FNB Desert Dash 24hr MTB Team Challenge

You can win it, but you can't beat it. You can catch it, but you can't tame it. The FNB Desert Dash is more than an endurance mountain bike race, it's a wild beast that lures you, challenges you and allows only a few to stay on its back. It's a 340km, 24 hour fight between human and nature, body and mind.

THE EVENT

Starting in Windhoek the route climbs the Khomas Hochland up to a level of 2000m above sea level. You'll pass through beautiful scenery with scattered thorn trees and high savanna grass, the only spectators kudu, springbuck and the odd oryx staring at you in the red African sunset. Navigating the sharp twists and turns of the descent, at one stage dropping 700m in only 10km, will be made even more difficult by the cold and darkness of a moonless night. The next day brings challenges of its own. Temperatures can soar up to 50 degrees Celsius while you cross the arid, rocky monotomy of the Namib Desert. The finishing line is in the quaint coastal town of Swakopmund. With the cold Atlantic Ocean on one side and the red sand dunes of the desert on the other, the town itself  summarizes the extremes of this race.

The Desert Dash will be held for the fifth time on 18 to 19 December 2009. Have you got what it takes? Can you cope with the distance and weather conditions? Online entries are open from 15 August 2009 to 30 September 2009. Remember, come prepared ...

THE ROUTE

The route follows the C26 out of Windhoek, continues along the D1982 down the Us Pass and then crosses to the C28 via D1985. The C28 takes you into Swakopmund.

Go to the route page for more info.