The route began at Three Rivers on the southern outskirts of that great South African City of Gold, Johannesburg, and ended approximately 1,000 miles (1,600 km) later at Blouberg Beach, Cape Town, in view of the world-renowned Table Mountain. In between?…. a whole lot of peaceful expanse.
Road trips are a happy by-product of the massive distances that separate pockets of civilisation in South Africa. The Joburg to Blouberg 1,000 Mile Challenge takes advantage of a backroad version of one of the classics, taking our brave riders from the City of Gold to the shadow of Table Mountain on a set route of 1,600 km between the Riviera Resort near Three Rivers, just south of Jozi, to Eden on the Bay, Blouberg.
In its purest form, the challenge is 100% unsupported and can be ridden at any time and from either end of the route, according to a simple set of unsupported rules. It is not an event, but a challenge, where our riders take full responsibility for their own logistics, with no following vehicles or other support.
The route is designed as a “gravel grind” route, thus maximising gravel roads and minimising the use of tar roads. The route is fast and flat (well, as far as gravel roads go), and crosses some of the less populated parts of South Africa, including the Free State Province and the Great Karoo.
The route was set and our riders covered 100% of the prescribed route. When timing the challenge, the clock started ticking from when Branko and Stefan departed from the starting point and stopped only when they reached the other end.
There was no prize money, no medals or any memorabilia for finishing the challenge. Only fun, free bragging rights, great memories of the adventure and some good braai-side stories to tell, especially when the weather went pear-shaped.
