Desert Dash hits record highOne of Namibia’s most popular cycling events is fast approaching, with interest at an all-time high. More riders for Nedbank-sponsored event With the Nedbank Desert Dash slated for 9 December, arrangements are being made to promote the cycling event to cyclists across the world. A few things have changed for this year’s race.
The Desert Dash allows cyclists to participate as four-man and two-man teams, as well as solo riders.
Two- and four-man teams did a normal relay with four stages, starting with a stretch of approximately 40km where the entire team rides together, followed by a stage for each of the riders. In the two-man teams, the riders would alternate.
“This year we decided to mix things up a bit. We simply changed the format of the two-man teams,” says organiser Leander Borg.
“This year won’t be a relay. The first rider will do the first half and the second rider will complete the second half of the race.
“Our intentions with this are twofold. Firstly, it mixes it up a bit but most importantly how this came about was that we wanted to reduce the number of vehicles on the road due to the dust and logistics during the evening.
“So for the two-man teams, the challenge is even greater. Now they don’t just do 80km and rest for three hours, they actually have to do half the race, which is about 190km, on their own.”
The organising team found a road just past the halfway point, which means that all back-up riders for the two-man teams will now be rerouted off the track where Cymot will be set up.
“We will reroute the cars on this new route which will allow us to reduce traffic quite significantly. Learning from last year, we’re striving to bring a more sophisticated racing experience to the riders. Cyclists can expect more at the handover and checkpoints, which will boast a bigger infrastructure setup. Super Spar will be present at the first big checkpoint just after the Kuiseb River where we’ll reroute riders.”
The event was always limited to about 600 riders because of the number of backup vehicles on the road, Borg says.
“Now that we’re taking the two-man teams on a different route we’re able to grow the number of entries and take a few more four-man teams.
“In total we’re looking at 800 to 900 riders, which is a 40% increase compared to previous years.
“Our long-term goal is to focus more on the solo riders. It is reflected in the prize money, the types of medals they receive, but more importantly, the challenge they take on as individuals.
“Primarily, the concept with the Desert Dash is that cyclists start off with a four-man team, progress to a two-man team and eventually do a solo.
“Nedbank is proud to say that we’ve hit the 100 mark in the last two years and this year we’re looking at close to 200 solo riders, which doubled as soon as the race entries opened,” Borg says.
“Entries officially opened in June and were filled within a few minutes, which speaks volumes in terms of the brand and magnitude