To all the cyclists and spectators who came out to our race, thank you.

Wartburg is quite far from most places except heaven, but we would like to invite you to join us again next year. Please do us a favour, go to rate your race website (http://www.bicycling.co.za/rate_your_race/search/) and give us some feedback.

Like a good wine that matures and improves over the years, the Wartburg Spar MTB Classic has grown and improved with age. This is not an easy task to accomplish in a racing calendar that is filled with great races that continually raise the expectations of mountain bikers. We like to think that we do not compete with the big budget races that offer all the bells and whistles. Our little niche in the MTB world has a cult following of enthusiasts that like our no fuss, no frills, no wimps attitude to good old fashioned values. Judging by the size of our field this year, perhaps we have lost our ‘best kept secret’ status. What I would hate to see is that our race outgrows our capacity to host it, and I think that the numbers of cyclists that we had this year was pretty close to our capacity. It is a shame to hear that some of our best free-flowing single track was lost to folk who had to queue to drop off into the quarry. We are going to have to sit down this coming year and decide how best to take our race forward, without losing our focus. It may be to restrict the numbers somehow, but that would mean full pre-entry and that is a little against our no fuss ethos. Any suggestions out there?

That said, what a great day of racing! The Wartburg Spar Classic race was filled with seriously fit riders who chewed up the course in record time. We had added 3km of new of single track this year, some of it uphill and not that easy to negotiate, in an effort to beef-up the technical grade and slow the race down a little. This was a bit like offering smelling salts to Mike Tyson, it simply stimulated the top guys to turn up the gas. Well done to David Leiman and Craig Paul for the titanic battle for first spot in the classic. The timing of the start of the Classic and Intermediate ride meant that the middle of the Classic field ran into the back of the Intermediate field. Whilst this is not ideal (and we will re-look at this situation for next year), the Classic riders remained courteous to the slower riders. I had a number of comments, particularly from really young kids who were doing their first intermediate ride, on how courteous and encouraging the faster hard-core riders were on the track. Well done to all of you, I know the state of MTB is in good health.   

We reduced the distance of the Intermediate ride from 25km to 19.9km, with the aim of encouraging more riders to enter the sport by offering a more manageable distance. Judging by the numbers that we attracted, this was successful. It was encouraging to see the number of youngsters taking the massive leap of faith from the 10km distance to the Intermediate ride, afforded by the shorter distance in the race. This is great news for the future of mountain biking. The prizes for the Supa Quick Intermediate ride were extended to include five podium positions, to make up for the lack of other category prizes. We also introduced a Valentines challenge this year, being Valentines day and all. It was won by Wendy and Dustin Mills, who kissed on the line to secure their weekend away prize.

 There was perhaps only one issue that detracted from an otherwise wonderful race. Littering of sachets on the course. It is all of our responsibility to shame those that drop their litter on the course, particularly in single track sections that are difficult to clean up!

To end on a highlight, we raised quite a bit of money for Wartburg Kirchdorf School, and in the process had great fun hosting more than a thousand (1121 to be exact) gracious and polite mountain bikers. Wartburg has never had this much traffic. We also raised funds for a very needy orphanage just out of town. The contents of the goodie bags that you would have got, was donated to Noah on your behalf.

To end with a few thanks:

To my awesome committee (Marie, Barbara, Gerald, Rudi, Craig, Jean, Elmarie, Monica and Sonja), it is a pleasure to work with such a dedicated crew. Congratulations on a job well done.

• To the hundreds (literally) of groundsmen, teachers, parents and pupils who helped on the day, thanks for your hard work and in some cases hours in the sun.

• To Greg Minnaar for handing out the prizes on the day

• To the land owners who have all bought into the cycle race with help and consent. Your farms were looking magnificent and meticulously groomed, it was difficult to find rough sections to challenge riders with. A special thank you to SAPPI, who were logging in the area that we passed through, who shut down operations for the day in the interest of your safety.

• To the guy who ordered two days of clear weather for marking and riding… ta. Same again next year please.

• To our sponsors:

Wartburg Spar, Spur Steak Ranches, BP Wartburg, Dalton Supa Quick, Build-it, GAP Agricultural Supplies, Powerade, aQuellé, Yo Cool, Kleenline, PANNAR, Ama Rider, Suunto, Eagles Rest Mountain Retreat, The Vineyard on Ballito, Crafty Duck, Honey Dew Dairy and Siggi’s German Restaurant and Pub.

Race Committee Chairman

Antony Jarvie