Big Shot Media

22 – 23 October 2011

The Impi Challenge will begin its legacy on the nature reserve of Wiesenhof Farm in the Paarl region. The route will be mapped out over 12km’s with 17 obstacles ranging from a simple mud crawl through a poplar forest to an insane high rise elevated aerial obstacle. Men and women of all toughness over the age of 16 years may participate. The terrain will be a muddy and wet obstacle course

For more info go to:

http://www.impichallenge.co.za/index.html

15 October 2011

Route Description
The race will start at Amalienstein, 25 km from Ladismith, on Route 62 in the direction of Oudtshoorn. (East) From the start in front of the Lutheran Church, participants in the 80 km Challenge will first traverse the Orchards of Amalienstein Farm, before joining the gravel road through Seweweekspoort. This part of the road traverses the Swartberg Nature Reserve and Water Catchments area. At the Northern exit of the Poort in the Great Karoo, riders will do a 10 km loop and then join the gravel road for the return through the Seweweekspoort. Riders should exercise caution here as there will be light motor vehicle traffic on the road and the leaders should note that there will still be participants riding northwards to the turning loop. A refreshment station and Control point will be situated at the Northern exit of the Poort. Riders will proceed back to the start via the gravel road through the Poort to Amalienstein where another refreshment station will be situated. From here participants in the 80 km Challenge will follow the same route as the 25 km Mini Challenge.
From Amalienstein riders in both races will follow a footpath to Zoar and then cross the R62 main road. From here single track, jeep track and gravel roads will take participants through fruit farms in the magnificent Hoeko valley and across the farm Spera to join the Hoeko road via Knuyswagendrift to Ladismith. Refreshment stations will be situated just after the farm Spera and in Knuyswagendrift.
Both the 80 km Challenge en the 25 km Mini-Challenge will finish at the Ladismith High School Sports grounds.

Ray Van Breda

Jean Fousie

Johan Badenhorst

Douglas Le Roux

David Le Roux

17 – 22 October 2011

The Cape Pioneer is a 6 day experience where you get to take your bike and go where no other has been before.

Check out this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=881WzvI_dhM

For more information go to:

www.capepioneer.co.za

Dave and Suzie working on a spray-paint DVD

Douglas and the guys from Crazy Store Table Mountain Challenge

VISION FROM THE CAPE EPIC

There is no doubt that real mountain biking has come to stay at the Absa Cape Epic although the route might not suite everyone the excitement has been phenomenal.

The standard of the professional racing has gone up another bar and it was great to see Lakata and Evans take the first stage and the leader’s jersey. With Burry Stander bringing up virtually every movable object in his body over the first 2 days, the favourite Specialized Team was not firing on all guns. As they finished day 2, it seemed that Burry would be retiring from the race prematurely.

In fact team manager Bobby Behan came up early on Day 3 to withdraw Burry from the race as he felt that permanent damage might be done to his young star should he continue.

But miracles do happen in Africa from a very apprehensive Burry Stander in the start shoot on day 3 to a couple of hours later when he and now smiling Christoph Sauser came across the line in first place to announce that they were back in the race again.

Needles to say Burry is going to stay in the race and when I last saw him he was onto his 5^th bowl of food, something he hadn’t been able to do, is eat over the last 3 days. As luck swung in the direction of Specialized it deserted the MTN Qhubeka Team of Evans and Lakata as Alban demolished his rear rim and run in the last kilometre. And Kevin was plagued by a slow puncture.

The lead has changed and the defending champions of Stephan Sahn and Karl Platt have taken over the lead after consistently finishing to the top each day. That’s great because you could never have to meet 2 nicer men in any sport, never complaining, never protesting but always looking on the bright side of life. It is a just reward for the defending champions.

Obviously the great media shows have taken their toll on managing Director Mark Le Roux as he is forced to take medicinal medicine every night, thank god for Red wine.

PAUL VALSTAR signing out

Over the past three years Bigshot Media has experienced overwhelming support from

Event Organizers, Sponsors, Broadcasters across the globe and very importantly our viewers.

It is a well known fact that South Africans are outdoor people in general. This has been more so in the past few years as more and more South Africans take to the mountains, rivers and oceans that surround us.

The depressed state of global finances is something we all keep an eye on. Could this be one of the reasons for the huge growth in many of our outdoor sports?

I remember covering the very first Mountain bike SA champs in Port Elizabeth many years ago. There were a handful of eager participants and a few very keen committee members dreaming of their sport getting away from its Cinderella status. Today the Mountain biking world has exploded. Stage racing hit the scene with the Imana Wild Ride challenging the 200 participants to cross rivers and monster hills over four days. They even had the foresight to raise money by penalizing riders for trivial wrong or right doings it seems. This money first went into setting up bike tours in the old Transkei, but today it is used to build classrooms along the wild coast. I remember small amounts being thrown around 10 years ago. Raising five thousand rand was smiled on. But then came a man called Spider Clarke who after chatting to the organizers started a foundation called WREC (Wild Ride Education Company). He started asking for more in his own special way, and it worked. Five years ago he raised R22 000.00 and a classroom was built. Each year after more classrooms were built from generous donations. This year in 2009 a whopping R310 000.00 was raised from one evenings so called fines, and more and more classrooms are being built. The reason I mention this is that I believe people who enjoy the outdoors are generally people who like to take home experiences, but more importantly like to give. Who knows maybe a college is next? Time will tell….

Mountain biking was spinning along fine until the Absa Cape Epic came to town. All of a sudden the local and international media went into a frenzy, and anyone who had a road bike started to ask questions about shocks, upper body workouts etc…The mountain bike fever hit us with open arms. Yes even Bigshot Media were there when it happened. We have played a major role in taking the TV images to the world. It is still growing along with many new events that populate the South African MTB calendar.

The Sani2C has had to double up on their event, going back to back with the “race” and the “adventure” and still they have a waiting list. A sure way of entertaining the waiting list is to entice them into doing two of the best rides in the country being the Berg and Bush and SANI2C with a few extra days thrown in from Joburg. So the JOBURG2C was born this year. 9 days of mountain biking bliss. This may be a tough ask but they got the route going and opened entries. Within minutes the entries were closed. SOLD OUT.

At the same time the people in the Klein Karoo were mourning the loss of the Absa Cape Epic going through their region. It took almost no time though as DRYLAND events launched the new Cape Pioneer Trek, a 6 day stage race that attracted the ex World champion Christof Sauser amongst others. This was a resounding success with athletes giving the organizers a 5 minute standing ovation at the final prize giving. This event has a heart beat and will grow into a beautiful specimen of a race. It is already a stunner.

Our eyes here at Bigshot Media were still healing from the dust of the Klein Karoo when our cameras were rolling again at the brand new WINES2WHALES 3 day stage race. A route that goes through 70 odd wine farms and ends in the famous Hermanus old harbor. This will also exceed its capacity in the very near future.

I could go on about how mountain biking has bloomed in this country. How we have become a big player as far as attracting the attention of the international mountain biking community, the accolades that keep streaming in…

So it is becoming more and more important to keep our playgrounds neat and in good nick. Conservation is a topic that seems to be at the heart of most adventurous folk. Whilst the government still struggles with legislation regarding 4x 4 vehicles,  the access to amazing untouched routes have been a blessing for the more eco friendly bicycles. Some events now also seek “GREEN” status by the Conservation Corporation and other conservation bodies. By doing this the event organizers buy into the conditions set down by the green companies. For us that’s the only way to go.

Trail running has been around for years now, but has only captured the imagination of a small percentage of South Africa’s massive road running fraternity. Over the past two years Bigshot Media has witnessed how the energy of the Mounties has spilled over to the trail runners. Not to be outdone the trail running world has taken the opportunity to bring new and innovative multi day stage events to the trail runners. All of a sudden, once again as with the road bikers the road runners are hitting the dirt now. Competition for the biggest and best events are happening amongst race organizers. Nothing wrong with this as it only enhances the value to their new customers the trail blazers.

It has been great to grow with this new craze in SA and we certainly hope that it also builds to international stardom like our mountain bikers have.

Apart from major events like SA Ironman, Ironman 70.3, Xterra Series, Challenger world, African X, Virgin Active Indoor Triathlon Series, we also love the smaller yet very focused events throughout South Africa. The passion we have for this game goes beyond being a challenge for us here, it is a lifestyle we work hard at keeping, because to loose something we love so much will not be a thought we would want to entertain. This is why we always give of our best and hopefully this comes through in our products.

See you out there soon.

Mark Le Roux