Three-day ride adds to uBhejaneX appeal

ENTRIES for the uBhejane Xtreme MTB Challenge’s three-day ride, from 5 to 7 December, has more than doubled since its debut last year. The ride is a manageable alternative to the iconic one-day 330km ride from Hillcrest to Hluhluwe.

The uBhejane Xtreme, which heads into its sixth year this December, and has raised more than R2 million for rhino conservation in KwaZulu-Natal, bolted on the three-day ride in 2018 to broaden the event’s fund-raising capacity.

Riders have overnight stops in Zinkwazi and Empangeni before heading to Hilltop Camp in the Hluhluwe-Mfolozi Game Reserve.

Day one of the ride is the longest at 140km and takes riders from Hillcrest through the Valley of a Thousand Hills to the cane roads up the north coast and ends at the overnight stop at Zinkwazi Lodge.

Day two is a 120km haul north from Zinkwazi to Empangeni, over the Tugela River, past Mthunzini to the Canefields Country Hotel. Here, riders will have the opportunity to rest up before the final push to the finish.

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The final day to the entrance of the Hluhluwe-Mfolozi Game Reserve is a 100km stretch. The event incorporates the 30km road from the entrance to Hilltop Camp where they will spend the final night before travelling back home on Sunday.

“We felt that it was important to give riders, who might not be as serious about their riding, the opportunity to take part,” said the uBhejaneX event director, Cliff Wills. “It is still a tough three days of riding, but we believe it adds another important dimension to the event.”

All funds raised are donated to the event’s official beneficiary, Project Rhino KZN. This will be used for its various rhino protection programmes such as maintaining the aerial support of the Zululand Anti-Poaching Wing (ZAP-Wing) to 26 game reserves in northern KZN.

The funds also help provide anti-poaching training and other resources to field rangers and game reserves as well as community-based education and awareness initiatives.

The three-day ride sets off from Northside Electrical in Hillcrest at 5am on Thursday, 5 December.

To apply to enter, donate or for more information, visit www.ubhejanex.org.

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