The Rock Stage Race and Trail Fest
The inaugural Rock Stage Race and Trail Run Festival took place in 2018 with the stated aim of establishing Paarl’s signature MTB and Trail Run weekend. The event was an incredible success and is now a permanent feature on the calender. The 2019 event takes place over the weekend of 27-29 September, hosted at the beautiful Spice Route Destination and Rhebokskloof Estate on the slopes of the Paarl Moutain.
The 2019 Rock Stage Race and Trail Festival is the very fortunate benefactor of a strategic partnership between Hero Adventure and the City of Drakenstein and will have access to more than 200km of trails on the magnificent Paarl Mountain over the weekend of 27-29 September. The Rock Stage Race, organised by Hero Adventure, presents three sublime stages ranging from 40km-54km daily. The first stage runs from Malmesbury to Paarl and the event then settles in Paarl for the second and third stages on the Paarl Mountain. At an entry fee of R1350 per rider the event has positioned itself as the ideal training ride for the FNB Wines2Whales, which takes place a month later.
“We really can pick and choose from the trails for The Rock this year and the end result is that more than 80% of the route will be on single track,” said race director Darren Herbst from Hero Adventure. “We have been building trails on the Paarl Mountain for the past two years and it’s going to be wonderful to showcase the latest additions to these trails during The Rock.” Entries for The Rock are limited to 500 riders and just over 250 entries have already been received. Riders can enter solo or as two-rider teams.
Day 1 Malmesbury – Rhebokskloof: 54km – 1300m elevation
Day 2 Rhebokskloof – Spice Route: 43km – 950m elevation
Day 3 Spice route – Rhebokskloof: 48km – 1300m elevation
Saturday 28 September 2019 is the big hosting day at Spice Route Destination. The destination artisan village hosts the finish of “The Rock” MTB Stage race with live bands and lots of entertainment while the following events will also start and finish at Spice Route as part of the Trail Fest:
07h00: 21km Trail Run
08h45: 25km MTB Traverse
09h15: 10km MTB Family Traverse
10h30: 5km kiddies MTB
The Rock moves to Rhebokskloof Estate on Sunday 29 September with the following events starting and finishing at Rhebokskloof:
07h15: 10km Trail Run – start and finish at Rhebokskloof
07h30: 5km Trail Run – start and finish at Rhebokskloof
09h00: 2km Kiddies Obstacle Trail Run – start and finish at Rhebokskloof