Diverge Podcast

In August 2020 Jacques Marais, Peter van Kets, Zane Schmahl and Peter Kirk set out on a 9 00km, 9 province, tour of South Africa. The aim was to highlight an adventure travel destination in each province for their Beyond Expeditions trip. The adventure was supported by Isuzu South Africa and Dunlop Tyres South Africa. To find out more about it visit www.beyondexpeditions.co.za.

A strange podcast for a strange time. The story of the Covid-19 pandemic is still unfolding. Seamus Allardice looks at the effects of the Covid-19 crisis, thus far, on the South African cycling industry where events have been cancelled or postponed, bicycle shops are closed and manufacturers have shut their doors. When they open will the economy be in a fit state to allow racing to resume? That we don't know, but what we do know is that everyone seems to be on Zwift and if the pro athletes, like Sarah Hill, can beat the boredom and complete their workouts they may well be stronger than ever when the lock-down lifts. Read the Lock-down story in the May issue of Full Sus, which will be available online.

The 11th season of the Spur School's MTB League saw participation records broken in most regions. Following the highly successful 2019 final, to which the best performers from each region were invited, Seamus Allardice sat down with the league's founder Meurant Botha and Oliver Munnik.

To find out more about the Spur School's MTB League visit www.spurmtbleague.co.za (https://www.spurmtbleague.co.za/) .

The Maloti 100 Miler is a mountain bike race between Barkley East and Maclear, in the Eastern Cape. It covers 162km, takes in 2 966m of climbing and ascends South Africa's third highest mountain pass, Naude's Nek. Aside from reaching 2 600m above sea level, where the air is pretty thin, the road surfaces are exceptionally rough. It is definitely not a gravel bike race. But Seamus Allardice didn't bring another bike along and he was set on test riding the Canyon Grail CF SLX 8.0 Di2. The bike, though not the recommended weapon for the race, handled the terrain better than the show's host. Tune in to hear how it went and what to expect for the 2020 Maloti 100, which is set to take place on the 26th of September.

Links:

Canyon Grail CF SLX 8.0 Di2 Specifications (https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road-bikes/gravel-bikes/grail/grail-cf-slx-8.0-di2/2204.html?dwvar_2204_pv_rahmengroesse=2XL&dwvar_2204_pv_rahmenfarbe=GY%2FBK#all-components-section-tab)

Maloti 100 Website (https://www.maloti100.co.za/)

Pre-Race Story on Diverge.info (https://diverge.info/2019/09/23/crisis-im-riding-100-miles-this-weekend/)

On the 13th and 14th of September, Diverge Podcast host, Seamus Allardice took part in the Torpedo SwimRun Wild. New to the sport of SwimRun he had no idea of what to expect, but knew it would be an adventure. Tune in to hear all about that adventure and for an interview with Richard McMartin, one of the founders of Torpedo SwimRun South Africa.

Want to know more about the sport? Check out Swamble Fun and Adventures in SwimRun (https://diverge.info/2019/09/16/swamble-fun-and-adventures-in-swimrun/) on www.diverge.info or visit www.torpedoswimrun.com (https://torpedoswimrun.com/) .

Nicky Giliomee (Seattle Coffee Co) and Jaco Pelser (Southern Africa Roadtrippers) took part in the 2019 Momentum Health Cape Pioneer Trek, presented by Biogen. They along with their teammates for the 6 day stage race, Cherise Willeit and Oliver Lennard, kept daily audio diaries of the experience for the Diverge Podcast. Here's how the Race With Soul unfolded for the quartet of mountain bikers.

Tune in for in-depth information on the 2020 Absa Cape Epic route.

Audio dairy and interviews with South African riders Zola Ngxakeni and Luyanda Thobigunya from the 2019 Swiss Epic.

Gravel is growing in South Africa and 6 local event organisers have combined to establish a 7 event gravel/mountain bike 100 Miler Series. The series will visit 3 provinces in it's inaugural year, starting with Ride the Karoo in February and ending with Race to the Sea in October 2020. For all the details click here: https://diverge.info/2019/07/30/introducting-a-100-miler-series-across-south-africa/

Also featured in the show is a brief recap on the Stellenbosch MTB Challenge and a look ahead at the 2019 Trans Baviaans.

The South African XCO Championships, at Thaba Trails in Johannesburg, saw Candice Lill win her first senior national title. Alan Hatherley meanwhile won his third. In the Western Cape the Chas Everitt Around The Pot Overberg 100-Miler, presented by SEESA, was held in sub 10 degree weather conditions. And two new gravel races were launched, including one from a brewery to a brewery.