When someone mentions ‘mountain biking’ in South Africa, a few places naturally come to mind. 

It’s not hard for your brain to conjure up Banhoek, near Stellenbosch, for example, or Karkloof in KZN. Maybe you picture a rocky trail in the Overberg, or the hardpack red dirt of a Bushveld nature reserve.

But I doubt you’d picture this road – somewhere in the Free State, between Frankfort and Reitz. 

(Between… where, and what?! Exactly.) 

It’s definitely not a road I ever imagined myself riding on a mountain bike, but it’s actually pretty spectacular. The rising sun is low behind my left shoulder, lighting up a wall of dark clouds that sift drizzle onto mielie fields in the distance. A herd of cows look up from their grazing. A spurwing goose tracks across the sky. 

And I have nothing to do today but pedal my bike, and look around at a part of the country I’ve only ever seen at 120km/h, behind the windscreen of a car on the N3. What a privilege.

We’re on Stage 2 of go2berg, aptly named ‘Free State of Mind’. If you’re not familiar with the event, go2berg is a seven-day stage race that starts in Villiers, south of Joburg, and ends at Champagne Sports Resort in the Drakensberg. 

But it’s not really a race. There is racing, for some; but for most, it’s a way to immerse yourself completely in an often overlooked corner of the country. You’re hosted in style by platteland schools, you meet the farmers at the water points, and you get just a small taste of the community spirit and can-do attitude that exists in abundance in rural South Africa. 

It’s heartwarming stuff, and it’s no wonder the race attracts a horde of international visitors. This year, there were riders from New Zealand, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, the UK, Russia, Australia, the US… and from all over South Africa. 

I’m not sure what the gravel is like around Lake Baikal, or Auckland, but this Free State stuff is pretty sweet. Suspension locked out, head down, I chase the storm over the plains towards a spitbraai at Hoërskool Reitz.

More than a bike race 

We’d rolled into Frankfort the day before, after a fairly challenging logistical feat by the organisers in getting everyone and their bikes from Joburg to the start line in Villiers. By then, it was already clear that this was going to be a tour, not an eyeball-bleeding dash to the finish. 

The kids from Villiers Combined School were there to cheer us at the start, even though it was a Saturday, and the 48km route along gravel roads and farm tracks was neutral – i.e. not timed. This was “to get us into the vibe”, according to organiser Craig Wapnik. (Or ‘Wappo’, to his mates. Which was basically all of us. Even though most of us had only just met him.)

While we rode, the Springboks made mincemeat of the All Blacks in Wellington; and when we arrived at our overnight camp on the fields of Hoërskool Wilgerivier, there was definitely a vibe. Braai smoke swirled, grinning farmers handed out springbokkie shooters, and the kids were there again – to help with bike-washing and bag-carrying. 

It was the same story at Hoërskool Reitz the next night. The spitbraai dinner in the school hall, prepared entirely by volunteer parents, was the stuff of legend; as was the bag-carrying ability of some of the biggest grade sevens I’ve ever met. (The rumours about Free State rugby players are true.)

Stage 3 – the 109km ‘Boss Stage’ – saw the end of the flat part of the Free State, as we pedalled to Clarens. There was an audible sigh of relief from certain Capetonians when mountains punctuated the horizon once more. Sandstone buttresses, sighing grassland, destroyed legs… 

Thanks for that, Wappo – that was also a vibe, just a different kind of vibe. 

In Clarens, we got a break from the tents and bunked down in hotels and guesthouses around town, gathering that night in the hall at Clarens Primary. 

And if there was anywhere along the route where the spirit of go2berg flared most brightly, it was there, around those beautifully decorated tables. The school choir performed, and principal Peter Mokoena told us about the school’s relationship with the race, which goes back many years. 

Clarens Primary is a critically underfunded government school. But thanks to their partnership with go2berg, and the passionate support of the entire Clarens community, there are infrastructure, feeding and teaching initiatives in place that make a real difference to every single learner who walks through the doors in the morning. 

“This is what change looks like,” Wappo said, thanking Mr Mokoena. “This is what South Africa can do.”

Dry eyes? Not many.

The drop

Do you enjoy riding your mountain bike? Here’s my wish for you: may you one day get the chance to ride a point-to-point stage on empty roads, with a belting tailwind behind you. The. Whole. Day. 

I’ve ridden plenty of great roads in my life, but this experience – on Stage 4, from Clarens to the banks of Sterkfontein Dam – was out of the top drawer. We barely had to pedal as we raced along next to Golden Gate Highlands National Park, under a bluebird sky and surrounded by sandstone cliffs. 

The main bump on the route is called Mount Paul – we climbed its flank, and rocketed down cow paths on the other side towards the dam, which was flecked with whitecaps like an inland sea. Vultures circled, the wind howled, and the supremely talented mom-bakers from Harriston School in Harrismith were waiting with the most next-level table of home bakes any of us had ever seen. 

The wind died down that afternoon, around the time I went back for my fourth helping of mini milk tarts, sausage rolls, cupcakes and quiches; and just before Nicole Heard kneaded my legs back into shape on the massage table. (Nicole also happens to be a talented baker.)

That night, Harriston headmaster Peter Huntley reiterated what Peter Mokoena had told us in Clarens – go2berg’s partnership with the various schools on the route makes a tangible difference, not just to the schools themselves but to the entire community in these small towns. 

“We can’t thank you enough,” he said. 

No, it’s us who can’t thank you enough, Mr Huntley. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced as hospitable a race village as that one next to Sterkfontein Dam – and it was all thanks to the kind people of Harrismith. 

Anyone with a vague recollection of high-school geography will know that South Africa is ringed by mountains that hold up a high central plateau. We were on the edge of that plateau, and go2berg was about to get real.

Stage 5 – ‘The Big Drop’ – took us from Sterkfontein to the edge of the escarpment, and then down, down, down, via a white-knuckle 4×4 track called Bezuidenhout’s Pass.

This part of KZN is Berg & Bush territory; and Gary Green, the founder of that race, is also closely involved with go2berg. There’s another way down the escarpment, along a vertiginous trail called ‘Great Wall, My China’, but there had been various foot-and-mouth outbreaks on the cattle farms in the area, which made certain areas off limits. As a cattle farmer himself, Green was acutely aware of the reluctance of landowners to have hundreds of potentially infected bike tyres crossing their farms. 

It wasn’t just on Stage 5, where Green rerouted us down Bezuidenhout’s Pass; every stage seemingly needed a last-minute diversion, which he and his team handled with good humour and professionalism. It might have been causing stress on the back end, but the changes were so seamless that the riders hardly noticed. 

Inventive farmers had built dipping troughs for the bikes, which we had to use occasionally; but besides that, the potentially devastating epidemic hardly impacted the race. Yet another example of the farming community pulling together to give our travelling circus the best South African experience possible. 

Spioenkop 2.0

Home base for two nights near the tail-end of the race was Em’Seni camp, on the banks of the Tugela River, which is also home base for Berg & Bush. The highlight of Berg & Bush is probably the best part of go2berg, too – at least from a pure mountain-biking perspective…

Stage 6 – ‘Super Singletrack’ – looped from the Tugela towards Spioenkop, the mountain made famous by the massacre on its summit in 1900 during the Anglo-Boer War, when Boer forces ambushed British soldiers in the trenches that became their graves.

We rode up the northern side of the mountain – roughly along the route the Boers had taken – on a purpose-built trail, featuring more hairpins than we could count. But it’s our descent off the summit that I still dream of: 15km of flowing downhill bliss, first along the spine of the mountain and then looping across its southern face, all the way to a well-earned mug of homemade chocolate milk at the finish.

Describing the Spioenkop descent is an exercise in avoiding clichés, so I won’t even try. I’ll just say this: go and ride it one day – on Berg & Bush, or go2berg – because it will stay with you forever.

The end

It’s been a week since you set off from Villiers. Your life has been distilled into a simple, elegant routine: eat, sleep, ride your bike. Your days are filled with sunshine, smiling farmers, and endless roads you might never ride again. Your legs are feeling strong, and your lungs have forgotten the tang of city smog. There’s only one problem: this is the last day. 

Because it’s easy to imagine doing this forever. Pedalling the expanses that South Africa is blessed with, from one district to the next; never too long in a single place; just smile and wave, and crest the next hill towards who knows where.

But the truth is that it takes an army of organisers, sponsors and volunteers to give you the deep sense of peace you’re experiencing right now, as you climb your way towards the granite wall of the Drakensberg. The fact that you have to remind yourself about this is testament to just how good Wappo and Green – and the whole go2berg team – are at their jobs. 

It’s so refreshing to do a stage race that you don’t have to stress about; where you can ride yourself fit, and not have to keep looking over your shoulder for the sweep vehicle; where everyone gathers in the evenings to celebrate the day’s riding, the delicious food, and the people who have made it all possible. 

It’s such a vibe. Thanks, guys.

NEW FOR 2026

BACK TO THE SEA…
Next year, go2berg becomes go2sea. It’s not a new event in terms of ethos and community spirit; it’s simply a new route, with plenty of exciting new singletrack.

CLARENS KICK-OFF
The new route starts in Clarens and follows a similar route to that is described here – until Em’seni. Then it’s off to Nottingham Road in the KZN Midlands, followed by a singletrack feast through Karkloof Nature Reserve and a stunning finale through the valleys of Zululand, along the Holla Trails network and onto the beach in Ballito.

WHAT ABOUT LOGISTICS?
There will be shuttles from major centres, and bike transport through All In Events (allinevents.co.za) – they collect your bike from a bike shop near your home, and send it back there after the race. Contact them for rates.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
go2sea will be in the same ballpark as the 2025 go2berg (about R25 900 for a solo entry). The rate includes accommodation and food in the various race villages, full medical support, luggage transport and some cool kit items and other surprises.

THE 2026 ROUTE
Prologue: Clarens singletrack
Stage 1: Clarens to Sterkfontein Dam
Stage 2: Sterkfontein Dam to Em’seni
Stage 3: Em’seni super singletrack
Stage 4: Em’seni to Nottingham Road
Stage 5: Nottingham Road to Karkloof
Stage 6: Karkloof to Harburg
Stage 7: Harburg to Ballito

MORE INFO
Visit go2sea.co.za for all the details.

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