Tough It Out on Two Wheels

The Wild Corridor Mountain Bike Tour goes through the Karoo, the Baviaanskloof and over the Outeniqua Mountains. It’s 420 km long, takes five days to complete and there are never-ending climbs, hairy descents and long gravel roads. It’s perfect! For some…

- Willem Van Der Berg

First, a confession: I’m not prepared for this. Ten days ago I got a call from my colleague Jon Minster. He was meant to do this cycle tour, but was no longer able to. Would I be keen to take his place?

Even though it had been months since I’d ridden my bike, I agreed to be a super-sub. In a last-gasp attempt to get fit, I did three 18 km training rides. With only 54 km on my cycle computer, and with the support of incredulous friends and family members, I set off to tackle the Wild Corridor.

The group of cyclists – 26 people from across the country – gather in Plettenberg Bay where they are greeted by the guides from Dryland Ride. Some of them do a boat cruise.

I meet up with them at the first overnight stop: a place called Springbokvlakte near the western border of the Addo Elephant National Park. Our tents are in the veld on Driekuilen Farm, about 50 km south-east of Steytlerville.

A dry westerly wind kicks up dust and I don’t think the city dwellers from Joburg and Cape Town find it very pleasant. I live in Bloemfontein: Over the past two years I’ve grown used to drought and sand in my teeth. This probably qualifies as some sort of advantage over my fellow riders, if you don’t take my dismal fitness into account...

Many people in the group are much older than me. One such man has legs as thin as toothpicks; another looks even more unfit than I am and many of the women seem far too dainty to survive five days on a bike.

I’ll be fine, I tell myself. I’ll definitely be able to keep up with the riders at the back. Or will I?

More haste, less speed