Knysna Karoo to Coast race set to continue

The Knysna Oyster Festival, one of the main attractions on the Knysna tourist calendar which took place during July, saw an injection by Wesgrow, who allocated R100,000 to promoting it. Another calendar fixture, the Karoo to Coast race which takes MTB riders on the 100km off-road from Uniondale to Knysna via the Prince Alfred’s Pass is also set to continue on 24 September 2017.

Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing is one of the sponsors of the race which raises funds for the local Lions clubs that supports Sightfirst, the South African Guide Dog Association and other urgent community needs, aggravated by the devastating fires that decimated more than 600 structures in Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.

Recovering communities and the economy 

Conrad Fick, marketing director for Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing, exporter of South African apples and pears, some of which are grown in the Langkloof region near Knysna, says their decision to continue their sponsorship of the Karoo to Coast was an especially easy one this year.

“The best thing we can do now is to encourage a full recovery of the economies and communities impacted by the fires and to support established races such as this one which is also an official premier seeding event of the Cape Town Cycle Tour. We must do what we can to promote that people enter the race and stay over in the region. As we did in previous years, we will also be rewarding cyclists with massages in the Tru-Cape tent,” continues Fick.

Fick says that Tru-Cape was pleased to be able to support the initial fire-fighting effort with a gift of over 8,000 Tru-Cape apples and trusts that the Garden Route will prove as resilient as it is beautiful.