MTB riders Daniel and Axel finish fourth
The 2 300km journey from Pietermaritzburg to Paarl took 17 days 9 hours.
LOCAL mountain bikers Daniel Otto and Axel Poser recently completed the Freedom Challenge Race Across South Africa, an extreme endurance 2 300 km mountain bike stage race.
Starting in Pietermaritzburg and travelling through rural KZN proceeding southwards, crossing wild landscapes, high mountains and uninhabited wilderness the route ended at Diemersfontein Wine Estate in Paarl.
Of the 37 adventurous riders who started, only 21 completed the challenge.
Unaided by GPS and using only 1:50 000 maps, compasses and route descriptions riders had to carry all their own equipment, clothes and spares.
Until reaching the town of Rhodes a couple of high passes, including Lehana’s Pass leading onto Naude’s Nek had to be traversed requiring the riders to carry their bikes on their shoulders for hundreds of vertical metres, often through snow to the highest point of the race at around 3 000m.
Daniel and Axel completed the race in fourth position in 17 days 9 hours, no mean feat for first-timers. The winner was Graham Bird, an experienced adventure racer who finished in 12 days 16 hours.
