Roof of Africa - Extreme Enduro

[swazi_matt]

WITH THIS RACE JUST A FEW DAYS AWAY, I THOUGHT I WOULD RELAY THE RESULTS AS THEY UNFOLD, OR YOU CAN FOLLOW IT YOURSELF ON WWW.ROOF-OF-AFRICA.COM OR WWW.E-DIRT.CO.ZA ANYWAY THIS IS THE LATEST PRESS RELEASE:

After months of planning and hard work, the time has come for the 2010 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa, one of the world's toughest extreme enduro motorbike races, to kick into action on 25 November in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.

Under the watchful eyes of the organisers, Adventure Lesotho; the German company Baboons Innovative Offroad Solutions and sponsors spearheaded by Lesotho Sun, the routes have now been marked; the local communities are informed and are excited about the race; the border posts are expecting the influx of visitors and the winning trophy is polished!

With only three days to go, competitors, sponsors and enthusiasts are keeping up to date with the weather forecast as this can play a big role in the outcome of the race. According to predictions some rain is expected over the weekend especially on Thursday and Friday nights (about 6mm rain is expected) while heavier rain can be expected on Saturday night (21mm).

It is expected that the maximum temperatures will reach about 23˚C during the weekend. This will be welcome after the heat experienced during the race last year. It has been raining in the area and according to the Race Director, Seamus McCarthy, the routes have changed character and will definitely prove to be very challenging.

?Route marking during the last week has illustrated that the trails, tracks and paths have been affected by the rains, effectively redefining the characteristics of the route and this will be very exciting,? McCarthy said. ?If, however, we do receive more heavy rains, we have all the necessary precautions in place and decisions will be made accordingly,? he stated.

Various international competitors are already in South Africa to acclimatise to the summer conditions. The five time and current New Zealand enduro champion and double winner of the Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa, Chris Birch (Brother Broadlink KTM) explained in an interview by his sponsors (Red Bull) that this event is really tough and that the trails are brutal.

?For the first day?s racing last year, they had us riding over rocks for 10 and a half hours straight. You can?t help but feel beaten up at the end of that. Again, though the whole thing is pure adventure and Lesotho is such an amazing country and you see so much wild stuff during the race,? he commented.

Birch visited South Africa some two months ago when he competed in a round of the national enduro championship ? and won. He also presented lessons in training and riding and attended the annual KTM Festival at Sun City.

It will be a first attempt for the UK?s Paul Bolton who will be Birch?s team-mate for this event. The UK is currently in its winter season with temperatures reaching highs of about 10˚C on average and Bolton will definitely leave Africa with a tan after visiting South Africa and Lesotho. The same will go for the European visitors who can get rid of their thermal clothing and start using sunscreen!

The South African racers cannot be left out of the picture and riders like former winners Jade Gutzeit (Full Throttle Yamaha) and Darryl Curtis (Brother Broadlink KTM) would hope to put their years of racing experience in the Lesotho mountains to good use in an attempt to keep the trophy in Africa.

The 2010 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa will start with the Round the Houses street race on 25th November at 09h00 in Maseruwhere after competitors will ride their motorcycles through town to the outskirts where they will tackle Racing Section 1 (114km). Racing Sections 2 and 3 will start on Friday (26th November) and Saturday (27th November) at 06h00 outside Roma.