NATIONAL NEWS - Intermediate mountain bikers heading for the 20km ride at the popular Sappi Howick MTB Classic can expect a totally revamped course that will ask a lot more questions that a conventional intermediate ride.
“We have taken the view that our 20km race needs to be more challenging,” said course designer Gavin Ryan.
“If there twenty 20km races on the local calendar, at least eighteen of them are really easy. We want to provide a meaningful stepping stone for the intermediate rider aiming to race a 40km marathon in the near future and looking for a benchmark to see if they are ready,” said Ryan.
The shift in the route has been largely to accommodate the harvesting of the Sappi plantations that play host to much of the oldest MTB race on the KZN calendar, but Ryan says the change has been a very positive one.
