Hi everyone.
It’s been a while since my last blog. My excuse is that I’ve been wholly consumed by the act of organising the race which has left me no time to also write about the organising!
To be honest, it all feels a bit like 2004 again and those wild times before we staged our first Cape Epic.
Part of the reason for the extra hard work is that most of us working on the Gravel Burn had experience at the Cape Epic as it matured properly after about 15 years. Having experienced that we’re all set on producing an event of that standard – the Epic after 15 years – but of course we’re trying to pack that into one year.
You won’t find us complaining though. We all went into it with our eyes wide open and it’s exhilarating to be singularly focused on the goal of staging an event on a grand scale.
Since my last blog, I’ve updated my status on social media (i.e. that I’m now “working again” at Gravel Burn) – only Facebook and LinkedIn at this stage. I’ve barely been present on social media these past years, and it’s simply astounding to witness firsthand the reach of social media in 2024. Thanks to those that have reached out to me personally on these channels.
There have also been a few developments at Gravel Burn that are worth sharing:
- We have announced Assos as our cycling apparel sponsor. For those of you that rode the Cape Epic between 2014 and 2022 you will remember them as our Cape Epic partner for almost a decade. I actually connected with Assos again at the Tour de France this year, soon after my non-compete had lapsed, and shared my ideas for a new gravel stage race in South Africa. They were very supportive from the very beginning so it feels good to finally make the formal announcement. I look forward to designing an iconic Assos Gravel Burn leader jersey that will hopefully become one of the most sought after jerseys in the world of gravel bike racing. I wonder who will wear it for the first time?
- We met up with Belgian pro Jasper Stuyven, 2022 Milan Sen Remo winner, who expressed his desire to participate next year. It’s humbling to know that riders of Jasper’s caliber are also putting the Gravel Burn on their year-end calendar. Thanks Jasper.
- We held several more Firestarter events, where I told riders about the Gravel Burn. The highlight was probably the Firestarter in the brand new Pinarello Boutique Store in Zurich, Switzerland. It was a great event with 80 riders in attendance. Since we opened entries to the Gravel Burn last week many Swiss friends have entered, making it the most represented country in the event after South Africa. We also had a great Firestarter at Mannie Heyman’s bike shop in Windhoek, which has a thriving gravel bike community. Mannie, of course, won the very first Cape Epic (with Karl Platt) in 2004, so it was great seeing him again.
- Talking of entries… yes, we’ve opened our online registration. It’s a milestone in our journey to the first race. We’re very encouraged to have received entries from across the planet – just over half from South Africa and the rest from no less than 18 countries so far. Participants range from Springbok World Cup winning captains to personal kite-surfing friends that have never yet ridden a bike stage race longer than 3 days but who simply love the idea of gravel biking across the remote Karoo. Participants range in age from 18 to 70. (Welshman, Stephen Salt (70) and Englishman Andy Hodgson (65), have ridden 7 x Cape Epic’s as the team “World Famous Salty Balls” and now they return to South Africa to complete the first edition of the Gravel Burn.)
- There’s been wonderful media coverage for the Gravel Burn from cycling outlets around the world. I was delighted to spend time speaking to Wade Wallace on his Escape Collective podcast. Wade knows the industry and bike racing like few others so it was a privilege to be the subject of one of his podcasts. Another highlight was the awesome article in VeloNews by Betsy Welsh, who writes about cycling with great authority. Thanks, Wade, Betsy and all the others who’ve been kind enough to highlight our event.
- Another big development was the second Gravel Burn trial ride (or ‘Trial Burn’ as we’re calling them) a couple of weeks ago. Our first Trial Burn in September was a more sedate affair where we rode three and a half of the easier stages (partly, I guess, because it was so cold in the Karoo at that time of year). Anyway, this time we rode the four hardest stages, including the Queen Stage, which we have now decided to reduce from 175km to 162km. Details about the stages are now up on www.gravel-burn.com and I think you’ll find them compelling. (Sidenote: I’ve been reading the book ‘Commando’ by Deneys Reitz – about his Boer War escapades which took place partly in the same area that we’ll be riding through – and was delighted to see him refer to some of the historic passes Gravel Burn riders will be traversing. This is another aspect of the event that’s exciting me: we’ll be taking riders through countryside many might not be familiar with and which has a deep and fascinating history. The tougher stages we did on the more recent trial ride are perhaps a bit more technical and go through rougher terrain, but they’re still definitely manageable on a gravel bike with drop bars.
And a final observation for now: I’m encouraged to see how gravel biking is flourishing in South Africa. Word of mouth in cycling circles is that gravel bikes are selling really well right now. Although the discipline is obviously popular in its own right, I know of quite a few riders who’ve invested in gravel bikes to do the Gravel Burn, so I like to think we’re doing our bit to help the cycling industry. There have also been announcements about another two gravel stage races to be staged in South Africa, which is great news because, as they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.
Cheers
Kevin