Local commissaire gears up for national mountain-biking event
The 624 kilometre Cape Epic mountain biking event is set to start in March, and a local expert will head up some of the technical aspects behind the entire race.
Deon Steyn is one of only four commissaires in South Africa who can preside over international mountain-biking tournaments and will be heading up the Absa Cape Epic race in March.
As one of the head so-called ‘referees’ of the event, Deon will be overseeing all of the other referees and ensuring that participants adhere fully to the rules before and during the race.
Deon said his days will start at 4am. At 7am, the race kicks off. By then everything has to be in place and many technical rules must be enforced. Among these are the dress codes, rules on what the bicycles may look like, what they must and mustn’t be able to do and other state and law procedures that must be looked at.
The Cape Epic is akin to the Tour de France, only it’s all off-road. The route has a total length of 624 kilometres, of which 16,65 kilometres are on an incline. The off-road route also includes rugged and craggy terrain, windswept gravel roads and even some loose sand.
The race will be divided up into sections: the Prologue (21km), Stage 1 (112km), Stage 2 (86km), Stage 3 (103km), Stage 4 (43km), Stage 5 (100km), Stage 6 (89km) and Stage 7 (70km). Each section will be completed on a separate day and Deon will be present for each stage.
The race officially ends at 3pm, but participants have a final cutoff time of 5pm. The later in the day it gets, the hotter it becomes, increasing the risk levels for dehydration, heat exhaustion and general fatigue. Since the race will take place outside of the Western Cape’s usual rainy season, there is a very large risk of wild fires erupting. Deon and his team need to take all of this into consideration.
Deon himself had been very active since he was a young man, participating in whatever sports, running and cycling event he could find. He had to stop competing after he underwent double bypass heart surgery caused by an hereditary heart deficiency. It would seem that he doesn’t mind however, as he gets just as much joy from helping to arrange these events as he did when actively participating.
All of this started after Deon organised a school event and one of the referees did not show up. At this point, he decided to undergo training to become a mountain-biking commissaire. As he progressed, he became certified for national, and later international, events.
Today, Deon is one of the few go-to people to preside over large events such as this, and he will be a very busy man in the coming months.
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