ARE WE EXCITED TO HAVE YOU BACK! 

We cannot wait to welcome you back to ride our special trails and relish in the ultimate boutique MTB lifestyle stage-race experience. This year, the battery girls and boys are welcome too! That’s right in 2021 e-bikes can come join the fun.

If you’ve never heard about The U, presented by Venturescapes Events and Enjoy, here’s what you need to know in a gel-sized hit:  A three-day stage race featuring ‘real mountain-biking’ on an extensive network of private, handcrafted singletrack trails. Based around a picturesque lake-side race village, the three-day event showcases the natural beauty of our mountains, paired with a premium lifestyle offering featuring gourmet food, drinks, services and facilities in an all-inclusive offering.

You read right. All inclusive indeed - everything is covered by your entry fee and you can leave your wallet at home. 

Because of the nature of the event, we have space for 200 RIDERS ONLY. Now, it might be a lifestyle event, but we haven’t forgotten about the racing snakes and the Venturescapes Segment Challenge offers R5000 for both the K&QOM on both Episodes 1 & 2 (R20K in total over the weekend).

Riders will also be race ready for their photo finish, sporting their custom trail top designed and manufactured locally by Enjoy. 

In addition, here’s our promise to you: Should the event have to be cancelled due to pandemic reasons your entry will be refunded in full. 

Here is what you need to know.

In terms and food, fuel and drinks you can look forward to:

• Baristas serving any hot beverage of your choice.
• Complimentary La Chouffe beers on Friday & Saturday evening.
• Hope Gin & Fitch and Leedes sunset cocktails on Friday and Saturday evening. (including a Hope Gin and Liefmans Fruitesse beer and cocktail)
• Cadence Nutrition during Episodes 1 & 2.
• Powerful protein punch from Protein 2 Go recovery after each Episode.
• As much DAY Water as you need. (sustainable canned water)

The field is limited to 200 riders only – be sure to book your spot for 2021!

Just some of the unique features of the event include:

• A complimentary recovery massage on Saturday by the EPT Team, and full access to the EPT Recovery Lounge on Friday and Sunday to try the latest gadgets in sports recovery.
• Custom medals with your race number.
• Team pics fridge magnets which are also used for seeding.
• Namgear bike washes.
• Complimentary beer tasting from the Belgian Beer Company.
• The friendly support from the Tech Zone team.
• Personalized Number board.
• A Parting Gift when you leave.

ONLINE ENTRIES CLOSE: 3 September 2021 (Substitutions done after the 15^th of September will receive the kit confirmed in the original entry).

SUBSTITUTIONS CLOSE: 15 September 2021 (Substitutions done after the 15^th will be processed on Friday, the 24^th of September. Riders will receive kit confirmed in the original entry).

ACCOMMODATION PACKAGES:

STANDARD ACCOMMODATION:

• Standard:   @ R9 500 per individual.
  • Your standard entry includes:
    • All meals, drinks and snacks from the Friday evening until Sunday lunch, including light snacks on the Friday afternoon. 
    • Your own two-man tent & mattress. (Bedding excluded).
• Standard:   @ R17 000 per team.
  • Your standard entry includes:
    • All meals, drinks, and snacks from the Friday evening until Sunday lunch, including light snacks on the Friday afternoon. 
    • Your own two-man tent & mattress. (Bedding excluded).

• LUXURY ACCOMMODATION:
  • Luxury: @ R15 500 per individual. 
  • Your luxury entry includes:
    • All meals, drinks and snacks from the Friday evening until Sunday lunch, including light snacks on the Friday afternoon. 
    • Your own four-man tent with a single bed, a bedside table, shaded seating and ground cover in front of your tent with a camping chair & a solar light. (Bedding included).
• Luxury: @ R23 000 per team.
  • Your luxury entry includes:
    • All meals, drinks and snacks from the Friday evening until Sunday lunch, including light snacks on the Friday afternoon. 
    • Your own four-man tent with two single beds, a bedside table, shaded seating and ground cover in front of your tent with 2 camping chairs & a solar light, (Bedding included).

• DELUXE ACCOMMODATION:
  • Deluxe: @ R25 000 per team (teams only).
  • Your deluxe entry includes:
    • All meals, drinks and snacks from the Friday evening until Sunday lunch, including light snacks on the Friday afternoon.
    • Fully equipped luxury serviced accommodation with proper single beds for two evenings (double beds available upon request), bedding & towels included.
    • Complimentary Drinks & Snacks.
    • Exclusive access to the permanent ablution facilities.
    • Designated parking area.
    • Complimentary 'wake me up' coffee of your choice delivered to your doorstep at sunrise.

OUR CANCELLATION POLICY:

• Up to 3 months before the event – 75% (25 June 2021)
• Up to 2 months before the event – 50% (23 July 2021)
• No refunds in last 2 months & no carryovers (24 July 2021)
• Substitutions (R500 online, up until 15 September 2021, R1000 on the day, 24 September 2021)

TERMS &  CONDITIONS:

The ‘All Inclusive’ entry fee refers to the food and beverage offerings at the event and does NOT include hardware and additional labour in the tech zone. We’d love to supply you all with a new set of treads, but for that, you’re going to have to tap or swipe.

ROUTE DESCRIPTIONS:

The Prologue

Distance: 15km | Elevation: 200m 

Short, but sharp, this 15km is designed so you can earn your Friday evening beer and get the car trip out of your legs. See it as a loosener to prepare you for the two days which lie ahead.  The prologue has doubled in distance from previous years but without the addition of too much more elevation gain.

The route includes a few short stings called ‘Mermaids Pool,’ ‘Death by Porcupine’ and ‘Crow’s Nest’ but as with all the climbs in the trail network - what goes up, must come down. And, quite spectacularly at that.

Your finish time here will determine your seeding! If that is of any concern to you. 

Episode 1

Distance: 55km | Elevation: 1400m  |  4 Water Points

Episode 1 is a mix of The U exclusive sections, original Piket-Bo-Berg trails and spectacular new additions. Most of the day is spent on the trails of Bugler’s Post. Don’t let the distance fool you, you will feel that elevation and it starts early on as riders leave the race village and follow the jeep track up Levant Hill until the first singletrack of the day: ‘Yellow Cliff Road’ – a 1.3km switchback climb with an ascent of 100 meters. 

One of the many highlights of Episode 1 is the epic 5km downhill ‘Livingstone & Stanley’. This track was famously built by John Ince and LeRoux Rossouw - John building from the top of the mountain and Le Roux from the bottom. 

War stories from the old Ox Wagon Pass are bound to be shared over post-ride beers - built in 1889 the 5km ascend is a lung buster, which brings you back up the mountain to Bugler’s Post.  From there it’s dirt-surf time on ‘Blaaukop,’ ‘Jakkelskloof,’ ‘Owls Corner,’ ‘The Bug,’ ‘Fairy Meadows’ and another U exclusive ‘Ek is Lara’! 

Rondekop marks the return to Mouton’s Valley farm and by then you will be able to taste your Protein 2 Go recovery at the finish line, but, not before the epic ‘River Run’ and ‘A Bridge Too Far’ downhill sections.  

Episode 2

Distance: 57km | Elevation: 1100m  |  4 Water Points

Episode 2 takes in the finest of the trail network on the Starke’s farm, Mouton’s Valley. The riding is technical (both on the climbs and descents) but fast and flowing if you have the skills and the training in the legs. In some sections it’s almost impossible to comprehend how the trails were imagined, let alone crafted. Criss-crossing the hills above the race village, the trails weave audaciously over, through, between, and under rocks to create a near perfect flow on terrain which quite often shouldn’t be rideable. 

Make no mistake - it’s no manicured bike park (or walk-in-the-park, for that matter) the trails are physically and technically challenging, but generous in their rewards. These include U exclusive singletracks: ‘Sonop,' ‘Sunshine,’ ‘Castle Rock,’ ‘Looking for Moses,’ ‘Finding Moses,’ ‘Greystones’ and ‘Greystones Express.’

It’s real mountain-biking in the ‘proper’ sense of the word. The U is all about baggies and beers and chilled vibes, which means we’re not fans of bottlenecks in the switchbacks or complaints about the route because you haven’t put in the necessary work. In that vein we’ve instituted a little waiver before you can proceed to check out:

I acknowledge that this is a ‘real mountain bike’ event, which needs a good deal of fitness and skills to master!