Ready, steady, cycle!
A group of local high school MTB riders will be competing in the finals of the Spur High School Mountain-bike League.
EXCITEMENT is mounting for the finals of this year’s Spur High School Mountain-bike League taking place this weekend (21-22 September) at Bekker School in Magaliesburg.
With more than 60 schools vying for the coveted Spur High School Mountain-bike League floating trophy of top cycling school in the country, fierce racing is expected in all three categories – boys, girls and mixed.
The league is run on the same lap-racing format as Olympic mountain-bike competitions, while the points structure of the league promotes team participation.
The schools that finished at the top of their respective regional logs will be sending their best riders to battle it out for podium positions.
A maximum of 12 riders are allowed per team. Each finisher scores a point for their school with additional points allocated to the first 25 riders in each category.
The league, which was launched in 2009 as a joint initiative between Spur and Amarider, has exceeded all initial projections in terms numbers and reach and has grown from 1600 entries and 21 events in 2009 to last year’s 5300 entries from 42 events.
League coordinator Meurant Botha of Amarider attributes the amazing growth of the League to the ongoing and hands-on involvement of Spur Steak Ranches as well as the efforts of a team of dedicated regional organisers and school coordinators, who collectively hosted more than fifty events leading up to the record-breaking final.
The weekend will also allow some time for fun and schools will have the opportunity to compete in a team relay on Saturday afternoon with the option of entering a four-member boys’ team or a five-member mixed team, who will race four and five laps respectively. The mixed team must have at least one girl, who must complete the last lap.
On Sunday, an inter-provincial event will be hosted in the same format on the same route. To determine the champion province, the top 10 best results of each province will be tallied on the 26 point structure.
International teams will compete as nations against the South African provinces. “We would love to see mountain-biking acknowledged as an official school sport as these youngsters work extremely hard and deserve the same recognition for their achievements as traditional school sports,” said Andrew Cronje, Spur’s market development manager.
