uBhejane Xtreme riders conquer for rhinos

The pain and agony participants of the 2016 uBhejane Xtreme MTB Challenge suffered throughout the course of their 16-hour long day in the saddle was soon erased on their arrival at Hilltop Camp in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve.

The riders arrived shortly before nightfall on Saturday with a mixture of jubilation, relief and a tremendous sense of achievement.

Starting in the dark at 2am and finishing in the day’s dwindling light at 6pm, the encounter’s gruelling 340km Long Horn event from Cadence Cycling Performance Centre in Hillcrest to the Zululand venue challenged participants’ physical and mental toughness like few others.

The day’s programme of endurance cycling also included a 240km Short Horn option as the event sought to raise vital festive season funding for Project Rhino KZN’s province-wide anti-rhino poaching efforts.

“It was long and it was hard but it was a great day!” said former Springbok captain and 2007 Rugby World Cup winner, John Smit after completing the Short Horn.

“Not many people would normally ride 240km in a day but it is an unbelievable thing to do, especially because we were riding for a purpose.

“You go through some incredible places that you’ve never seen before – and you would not if you were not putting your hand up and raising your voice for the rhinos.

“It was also great to be thrown into a group of people of whom I probably knew three or four beforehand and, after the fourteenth hour together, you feel like you are family,” he added.

Not ridden as a race but rather a ride, the event concludes with a memorable 35km final stretch through the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve’s bushveld, albeit a segment that includes some lung-busting hills at the end of an already brutal day.

>>> For more events this holiday check out our Events calender.

>>> Need some ideas for things to do? Check out Holiday Vibes.

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