Enduro Western Cape | Hoogekraal | 12 Things We Learned

Round 2 done and dusted and what an enduro it was. Freezing morning temperatures did not hold anyone back and it seemed that the five stages were going to put riders to both a gravity and cardio test. The pictures say 1000 words so let me not overwhelm you with more. Here are some interesting points we learned from the race.

1. Matt Lombardi and Frankie Du Toit now have competition. They won again, but it seems that new riders on the scene want the 1st place podium. Will they be dethroned in Jonkershoek?

2. There are a lot of new faces in Enduro, especially newcomers from XCO.

3. The knee height of a grass hopper class, AKA the young sproglets, is growing. More and more groms are entering the lite category and then being towed around the mountain by their parents. Thank you parents.

4. 9% of the field were females. Can we get to 15% for Jonkershoek?

5. There are a lot of cool brands in the mountain biking vendor/chill zone that pushed to interact with their riders – Giant bicycles, SRAM, Leatt, Lyne and ION, well done.

6. Hoogekraal suited trail bikes over enduro bikes and hardtails. 115m to 130mm trail bikes seemed to outperform their bigger enduro and hard tails.

7. The Trail Shepherd, Patrick, built some rad off-camber new sections that make for wild riding. We want more Tygerberg!!!!

8. Free Beer from Starke Breweries made for a rowdy crowd at prize giving.

9. Enduro riders are starting to match their riding kit. Sartorial game is being upped.

10. Quite a few MTB WhatsApp Crews are wearing Team Shirts. Go Team!

11. 245 Entrants. Are these the biggest enduros on the African continent? (Answer – YES)

12. Registering 245 riders took longer than expected. Rest assured that plans are in place to deliver a quicker registration experience at the next race.

Start training for Round 3 at Jonkershoek on the 6th of October. It’s SA champs and an EWS world qualifier. The stages are fully spectator friendly.

Huge thanks to Tygerberg MTB Club and Giant Bikes. Without you guys and your professional people, we’d not be able to hold these events. Sending high 5’s.

And all information for the Enduro Western Cape Series can be found on our Facebook and Instagram accounts. This is the only place we operate so follow us for info on the best enduro and trail riding in the province.