Dawn of the Dirt II hits the Garden Route Trail Park

The previous weekend saw the Garden Route Trail Park host the second annual Dawn of the Dirt AKA #DOTD II

Dawn of the Dirt (DOTD) is a highlight of the BMX and MTB gravity calendar. Riders from all around the country gather at the Trail Park to enjoy a laid back weekend of sessions, braais and good times! Justin Novella and @TheTrailsCrew went all out this year spending months crafting another world class dirt line for South Africa’s top athletes to shred. The new DOTD line featured an impressive roll-in tower, followed by a series 100% dirt features including three flowing doubles, South Africa’s largest shark fin, and a massive trick step up at the end, fondly called as the “meat cannon”.

Canadian stunt machine “tricky Nicky” Clarke surprised the locals with an earlier than expected trip to South Africa. He landed at Cape Town international airport and caught a lift up to DOTD just in time for the dirt jam contest. In the end, his efforts paid off as he was able to unload a full trick bag claiming the MTB win!

Malcolm Peter’s had a busy weekend on both 20” and 24” claiming a double category 2nd. Special mention also goes out to young Reece Hayward. After only a year on the bike he’s already killing the main line, throwing huge flips all over the place and taking a deserved King of the Grom’s title.

Nathi Steez from Johannesburg really impressed the boys at his 1st national level BMX dirt contest. He completely ripped the line, boosting to the moon, and throwing shapes over every feature. In the end, all of Murry Loubser’s recent international riding experience proved its worth, as he claimed BMX 1st on the dirt. He beat OG Moe Peters who has been undefeated on South African dirt for the past 5+ years. It was so great to see so many old faces from the BMX scene at DOTD II – the South African BMXers really knows how to pull together when it counts.

The dirt line wasn’t the only new addition to the Garden Route Trail Park – The trails crew prepared two epic “big bike” jumps to let the full sus boys hang loose on for a best whip comp – this category of DOTD saw a lot of good yard sales but was hugely entertaining for all those involved. Theo proved to be the loosest and most sideways man of DOTD and winning the “ Von Zipper Best Whip” award.

The cSixx “Raduro” has to be South Africa’s most chilled good times mountain bike race of the year – its starts when all the boys are ready, avoids all climbs, and sees most athletes dress up in their “Raduro“ party on the trails gear. This year the Garden Route Trail Park was kind enough to cut a fresh section for the Raduro – good times where had by all – some of the athletes even ended up racing.

Big thanks to all involved with Dawn of th Dirt – an event by riders for riders – where schedules and admin are left behind and the only thing that is compulsory is that everyone has a rad weekend on their bike.