Saddle up for sani2C MTB events

THE KAP sani2c is a three day mountain bike stage race that takes place from Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal’s Southern Drakensberg to Scottburgh’s main beach on KZN’s South Coast.

Participants tackle the 265km and 3,301m of elevation in teams of two with three different events – the trail (9 to 11 May), adventure (10 to 12 May) and race (11 to 13 May) accommodating hundreds of riders annually.

The KAP sani2c began as the dream of ‘Farmer Glen’, Glen Haw, an avid mountain bike enthusiast and co-organiser of the Imana Wild Ride who in 1998, together with a few local nutty mountain bikers, he completed the first trial run.

The following year Glen scouted and refined the rugged path with the objective of establishing a world-class route. He invited friends and experienced mountain bikers to join in on the infamous dry runs.

In 2004, Glen was confident that a worthy route had finally been established and agreed to by all the relevant landowners and authorities and so February 2005 saw the staging of the inaugural sani2c, a highly successful event despite the heavy rain and muddy conditions of day two.

Public response to this ‘lifestyle event’ was overwhelming and the race grew to massive proportions and demand for entries and pressure from communities wanting to participate in the event saw some radical changes ahead of the 2008 event.

The decision to change the format of the event to be run as two separate races – split into the sani2c Adventure and sani2c Race – was a world-first which allowed further opportunities for community involvement and accommodated all teams on the 2007 waiting list. It also warranted improving facilities at the overnight race villages, with the two 2008 events ultimately deemed a huge success.

2011 then again saw some big changes. Traditionally held in March, the event was susceptible to late summer rains which had disrupted plans every second year since its inception. After months of negotiating, juggling of dates with other sporting events and planning around farming operations, the dates for future sani2c’s was moved to May and right away great weather created perfect riding conditions.

2017 will be the second year that KAP Industrial Holdings Limited will be involved in the race officially. KAP has had a longstanding involvement with sani2c through its PG Bison timber operations in KZN. More information can be found at www.sani2c.co.za

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