The Mother of Hardenduro

In a month’s time the 42nd Roof of Africa event will be held in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. The first Roof of Africa took place in 1967, and with the exception of 1998 when the race was cancelled due to unrest in the country, Lesotho played host to this extremely grueling event, considered one of the five most extreme endurance motorcycle races on the globe.
After the announcement that the Roof will be included in a five part series from 2011, competitors from around the world have now started entering for the 2009 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa race. Of the 124 entries received to date 100 competitors are from South Africa, the remaining 20% are from around the world. No less than 7 German riders and 5 Australians have already entered. With only one New Zealand rider appearing on the list, whilst last year’s winner, Chris Birch’s name is not on the list yet, although it is a known fact that he will be defending his title.
Latin American Enduro Champion and the first Mexican ever to finish the Erzbergrodeo, Jesús Zavala Garcia, have also not entered yet. These competitors will add a lot of excitement and strong international onslaught on this year’s event. Riders from Austria, the UAE and the UK have entered together with 3 competitors from Lesotho, 1 from Swaziland and a Zimbabwe rider.
Jade Gutzeit is the only entrant on the current list featuring amongst the main South African competitors. He rides a BMW G 450 X and made history earlier in the season when he won the Timberland 400, becoming the first South African to win a national event on BMW motorcycle. Having finished second in last year’s event, the strong built, Gauteng based Gutzeit is definitely a favourite in this year’s event with his long term knowledge of the race and his wide experience base in motorsport.
This is definitely not the final entry list and a large number of competitors are expected to enter over the next two weeks, making for some very interesting reading. A field of about 300 competitors is expected to take to the countryside for the three day event.
Like every year before, the 2009 Roof of Africa will be very exciting, especially because the route is somewhat different to the previous years leading through some of the most grueling tracks where the Basotho people lead their donkeys to and from water supplies and trading posts. Often the route will track along cliff ledges where the mountain goats seek their food in the hillside greenery.
The extreme height above sea-level and the rugged mountain terrain makes this country one of the most amazing off-road playgrounds, with no fences between farms, an open countryside, spectacular views of wide open space and magnificent mountain views, it stirs up an experience that only the extreme athlete can attempt and ensure an adrenaline rush to reward those brave enough to conquer the challenges that nature serves them. 
The mother of all extreme enduros will test man and machine, and only the strongest will survive.