A Trail Day of Remembrance: Celebrating the lives of Meurant Botha & JP van Zyl

Mountain bikers, runners, and hikers are invited to join A Trail Day of Remembrance on October 4 and 5, to honour pioneers of mountain biking Meurant Botha and JP van Zyl.

The day of remembrance will take place from 7.30am until 1:30pm at the Dirtopia Trail Centre, Muratie Wine Farm in Stellenbosch.

An open day will also be held in Bellville, located at 21 Northumberland Street, Boston, from 9am to 7pm on Sunday, October 19.

The pair died in a car accident near Calvinia, Northern Cape, on Saturday, September 13. Consequently, the Muratie Trails Marathon, which was scheduled for Sunday, October 5, has been cancelled.

Entrants of the Muratie marathon will be contacted with the option of a refund or to donate their entry fee. Visitors are also welcome to donate to trail maintenance in memory of the two.

“Our vision is to use these trail donations to permanently open the very last piece of singletrack that Meurant built, with signage and recognition. It is equally important to us that people understand their contributions will also help keep our trail team active and supported in continuing the work Meurant started,” said Isabeau Botha, the spokesperson of the families.

Meurant Botha, 50, widely regarded as a founding father of mountain biking in South Africa, founded Dirtopia in 2000, the country’s oldest mountain bike event company.

A mountain biker since 1989, Mr Van Zyl spent 13 years working across the cycling industry before founding Recycles Bike Shop in 2002. 

His biography states that  since 2006, he and his team provided technical support at South Africa’s biggest races, including the Cape Epic, Sani2C, JoBerg2C, Wines2Whales, Tankwa Trek, and Cape Pioneer Trek.

Mr  Van Zyl and Botha shared a friendship of more than three decades, each contributing uniquely to the growth of mountain biking in South Africa.