8. Cape Outback News

The dust is slowly settling after the 2010 Cape Outback MTB Expedition. My already overflowing inbox, however, still gets fuller by the hour. But first things first!

Congratulations to all Cape Outback finishers and also to our four category winners: Team Helse (Ilse Viljoen and Heleen Rossouw) in the Ladies Category, Team Stofstreep (Jan Heenop and Kobus Lourens) in the Veterans Category, Team Sludge (Fourie Kotze and Leana de Jager) in the Mixed Category with two stage wins taking second overall and Team Goebbels (Harry Orr and August Carstens) with three stage wins taking the Men's Category as well as overall winners of the Cape Outback 2010. In third position overall was Team Helderberg Cycles (Colin van Zyl and Carla Rowly).

And then there was the rest of the field that made the Cape Outback what it is. Team rivalries a plenty, riders just-just hanging in there to the finish line, thrills and spills on every stage, the list goes on and on. Personal highlights.... plenty! The positive feedback about the route, the way in which the locals got involved, the expedition vibe in the mornings.... so many high lights. But the best moment for me was when Leo and I stood next to the finish line chute at Beloftebos watching Steve Shapiro wrapping up the tail in the pouring rain. It was that smile on Steve's face that said a thousand words and that made a year's planning and hard work all the more rewarding.

Now for some FAQ's:

PHOTO'S

Our photographer, Ryk du Plessis, is hard at work to process thousands of pictures. We will let everyone know when it's ready to order. It will be posted on the website www.rykduplessis.com. Kari van Rensburg is equally hard at work with editing the video footage. I can't wait for the dvd. Every rider will receive a complimentary one in the post.

2010 OFFICIAL RESULTS

Pos.	Team	Team Name	Rider 1	Rider 2	CATEGORY				POINTS
	Nr				Men	Ladies	Mixed	Vets	TOTAL
1	7	Die Goebbels	Harry Orr	August Carstens					77
2	12	Sludge	Fourie Kotze	Leana de Jager					76
3	14	Helderberg Cycle World	Colin van Zyl	Carla Rowley					72
4	3	Stofstreep	Kobus Lourens	Jan Heenop					61
5	8	Matogen	John Dalton	Tiaan Erwee					55
6	2	Vector	Chrispher Eksteen	Derick Hamman					53
7	15	Tracks4Africa	Johann Groenewald	Erik Saayman					52
8	1	Zatopek	ML Carstens	Braam Rust					46
9	16	Helse	Ilse Viljoen	Heleen Rossouw					34
10	11	Beloftebos 2	Gavin Carstens	Mark Erwee					34
11	5	Grand Cru	Willie Steenkamp	Pierre Erasmus					31
12	13	Cyclotech Sandblasters	Johan Botha	Lize Theron					25
13	6	Beloftebos/Medi-Clinic	Pieter Kotzé	Craig Tingle					20
14	10	Withond	Werner Hartman	Hasie Lourens					13
15	9	Ride	Steve Shapiro	Mark Bleloch					5
16	4	Loskoppe	Myra Craven	Daniel Craven					3

 

AND NOW FOR 2011...

Planning for the 2011 Cape Outback has already begun three months ago. We have decided to make the Cape Outback 2011 a 4-day event starting 18 March and ending on Human Rights Day 21 March 2011. The high lights of this year's stage 1 will be incorporated into this year's stage 2 to form the new stage 1. Some smaller changes will also be made to the other three stages. We hope to use most of this years staging venues in 2011.

The number of entries will be capped at 100 teams of two. We hope to make an announcement soon with regards to a new rider category which we want to implement in the Cape Outback for 2011. The official expedition website, www.capeoutback.co.za, is undergoing a slight facelift and will emerge more user friendly on the other side. Entries for 2011 will open soon afterwards.

THANK YOU!

A big thank you to all the sponsors, volunteers, crew, supporters and riders for their faith in the Cape Outback. The ball is now rolling and we hope to bring you a bigger and even better Cape Outback 2011.

Ride safely!

Jakes & Leo