On 9 February, for the first time, South Africa’s mountain bikers will have the opportunity of racing on the terrain that belongs to the Airports Company of South Africa (Acsa) inside the perimeter of the Oliver Tambo International Airport.
Wynand de Villiers, the race organiser, said while he and his crew were planning the route on their mountain bikes it felt a times as if the Boeings were going to land right on top of you.
“It’s exhilarating and exciting,” he said. “Actually amazing is the right word to use to describe how it felt, cycling in the terrain around the runways. It is a totally new experience and I think it’s an opportunity not to be missed for anyone who can turn the pedals.
“It’s going to be particularly special because we also don’t know if we’ll be able to use the designated terrain again because of the rapid rate of development at the Airport.
“It’s a huge concession from the Airport and Acsa has bought into the event in a big way as part of their drive to serve the community around them.”
According to De Villiers it is going to be a fast race. “The route is flat with no heavy technical sections. You won’t ever have to get off your bike, unless the rain washes us away, of course!
“It will be a lot similar to the routes we designed for the Subaru Lost City MTB Challenge and the PowerAde Dome2Dome Spectacular. We set out to create the same riding environment where relative novices don’t have to feel intimidated.
“The race will consist of laps over 15km or 25km. We’re going over the terrain again on Saturday and then we’ll make the final call,” he said.
The weekend’s activities – Sunday, 10 February, sees the running of the Emperors Palace Road Classic – are shaped around creating a hassle free environment for spectators and participants and the staff and management at Emperors Palace are going all out to make cyclists feel at home over the weekend.
Courtesy of the generosity of Emperors Palace, with support from Acsa, proceeds from the event will be donated to the Rotary Club of Germiston and Little Eden.
Little Eden is a registered non-profit organisation which was founded 40 years ago by Domitilla and Danny Hayms, with the aim of providing mentally handicapped children with a peaceful, loving, permanent home.
Little Eden comprises two facilities – the original Edenvale Home and the Elvira Rota Village, a 43ha farm in Bapsfontein. Together these two facilities present care to 290 children and adults with profound mental handicaps.
Entries for the road and mountain-bike events are open at the CycleLab website. Entries close on Monday, 28 January. For race information phone the race office on (011) 662 2494
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