Mountain biking gears up in South Africa

South Africa’s mountain biking scene meets world standards, according to Andrew McLean. Recently returned from the seven-day European Transalp Challenge and five days on the wild side of Zimbabwe and South Africa in Nedbank’s Tour de Tuli, McLean is back in Joburg, taking a short break from competitive cycling.

Besides the green scenery and quaint villages, what McLean enjoyed most about the Transalp was the challenge. Covering 600km between Oberammergau in Bavaria and Riva del Garda, Italy, riders climb an astonishing 3 000m in vertical altitude daily, and complete a number of short but “very technical” descents, in conditions that are sometimes far from salubrious.

“I didn’t quite realise how much colder it would be at the top of a mountain in the Alps than at the bottom,” McLean commented of the Alpine weather, which, with two day’s torrential summer rain, presented a challenge South African riders do not usually meet.

A more convivial climate is just part of what makes South Africa great territory for mountain bikers. The local landscape also lends itself well to mountain biking, and cyclists can choose from two to three different world class events every weekend. For every road bike sold at CycleLab, McLean’s Fourways-based store, he estimates, nine mountain bikes leave the shelves.

A more discouraging logic also drives the preference for mountain bikes in Johannesburg, however. Between reckless drivers and opportunistic criminals, city roads are not safe for cyclists. Most train in the early hours, or outside Johannesburg, where designated parks provide safe and family-friendly spaces.

Nevertheless, cycling is going places in Joburg.

“We wouldn’t be able to have a store of this size and calibre if the sport wasn’t in a really healthy condition,” said McLean of CycleLab, the largest cycling store in the southern hemisphere.

In the belief that cycling can change lives, both CycleLab and McLean’s club, Toyota SuperCycling, run skills development for new cyclists and outreach programmes, demonstrating that you don’t have to be a pro to enjoy a life on two wheels.

As McLean said, “The more bums we get on saddles, the better.”