3Hour option added to Oak Valley event

Many riders from the Cape Town & Boland areas will be gathering their camping gear for an enjoyable two days in Grabouw this weekend of 14 & 15 April. The 24Hours of Oak Valley, presented by Bike Hub will take place from 12h00 on Saturday and now a three-hour option has been added on Sunday from 9am to finish at 12pm with the 24hour participants.

Riders can enter in the Open, Mixed or ‘Vet’ categories of teams of four. The Solo category is limited, but there is also a fun team category where 5 to 8 riders can do the relay. But hurry, as only pre-entries are accepted until Wednesday evening! The 3hour event is for solo riders only.

This year a new 24Hour Trail Run event has been added too, with a separate route with a solo or team of four option. Runners can also do their course as many times as they like in the 24hour period or just enter for the 3Hour event on Sunday.

The 3Hour will also be timed with live results on the day. All participants can refresh at the transition or start/finish area with free energy drink, lube station, massage service and bike shop for mechanicals. Food & drink will be for sale with lots of space for support crew & families to camp and lawns for kids to play.

Camping is allowed for the 24Hour entrants and each solo member or team can bring two support crew free. An update on the routes as follows:

MOUNTAIN BIKE

Distance: 11.5km
Elevation: 288m

Reverting back to the 2016 route means our favourite descents like Vissie’s are back!

We are going to add a midway chicane on this descent to facilitate passing.

The climb up to the top A-frame is a necessary evil if you want to experience some of the best singletrack descending in the Cape. Unlike 2017, the 2016 climb has the midway singletrack section to break things up a bit.

With just under 300m of climbing a lap, it is a testing course with around 70% of singletrack.

TRAIL RUN

Distance: 5.2km
Elevation: 69m

The route is almost 90% singletrack with most of this in the wonderful Oak Valley forests.
Although the elevation is low there are a few short, sharp climbs that will certainly be testing later in the event once the lactic acids start settling in.

The route is twisty and undulating and is certainly going the keep the mind busy, especially at night time! We expect the fastest lap times to be just over 20min with a 30min average.

The rider (or runner) or team of each category that completes the most laps in the 24hour period wins, although most participants just go for the socializing and do go sleep rather than riding through the night. The course has singletrack & jeep track and keeps the riders busy, especially during the night when the course takes a different feel. The loop caters for all level riders and has around 2/3 singletrack and over 1/2 of that is forested!

Non-riders can join in the fun by supporting the participants at the transition zone.

Entry fees vary per category, and includes camping, support crew, riding, goody bag, drinks, medal and charging stations for lights & batteries.

Spectators will pay a R50 day fee to enter the event area and extra campers will pay R100 for Saturday night, but official support crew (two per team or Solo) can camp free. Gates for camping & registration opens 7am Saturday morning.

Dirtopia has organized just about 30 of these 24hour events since 2003, but this venue seems to offer a lot for the riders & campers alike. Some riders will use the event as training, some will race to win and other will just be there for chilling with their friends. What a great outdoor way to start the year and get back that holiday feeling!