The annual FNB Wines2Whales is one of the premier mountain bike events in South Africa. We asked two young mountain bikers to take our place as Team TREAD because we want the next generation to understand why South African stage races are so valuable. Meet our two eager team members and find out why we chose them…
By Sean Badenhorst | Photos: Philippa Campbell
The only time I rode the FNB Wines2Whales with my wife, Joanne, was 2019. It was the year the Springboks won another Rugby World Cup and they gave riders an option to do a shorter Stage 2 to watch the full final. Although interested in rugby, we didn’t go all the way there from Joburg to not ride every inch of the route, which I believe is the most scenic of any stage race in the country.
Unfortunately, while fairly fit, Joanne injured her Achilles Tendon on the portage on Stage 1 and that left her completing most of the race strapped with medical tape and unsure whether to pull out or continue, always deciding the latter despite crying from the pain. We finished the event but it wasn’t the ideal way for Joanne to ride it and we vowed we would return to do it fully fit. This edition was meant to be that return, but life threw us some curve balls in the past few months and ultimately, we weren’t in the right condition.
But as I have a growing concern about the long-term future of stage races (read about it here), I decided to ask the organisers if we could get two young riders to take over our entry and create some fresh content based on their first experience of the event. While I support development mountain biking academies and initiatives, I know there will always be free race entries available to those young riders. I wanted to find two young riders that are students or new in the job market that would one day be able to afford to pay for their own stage-race entries. It also needed them to be riders that live in the area so that transport and logistics wouldn’t be a major challenge/cost. And of course mountain bikers that had not yet done this event.
The organisers contacted me and said they’d identified two young men who are good friends and keen mountain bikers. They’d recently graduated from university and were just starting out with their first jobs. They hadn’t done a FNB Wines2Whales yet. Perfect! Introductions were done a substitution was made and Grant Hiscock and Kelton Miller will line up on Friday for the FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz event in our place.
Grant is 22, has a BCom from UCT, specialising in Finance and Economics. He currently works at a financial planning company in Cape Town.
“I started mountain biking in 2017. I rode motocross my whole life growing up and then went to boarding school, and so I wasn’t home enough to make having motor bikes feasible. Ultimately, we then sold the motor bikes,” explained Grant.
“At the time (2015/2016) cycling was properly kicking off as a sport and I found myself at school in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands (not many better places to ride a bike) so I decided I’d start riding mountain bikes instead.”
Kelton is 25. He has a Bachelor of Business Science (economics with law) and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB). He’s started doing his Articles.
“I’ve ridden a mountain bike since my early childhood, but only officially got into mountain biking in 2019/20. Growing up I moved countries quite often due to my dads’ work. What remained the same was that I had a bike with me regardless of where I was,” explained Kelton.
“While I started on a mountain bike, it was never anything more than greenbelt type of riding until 2019. My entry into mountain biking was primarily due to being a part of UCT cycling club and my girlfriend, Hayley.”
The Hayley that Kelton is referring to is Hayley Preen, a bike-racing machine, who is the 2021 Elite women’s SA Road Champ and the 2022 Elite women’s SA Gravel Champ.
“The pricing for stage races is characteristically far more expensive and often completely unfeasible, however, having said that I think both Kelton and I find ourselves in the fortunate position that our parents would be willing to help contribute towards entering such races.” said Grant, when asked why he hadn’t yet done the FNB Wines2Whales, adding: “The sport itself has a massive price barrier to entry and unfortunately most stage races add to this barrier for students/young professionals. Even some one-day races are starting to get to a point where high pricing is becoming a barrier to entry.”
“I can resonate with what Grant has been saying. Stage racing has typically been the more expensive side of mountain bike racing and one that hasn’t always appeared as accessible. Besides that, historically the timing of Wines2Whales has been tricky whilst studying as it has fallen over the exam period. This entry is really quite a bonus for us and I’m looking forward to relaying our first experience of Wines2Whales through TREAD Media’s channels,” added Kelton.
“We’re both avid and strong riders, but know we won’t be able to knock on the door of the elite racing snakes. What we can and aim to do is to fully maximise our enjoyment when out on the trails, but to still ride at a good/decent pace,” said Kelton.
“Typically when we’ve arrived at a race we haven’t been given a proper opportunity to soak it all in. We usually arrive, race and head home. So to have the chance to give it a good tonk, but to still soak in all the gees and atmosphere will be the ultimate goal. To have this opportunity, at a race such as Wines2Whales, is truly one helluva privilege which we hope to take full advantage of in every aspect of the race,” he added.
Watch the TREAD social media channels for updates on Grant and Kelton’s first FNB Wine2Whales experience.
Those who may not be familiar with the FNB Wines2Whales can find out all the information here.
