Cape Pioneer Trek

Last updated

The Cape Pioneer Trek is a 7-day South African mountain biking event through the Great and Little Karoo.

Contents

Cape Pioneer Trek00.jpg

The 2012 Cape Pioneer Trek from 14 to 20 October, took riders through scenic areas such as the Swartberg Mountains, through Meiringspoort, and the forests of the Garden Route. The event consisted of a prologue of 15 km from Buffelsdrift Game Lodge to Oudtshoorn, stage 1 covering 103 km from Buffelsdrift Game Lodge to Oudtshoorn to Calitzdorp. Stage 2 was over 85 km from Calitzdorp to Prince Albert, stage 3 109 km from Prince Albert to De Rust, stage 4 63 km from De Rust to Louvain guest farm at Herold, stage 5 75 km from Herold to George, and finally stage 6 84 km from George to Oudtshoorn. [1]

Past winners

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Province</span> Former province of South Africa

The Province of the Cape of Good Hope, commonly referred to as the Cape Province and colloquially as The Cape, was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Colony, as well as Walvis Bay, and had Cape Town as its capital. In 1994, the Cape Province was divided into the new Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces, along with part of the North West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karoo</span> Semi-desert region in South Africa

The Karoo is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate, and above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oudtshoorn Local Municipality</span> Local municipality in Western Cape, South Africa

Oudtshoorn Municipality is a local municipality within the Garden Route District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2011, the population was 95,933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kannaland Local Municipality</span> Local municipality in Western Cape, South Africa

Kannaland Municipality is a local municipality located within the Garden Route District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The municipal area is situated in the western part of the Little Karoo and includes the towns of Ladismith, Calitzdorp and Zoar. As of 2011, it has a population of 24,767. Its municipality code is WC041.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oudtshoorn</span> Place in Western Cape, South Africa

Oudtshoorn, the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1870 and 1900–1914, truly established the settlement. With approximately 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest town in the Little Karoo region. The town's economy is primarily reliant on the ostrich farming and tourism industries. Oudtshoorn is home to the world's largest ostrich population, with a number of specialised ostrich breeding farms, such as the Safari Show Farm and the Highgate Ostrich Show Farm, as told by Mnr. Pierre D. Toit.

Route 62 is a tourist route in South Africa that meanders between Cape Town, Oudtshoorn, the Garden Route, and Gqeberha, offering the scenic alternative to the N2 highway. Route 62 is named for the R62 provincial route, which it follows from Montagu to Humansdorp, but the tourist route extends further along other highways to Cape Town and Gqeberha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swartberg</span> Mountain range in Western Cape, South Africa

The Swartberg mountains are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Karoo. To the north of the range lies the other large semi-arid area in South Africa, the Great Karoo. Most of the Swartberg Mountains are above 2000 m high, making them the tallest mountains in the Western Cape. It is also one of the longest, spanning some 230 km from south of Laingsburg in the west to between Willowmore and Uniondale in the east. Geologically, these mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt.

The R328 is a Regional Route in Western Cape, South Africa that connects Mossel Bay in the south to Prince Albert in the north via Oudtshoorn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N12 (South Africa)</span> National road in South Africa

The N12 is a national route in South Africa which runs from George through Beaufort West, Kimberley, Klerksdorp and Johannesburg to eMalahleni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Rust</span> Place in Western Cape, South Africa

De Rust is a small village at the gateway to the Klein Karoo, South Africa. The name is Dutch and literally translates to "The Rest", referring to the town's original purpose of being a resting place for settlers en route through the challenging terrain of a nearby Swartberg gorge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outeniqua Mountains</span> Mountain range in South Africa

The Outeniqua Mountains, named after the Outeniqua Khoikhoi who lived there, is a mountain range that runs a parallel to the southern coast of South Africa, and forms a continuous range with the Langeberg to the west and the Tsitsikamma Mountains to the east. It was known as Serra de Estrella to the Portuguese. The mountains are part of the Garden Route of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R62 (South Africa)</span> Road in South Africa

The R62 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Ashton with Humansdorp. The R62 runs through the Little Karoo and the Langkloof, passing through Montagu, Ladismith, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn, and Joubertina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swartberg Pass</span>

The Swartberg Pass on the R328 runs over the Swartberg mountain range which runs roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid area called the Little Karoo in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It's the only road access to Gamkaskloof.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Charles John Bain</span>

Thomas Charles John Bain was a South African road engineer. As a prolific road building pioneer, Bain was responsible for the planning and construction of more than 900 km of roads and mountain passes, many of them still in use today, over a career spanning from 1848 until 1888. These passes through the mountain ranges between the thin coastal plain and the interior of the former Cape Colony in South Africa, played a major role in opening up the vast hinterland of South Africa.

Prince Albert Road is a village located in Laingsburg Local Municipality, Western Cape.

Yolande Speedy is a South African professional mountain biker. She has claimed two gold medals in the women's elite cross-country race at the African Mountain Bike Championships, and also represented her nation South Africa at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2007 Speedy competed in the Absa Cape Epic Mixed Category with team mate Paul Cordes, winning the category. She claimed 1st place again in 2013, this time in the Women's Category with team mate Catherine Williamson. Throughout her sporting career, Speedy has been training as an amateur rider for the IMC Racing Activeworx Mountain Biking Team, until she turned professional in 2010 and thereby raced for more than three seasons on Team Qhubeka NextHash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gamkaberg Nature Reserve</span> Nature reserve in the Western Cape, South Africa

The Gamkaberg Nature Reserve is situated in the Little Karoo region of the Western Cape province, South Africa.

The Kammanassie Mountains are a mountain range in the Western Cape, South Africa. The highest peak is Mannetjiesberg at 1,955 metres above sea level and the mountain range is one of the prominent east-west trending ranges composing the southern branch of the Cape Fold Belt.

References

  1. "Cape Pioneer Trek 2012". 14 October 2012.
  2. "Bell and Combrinck named winners of 2012 Cape Pioneer Trek". 11 December 2012.
  3. "PYCycling: Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek 2012 - Yolande Speedy". 24 October 2012.