Youth cyclists endure tough Spur MTB races
Close to 1 000 cyclists took part in three different events across three provinces in the Spur Schools MTB League.
August got off to a bumper start for young mountain bikers in Gauteng, the Free State and the Eastern Cape, with Spur Schools MTB League events in each province.
The league, currently in its 10th year, is South Africa’s largest school cycling programme and the main nursery for talent in the sport.
The Free State’s event was hosted at Monte Bello Estate in Bloemfontein and the 112 riders covered a total of 380 laps for the day, cycling a total of 2 200km.
“What an incredible day. Our riders braved the cold, wet weather for the love of mountain biking. Everyone will agree, the race was fierce and exciting with a few close finishes,” said an enthusiastic Free State race director, Pieter Herbst.
It was no different in the Eastern Cape, where race director Gerhard Spies said riders covered 82 laps and a total of 120km. A total of 83 riders participated in the event, which was held at Hillview Cycle Park.
“A massive storm hit East London two days prior to the event, which definitely affected rider entries. But despite that we had a great day of riding and the track was in tip-top form,” Spies said.
Meanwhile, in Pretoria, Gauteng race director Deon Steyn explained that they divided the schools into regions due to the high numbers of entrants.
“To accommodate the large numbers of entries in Gauteng, we split schools into regions and increased the number of events and it’s reassuring to know that we are still seeing growth at each event,” Steyn said.
With over 700 riders participating at Eduplex High School for the Gauteng race weekend, 7 279km were covered for the day with a mammoth 1 693 laps completed.
The top performing high schools at the Free State race were:
1. Grey College
2. Ficksburg High School
3. Fichardtpark High School
The top performing primary schools were:
1. Grey College Primary School
2. Zastron Primary School
3. Ficksburg Primary School
The top performing high schools at the Eastern Cape race were:
1. Gonubie High School
2. Lilyfontein High School
3. Stirling High School
The top performing primary schools were:
1. Lilyfontein Primary School
2. Stirling Primary School
3. Hudson Park Primary School
The top performing high schools from the Gauteng races were:
1. Garsfontein High School
2. Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool
3. Menlopark High School
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