[Event] Sedgefield 500 - Gravalist Series

[Gravalist]

Event Name: Sedgefield 500 - Gravalist Series
When: 12/09/2025 - 14/09/2025
Where: Sedgefield, GroenvalleiSedgefield, Western Cape
Category: Gravel

Embark on an unforgettable adventure through South Africa’s breathtaking Garden Route with the Sedgefield 500, an ultra-endurance gravel bikepacking race that combines raw challenge with unparalleled natural beauty.

Covering 500 kilometers of diverse terrain, this epic journey takes riders from Sedgefield through lush forests, rugged mountains, and along pristine coastal stretches. The ever-changing landscapes will keep you inspired as you push through remote backcountry trails, scenic passes, and untouched wilderness.

Expect steep climbs, technical descents, and rugged gravel roads that will test both your physical endurance and mental resilience. Every grueling ascent is rewarded with awe-inspiring views, while every descent brings you closer to personal triumph and discovery.

Go to Event Page.

[bjnortier]

Love it when someone cancels an event 10 days before the day and does it by posting it on the website and not even sending an email

https://gravalist.com/stories/were-no-longer-running-events-heres-what-that-means-for-you

[Skubarra]

23 minutes ago, bjnortier said:

Love it when someone cancels an event 10 days before the day and does it by posting it on the website and not even sending an email

https://gravalist.com/stories/were-no-longer-running-events-heres-what-that-means-for-you

Honestly how would you notice the difference? As I have it the sum total of organising here consisted of a gps file emailed to you and maybe someone tracking you online.

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, bjnortier said:

Love it when someone cancels an event 10 days before the day and does it by posting it on the website and not even sending an email

https://gravalist.com/stories/were-no-longer-running-events-heres-what-that-means-for-you

damn. That is really swak. no posts on the IG either, so would be a *** way to find out. https://www.instagram.com/gravalist/

 

 

I was looking at doing one of these in the near future. My own fault for sitting on the fence (well putting time into another sport).

The business model was always quite odd to me (it's not really a business, is it?).

[bjnortier]

I have a subscription for all events but I heard from a mate who entered only Sedgefield that he did in fact get an email. 

[Shebeen]

3 minutes ago, bjnortier said:

I have a subscription for all events but I heard from a mate who entered only Sedgefield that he did in fact get an email. 

I'm on the mailing list. always thought there was a secret whatsapp group I would only get access to after doing an event. oh well, still keen to go exploring sometime - they might well still fit the bill

[dave303e]

28 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

I'm on the mailing list. always thought there was a secret whatsapp group I would only get access to after doing an event. oh well, still keen to go exploring sometime - they might well still fit the bill

maybe time to test some of the bikepacking.com routes, or create new ones...

[Grant B]

I had entered this year and they did send an email to notify us - still disappointing. I did it last year and can confirm there is no secret whatsapp group 😂.

I have the route in gpx if anyone keen to do it.

[KingZA]

I can understand that there's nobody at the start or along the route and that's how these rides have mostly been. The core of this series is about unassisted bikepacking/riding which is very cool. Some people will line up to race it and other will take a few days to have a social ride.

That said, it's not great for how this was handled especially because people have been training for months for this. Surely there should still be a tracking app/map so we can follow the riders?

The R2500 "event" fee was difficult enough to justify before this

[Shebeen]

23 minutes ago, KingZA said:

I can understand that there's nobody at the start or along the route and that's how these rides have mostly been. The core of this series is about unassisted bikepacking/riding which is very cool. Some people will line up to race it and other will take a few days to have a social ride.

That said, it's not great for how this was handled especially because people have been training for months for this. Surely there should still be a tracking app/map so we can follow the riders?

The R2500 "event" fee was difficult enough to justify before this

https://sedgefield500-2023.maprogress.com/

18 people at this one. sort of high point for this series, maybe too many events on. Costs? well it depends on how much "support" there was, and the tracking doesn't come for free.

Unsupported races are a complicated grey area. You can charge a packet and load in hype accordingly, but you're not getting road permission so it's a shaky ground if something goes wrong.

My guess is that this became an issue, otherwise this event would have been held and the rest cancelled. maybe I'm shooting in the dark.

 

I don't blame them for trying

[KingZA]

56 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

https://sedgefield500-2023.maprogress.com/

18 people at this one. sort of high point for this series, maybe too many events on. Costs? well it depends on how much "support" there was, and the tracking doesn't come for free.

Unsupported races are a complicated grey area. You can charge a packet and load in hype accordingly, but you're not getting road permission so it's a shaky ground if something goes wrong.

My guess is that this became an issue, otherwise this event would have been held and the rest cancelled. maybe I'm shooting in the dark.

 

I don't blame them for trying

Yip, I definitely don't blame them for trying either and really hope that they succeed with good events in the future.

I did their 2024 event and loved it. Because of this I have some insight into costs and would guess that their breakeven for this event is about 8 riders. Essentially it's just the tracking which is R 1000 max and then travel and accomodation for 3 or 4 people.

There's at least 5 riders doing it this year (More once you start adding their subscription riders) which is why I say it's fine for them not to travel to the event and make a loss. Just do live tracking and encourage participants to send in some pics and vids for content.

I hear you on the grey area of unsupported races but they do make it abundantly clear to participants that there is zero support out there and you agree to have insurance including rescue and evacuation. For me, I'm happy to accept all risks so it works and for others who arent keen to do that then they can skip these sort of things.

[ChrisF]

1 hour ago, Shebeen said:

....

Unsupported races are a complicated grey area. .....

 

23 minutes ago, KingZA said:

....
I hear you on the grey area of unsupported races but they do make it abundantly clear to participants that there is zero support out there and you agree to have insurance including rescue and evacuation. For me, I'm happy to accept all risks so it works and for others who arent keen to do that then they can skip these sort of things.

 

For better or worse (worse for the sport) there are very clear By-Laws in place that govern "events" .... you sell an entry ticket you are legally liable.

 

Participants cant sign away their rights nor safety.

 

Adding ambulance etc for such a small number of riders over such long distances .... the numbers were never going to add up.

 

 

Let's not forget the Two Oceans fiasco where the City of Cape Town, and by implication the Government of the Western Cape, were co-sponsors of an oversubscribed event ..... that storm has most certainly not died down yet !!

 

Even a small "organised" park run on a farm now has the local council staff at the venue checking permits, facilities, number of entrants, etc ....  Last month the organiser had to stop day entries as they reached their permit number. 

 

 

It must suck even more than normal to be an event organiser in the Western Cape during these times.  

 

 

 

And yet, more than a 1 000 people may cram into Bellville park for a park run .... because it is "not an organised event".  NO organiser will ever get a permit to over populate that area like that .....

 

 

STRANGE world we live in master Jack ....

[dave303e]

14 hours ago, Shebeen said:

https://sedgefield500-2023.maprogress.com/

18 people at this one. sort of high point for this series, maybe too many events on. Costs? well it depends on how much "support" there was, and the tracking doesn't come for free.

Unsupported races are a complicated grey area. You can charge a packet and load in hype accordingly, but you're not getting road permission so it's a shaky ground if something goes wrong.

My guess is that this became an issue, otherwise this event would have been held and the rest cancelled. maybe I'm shooting in the dark.

 

I don't blame them for trying

having just finished arguably one of the biggest unsupported bikepacking races in the world, I can confirm that there is a lot to it in terms of 'unsupported.'

Unsupported is actually more the rules of the race- no help from other competitors, no drafting and nothing along the way that isn't commercially available to everyone. 

For example we got major discounts from some of the biggest brands in bikepacking.

Tracking and tracker rental.
Meals at Checkpoints.

There were support cars on route if the sh.. hit the fan.

We got access to military controlled areas that tourists can't usually go and boy were they spectacular. The rest of the route they had clearance, they had also arranged a police escort out of town for the start which at rush hour traffic for 20km is major.

Organiser got the minister of tourism to step in and sort out our visa's when they were declined.

In terms of safety, they checked skill and experience in the entry process to decide if we should be allowed to race. 
They checked bike and gear to see we would be safe on course and not going to end up in **** with a lack of gear. 

There was a lot of media on route and podcasts and posts etc. They had a team of dot watchers tracking people and checking for route issues and if people were stopped for long periods of time. We got whatsapped when our tracker batteries got low or died. I was met on course to check why my tracker was not working early on.

So unsupported means the rules of how you race, the race itself provides an impressive safety net and network of support.

[Shebeen]

1 hour ago, dave303e said:

having just finished arguably one of the biggest unsupported bikepacking races in the world, I can confirm that there is a lot to it in terms of 'unsupported.'

Unsupported is actually more the rules of the race- no help from other competitors, no drafting and nothing along the way that isn't commercially available to everyone. 

For example we got major discounts from some of the biggest brands in bikepacking.

Tracking and tracker rental.
Meals at Checkpoints.

There were support cars on route if the sh.. hit the fan.

We got access to military controlled areas that tourists can't usually go and boy were they spectacular. The rest of the route they had clearance, they had also arranged a police escort out of town for the start which at rush hour traffic for 20km is major.

Organiser got the minister of tourism to step in and sort out our visa's when they were declined.

In terms of safety, they checked skill and experience in the entry process to decide if we should be allowed to race. 
They checked bike and gear to see we would be safe on course and not going to end up in **** with a lack of gear. 

There was a lot of media on route and podcasts and posts etc. They had a team of dot watchers tracking people and checking for route issues and if people were stopped for long periods of time. We got whatsapped when our tracker batteries got low or died. I was met on course to check why my tracker was not working early on.

So unsupported means the rules of how you race, the race itself provides an impressive safety net and network of support.

@dave303e how to tell people you did #Silkroad without telling people you did #Silkroad(please tell us more on another thread)! I don't think gravalist was trying to recreate this, if anything more like Tour divide - (but that doesn't even have an entry fee).