Gary Green, farmer, grandad and race organiser and Craig Wapnick, mountain bike evangelist, motivational speaker to anyone who will listen, and race organiser, were on a recent route recce for the 2025 Old Mutual go2berg. These are some of their thoughts.
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First and foremost, we love riding our bikes. This is what makes a route recce so special. A route recce is essentially riding new routes that will make the stage ride better and each year we try to improve on what we already have. The ride is a journey through the heart of South Africa and for us organisers to sell the event we need to believe in the route. Would we get our mates to come ride?
When organising a stage ride, food, hot showers, decent mattresses and accommodation are very important. The route, however, is everything! We need to make sure we find the balance between kilometre-munching gravel roads and then going through farms and on trails to make it more special. On our recent recce, we were high-fiving regularly and getting very excited about the new sections we have found.
Finding new routes, meeting new farmers, working with existing farmers we have known for over decade since the start of joberg2c, is the best part of our job.
So how do we find new routes?
In the old days it would take years to find new routes by simply going out riding – which is not a bad thing but not great when you’re organising an event over 550km in distance. So we start with some serious Google Earth work to find potential routes. We convert these routes to GPS tracks and then we arrange with private landowners to scout the tracks.
We never go onto private land without getting permission first. Contacting farmers takes a while and meeting them out on the middle of nowhere takes even longer. It is all about forming relationships. Our farmers are more than happy for us to go through their lands because they know the schools in their area are profiting from the Old Mutual go2berg.
Once we ride the routes we get a sense from years of practise if they will work. Our recent recce was a massive success in terms of finding exciting new ways that will be included in 2025. A route-scouting week is not always a success and you often have to go back to basics. We came away from our week on the bike knowing we will be making the 2025 Old Mutual go2berg even better.
We know that anyone who wants a true break from it all, anyone who loves riding their mountain bikes to see places, and who is prepared to put some quality smart training in, will have a special seven days of riding through the heart of South Africa.
Here are some of the highlights from our recent route recce adventure:
Day 1: Villiers to Frankfort – 58km
We will have a new Day 1. It replaces the Prologue Day 0 from 2024. We will start at Villiers and go straight into the heart of farmlands and trails.
Day 2: Frankfort to Reitz – 85km
We found a much nicer ending into Reitz. This is a great day with a good mix of proper trails and rural farms roads.
Day 3: Reitz to Clarens “The Boss Stage” – 116km
We will build new singletrack sections throughout the route. We will break up the kilometre-munching gravel roads with some really lekker riding through farms.
The hotel /guest house night in the eastern Free State town of Clarens will remain a hit among all riders. We will have a few surprises on this day to keep spirits soaring over this challenging distance.
Day 4: Clarens to Sterkfontein Dam – 85km
Renovations of Sterkfontein Resort will be completed by April 2025, so we will be
going back there this year.
Mount Paul singletrack is just getting better and better every year and is still one the best sections of mountain bike riding in the country with incredible views!
New Day 5: Sterkfontein Dam to Emseni – 98km (1750m descent!)
This day was the highlight of our route recce. We found a new drop down the escarpment from the Free State into KZN. Riders who have done joberg2c, go2berg or Berg and Bush will never have done this route before. It is something very different! Over 98 kilometres with 60 kays of that downhill! We hardly had to pedal.
One of the best days we have had on bike.
Day 6: Emseni to Emseni – 50km (singletrack til the cows come home!)
The New descent off Spioenkop is going to be a massive highlight. An incredible feast of singletrack that makes up about 90% of this stage!
Day 7: Emseni to Drakensberg – 85km
We scouted a new ending in the Drakensberg that will take riders closer to the massive mountains. Breath-taking views of this World Heritage mountain range.
What’s is our take-out from the route recce?
We need to remind riders that go2berg is a tough, challenging, rewarding, uplifting mountain bike journey. It is an awesome step-up from a three-day stage race or long marathon rides.
It requires 2.5/5 skill level and 4/5 physical level. Not technical but nicely physical and lots of different riding.
It is a brilliant way to see a less-photographed, but incredibly beautiful part of South Africa, to meet great people and to experience a feast of flavours.
The Old Mutual go2berg is a mountain journey for most, a race for some and 100% inspired by South Africans.
There is a lot that goes into organising – the route is the most important aspect.
Come ride with us in September!
Wappo and Gary
Entries for the 2025 Old Mutual go2berg are open! Find out more or enter here.
