Cycling for 174 hours on a bike

Imagine cycling 174 hours on your bike … well, Andrew Bradford, a Parkview resident, spent a total of 174 hours on his bike cycling from Beitbridge in Zimbabwe to Cape Town for the Trans Afrika Race.

This is equivalent to cycling from Johannesburg to Cape Town and back. He spent 15 hours a day on his bike, determined to finish the race.

“It never occurred to me for a minute that I wasn’t going to finish the race. It wasn’t a thought that crossed my mind, all I could think about was finishing and getting to Cape Town to put my feet in the sea,” said the 49-year-old.

Bradford started the race on 4 October and finished on 15 October and came in second with a time of 11 days, 15 hours and eight minutes. While the winner of the race, Steffan Streich, finished the race in nine days, 19 hours and 28 minutes.

The Trans Afrika is an unsupported adventure bicycle race. Riders are autonomous and not bound to one fixed route; they must only visit the mandatory checkpoints. Checkpoints included Highlands Hotel Piggs Peak, Swaziland; Top of Moteng Pass, Lesotho; Prince Albert, Western Cape and Eden on the Bay, in Blouberg, Cape Town. The cyclists were not permitted to use the N1, N2, N3 and N4 during the race and had to find an alternative route. They were given no outside assistance and had to carry their own supplies, medicine, clothes and spares but were allowed to purchase supplies at stops. A total of nine cyclists entered the race this year but only four finished.

Bradford explained that there were some challenges, as on one of the days the temperature reached 46.8 degrees and he drank 14 litres of liquid to keep himself hydrated. Then again, on some nights, temperatures dropped to minus four degrees with gusts of wind.

While he said he was glad to finish the race, he will not be competing in the race again as he is not a cycling fanatic but rather an endurance sports chaser. “I am done with this now, I am on to the next thing. Next year I will be doing the Trans Continental Race in London. But seriously, if anyone wants to see our country in a better light, I encourage them to do the Trans Afrika Race,” he said.

Details: www.transafrikabikerace.com