From the small mountain bike race that Ixopo dairy farmer Glen Haw started in 2005 as a fundraiser for the farm school that his children attended, the KAP sani2c has grown to cater for over 4200 riders over five days.
The innovative format sees the three-day route covered by three different groups of riders, with the Trail, which started on Tuesday [8 May], to the Adventure that set off yesterday [9 May], and the main Race that attracts local elite riders that set off this morning [10 May]. This makes the event the largest mountain bike race in South Africa.
The roughly 260 km KAP sani2c race route begins at Glencairn farm in Himeville, and sees riders pass through the breathtaking scenery of the Southern Drakensberg, down into the Umkomaas Valley, through Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve and to the coast at Scottburgh.
“Farmer” Glen Haw has by necessity developed an entrepreneurial flair that has enabled the growth and development of the event, and through constant innovation he has placed KAP sani2c as one of the iconic, “must-do” mountain bike stage races for serious athletes as well as the adventurous enthusiast.
“sani2c was started because my children needed a school. I milk cows for a living,” he joked at Glencairn on the morning of the Trail start.
From its beginnings as a community event, to the mass participation event of today, the KAP sani2c remains rooted in the communities along the route. Schools, NGOs and community members provide myriad services, with this year’s event seeing an amount of roughly R 10 million rand ploughed back into the region. Additionally, it is estimated that in excess of R 4 million is spent by participants before and after the race between Underberg and Scottburgh.
Scottburgh Primary School is the location of the finish line, and Scottburgh High School and Pre-Primary, and Umkomaas Primary School provide the shuttle service that ensures that rider vehicles travel from Himeville down to Scottburgh. Parents volunteer as drivers and are bussed up to the start to drive the vehicles down, and funds raised in fees for the service go to the schools.
Carol Baikie, principal of Scottburgh Pre-primary School, said: “We need to paint the school roof, and the funds raised by sani2c will go a long way towards making that happen.”
Services at the refreshment stations along the route are also provided by locals, and the riders are accommodated in comfortable tented race villages, at Glencairn farm, Mackenzie Club in Ixopo and Jolivet farm. The building of permanent race villages at Glencairn and Jolivet has created employment, and many locals have been trained in building, tiling, plumbing and carpentry as a result.
Deep in the Umkomaas Valley below Nick’s Pass, is Msayana School, and through KAP sani2c the school has obtained solar powered classrooms, a TV and educational DVDs. Riders passing through each year has become a highlight on the school calendar, and the cheering support of the children encourages the riders ahead of their “Iconic Climb” out of the valley.
And what does it take to maintain the immense stretches of flowing single track that form part of the route from Himeville down to Scottburgh?
“After 14 years, the route is well established,” says Andrew Houston, route manager for KAP sani2c.
“We have made one or two small changes this year, but maintenance of the track is done year-round by teams employed from the local community.”
Philaani Ncgobo manages the team that works up and down the full route of the KAP sani2c. Houston says: “Philaani and his team do a fantastic job. They have walked the entire length of the course that the riders cycle each year. They have slashed, hoed, dug, scraped, racked and hammered it to the perfect form it is now. You could eat your breakfast off the course the day before the race.”
Spectator maps are available on the KAP sani2c website, so head out along the route over the next three days to be a part of the sani2c experience.