XTERRA South Africa Grabouw

Schwimmen 1,5 km, MTB 27 km und 11 km Trailrun.

The Grabouw Forestry Area - traditional home to the Totalsports Xterra South Africa – with its wide variety of terrain options available, has proven once again that it can deliver one of the best Mountain Bike Courses in the series.

For the Xterra athlete, Grabouw offers the opportunity to mountain bike in widely varying conditions. From gravel fire roads to rough jeep track and technically challenging single track, pine plantation to Cape Fynbos. Surface conditions are also varied, from ragged rocky conditions, pine needle covered trail, loose gravel and of course the ubiquitous sand! Grabouw is NOT flat, you will need to have your climbing legs with you and you will need your descending skills fine tuned. It is, after all, the South Africa XTERRA Championship forming part of the XTERRA World Circuit!

After the start there are enough dual tracks to ensure ample passing opportunity for the Mountain Bikers who are not the fastest in the water, before turning up a steep dual track which will test the legs after the swim. The technical sections that follow will benefit the capable mountain bikers as the terrain continually varies.

The first half of the route is mostly climbing to the highest point of 538m, but the tricky downhill sections with a good variety of riding surfaces, including a few sandy patches as well as fast loose pebble covered sweeps, will keep the concentration levels high. Riders will reach the highest point (538m) on the route after 12km of riding – the views from this point are for free.

After 13km the fun starts! By this stage the self identified ‘real mountain bikers’ out there should have been able to pass the strong swimmers in the competition and have a clear ride to enjoy some of the best single track on offer in the area, including 3,7km of new trails - never previously used in Xterra. The iconic rock garden is once again included in the route which will require riders to keep their wits about them as they descend this technical section. 

Riders with good technical skills will have an advantage on this route as riders will be required to work hard and concentrate on every part of the route. There is very little room for hesitation, especially on the steep rocky descents and riders will be required to react quickly on corners and changes in terrain- there are lots of surprises!