Not far north of the N1 between Cape Town and Johannesburg lies a network of mainly gravel roads, part of the original vehicular route between South Africa’s two biggest cities. When the spanking new (and faster) N1 we know today cut its swathe through the Karoo and the plains of the Free State in the early 70s, many of the towns on the old route went the way of the fabled Route 66 in the USA – without the through traffic, they crumbled and decayed. 

The 1 000-Miler takes you through many of them – names like Edenville, Steynsrus and Winburg join more major centres like Bloemfontein, Ceres and Sutherland as opportunities for refreshment and refuelling, should you accept the ultimate challenge on the route: a completely self-supported journey. Rely on your resourcefulness and the kindness of the residents of these towns to keep you fuelled up. 

It’s not a terribly technical ride, from a mountain biking perspective – apart from the brief foray into the Tankwa Karoo after Sutherland, where the famed Ouberg Pass becomes more challenging with each rainy season. The weather plays more of a factor: rains in the Free State, for instance, might make you wish you had a canoe, and should you set off closer to winter, to avoid spending the whole route pedalling into the prevailing south-easterly wind, expect temperatures that dip well below zero. 

So high season for 1 000 Miler attempts is spring, with autumn schedules also popular, but prone to a bit more mud and sludge on the Gauteng and Freestate legs; remnants of the summer rains.

How to do it

Unsupported means just that. You carry your credit card, or a sleeping system of some sort, and anything that’s available to any other explorer is available to you: B&Bs, restaurants, spaza shops; even the odd hotel, if you need a pamper. That’s the purest way of tackling the 1 600km, but you’re more than welcome to do it with a back-up vehicle and enjoy the big blue skies in a bit more comfort. 

The only rule, really, is that to use the open-sourced route put together by Andy and Tiaan at Massive Adventures, you should rent a tracker from them, and become part of the Massive WhatsApp group that follows your every pedal stroke with encouragement, advice and not a small amount of banter as you cross the lion’s share of the country. This group is the most valuable resource of all. 

By the time you’ve stopped in one of these one-horse towns, your phone will be buzzing with the best place to buy slap chips, which spaza shop has the coldest Coke, and why it’s worth riding an extra few kilometres to sleep in one of the network of accommodation options that this group has crowdsourced by actually getting out and riding the route. 

There’s no prize money, there are no medals or any memorabilia for finishing the challenge. All that’s up for grabs is fun, free bragging rights, great memories of the adventure, and some good braai-side stories to tell (especially when things go pear-shaped)… and of course, a place on the 1000 Miler Challenge Roll of Honour on the Massive Adventures website.

The Details

DISTANCE: 1 600km

TIME: the record is around four days, 10 days is the most popular duration, 14 gives you the fuller experience.

WHEN? Spring or autumn, depending on recent rainfall. Summer is prohibitively hot, winter uncomfortably (and maybe even dangerously) cold.

THE COST: Renting a tracker will cost between R700 and R1000, depending on how long you plan on taking. Food and accommodation can be from a few hundred rand a day, camping wild; careful planning can make sleeping comfortably cost-effective. Budget for a grand a day, and you’ll come home with change.

HIGHLIGHTS: Riding the Karoo in the dark; meeting friendly South Africans; the welcome to the Massive family.

SECURITY: There are few hotspots; the Massive group will guide you. Avoid bigger towns on Friday and Saturday evenings.

HOW? Visit www.massiveadventures.co.za, or email info@massiveadventures.co.za 

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