Newsletter Number 2                                                                                                                 13th January 2012 Dear all Well, here we are in 2012 already and preparations for the opening round of the 2012 RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup presented by Shimano that will take place in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa are already well under way. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all well for the year ahead, and I hope that it is a successful one. We welcome RockyRoads Network as the new series sponsors and we look forward to the new innovations and energy that I’m sure they will bring to the various events throughout the series. The new look and feel is exciting and of course the winners in Pietermaritzburg will be creating history in more ways than one as the first recipients of RockyRoads Network gear – it may be worth a bunch of cash in years to come!! As we are all aware, the 2012 MTB World Cup season is starting much earlier this year than previously and at this point in time, we are only eight weeks away from the event. The LOC is working hard to ensure all elements are ready for the event, but we do need the assistance of all teams and riders as well to make sure that bookings of team sites and all other elements happens sooner rather than later so that there is not mass confusion in the last days before the event. The information herein will hopefully be helpful to you in your preparations for your attendance in Pietermaritzburg and should my team and I be able to assist in any way, please get in touch with us. Until the next time, all the very best Alec Lenferna Event Director In this newsletter: The Venue  |  Travelling to Pietermaritzburg  |  Official Airline Partner |  Accommodation Options  |  Car Hire  |  Team Areas  |  Event Schedule The Venue The 2012 event is being organized by Cycling SA and Alec Lenferna will once again serve as the Event Director. Much of the same team that was in place for the 2011 event is back and the organizers together with the City have developed a prime piece of real estate which is almost right in the centre of the city over the past three years as the premier Mountain Bike venue in the country. This 12 hectare piece of land boasts competition ready Cross Country, Downhill and Four Cross courses that will all be utilized at the event in March 2012 as well as for the 2013 UCI MTB & Trials World Championships. Some “quick facts” about each competition course are as follows: XCO 5.15km long 707m altitude variance The Cross Country course, designed and constructed by Nick Floros, was utilized for the 2011 UCI MTB World Cup and garnered much praise. Although not a massive course, it is one that tests the rider throughout and Nick and his team have already identified areas where the course can be made more testing and a course that will ensure that the best and strongest riders on the day will succeed. DHI 2.88km long 361m altitude variance The Downhill course in Pietermaritzburg is considered to be a “pedally” course and one for the stronger riders and course designer Nigel Hicks has done an excellent job on the course with the terrain that he has to work with. He and his team are working on making some improvements to the course with some additional rhythm sections being added as well as some new jumps for 2012. There are a number of improvements that are being carried out on the event site and on the courses and these will be in place for the event in March 2012. Much of the work being carried out this year revolves around the weather proofing of the courses as well as the competition zone with certain sections being compacted and decomposed granite being put in place on the uphill sections and also new drainage drains being dug and positioned etc which is hoped will assist greatly in the advent of inclement weather. Travelling to Pietermaritzburg There are a number of ways to get to Pietermaritzburg and South Africa now has three international airports – OR Tambo in Johannesburg (450km from Pmb), Cape Town (1400km from Pmb) and King Shaka International in Durban (90km away). Most international airlines fly into South Africa and nearly all of them arrive into OR Tambo in Johannesburg or Cape Town. King Shaka International airport has limited international flights arriving there but all domestic airlines fly into King Shaka in Durban. The best suggested option for teams is to fly into Johannesburg and then either fly on to Durban and travel by car to the venue. Another option is to collect vehicles in Johannesburg and drive to Pietermaritzburg which is situated 450km from Johannesburg and is an easy 4 - 5 hour drive. Official Airline Partner The event organisers are very pleased to announce that South African Airways (SAA) is an official event partner and is offering all teams and riders travelling to the event – from whichever departure destination in the world – discounted rates and special travel benefits. A breakdown of the relevant discounted rates that will apply for the event are as follows: From Business Class Economy Class United Kingdom 8% to 10% 10% - 12% Germany 15% 15% USA - New York & Washington 10% - 18% 10% USA - Other Points 10% - 12% 10% South America 8% (n/a for classes Z & D) 8% (n/a for classes T & V) Australia 10% (n/a for class D) 10% (n/a for classes Q,T & V) Hong Kong 10% (n/a for class D) 10% (n/a for classes Q,T & V) India 12% 12% Middle East n/a n/a African Countries 10% 10% Other worldwide venues 5% - 10% 5% - 10% Should teams and riders wish to take advantage of these special rates, the following operational criteria are to be followed: 1. All flight reservation requests are to be emailed to Leesh Lobo, the SAA office team leader at leeshlobo@flysaa.com 2. Customers will do all correspondence through her and SAA will offer travelers either the MICE fares above or cheapest they can offer for the route/dates requested. 3. All bookings have to be sent through together with a scanned copy of the customer’s passport. This is to avoid any name errors that cannot be rectified later. 4. Payment can be done with a credit card, but the requisite forms need to be completed and sent back to SAA together with a copy of the back and front of the credit card. (ID copy not necessary if they have already received a copy of the passport. 5. Transportation of bikes have to be cleared in the country of origin and with the airline the traveler is departing on as each airline has their own “conditions of transport” for these items. 6. These conditions and discounts will apply only for customers that travel to and from South Africa on South African Airways. 7. The SAA booking / request code for the 2012 Rocky Roads MTB World Cup event in Pietermaritzburg is CQ/11/000082. It should be noted that discounts will vary dependent on the class of seats booked – this is dependent on when the bookings are made and the fares will be cheaper the earlier the bookings are made. Accommodation Options Pietermaritzburg and surrounds is blessed with a large variety of accommodation options to suit most if not all needs of teams and individuals. There are a number of hotels ranging from 2 stars to 4 star grades within the city as well as an extensive mix of Bed and Breakfast establishments and Guest Houses. Ecco Tours are best positioned to assist teams and individuals that need accommodation for the event and the person to make contact at Ecco Tours is Nathan Levendall and he can be contacted at nlevendall@eccotours.biz. Ecco’s details will also be on the event website. Accommodation venues will also be able to assist any teams that would like to come to the region for an extended time period in the lead up to the event for training in the area – an option that has already been exercised by a number of teams and national federations in the past. Car Hire The organisers are in the process of finalizing an agreement with an official car hire partner and this arrangement will be concluded shortly and all details of this agreement and the benefits that will apply to teams and riders will appear on the official website when in place and will also appear in the next newsletter. Team Areas The competition site is extremely compact with the start / finish area for the Cross Country competition only 100m from the finish areas for the Downhill competition. The areas designated for the teams are also within close proximity to these areas. The organizers will work closely with the UCI to determine where the various teams will be positioned as per the prevailing conditions linked to team registrations. Due to the fact that the majority of teams attending the event will not have a large amount of infrastructure at their disposal, the organizers have put mechanisms in place whereby the teams can be supplied with infrastructure they require, dependent on which zone they choose to be in. Dependent on the status of the teams and their registration criteria with the UCI, teams will be allocated an amount of land at the event venue – either 80 square metres or 30 square metres. Teams may bring their own infrastructure and equipment onto site and for those that do, please note that all compliance documentation will need to be supplied to the organisers before the start of the event (e.g. Engineers certificates for marquees etc). For teams that would like to take advantage of the equipment that can be supplied by the organisers, the following packages have been put in place: Pro Fencing around site 6m x 2.4m Storage Container 6m x 6m marquee 4 x trestle tables 12 x chairs Team name board 2 x Team vehicle parkings 6 x 3 day entry tickets Price (incl VAT @ 14%) R 11 400.00 Intermediate Fencing around site 6m x 3m marquee 2 x trestle tables 12 x chairs Team name board 1 x Team vehicle parking 4 x 3 day entry tickets Price (incl VAT @ 14%) R 7 410.00 Standard Fencing around site 2 x trestle tables 8 x chairs Team name board 1 x Team vehicle parking Price (incl VAT @ 14%) R 3 420.00 Additional equipment should it be required can be ordered as well as electrical and lighting connections for the event site. These will be at an additional cost. Team sponsors will be able to be positioned alongside their teams but this will only be possible in certain zones and may purchase the adjacent plot of 30 square metres. Team areas will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and the management of the team zones – as well as the separate expo / vendor area - will be carried out by CRA World Events Management and the people to make contact with in this regard are as follows: • Victoria Page – victoria@craevents.com  - +27824670696 • Tamica Couzens – tamica@craevents.com  Victoria and Tamica will be able to send all the relevant information packs and booking forms etc upon request. Event Schedule The full event schedule as signed off by the UCI is as follows: • Wednesday 14th March 2012 o 08:30 - 11:00 Downhill Course Inspection by UCI o 08:30 - 09:30 World Cup Riders Confirmation >>> UCI ELITE MTB Teams only o 09:30 - 11:00 World Cup Riders Confirmation >>> UCI MTB Teams only o 11:00 - 13:00 World Cup Riders Confirmation >>> All riders o 13:00 - 15:00 Cross-country Course Inspection by UCI o 14:00 - 16:00 On Foot Downhill Course Inspection - Riders/Teams • Thursday 15th March 2012 o 08:30 - 14:30 Official Downhill Training >>> World Cup riders only o 08:30 - 12:00 World Cup Riders Confirmation >>> All riders o 10:00 - 16:00 Official Cross-country Training >>> World Cup riders only o 13:00 - 15:00 World Cup Riders Confirmation >>> All riders [Final Confirmation DHI] o 14:45 - 16:15 Downhill Timed Training >>> Top 80 Men & Top 20 Women only o 16:15 - 16:45 On Foot Downhill Course Inspection - Riders/Teams o 17:00 Team Managers Meeting - DHI • Friday 16th March 2012 o 08:30 - 11:30 Official Downhill Training >>> World Cup riders only o 09:00 - 11:00 World Cup Riders Confirmation >>> XCO riders only [Final Confirmation XCO] o 10:00 - 14:00 Official Cross-country Training >>> World Cup riders only o 11:30 - 13:00 Official Downhill Training >>> Top 80 Men & Top 20 Women only o 14:30 World Cup Downhill - Qualifying Round o 30 minutes On Foot Downhill Course Inspection - Riders/Teams o 17:30 Team Managers Meeting – XCO • Saturday 17th March 2012 o 09:30 - 12:00 Official Downhill Training >>> World Cup Finals starters only o 09:00 World Cup Olympic Cross-country - Men U23 followed by Awards Ceremony o 11:30 World Cup Olympic Cross-country - Women Elite followed by Awards Ceremony o 14:00 World Cup Olympic Cross-country - Men Elite followed by Awards Ceremony o 16:30 World Cup Olympic Cross-country - Women U23 o 16:31 World Cup Olympic Cross-country - Women Juniors o Awards Ceremony>>> Top 3 Juniors - Top 3 Under 23 - World Cup leader U23 • Sunday 18th March 2012 o 09:30 World Cup Olympic Cross-country - Men Juniors followed by Awards Ceremony o 09:30 - 12:00 Official Downhill Training >>> World Cup Finals starters only o 12:00 - 12:15 Downhill Rider Intro Women and Men>>> Top 5 Qualifying Round o 13:15 World Cup Downhill - Final – Women o 14:00 World Cup Downhill - Final – Men o Downhill Awards Ceremony>>> Women - World Cup leading team – Men Additional Events and Activities 2012 will once again see a bonanza of mountain biking events in Kwazulu – Natal and three UCI rated events will be staged in the region in the weeks leading up to the UCI MTB World Cup event in Pietermaritzburg. The dates and venues for these events are as follows: • 19th February 2012 – XCO – Giba Gorge • 4th March 2012 – XCO – Karkloof • 10th March 2012 – XCO – Cascades • 11th March 2012 – DHI – Cascades All events are presented by Momentum Health and the events will be organised and managed by the KZN MTB Commission and all details will be published shortly on their website at www.kznmtb.co.za . Online entries can be done at www.roag.co.za  and for more information, please email info@kznmtb.co.za . These events are all staged in close proximity to one another and all venues are within 40km of Pietermaritzburg and this will allow teams and riders to come to the area and to not only train in the warmth and to enjoy the wonderful South African hospitality, but also to be able to ride some of the very best routes and in perfect terrain in the lead up to the Pietermaritzburg event. Furthermore, it is the perfect location to base your training needs leading up to the UCI MTB World Cup in the area, with over 300km of challenging single track riding as well as safe and good roads for any endurance riding needed. To find out more details of training rides and areas and any assistance in this regard, please contact Johann Wykerd at johann@lifeinmotion.co.za  and he will do all he can to make sure you are made comfortable and can maximize your stay in the region.