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AMASHOVA TO GO OFFROAD
 Not
content to be one of the country’s leading road races,
the Pick ’n Pay Amashovashova cycle race will
celebrate its 21st anniversary this October by
introducing two new mountain bike events to the City
of Durban.
On Saturday, 20
October, mountain bikers will be able to meet their
very own challenge in either the 45km or 20km events
that will be known as the Asishove and will take place
entirely within the Giba Gorge Mountain Bike Park
outside Pinetown. These two events form part of a
festival of cycling weekend, which starts on Friday 19
October and runs through to Sunday 21 October,
culminating with the flagship event, the 106km road
race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.
The 45km mountain bike
race will double as the final event in the Fritz
Pienaar Cycles National Half-marathon Series so a
large out-of-town entry can be expected, while the
20km event will be geared for novices looking for a
fun challenge.
“Mountain Biking is
really growing in stature and we are delighted to be
in a position to offer this discipline to the cycling
fraternity,” says race director, Annie Batchelder. “It
is a great honour for this event to be included in the
National Series and we look forward to finishing off
the Series with an event everyone will want to come
back to.”
The National Half
Marathon Series is the most popular mountain bike
series in the country, attracting around 10000
participants each year. Points are scored at each of
the 10 events in the Series to determine the top
riders in each category. The Series is aimed at
youngsters, women, novices, older folks and anyone
looking for a challenge that’s not impossible to
complete. The Asishove will replace Alpine Heath as
the final event in the Series.
“Durban has a very
passionate mountain bike community so it makes perfect
sense for us to have one of our Series events there,”
says Series Director, Theo Grobler, “A large
percentage of the participants in the half marathon
series are from the greater Durban area, often
travelling long distances to get to the other Series
events. So it’s great for us to be able place an event
on their doorstep.”
Giba Gorge has recently
become the mountain biking hotspot for Durban. And
it’s only officially being launched at the end of
June! Within the 350 hectares, there are more than
35km of trails in lush sub-tropical forest. Most of
the trails are hand-built singletrack, which complies
with International Mountain Bike Association trail
standards and offers various difficultly levels to
cater for all mountain bikers from novice to advanced.
Entries for the
Asishove are now open. Visit
www.amashova.co.za to
book your place on the start line.
For more information:
Fritz Pienaar Cycles National
Half-marathon Series, visit
www.adventurezone.co.za
www.gibagorge.co.za
(website under construction)
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