Imvelo 2010 was a blast!

Nedbank Swaziland's Imvelo MTB Classic

firstly - the results are out: click here.

this was another excellent ride, fully subscribed with 3 weeks to go and the value of the race increasing year on year - wonder what will happen next year??

word has it that the first weekend of June will again be race dates - probably 4th of June? People have already taken up plenty accommodation - and it is scarce at Mlilwane - amazing stuff.

There were no real changes in this year otherwise - Andre Cordes is still the undisputed Kinf of Imvelo - 3 consecutive wins as well as improving times. the field is still struggling to reign him in - he looks unbeatable. The Swazi contingent has shown vast improvement in both performance and numbers.

Many Swazis opted for the 65km ride owing to the cool free cycling shirts again - but along with the shirt comes a hell of a ride...and rumour has it - much training was done. Good all round, the sport grows!

Some single track succumbed to gravity, much to the joy of many - what was once a hard slog scrambling uphill is now a tricky, speedy and exhilarating downhill - good move by all accounts.

The Hoglet distance was a huge hit - over 60 kiddies dragging their folks around the track - this is sure to stay on the calendar.

Good news for cycling in Swaziland was the appearance of the newly formed association's president. Mandla Simelane spoke of the improvement of mountain biking in Swaziland and of the plans afoot to take the sport to as many as possible. imagine unearthing some talent in Swaziland!

the support for the sport is strong, with a number of sponsors eager to associate themselves with the event, not least the Swaziland Tourism Authority and Nandos - this is alongside the cycling short sponsors of last year as well as the big guns of Nedbank.

Way to much fun!

The 2009 Imvelo MTB Classic was a fantastic event and as some have said, there's no stopping Imvelo now!

The success of the event is certainly founded upon a brilliant route, actually, make that 3 awesome routes.

The 65km Classic is a wonderful example of free flowing cross country terrain with lung busting climbs being rewarded by wicked downhills. The single track features heavily in all the distances, but the maturing single track on the longest distance is what differentiates this race from others.

65kms will have you climbing over 1600m with the last 44kms providing 1307m - so it's a short distance compared to the ultra marathons out there now, but certainly no pushover.

the event itself attracted a capacity field of 500 with brilliant goodie bags up for grabs to each riders...the coup de grace was the tasty MTB cycling shirt given to the classic riders. Free! The usual trappings were there for the rest, T-Shirts, water bottles and for the first time, double tickets to the official House on Fire aft

er party - which was massive.

The times this year were quicker than last year, Andre Cordes clocked in at 3:18, several minutes quicker than last year.

Results are available here: http://www.biggameparks.org/newsfacts_events.html while photographs are also available on that page.

I have the route profile now:

Riding on Mlilwane certainly rewards those keen on exploring...gnarly singletrack is often optimised by random game sightings - adventure is to be had under the watchful gaze of Execution Rock, alongside the abandoned railway, in and out of tunnels...the fun goes on.

Mliwane Wildlife Sanctuary is famous for being an attractive destination for family fun seekers and while Conservation is the cornerstone to the Parks, interactive adventuring is fast becoming a reason to travel there. The most popular pastimes have always been the overnight horse trails but these excursions have now been joined by the overnight mountain bike trails which are proving to be extremely popular.

Single track is alive and kicking and rumour has it, there are more MTB events on the horizon in Swaziland...watch this space.

Imvelo MTB Classic hits 400 entries

We were all warned...enter early to avoid disappointment, but whoever listens to those right? The organisers of Nedbank Swaziland's Imvelo MTB Classic turned away disbelieving and angry parents - with a courteous word and a slight sparkle, they have achieved quite a feat and the Imvelo race really has arrived.

The 400 or so lucky riders will enjoy pristine terrain, especially those tackling the 65km Classic mountainous trail - there is some overlapping with the shorter distances initially, but the smooth registration and starting times will allow for no congestion - well between races in any event. They will experience real Swaziland Singletrack that will appeal to anyone on a mountainbike and there is almost a gurantee that plenty antelope will be seen en-route. Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary hosts the MTB race and is a destination where trails and game create a wonderful playground for those intent on exploring mountain bike trails, hiking trails and their forte, horse trails. Enquire and you will discover numerous horse trailing options including over night trails, multiday trails to hourly trails.

That the Imvelo Mountain Bike Race has arrived is further underlined by the high quality of rider now arriving with a healthy split of MTB riders from Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland - there is a small smattering of northern hemisphere riders thanks in part to the missionaries from the States and Europe. Regardless, some riders are approaching the Imvelo with a steely glint in their eyes, more focused than their last foray.

With the accepted fact that the Imvelo "has arrived" it has become a platform to raise awareness and indeed finances for a stricken local mountain bike rider, Bheki Mbingo who is currently in a critical condition with bleeding on the brain. A substantial prize is on offer as the raffle prize, a 6 night stay in Swaziland and this enticing raffle has attracted numerous ticket sales with all the proceeds going to Bheki. I wish the guy well.

7 June 2008 is around the corner, and with it comes a brilliant mountain bike race. I need to get some sleep and take on the beast in the morning.

Swaziland is a seriously fun playground.

Swazi Xtreme, Horse Trails and Imvelo MTB Classic

A long time in coming, but lots has happened in this, the land of adventure. Ngulube has been doing a fair amount of off road running in the Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, there really is no better place to run. For one, the roads are perfect so the terrain gets as challenging as you make it. Secondly, if you do not encounter any animals, remove your blindfold. Thirdly, with the Imvelo approaching you'll find funky bridges spanning gulleys and erosion ditches or dongas. If you need more reasons, there is the fully licensed bar at the main rest camp. One word of advice though, grab a Wild Card - you get free entry which quickly pays off the card fee.

The MTB trails in particular have been under maintenance and their grooming has produced hard pack single track in many places - a favourite would have to be on the should of Nyonyane, through the aloe garden, just before the hair raising descent!

Nonetheless, all this training culminated in the Swazi Xtreme where Ngulube's team recorded a finish. The highlight of this race was surely the remoteness and the genuine article as far as real rural people are concerned. Ngulube is quick to mention the gigantic mountains the locals inhabit and remembers one encounter where the team had to scale a huge gorge en-route to a school transition point at the top of the ridge. Back breaking work, sweat pouring and a wonderful achievement for the team...but little 5 and 6 year olds do that EVERY day, both up and then down again. Truly a different world.

A week prior to that, Ngulube experience an overnight horse trail, from Mlilwane Rest Camp right to and over Nyonyane mountain, incredible what the beautiful horses can do. The overnight was in a cave, completely catered for, wonderfully comfortable and an incredible experience to boot - on the list to do again.

Ngulube also the latest press release from the Imvelo organisers;

Closing in on 400 Entries! 2 weeks to go before Early Bird entries close! South Africa vs Wales Big Screen TV!

With just under a month to go to this year’s Nedbank Swaziland’s Imvelo MTB Classic, entries are at a record level which means the capacity of 400 (an increase from last year) will be achieved before race day. This means you need to get your entries in as soon as possible rather than risk leaving it to the last minute. Enter online at www.Imvelo.co.sz or Contact Reservations for options on +268 528 3943


Festivities of the day include a world-class mountain bike route and first class support from Nedbank Swaziland and our associated sponsors. Your heroic moments will be captured by Keith Fuller Photography and will also be displayed on the www.Imvelo.co.sz website after the race. For those with additional energy to expend, we have ordered in a Jumping Castle, we just ask that you give the kids a turn as well. As part of the community drive, four high school pupils have been selected to man the bike wash area – proceeds will go directly to these guys as they work to get themselves through school

The start/finish area will be abuzz with cyclists, hogs on the spit, beers flowing and general organized chaos, no doubt all characterized by silly grinning folk. As far as race souvenirs are concerned, in addition to your T-shirts, we have very unique medals we will be proudly presenting finishers of the 3 distances, and for those racers in the hunt for podium finishes, Ngwenya Glass has added their special brand of art to our race in the form of quality hand-crafted glass trophies, customized to record the day’s fun. For those who start with a bang and end perhaps with a whimper, Ngwenya Glass trophies will be up for grabs for the King of the Mountain as well as Queen of the Mountain, in addition, six more Ngwenya Glass Trophies will be up for grabs for the 1st 3 ladies home in the Classic distance as well as the first 3 positions in the Classic distance.

Due to popular demand, team entries are being accepted – this is for teams of 4 and the prize is awarded to the team with the lowest cumulative positions. The first team home scores R1000 cash prize! This category will be recognized with a minimum of 5 entered teams

An additional 50 T-Shirts have been ordered for sale and will be available at registration which is Friday the 6th of June (closing at 11pm) and on race day – please remember no entries will be accepted on the day, however, registration will be open where entered cyclists can pick up their race numbers and goodie bags.

For the die-hard rugby fans – a big screen TV will have center stage to present the Springboks vs Wales rugby test match, this auspicious occasion has been bolstered by rumours of a happy hour. Be there to find out.

A few things to remember:
Ø No Helmet No Ride (no exceptions)
Ø No Entries on the day (do not arrive on Saturday 7 June and expect to enter, no one will be available to process)
Ø Strictly 400 entries only, excess will be turned away and once capacity has been achieved, notification will be sent out.
Ø Late entries (after 26 May 2008 attract a penalty fee of R30)
Ø Come prepared for a fun day!

Brushcutter Brilliance

A miracle of modern times, the lowly brushcutter ought to be strapped to every mountainbiker should they encounter dense brush too tricky to navigate through. Luckily the folk at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary have such devices and even better, people who know how to wield them.


Single track cutting is most definitely underway in preparation for the Imvelo Mountain Bike Classic, 7 June, 2008. With the admin issues taken care of (Nedbank have ok'd the use of the proceeds from preceeding events for charity) the focus is undeniably on the creation of a brilliant race - a route that has top SA and Swazi MTB'ers excited.


Ngulube was out for some geocaching (two great caches at Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary) and luckily had a bike in tow (Specialized Epic comp).

The park was on great form with a variety of animals making arrangements for the approaching winter, so it was good to see the kudus roaming, including one large guy with 3 turns in his horns. Also present were the funny Wildebeest along with the ubiquitous impala. A strange site was 3 warthogs huddled close to the main camp fire.

As far as riding is concerned, the Donga section looks like it could be a single track bike park, it's a mini grand canyon (the result of water blasting ages ago for tin mining) - so while the trail cuts through parts of this donga section, I had immense fun tracking the game trails over mounds, natural berms etc.

Further into the park, one can join the steep gravel road to the the sundowner spot which in wet weather is entirely impassable in any type of vehicle...regardless, it is a 30 min hard climb and a 10 min descent - it is a most worthwhile excursion.

I also managed to spy some of the track going through the Usuthu forest...there are some massive mountains to contend with and then there is the scorpion...will need to ride that and revert...