Rika de Bruyn’s second prize shows that gravel roads need not be intimidating.

GS bikes amid great scenery at the Eco 1000 challenge.

Mike Stone’s first prize picture captures the spirit of the event.

The 2009 Eco 1000

BMW Motorrad South Africa recently hosted its inaugural BMW GS Eco 1000 event, which replaced its traditional September GS Challenge. The new format was designed to appeal to a much wider range of GS rider - rather than just the experienced off-road enthusiast that was attracted to the old GS Challenge.

By placing less emphasis on technical off-road riding, the new event encouraged participants to ride their GS bikes from one of four starting points (Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town), before staying overnight at a predetermined location and then gathering en masse after the second day's riding to party the night away. This idea attracted hundreds of GS riders from across South Africa, who met up with other local riders or even formed groups to successfully participate in their first ever BMW GS Eco 1000 event.

Riders were free to do as much road or off-road riding as they wanted, and could also choose their own routes en route to the final destination, which was a chalet and campsite on the banks of the Gariep Dam - the largest dam in South Africa. An added incentive was that BMW Motorrad South Africa organised a photo competition exclusively for those riders participating in the 2009 event, with cash prizes on offer for the best three pictures, according to a panel of independent adjudicators.

There was a huge response to the photo competition, showing quite clearly the vast beauty and diversity of South Africa, as well as the ability of GS models to go where other bikes just cannot go. The first prize went to Mike Stone, whose picture of an F 800 GS and its owner grabbing some much-needed rest really captured the spirit of the event. Second prize went to Rika de Bruyn, whose group shot of GS riders in action shows that gravel roads need not be intimidating. Third place went to Howard Stafford's 'remote destinations on a GS' photograph.

All the best photos have been displayed on the Eco 1000 website gallery (http://gseco1000.bmw-motorrad.co.za/Web/Gallery/) showing that BMW Motorrad South Africa's Eco 1000 objective of encouraging GS owners to explore South Africa and travel at least 1000 kilometres by bike - from leaving to arriving back home - has been truly met.

"It was a fantastic inaugural event and the amount of high-quality pictures received for the competition was impressive," said new general manager for BMW Motorrad South Africa, Rob Holder. "Changing formats for events is always a tricky business, but gathering from the positive feedback received, it seems as if we've done the right thing. Furthermore, the 2009 BMW GS Eco 1000 provided the perfect platform to become aligned with BMW's global eco strategy and we were dedicated to making the event as eco-friendly as possible. Our focus was on minimising the carbon footprint, and carbon emissions will be offset in the travelled regions by our association with the Food and Trees for Africa programme. Our intention is to create a Green legacy program that lives on in all future GS Eco 1000 events."

For more information on the inaugural BMW GS Eco 1000 event, please visit http://gseco1000.bmw-motorrad.co.za/Web/