Mountain-biker wins epic 2 400km race across SA

This isn’t the first victory for Tim James, he also won the Race Across South Africa in 2008 and 2009, making him the only rider to have won it three times.

Raca starts from Pietermaritzburg and ends in Wellington near Cape Town. It is a non-stop, self-navigated mountain-bike race and the maximum time one can use to complete it is 26 days.

Riders are not required to stop every day or night as in other stage races but need to be self-sufficient and carry all their personal belongings with them.

The event always takes place in June and ends in July at the latest. The riders cross mountains and mountain ranges one after the other, like the Drakensberg, the Stormsberg, Aasvoëlberg, Anysberg, the Hottentotshollandsberg near Paarl, through Baviaanskloof and even Die Hel. They cross through many nature reserves, private nature reserves, farms and many valleys, streams, villages and towns. They wade through rivers like the Umkomaas, the Umzimkulu and many more.

The route does not follow normal roads, but paths and four-wheel-drive routes, which afford participants the chance to see scenery rarely witnessed by others.

Due to the tough terrain, riders at times ride their bikes and other times carry it.

Tim started the race on June 16 at 06:00 at the Pietermaritzburg Town Hall. When White River Post asked Tim what the hardest part was, he replied, “Its a physical challenge, but I must tell you it’s an even bigger mental challenge. Physically it is challenging as I slept less than three hours every night. All I did was ride, sleep and eat, for 13 days, seven hours and 55 minutes.”

Tim also found it difficult to navigate over the mountains at night with no GPS but only maps. “I really enjoyed the chance to see some of the most remote areas in the country and visit places you wouldn’t normally. The stars and night sky of the arid Karoo is really a place to see and to experience,” he added.

The weather was cold but favourable throughout most of the race, although participants had to wade through several centimetres of snow one night.

Two other Lowveld racers also took on this challenge. John Bowan is still recovering in Cape Town and has not returned home yet. Anton Wood from Hazyview started the race on June 9 and it took him 18 days to finish the race. Anton was the first to cross the winning line in Wellington on June 27, but Tim crossed the winning line in the fastest time.

During the gala dinner at the Diniesfontein Wine Estate, Tim received his prize – a beautiful Basutu blanket. Tim says this symbolises the completion of a rite of passage, similar to the Basutu boys’ rite of initiation. He says this custom is due to the route going through the mountains and passing near the Lesotho border.

Although this was an amazing experience Tim says he’ll have to see how he feels about challenging it again next year when entry time rolls around.