ANA Sports Reporter
KNYSNA, June 5 (ANA) - The Knysna Oyster Festival, taking place between Friday, June 29 and Sunday, July 8, will again offer a range of sporting events.
These include a swim across the lagoon, paddling, trail running, mountain biking, golf, as well as the Momentum Big5 and Big5 Lite Challenges for accomplished multisport athletes.
The first weekend sees the Momentum Knysna Cycle Tour MTB events kick off festivities on June 30, with 80km, 50km, 30km, and 15km routes, in addition to the newer 30km E-bike race.
The challenging trails through the Garden Route’s forests and farmlands attract serious mountain bikers and enthusiasts alike.
The Momentum Knysna Cycle Tour Road Race on Sunday, July 1 features a 115km and a 50km route.
In an exciting development this year, the Momentum Knysna Cycle Tour has confirmed that the 115km road race, along with the 80km and 50km mountain bike races will be seeding qualifying events for the 2019 Cape Town Cycle Tour.
The Forest Family Dam Ride on Sunday is not a timed race, but a more relaxed scenic 30km or 20km route for mountain bikers, into the forests above Simola and past some of Knysna’s dams.
The Momentum Health MTB X on July 5 sees four categories of mountain bikers choose between 1 and 4 laps of an 8-km loop, with between 8 and 10 obstacles of different difficulties to suit riders of all skill levels.
On July 3, the Momentum Featherbed Trail Run provides an 11km Seahorse and a 15km Coelacanth option. It starts at Buffalo Beach and ends at the Cruise Café restaurant on Remembrance Drive.
The Knysna Oyster Festival Bowls Tournament is on July 2, as is the first in the series of the FNB Forest Family Hike.
On July 4, Pezula golf course hosts the Motus Festival of Golf Ladies Day, with great prizes and entertainment on the day, and the Motus Festival of Golf Men’s Day is on the following day.
On July 6, the Europcar Knysna Classic golf tournament is a 4-ball charity event with proceeds going to Knysna Hospice and the Knysna Animal Welfare Society (KAWS). The Motus Festival of Golf pro-am tournament rounds off the golfing on July 7.
On July 8 the final match of the Knysna Oyster Festival soccer tournament takes place. - African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman