Touring - Holiday on a bike

Has it ever occured to you South African cyclists that their are the minimum tours available for local cyclists. I don't know about you guys in Oz, but it seems that only the guys in Europe and the States have organized touring events.<br /><br />Road cycling to me has become a way of living. Mountian biking is starting to bite, but slowly (and with an earfull from the wife, PRICING!!! ;D ), but I would still like to do a &quot;tour&quot; somewhere in SA. The problem with going overseas is our exchange rate :-X (R$ very bad!) and I'll have to take my wife (o yes, she's the great SPENDER (read with &quot;The Great Petender&quot; music) ). I've checked on the web and I've found nothing really interresting or value for money for 1 cyclists and 1 non-cyclists in South Africa.<br /><br />Now for the questions, (1) does anyone know of a organization that organizes tour in SA? (2) What do I need to take with me on such a tour (I gotta Omega V-Max road bike) (3) How difficult is it to organize such an event? (4) What is it like, sitting on your bike day after day, seeing the scenery (please, no corney remarks &gt; )

 

&quot;KESSLER HANNIE CYCLE TOURS<br />Come join Simon Kessler and Owen Hannie from the Microsoft<br />Cycling team for a fun 4-day Cycle Tour/Training Clinic from JHB<br />to Durban. Enjoy an exceptionally beautiful ride through the<br />majestic South African countryside! But that's not all; obtain<br />valuable tips and information from the Microsoft Cycling<br />Team professionals.<br />This offer is limited. The proposed dates are: starting from JHB<br />on Wednesday/Thursday the 11th/12th of December, and finish<br />in Durban on Saturday/Sunday 14th/15th of December. You won't<br />want to miss out on this opportunity!<br /><br />Total Cost Of The Package: R2800.00<br /><br />This includes: Hotel and Bed and Breakfast accommodation, meals,<br />transport back to JHB, a following vehicle for safety, as well as<br />helpful tips and informal talks from the professionals; Simon Kessler<br />and Owen Hannie to help improve all aspects of your cycling.&quot;<br /><br />I'm not sure if it's only for club members.<br />

 

[quote author=ewep link=board=6;threadid=2681;start=0#22936 date=1037870677]<br />Has it ever occured to you South African cyclists that their are the minimum tours available for local cyclists. I don't know about you guys in Oz, but it seems that only the guys in Europe and the States have organized touring events.<br /><br />Road cycling to me has become a way of living. Mountian biking is starting to bite, but slowly (and with an earfull from the wife, PRICING!!! ;D ), but I would still like to do a &quot;tour&quot; somewhere in SA. The problem with going overseas is our exchange rate :-X (R$ very bad!) and I'll have to take my wife (o yes, she's the great SPENDER (read with &quot;The Great Petender&quot; music) ). I've checked on the web and I've found nothing really interresting or value for money for 1 cyclists and 1 non-cyclists in South Africa.<br /><br />Now for the questions, (1) does anyone know of a organization that organizes tour in SA? (2) What do I need to take with me on such a tour (I gotta Omega V-Max road bike) (3) How difficult is it to organize such an event? (4) What is it like, sitting on your bike day after day, seeing the scenery (please, no corney remarks &gt; )<br />[/quote]<br /><br /><br />I did a tour in Mpumalanga on the long weekend in September. 21-24.<br />We were 10 cyclist and 2 people driving the support vehicle. Absolutely great - mountainpasses to go up and then the best mountain passes to fly down.<br />In short - our route: Friday evening arrive in Leydenburg.<br /> Saturday cycle to Sabie via Long Tom pass and going out to LoneCreek Waterfall. 60 km. Stay in Sabie.<br />Sunday - Sabie to Graskop - visit Mac-Mac Pools and waterfall on the way - have lunch in Graskop and do the God's Window loop in the afternoon. Sleep in Graskop. 75km<br />Monday - ride north to Burk's Luck, have lunch there - ride another 10km to Blydenriver canyon. Ride back to Graskop. 90km<br />Tuesday - Ride from Graskop to Pilgrimsrest - nice little 2km mountain pass - nice downhill into Pilgrimsrest. Have drinks in Pilgrims - do the Robberspass on the way to Leydenburg (this is a real tester). Have a break on top of the pass and continue to Leydenburg. 90km<br /><br />It was a great experience, took quite a lot of planning (a few of us went on a scouting weekend in August and did most of the route - checked out the accomodation, etc.)<br /><br />We are planning to do some more tours like this, <br />Gauteng to Dbn in 4 or 5 days.<br />A Namakwaland tour when the flowers are blooming.<br />A Gardenroute tour.<br /><br />I'll let you know when we are doing our next tour.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

 

Perhaps a stupid question here, but why not organise your own tour? I just got back from a couple of weeks touring in western Victoria. I carried all my own gear (including a tent and sleeping bag and numerous other bits and pieces) and I had a great time. <br /><br />The best bit about organising your own tour is that you decide where you want to go, which detours you want to take, where to stay, where to eat etc. and it's not as difficult to do as it might seem. <br /><br />There are many types of tours available (although I don't know about SA specifically), so I think the best thing to do is workout what type of tour you want to do, and then decide how to go about it from there.

 

The best and cheper way i would think is to get 7 or 8 likemined people and do your own tour. each day a different person can drive the support vehicle wich carries all your gear?. This would be way cheaper and you could go where you want. ;D