Having way overdone the distances and difficulty in 2024 we’ve scaled back for 2025. The annual Diverge Bikepacking trip will only be going over the Rooiberg Pass, twice, and conquering the mighty Attakwaskloof from the 2nd to the 5th of January next year. It’s not as tough as it sounds though, promise! If you’d like [...]
I hadn’t ridden a Trans Baviaans since 2018 – I think. It might have been 2019, but I’m not really sure. After a few years have elapsed it doesn’t really make that much difference. As long as its far enough back in your memory to forget how much you suffered going up MAC it’s time [...]
Getting to the snow line, in the Western Cape, requires one of two things: a drive to the Koue Bokkeveld plateau north of Ceres, or a hike up a mountain. The former is easier, but can be time consuming for residents of Cape Town and its surrounding towns. The latter is theoretically quicker and a [...]
The Pedal Project is an official Absa Cape Epic charity and a community-based mental health support programme, which utilises mountain biking as a vehicle for empowering children from historically disadvantaged communities. At the 2024 Untamed African Mountain Bike Race the programme will be rewarding a group of UCI Women’s teams as they #PedalForGood. The unofficial [...]
The Pedal Project – a community-based mental health support programme which utilises mountain biking as a vehicle for empowering children from historically disadvantaged communities – is an official charity of the Absa Cape Epic. In an attempt to raise awareness of the charity, to promote healthy competition throughout the race, and to highlight the achievements [...]
For the fifth time, since 2018, Diverge.info will be hosting a year-starting bikepacking trip. This year the route takes in the spectacular Baviaans Mega Reserve, travelling east from Willowmore before crossing the Kouga mountains and dropping into the Patensie. Then the course turns north west, ascending the Baviaanskloof, back towards Willowmore. In total the four [...]
The 2023 Momentum Medical Scheme Cape Pioneer Trek, presented by Biogen, took solo racers and teams on a journey through some of the Southern Cape’s most spectacular landscapes. From the plantations and indigenous forests of George, through the orchards and fynbos of the Langkloof and into the usually arid Klein Karoo. A record season of [...]
The first week in January is for bikepacking trips, writes Seamus Allardice. Well, bike-slackpacking trips. Who wants to carry their gear on a bike when a bakkie could do all the heavy lifting? Which is why he organised a wild camping tour to kick of 2023. In 2018 we rode from Stellenbosch to Opsoek. In [...]
I’ve expected my “agh, how hard could it be” attitude to catch up with me eventually. I just didn’t expect it to be on the road from Hell. In hindsight, that was foolish. Hell's teeth, boet; that was tough writes Seamus Allardice. Since January 2018 I’ve organised or been on a bike packing trip every [...]
Over the Easter long weekend Seamus Allardice joined former pro cyclist, Jaco Pelser, on a bikepacking adventure through the Western Cape. Their four day trip took in nearly 400km of riding, four iconic towns and over 200km of spectacular gravel roads. The pair were joined for the final day, by fellow cycling adventure seeker, Mynardt [...]
