By DESTINE NDE
Last month, cyclists from far and near converged on Willowmore to participate in the 20th annual Trans Baviaans Mountain Bike Marathon — an astonishing 230-kilometre race from Willowmore down through the Baviaans Kloof to Jeffrey’s Bay.
This 24-hour race allows the participants to ride through all the beautiful little towns in the Baviaans Kloof, a unique region in the Klein Karoo region in the Eastern Cape. At each of the stops along the way, participants are able to treat themselves on roosterbrood and jam, a delicious snack for which the Baviaans is well known.
The race is run in two editions: the first is for more serious and competitive riders, and the second, called the Repeat, held a week later, is for more casual riders who mainly ride for fun and adventure. This year, the main race was run on 10 August, and the Repeat on 17 August.
More than 350 cyclists participated in this year’s first edition, and it drew about three times more spectators. At the start in Willowmore, riders and spectators alike were in a festive mood.
All the cyclists we spoke to said they were not participating to win a prize, but simply to enjoy the experience, which they all said was awesome. In fact, the race is really run to attract people to the Klein Karoo and to see and experience its beautiful landscapes, amazing wildlife, unique cultures, mouth-watering foods, sublime art, fine architecture and, above all, its remarkable hospitality.
Did you know? Some amazing facts about the Trans Baviaans
The Trans Baviaans cycling race was founded in 2004 by the Van der Walt family, and has taken place every year since then, representing 20 years of successful and excellent management.
The event takes place exclusively in the Baviaanskloof, starting in Willowmore and ending in Jeffreys Bay. This amounts to a whopping 230 kilometres of cycling. Added to this, the many valleys and steep hills of the Biaviaans Kloof present the cyclists with an even tougher challenge.
Of course, there are quite a few towns between Willowmore and Jeffrey’s Bay, each with its unique character and culture, which captivates all visitors. This includes their histories, landscapes, vegetation and wildlife, main activities, and, most centrally, their traditional foods. Cyclists and supporters alike are obliged to stop in each of these towns to enjoy these experiences.
In an interview, Marelise Rose, daughter of the race founder, Wikus van der Walt, and a race organiser, said Willowmore was chosen as the most fitting and strategic starting point for the race because ‘it’s the gateway to the Baviaanskloof.’
The race was founded mainly to attract visitors to Baviaanskloof, and does so more and more successfully every year. In fact, the whole region benefits from the money spent by visitors as well as the publicity. Other values the race seeks to promote are team spirit, an opportunity for the riders to test their mental and physical capacities, and self-orientation.
There are four main categories of riders: Men’s, Women’s, Mixed, and Over-50s. All the riders enter in teams, from two members up to 10. While the first five riders win prizes, the essence of the race is for team members to stick together. In fact, partners who fail to stick together are ‘penalised.’ Riders are obliged to remain with their team members throughout the race, no matter what!
It is also worth noting that the Baviaanskloof experiences extreme weather: it is often either blistering cold, or unbearably hot. This is the main reason why the race is usually held in August. This also fits well into the mountain biking calendar.
To participate in this special event, riders have to pay a registration fee of R2 500. This year, there were almost 400 entrants, which means about R1 million was garnered from registration alone. The revenue is mostly used for good causes, all for betterment of the Kloof in general and its peaceable inhabitants in particular. This why the race has also attracted numerous sponsors, from Paraport to Euro Hotel, Polar, Extreme Line and Smart Security, to mention but a few.