Congratulations to all the 2009 Marrick MTB Challenge riders who completed the challenging route, you were all fantastic participants. To overall winner, Hein Lategan of Supercars, well done but I think you will have a lot of competition in 2010.

Riders arrived at Marrick Game Farm on Thursday 24 th Sept thinking that they were to have an easy 3 days riding as the terrain is so flat, Geddon Ruddock from Team Sludge went for a warm up ride and was not impressed with the flat terrain. Little did he know what was in store for him. The race started off at 20:00 on Thursday with a 35 km night stage which consisted of jeep track and single track. Riders loved the totally isolated feeling in the real African bush.

Friday saw the riders tackling a 120 km stage that tested their mental and physical endurance, the stage was won by Team Northcliff Cycles with Alex Pavlov leading in a tired Henry Uys, Heine Lategan was second with Geddon Ruddock third. All riders were tested for their endurance.

Saturday saw the riders tackling a really challenging 72 km single track route that everyone loved even though new shirts, shorts and arms were shredded with all the “haak & steek” thorns. At one stage during the race Geddon had a herd of Wildebeest racing him and to his right Heine Lategan had a herd of Gemsbok racing on his flank, this was such a wonderful sight to see from the lead vehicle. Geddon Ruddock won the stage with Overall winner Heine Lategan coming in a few seconds behind. All riders saw various game along route and the war stories included, “Did you see the Giraffe”, “Did you see the Zebra”. When Geddon was asked afterwards if the route was flat enough for him he just laughed and said he had not been tested like that for 4 months and felt that the venue should be included in the SA National Marathon Championship circuit. Fourie Kotze and Hannele Steyn Kotze from team Mixed Sludge won the mixed team category and Linus van Onselen with partner Bryan Strauss won the Masters team category.

This is what Hannele Steyn Kotze had to say about the race, “Your race was absolute fantastic and an amazing experience. I have been doing MTB racing since 1996 and I have been all over the country and the world and your organization, venue and race can compete with the best.”The Northern Cape is about wide-open spaces and offering a MTBiker a very different experience of the South African landscape. This province boasts a colourful history and a variety of cultural tourist attractions and is particularly well known for its incredible annual floral display that takes place in Namaqualand during August and September.Next years race promises to be bigger and better with 4 days which includes a visit to Douglas where the Vaal and Orange rivers meet. The route planner has some really “nice” surprises in store for the lucky entrants.

The second Marrick Challenge MTB race will be held again on the scenic Marrick Safari Game Farm only 10 kms from Kimberley. Date: 23 – 26 September 2010 further details can be found on the website: www.mtb-challenge.co.za or you can contact John: john@mtb-challenge.co.za for any further information.