Overview
28 - 30 April 2017
Come Ride the Reinvigorated GR300 in April
In all the excitement around the launch of the Knysna Bull I’ve neglected to tell you about the reinvigoration of my favourite event, the GR300. For 2017 the GR300 is changing dates; moving out of race-focused the pre-Epic timeslot and relocating to the more leisurely end of April. It’s a more laidback time of year, filled with public holidays and long weekends. In short the perfect time for a trip to the Garden Route.
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Fast Facts: 2017 GR300 |
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Dates: |
28 – 30 April 2017 |
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Note: |
The 27th of April & the 1st of May are public holidays. |
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Stage 1: |
Harkerville | GR300: 80km & 1 650m |
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Stage 2: |
Garden Route Trail Park | GR300: 62km & 1 550m |
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Stage 3: |
Phantom Pass | GR300: 78km & 1 450m |
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New Feature: |
Enduro sections on each stage with an overall King & Queen of the Enduro crowned after Stage 3. |
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Race Village: |
Thesen Island Harbour Town, Knysna |
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Entry Fees: |
Super Cycling Special: R4 200 | Early Bird: 1 Aug – 15 Nov 2016: R4 500 | Standard: 16 Nov – 1 April 2017: R4 800 (per person) |
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Website: |
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The GR300’s new home on the calendar will be the last weekend of April (28-30 April 2017) which will allow you to maximize your time in Knysna as both Thursday the 27th and Monday the 1st of May are public holidays. This means no more rushing up to get to registration on Thursday evening and no more driving home tired on Sunday afternoon. Plus the GR300 is no longer the test of endurance it initially was, for 2017 the popular 2016 routes will be reinvigorated to ensure that the race provides more fun on the trails than it does stern challenges.
That being said the 2017 GR300 will still include the Ultimate Cycling King and Queen of the Mountain climb up the infamous Simola Hill. But it’ll also feature a play-day in the fantastic Garden Route Trail Park! Another new development I’m really excited about is the Enduro King and Queen award. For 2017 there’ll be two designated Enduro sections on each stage, but be warned they might not be short and they might not be all downhill… The man and woman with the fastest accumulated time on the GR300’s Enduro sections will receive a fantastic prize from ‘JBL Audio’ and the bragging rights of being crowned the GR300 Enduro King or GR300 Enduro Queen. I’m hoping this gives the riders with the technical skills, who usually come for the fun riding and the Mitchell’s beer something to target so they can show the race snakes how to really ride singletrack.
Race snakes need not fear though; there’ll be prizes for you too. The main aim of the reinvigorated GR300 is to attract mountain bikers to Knysna and show off the area’s concept of destination mountain biking. Knysna as you all know is #TrailTownSA and the GR300 will once again be showing off the best bits of Knysna’s amazing trail network including the Harkerville trails, the mind-blowing Garden Route Trail Park and the spectacular Phantom Pass singletracks.
If you’re not quite up to the distances of the GR300 we’ll be hosting a slimmed down version again in 2017 dubbed the GRLite. The daily distances are about 20km shorter and the Lite routes cut out the toughest climbs to ensure you get to the finish fresh enough to enjoy the sights of Knysna in high spirits every afternoon. The GRLite is the perfect step-up stage race for riders looking for the next challenge after mastering our ‘Whales & Vlie MTB De Hoop in September.
So book your leave, reserve your accommodation in Knysna and bring your family along for a long weekend in mountain biking nirvana on the 2017 GR300.
See you there,
The Ultimate Ride in the Garden Route. This is no ordinary race!
Want to be part of the ULTIMATE Garden Route Ride, but not keen on the Epic distances?
Ride the GRLite. Click here for more GRlite info
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