Day: November 19, 2019

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Bergville becomes the centre of attraction

The eyes of the South African cycling will focus on the small Drakensberg village of Bergville next week when the Drakensberg Extravaganza rolls into town for a sporting and cultural festival with the road cycling race which starts and finishes in Bergville on the 24th November being one of the sporting highlights of the 11-day festival.

This year the road riders have a choice of three distances from a short 15km fun ride, a 40km intermediate event up to a serious 84km test. The start and finish of all events is in Bergville with the 84km riders completing a loop around the picturesque Woodstock Dam. All three routes feature some stunning vistas and competitors will ride with the Drakensberg mountain range creating a massive backdrop to their efforts.

The long route, which has been reversed from 2018, includes some testing climbs and a flat final 25km which means the top riders are faced with a test of fitness and tactics as they aim for a share of the generous prize fund. The route has been carefully put together to ensure it is not so arduous that the backmarkers will not also enjoy their day in the saddle.

For more information and entry forms go to http://drakensbergextra.co.za/ or contact Michelle on 084 407 5566 or Kelvin on 082 446 9833. Online entries are via ROAG (www.roag.co.za) and entries close on Sunday.

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End of Year Update

It has been a very busy period of the year in the development programme these past months. In October alone there have been 112 scheduled clinics held which 4742 children attended and this far more than 23 000 children having come through the development programme this year. As well as clinics, there have also been capacity building courses that have been held this last month with coaching, mechanics, officiating, event management and safety and security courses held. There has also been marshal training courses which has resulted in 230 new marshals being trained. Several district races have also been held across the whole province which allows the children to practice and show the new skills that they have learnt over the last couple of months and to also allow the children to have some friendly competition against their peers. As this year draws to a close and children start going on holiday so the schedule starts to slow down, and we can begin preparations in order to start in January again with a bang.