There's something about the early mornings at a “mid year” Karkloof Country Club event – the mist, the chill in the air, the frost on the grass and the coffee cups warming cold hands and bodies.
This year's Karkloof Trail Festival was no different. Saturday saw the gravity riders and trail runners converge on the club, for the trail runs and enduro event (a 40km five stage race). The early morning low temp of 8 degrees did little to break the gravity spirit. That spirit is always evident when a bike may present with a technical issue on the day and the gravity riders all jump in to fix the problem. That gravity “family" spirit is seldom found in other individual sports.
As soon as the enduro riders head off for their stage races, those non riders left behind make their way to the club deck for a bite to eat and perhaps another coffee before settling down to catch up with friends they haven't seen since the last race.
It was a great, albeit long day for the enduro riders with cut off times extended due to the very well supported race this year. The numbers are growing in enduro and it's great to see.
Sunday morning was another chilly start, this time for the XCM races. Varying distances provide great fun for the whole family – whether lining up the 10km, 20km, 40km, 60km or 75km (which became an 81km during the week due to a last minute reroute), the focused expression of the riders at the start is always the same, as they stare down the start chute.
The small group of 75km riders headed out at 7am, followed an hour later by the 60km riders. Each race group start followed with each growing in numbers as the distances decreased.
Well done to all the riders, organisers and sponsors of yet another great event at Karkloof Country Club – always an awesome place to ride. If you missed this one, there is always next year!
Video and photos: Beenie Larkan
