads wasn't it? 

I think you should ask the pros and not the midpackers. We managed to ride the entire stage without getting blown off. I maintain that the rocky descent was not suitable for gravel racing and dangerous. Chilling at Shamwari, race done. I’ll add a full report later. Top Tip immediately following the finish. You don’t need a gravel bike, stick drop bars on your MTB and you’ll have a much better time. 

[Ozzie NL]

20 hours ago, Eugene Oppelt said:

380 / 522 left

Interesting.... that is about the same drop out rate as Epic

[SSCC]

1 hour ago, jcza said:

You don’t need a gravel bike, stick drop bars on your MTB and you’ll have a much better time. 

Agree with this. Or a gravel bike with suspension and MTb tyres. 

It’s odd that if you call something a gravel race people automatically think a rigid gravel bike with 45’s is a good choice. All you had to do was look at the route and ask people to know how rough it is out there.

[NotSoBigBen]

I'll probably take some stick for this but to my mind if you call something a gravel race the route should at the very least be 'traditional' gravel bike friendly ... shouldn't need suspension or phat tyres

But probably just me, I have my hat and my coat nevermind

[HdB]

16 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

I'll probably take some stick for this but to my mind if you call something a gravel race the route should at the very least be 'traditional' gravel bike friendly ... shouldn't need suspension or phat tyres

But probably just me, I have my hat and my coat nevermind

Have the route designer ride each stage on an entry-ish level gravel bike (TitanRacing Switch or Avalanche Roam) with 45mm tyres, rather than their Hilux, to see how it might actually be for the participants 😉

Ideally it should just be clear to the prospective participants how hard or technical route they can expect, and prepare accordingly. But that would also require people to read the race briefing emails or pay attention to the announcer instead of chatting to their buddies, so... completely unprepared people will keep attempting the Cape Epic etc.

[DieselnDust]

1 hour ago, NotSoBigBen said:

I'll probably take some stick for this but to my mind if you call something a gravel race the route should at the very least be 'traditional' gravel bike friendly ... shouldn't need suspension or phat tyres

But probably just me, I have my hat and my coat nevermind

I agree 90% ….

the other 10% is in the unforeseen , like weather and other vehicular traffic prior to the event. 
I’ll stick my neck out again and state that Gravel is basically Mtb marathon 20years ago. By the time a road derived gravel bike is made comfortable enough with suspension and suspension seat posts it’s weighing as much as a hardtail. Its only benefit is the larger chain ring but they can be fixed with a bit of research and parts acquisition. The idea of drop bars on a Mtb is the right direction imo

[Michael S]

Enjoyed that immensely, incredible event.

Some days were rough, could have done with an mtb, one day was a road race, could have done with a road bike. All in all very happy with my rigid bike with 2.2F/2.1R ( had to do 45R today as Thunderburts are made of paper). 

They did very clearly note that you would want to max out your tyre for this and don't even come with anything less than 45s.

Re the stage 6 MTB race issue, I feel it was fine, sure rough in places but and you have to have your wits about you, but it's not like they sent us through a single track rock garden where anyone had to walk, So managable I felt. Rough no doubt, but it's not supposed to be the UCI gravel world champs spin in the park. 

[mrcg]

If you want to race in Africa, bring/have your big girl panties

Edited November 1, 2025 by mrcg
Spelling

[J Wakefield]

I thought it was a pretty good race for year 1 and the racing was good through the categories I was following. Great that with the growth and professionalism of gravel in today’s modern cycling, this is a serious add on edition. 
People I spoke to racing it, didn’t really have any of these complaints here, but then they were racing and clearly had none of these experiences like everyone not racing here commenting did

[Eugene Oppelt]

Dust. Hailstones. Emergency evacuation. Torrential rain. Sinkplaat. Giraffes. Race neutralisation. Wildebeest. Tears. 40 degrees up mountain passes. Tears - of joy and pain. Beautiful racing.

📸 @CSkosan

[Prince Albert Cycles]

1 hour ago, Eugene Oppelt said:

Dust. Hailstones. Emergency evacuation. Torrential rain. Sinkplaat. Giraffes. Race neutralisation. Wildebeest. Tears. 40 degrees up mountain passes. Tears - of joy and pain. Beautiful racing.

📸 @CSkosan

You omitted $$

[the_roadie]

43 minutes ago, Prince Albert Cycles said:

You omitted $$

100%. $$ for a premium race. Which is what we got. My only complaint was stage 6, the rest was incredible and very well organized. Definitely doing this again next year. 

[jcza]

Home safe and will be back in office tomorrow. What an adventure! 

Organization was great but there were some small problems. Showers and toilets must be improved. Meals were outstanding and special thanks to the serving staff. The Vida team rocked and I was amazed at the number of coffees served so rapidly every day. Amacx nutrition and the padstals (water points) were superb. The new Amacx frozen gel when its 40c is a lifesaver. I recall someone mentioned entries fees of R4m but I think this cost at least 3 times that. The scale is hard to explain. I don't have an issue with the entry fee, I am satisfied that I received value for my money. Experience with mates that we will talk about for years to come. In my opinion the route wasn't the best. Day 1 was great, conditions made it challenging but nothing the organizer can do about the weather. Day 2 wasn't bad. 2 hour bus ride was a pain. Day 3 was great and challenging. Day 4 we battled the wind but again cannot fault the organizer. Day 5 had too much tar and day 6 was overly technical. I know it was neutralized but we still rode 144km and experienced wind, rain, hail, heat etc. Weather beyond their control but too much technical and I cannot see how it can be safely raced on gravel bikes. Consider that a professional rider on a MTB ended up in hospital. Day 7 was great and felt like proper gravel, although tar again with last minute route change. I'm not sure why. In the buildup I heard many references to champagne gravel but did not see much champagne gravel, unless tar also counts as champagne gravel. 

Overall, it was fantastic and I have no regrets. Will I do it again? If the route is the same, then it's a no from me. Route change then very likely. Kudos to Kevin Vermaak and team, I know there are many critics, but pulling this off was some achievement.