No easy rides on 2018 Roof

No easy rides in the 2018 Roof, warns route inspector.

 THE iconic Motul Roof of Africa started Thursday December 6 and finished on Saturday December 8. After a recce of the 2018 route, cross-country specialist Kenny Gilbert said Gold Class riders who found the 2017 route “too easy” will not have similar complaints for the 51st edition.
“This is how the Roof used to be, and should be! Everything is ridable, but you’re going to sweat from start to finish,” said Gilbert on Tuesday.
The majority of this year’s route will consist of virgin trails in and around Ramabanta — an area of
Lesotho that Gilbert described as “every enduro rider’s paradise”.

Wade Young

“It was exciting to head into the unknown — there was single track I’ve never experienced before, and a lot of wild, overgrown terrain to navigate through.  The new climbs are tricky because there isn’t always a clear line to follow, so I just stuck to what my GPS was telling me and kept moving. I wasn’t surprised by anything — the Roof of Africa is all about navigating, and I always knew it was going to be tough …” said Gilbert.
Route director Peter Luck said the hard enduro this year has a new start and finish at St Andrews School in Ha Raboletsi, approximately 55 km from Maseru. An impressive 65% of the event will comprise trails that have not been used in the event before, and the remainder of the route will take riders to sections of Lesotho that have not been ridden in the past eight years.
Another change set to shake the Roof of Africa is a break away from the traditional Round the Houses start, which will be held mostly on  dirt, with more viewing points for the fans and obstacles for the riders.
Favourite is Wade Young, holder of the 2017 Roof of Africa title and winner of the Red Bull Romaniacs win earlier this season. Competitors like Travis Teasdale, Kyle Flanagan, Altus de Wet and Scott Bouverie will, however, make Young work for every minute in the lead.
Teasdale narrowly missed the top step last year and Bouverie has had two podium finishes at the Roof before.
Other riders on the Roof of Africa radar include the young and upcoming Matt Green and William Oosthuizen. After Oosthuizen’s solid National Enduro performance this year and Green’s fifth place at the renowned Red Bull Sea to Sky, both athletes certainly have the potential to cause an upset.
This year, the Bronze entry has the newly-wed pair of Victoria Harcy and Matthew Caraway racing. Entering the Roof was on the top of the bucket list of these Americans.  “Africa is a pretty exotic and exciting location, and very few people we know have raced the Roof before!” said Caraway.