The 85km Ride Crater Cruise, which takes place on Sunday, October 16, has now been confirmed as a round of the prestigious Mazda Marathon series for 2005, while the 42km race is on the calendar for next year’s nationally recognised RCI Half-marathon series.
 
The date for 2005 remains the same, October 16, but this will now fall on a Sunday.
 
According to Theo Grobler, who is not only very involved in the organisation of the series and has also ridden the route, the course is ideally suited to the marathon series and is guaranteed to cause a stir throughout the SA MTB world where people have long hoped for a top race of this type.
 
Gerrie Beukes of Dingo Cycles in Potchefstroom has also welcomed this development, pointing out that the Northern Free State and the North-West Province did not host either a Mazda or RCI round during the 2004 season, despite the fact that many of the country’s top riders come from these areas.