Mountain Biking South Africa

Mountain biking is probably one of the fastest-growing adventure activities worldwide – and for a very good reason. It is immense fun; you get lots of exercise without pounding your knees to bits, plus you get to play in beautiful surroundings and it’s not that expensive (relatively speaking). Really, all you need is a half-decent bicycle and a helmet and you’re ready to find a great adventure as close as your back yard. Seriously, there are so many great mountain bike trails in South Africa; you will be spoiled for choice. Even in the biggest cities there are good (sometimes excellent) trails within close proximity -perfect for urban wage slaves who need to keep fit and visitors who like to combine athletic pursuits with a visit to one of the country’s best loved tourist destinations. Of these, Cape Town is way ahead with an immense national park in the middle of the city, but others don’t fare too badly either.

And, once you’ve left the city and peddled inland or along the coast, there are literally hundreds of great destinations. Many are in the commercial forestry areas, while others are on private farmland or in national- or provincial parks. Conveniently, many of these mountain trails come complete with relatively inexpensive self-catering accommodation. If you don’t fancy making all your own decisions, or if you’re the type of person who loses their way en route to the corner store, there are escorted trips with adventure guides available in almost all of the good cycling areas.

For the truly dedicated there are some epic races. The things that set mountain bike races apart from most other competitions are the venues and the duration. Two of the best races in South Africa are the Cape Epic, which runs from the Garden Route to Stellenbosch/Cape Town through some awesome mountain scenery and the odd game reserve; and the Tour d’ Kruger, which traverses the enormous and utterly wild Kruger National Park.

So what are you waiting for? Decide on a route, carbo-load, rest up and assemble your gear - there are a wealth of mountain biking adventures awaiting you on the southern tip of the great continent of Africa!