Girls to have Own Crater Cruise

 

Women will have their dedicated place in the spotlight, as part of the jam-packed cycling package in the 2007 Colorpress Crater Cruise, South Africa’s largest and most acclaimed mountain-bike race hosted in Parys. 

 

All the elements that have built the Cruise into an immensely popular event in its short three year history are still present, but the big change is that the women’s prize money is now only on offer for the 56km Cruise, taking place on Sunday, 14 October.

 

“It’s always been our vision for the top riders to have the finish to themselves without other finishers spoiling their moment,” explained race organiser Attie Koekemoer. “By bringing the women’s race over to the Sunday, we want to create a platform for women to have their big moment, and their own race.”

 

Women are still welcome to ride in the Marathon event over 106km on Saturday, and if they finish among the top 10 men, they can share in the R96 500 prize money for the overall race honours in the Marathon event.

 

On the Sunday however the ladies come first, and they can again look forward to the richest prize purse on offer in South African mountain-biking.

 

The top woman receives R21 000 as part of total prize purse for elite ladies totalling R48 250, while the total prize pot for the Crater Cruise is R200 000.

 

The Crater Cruise has since inception received the award for Mountain Bike Event of the Year at the annual Cyclist of the Year Awards Banquet, hosted by Cyclingnews.

 

The idea to host a “gravel road race” was a very bright one, and took off at lighting speed with South Africa’s road riders and mountain-bikers cross-pollinating, to contribute to Parys hosting the largest mountain-bike race in the country.

 

There is no doubt that the Marathon event is challenging, but the inspiration behind it remains a Cruise. The main obstacle on the provincial gravel roads are the partly-corrugated road surfaces, while the rest of the route follows jeep-track farm roads, with the odd rock garden and patches of loose sand to deal with.

 

There are some undulations, but certainly none of the monstrous mountains that other large events around the country have pegged as a pre-requisite to be a truly recognised mountain-bike race.

 

That was, of course, before the advent of the Crater Cruise, which has set its own rules and turned the world of mountain-biking on its head.

 

“The distance of 106km makes it a long ride, but our aim of the event will be to host it as a Cruise,” said Koekemoer. “It’s not about finishing in a certain time. It’s just about finishing, and soaking up the wonderful atmosphere and scenic surroundings that the Vredefort Dome has to offer on the banks of the Vaal River.

 

“So whether you take 3 hours to complete the Cruise, or a leisurely 8 hours, it’s entirely up to you and we urge cyclists to rather ride within their ability all the way than kill themselves to achieve a goal time. It’s a Cruise – do justice to the name,” he chuckled.

 

The Crater Cruise is an off-road biking experience through the largest meteorite impact crater in the world, with the Vredefort Dome (recently proclaimed as a World Heritage Site) playing host to a largely non-technical route, following gravel roads along the scenic banks of the Vaal River, rich in indigenous African wildlife and fauna and flora.

 

The event is hosted annually in October, with the start and finish at the Silhouette factory in the small town of Parys, and for the occasion, race organisers built Petit Paris, complete with Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.

 

In 2005 the event attracted 3079 cyclists, and last year almost 4000 cyclists took part, and most are expected to return this year, some for the prize money, which totalled R220 000 last year.

 

Entries for the Crater Cruise are open on the CycleLab website, and if you enter any of the Cruise events before 30 June 2007, you stand a chance to win an exclusive cycling safari weekend in Botswana, with a Cycle Mashtu worth R7 000 (visit the Cycle Mashtu website for more info).

 

 
This year the Crater Cruise weekend will consist of the following events:

 

* The 85km Colorpress Road Master Blaster on Friday 12 October – a road cycling event for 50 plussers only;

 

* The 106km Colorpress Crater Cruise on Saturday 13 October (the Mazda Marathon for men – all women are welcome to cruise the 105km event, but prize money for women will be awarded for the 56km event only);

 

* The 56km Colorpress Crater Cruise on Sunday 14 October (the Mazda Marathon for the women and a half-marathon to others all interested, and a R20 discount applies to all riders who enter both the 106km Cruise and the 56km Cruise);

 

* The 25km Colorpress Dirt Flirt number 1 on Saturday 13 October (This event is free to anyone who entered the 56km half-marathon Cruise on Sunday – enter your family members and friends separately);

 

* The 25km Colorpress Dirt Flirt number 2 on Sunday 14 October (This event is free to anyone who entered the 105km Cruise on Saturday – enter your family members and friends separately);

 

* A Colorpress Petit Cruise for kids and the annual Kêtathelons will also be presented.
For further information log onto the Crater Cruise website.