Schools Marathon Series

[Martin Albrecht]

I have just seen this interesting press release on Tread Media. 
 

https://www.treadmtb.co.za/luxliner-launches-2026-schools-mtb-series-to-grow-marathon-racing-talent

 

I suppose we should be happy about any initiatives to grow cycling as a sport, especially at the youth level. But is this really a good idea? XCO, which is actually the bigger discipline, at least at competitive level internationally, and currently to only official Olympic discipline is already very sparsely supported in South Africa, and beyond the current schools series, is basically non existent in SA. We hardly field enough elite level riers at adult level to the XCO provincial and nationals to comply with the minimum criteria for the events to count towards national team selection.

add to this, that there is no international competitive discipline for marathon racing at junior level. UCI XCM category riders must be 19 or older to participate, and there isn’t even an u/23 caregory. It is a full on adult only/senior level sport. 
 

Does it really make sense to draw even more attention away from XCO in South Africa? 
 

I am not sure where I sit on this, but interested to hear others opinions. 

[DanMan]

Schools cycling already has a marathon series part of the Trailseeker series. This is not something new.

Also, this a category that brought in by the Race organiser to boost his event. It does not look like this series is endorsed or sanctioned by Schools Cycling SA. 

Unfortunately, from a commercial point of view, hosting XCO races is not a money maker. If the federations don't drive it, commercial race organisers won't touch it as entries are low and setup cost too high to make profit. 

[ChrisF]

Our experience of the then SPUR MTB series, now the Schools cycling SA series -

 

Primary school - SHORT distances ... around 6 or 7km total race distance, number of laps depends on the lap distance.  As the kids gets older the number of laps increase.  At places like Paul Roos the slightly more difficult leg of the lap was excluded for the smaller kids.

 

High school - now the number of laps increased and on the odd route included something slightly more fun for the bigger kids.  Now the difference between the fun riders and the sponsored kids with private coaches became very visible ....

 

I recall these kids being invited to attend an annual XCO event at Bloemendal .... very FEW attended, and those that did commented that the XCO format was brutal, when compared to the schools series.  These short high intensity blasts seems a bit much for most kids .... (topic all on its own, especially if we want to grow international talent)

 

What is the aim of the this new series (only scanned their page) .... more technical ?  Higher intensity ?  OR, the concept of longer rides of "easier" (kid friendly) technicality ?

 

 

Racing .... parents wants to drive to the venue ... complain if they have to spend too much time between registration and their kids race ..... and then off they go ..... it seems to be part of the action sport mindset .... 

 

 

Just my musings of a few years exposure to the school series.  I DO hope they manage to get enough teenagers involved to make this into something ....

[ChrisF]

10 minutes ago, DanMan said:

Schools cycling already has a marathon series part of the Trailseeker series. This is not something new.

Also, this a category that brought in by the Race organiser to boost his event. It does not look like this series is endorsed or sanctioned by Schools Cycling SA. 

Unfortunately, from a commercial point of view, hosting XCO races is not a money maker. If the federations don't drive it, commercial race organisers won't touch it as entries are low and setup cost too high to make profit. 

 

Curiosity sake - what distance do the kids ride at the Trailseeker events ?

[DanMan]

11 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Curiosity sake - what distance do the kids ride at the Trailseeker events ?

They did the half marathons and 20km for younger ages if I am correct. 

[Ratty]

20 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

Curiosity sake - what distance do the kids ride at the Trailseeker events ?

Sub-nippers (7-8) - 10kms

Nippers (9-10) - 20kms  

I think all other age groups up to 15 do the 20kms and the after 15 it's 40km's.

[Ratty]

The schools XCO series in the WC has over 100 riders in the Primary school age groups.  It's complete mayhem especially when the laps are less than 2km's.  The Trailseeker XCM series is harder for parents when the kids are still very young as you have to let them cycle off into the distance with no support and hope they return safely.  It seems this new school series is only catering for the older kids.

I think a lot of the kids could easily transition from the XCO schools series to actual XCO races, but parents just don't know about it.  As someone who knows about them, I still struggled to find information.  

My son has raced in the school series the last 2 years and is finally old enough to start with the WP XCO races.  It's going to be interesting to see how big the jump is from the schools series.  I know the Bloemendal track they raced last year he can easily ride.  In the school series, the sub-nippers and nippers finish their race in less than 10 minutes.  So you drive all that way for 10 minutes of riding. At least with XCO they will be riding for a little bit longer.

 

 

[RocknRolla]

22 hours ago, Martin Albrecht said:

I have just seen this interesting press release on Tread Media. 
 

https://www.treadmtb.co.za/luxliner-launches-2026-schools-mtb-series-to-grow-marathon-racing-talent

 

I suppose we should be happy about any initiatives to grow cycling as a sport, especially at the youth level. But is this really a good idea? XCO, which is actually the bigger discipline, at least at competitive level internationally, and currently to only official Olympic discipline is already very sparsely supported in South Africa, and beyond the current schools series, is basically non existent in SA. We hardly field enough elite level riers at adult level to the XCO provincial and nationals to comply with the minimum criteria for the events to count towards national team selection.

add to this, that there is no international competitive discipline for marathon racing at junior level. UCI XCM category riders must be 19 or older to participate, and there isn’t even an u/23 caregory. It is a full on adult only/senior level sport. 
 

Does it really make sense to draw even more attention away from XCO in South Africa? 
 

I am not sure where I sit on this, but interested to hear others opinions. 

What about just riding bicycles and having fun with a bunch of school mates.

It's good for the kids, and it also brings parents into the sport, that would have otherwise only supported the beer garden while their little one rides the dirt roads. I have seen many parents taking up the sport the would otherwise not have done so if their kids were not part of a school cycling group. (Trailseeker, Leverage corp, Northern farms etc events.) 

I think competition is great for child development, but jeez, not everything needs to be done with the aim of making it to the world cup or the olympics. 

XCO is great, but not everyone enjoys bleeding through their eyes for 2 hours riding around in technical circles. 

Yes, this is being done as a marketing exercise by Leverage Corp, but it may have added benefit for the growth of the sport in a broader sense. This could be good for the industry as a whole, if they actually decide to market bikes that cater for the every-man and not upper class moguls of industry.

 

[ChrisF]

34 minutes ago, Ratty said:

The schools XCO series in the WC has over 100 riders in the Primary school age groups.  It's complete mayhem especially when the laps are less than 2km's.  The Trailseeker XCM series is harder for parents when the kids are still very young as you have to let them cycle off into the distance with no support and hope they return safely.  It seems this new school series is only catering for the older kids.

I think a lot of the kids could easily transition from the XCO schools series to actual XCO races, but parents just don't know about it.  As someone who knows about them, I still struggled to find information.  

My son has raced in the school series the last 2 years and is finally old enough to start with the WP XCO races.  It's going to be interesting to see how big the jump is from the schools series.  I know the Bloemendal track they raced last year he can easily ride.  In the school series, the sub-nippers and nippers finish their race in less than 10 minutes.  So you drive all that way for 10 minutes of riding. At least with XCO they will be riding for a little bit longer.

 

 

 

Jeepers .... makes me think of the trips to Worcester.

 

EARLY morning drive.  Do one practice lap with Maritz in gale force Northerly winds .... Then wait two groups and he is off .... the wait feels like forever before you see where he is in the bunch at the end of lap one .... okay he survived and is mid-pack, making up a few spots through the school grounds .... lap two ....

 

and its done ....

 

I would do it again in a heartbeat !!!  But certainly a long day for a short bike ride.

 

Now he is into computer games .... I MISS our times on the trails .... they grow up way too quickly.  ENJOY every moment and every trail ....

[Martin Albrecht]

54 minutes ago, RocknRolla said:

What about just riding bicycles and having fun with a bunch of school mates.

It's good for the kids, and it also brings parents into the sport, that would have otherwise only supported the beer garden while their little one rides the dirt roads. I have seen many parents taking up the sport the would otherwise not have done so if their kids were not part of a school cycling group. (Trailseeker, Leverage corp, Northern farms etc events.) 

I think competition is great for child development, but jeez, not everything needs to be done with the aim of making it to the world cup or the olympics. 

XCO is great, but not everyone enjoys bleeding through their eyes for 2 hours riding around in technical circles. 

Yes, this is being done as a marketing exercise by Leverage Corp, but it may have added benefit for the growth of the sport in a broader sense. This could be good for the industry as a whole, if they actually decide to market bikes that cater for the every-man and not upper class moguls of industry.

 

I am all for kids just riding bikes for fun with their mates. But it’s not as if theirs is a shortage of opportunity to do so already, especially considering the trailseeker series already incorporates a school series into the competition.

It just feels like there are already 3 or 4 options for marathon type events every weekend, over and above the trailseeker series, and at the same time, we are really battling to develop XCO riders in South Africa, with most falling by the wayside by the time they are teenagers. If someone wanted to start a new schools series there’s a golden opportunity to do it in the XCO space. But yes, we South Africans (me included) are absolutely XCM obsessed, so I do understand them going that way from a brand exposure point of view.

I also realise now this is not CSA sanctioned etc, so I guess they are free to do as they please. I initially thought this was an new official “sanctioned” school series, which to me seemed odd since what CSA really needs to do on the MTB side is figure out how to develop more interest in XCO. 
 

also, with XCO being so much more spectator friendly, I have never understood why it isn’t more popular here. 

Edited January 20 by Martin Albrecht

[RocknRolla]

Market wise, the trend certainly is not technical short course high-intensity rides in the form of XCO. 

Even mountain bike races are foregoing whatever little pieces of singletrack there was in favour of dirt roads for the new kid on the block.

As for CSA, and their involvement for the development of the sport at ground roots? Good luck with that, My limited dealings in that reagard in the past does not instill confidence.

[Stretched@Birth]

28 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Jeepers .... makes me think of the trips to Worcester.

 

EARLY morning drive.  Do one practice lap with Maritz in gale force Northerly winds .... Then wait two groups and he is off .... the wait feels like forever before you see where he is in the bunch at the end of lap one .... okay he survived and is mid-pack, making up a few spots through the school grounds .... lap two ....

 

and its done ....

 

I would do it again in a heartbeat !!!  But certainly a long day for a short bike ride.

 

Now he is into computer games .... I MISS our times on the trails .... they grow up way too quickly.  ENJOY every moment and every trail ....

My youngster has gotten into bank angling in the school league...  VERY early morning drive to the arse end of some body of water, to be ready to fish when the hooter goes off at 07:00, dad has to stay at least 30m away, no coaching from the sideline, then the hooter goes at 15:00 again, weigh in, pack up, drive home.  

By the time you are home, cleaned up and fed, it's time for bed.  

[Martin Albrecht]

2 hours ago, RocknRolla said:

Market wise, the trend certainly is not technical short course high-intensity rides in the form of XCO. 

Even mountain bike races are foregoing whatever little pieces of singletrack there was in favour of dirt roads for the new kid on the block.

As for CSA, and their involvement for the development of the sport at ground roots? Good luck with that, My limited dealings in that reagard in the past does not instill confidence.

We must be looking at very different markets. XCM races in my experience over the past 10 years have gotten a lot more technical, with more and more single track being added as the trail networks grow, and often will include sections of the the XCO tracks into the route. Many of the previous “non technical” mountain bike races have rebranded themselves as gravel races now as well. Obviously for mass participation events you need to a good balance of terrains, with enough “open” road sections to allow safe overtaking and letting groups spread out a bit before entering the single track again. But in my experience marathon races have most definately gotten more technical, as the bikes have gotten more and more capable. There is very little difference these days set up wise between an XCO and marathon bike. I would also say XCO skills carry over very well into marathon racing. So it really should be a discipline that gets more focus, especially at schools level. 
 

Nino Schurter dominated XCO for almost two decades, yet it didn’t get in the way of him racking up multiple cape epic victories. Our local boy Alan Hatherly is currently back to back XCO world champ, and that doesn’t seem to hold him back from Stellar performances in marathons too, having just defended his Hell of the South podium, and making a pretty successful transition to a career on the world tour on the road. 
 

Time and again, when the competition really heats up, the “marathon” specialists are shown up by XCO riders, because XCO makes them all around better riders. 
 

Candice Lill is another prime example. Her successes in marathon events has only improved, as her XCO career has flourished, and the fact remains, if a youngster has any ambitions of going pro in MTB, XCO is the right pipeline for that.

Maybe I totally misunderstand the goal of this new schools series, considering there is already a schools series in the trailseeker series, but I just think it’s a missed opportunity for someone who wants to do something meaningful for schools mountain-biking to not have done something in the XCO space. Especially up north, where it seems XCO is essentially dead in the water. 
 

2 hours ago, Stretched@Birth said:

My youngster has gotten into bank angling in the school league...  VERY early morning drive to the arse end of some body of water, to be ready to fish when the hooter goes off at 07:00, dad has to stay at least 30m away, no coaching from the sideline, then the hooter goes at 15:00 again, weigh in, pack up, drive home.  

By the time you are home, cleaned up and fed, it's time for bed.  

Sounds like cycling could might have been a more enjoyable (for dad) option, and from what I remember about fishing, might very well have turned out a cheaper option too🤪🚵‍♂️🎣. But at least he has chosen something that gets him outdoors, he could have spent his Saturday mornings pretending to be fishing on his PlayStation instead….