I don’t drink much beer. But I do love a cold one after a hot ride. Sometimes two. I don’t really have a favourite beer brand. Well, I didn’t until now. You see South African beer brand, Devil’s Peak, just did something important. Yes, it makes a wide range of popular craft beer, but it did something much more significant than that. It brought my people together.
By Sean Badenhorst | Photos: Dominic Barnardt
My people are mountain bikers. For more than 30 years, my people have been mountain bikers. Mountain bikers are by nature very social. There are a few exceptions – until they’ve had a few beers… We’re not highly strung like some other cycling disciplines. When we ride with a group, we half expect someone to have a mechanical, which means we pause the ride until its fixed. Or we help fix it. We also half expect someone in the group to crash. Usually a minor learning-curve tumble because we push our limits and like to try new things on the trail. We don’t like mundane or dull. We like our rides to be engaging, fun and sometimes, a little frightening.
When I started mountain biking in 1991, there weren’t many of us. Road cyclists outnumbered us probably 500 to 1. So, we found each other at events (there weren’t really any mountain bike trails) and we found each other at bike shops (bikes back then were always needing repairs). There was no internet yet, so we interacted in person – or by speaking on the phone. We planned group rides properly in advance and we thrived on each other’s energy. So much so, that we always made plans for another ride. And another. And then another.
Fast forward 30-odd years and technology has made it possible to know about other mountain bikers, but not necessarily know them. So, even when you see someone that you follow on Instagram at a trails park, you’re not sure if they know you. So, you ride at the same place at the same time, but you don’t ride together. Which is okay. But it’s also not okay.
The Devils Peak’s GOAT Tour, took accomplished beer fanatic and pretty good downhill racer, Greg Minnaar and turned back the clock more than 30 years. Yeah, we saw it promoted on social media and made our bookings via the internet. But on a certain day at a set time at a specific place, we gathered. In person, with our bikes and our energy and our shared admiration for Greg. And it was special.
Close to 100 mountain bikers arrived at Wolwespruit, Pretoria to do a ride with Greg Minnaar on the second of three GOAT Tour stops. There were four types of mountain biker – the older gravity crew, the young gravity crew (the biggest collection on the day), the non-gravity riders – lean and fit with great endurance but limited skills, and non-riders, who probably do ride, but were likely intimidated by the jump lines and flow lines.
The last time I saw Greg Minnaar on a bike in Pretoria, he was competing in a National Cup event, which had the Downhill at Fort Klapperkop and the Dual Slalom (remember those?) at Fountains. This was in 2001! Greg confirmed this was indeed the last time he was in Pretoria. During a Q&A after the ride, when asked what he thought about Wolwespruit, he said it’s a “very nice (wink, wink)” mountain bike trails park.
Having ridden most of them, I can confirm that Wolwespruit is one of the better mountain bike trails parks in South Africa. The jump lines and flow lines and central location have attracted a whole generation of gravity racers in a city that’s traditionally produced endurance racers. We don’t realise just how valuable Wolwespruit is. There’s a good chance the next Greg Minnaar currently charges around there after school with passion and purpose and dreams.
During his racing career, Greg was either on a tight international travel and racing schedule; or enjoying some recovery time at home. Thousands of South African mountain bikers across three generations watched him race live on TV from when technology made that possible. And we watched him with pride as he built an incredible career using talent, desire and hard work.
But since he retired from full-time World Cup racing a couple of months back, Greg has been able to relax a bit and engage with his fans and supporters more. When I watched Greg race in Pretoria in 2001, he was about to win his first UCI World Cup Series. He was approachable, relaxed and chatty off the bike – and super fast on it.
Twenty-three years and a truly exceptional racing career later, Greg returned to Pretoria, thanks to Devil’s Peak, and while Pretoria has changed significantly, Greg hasn’t. Global success hasn’t altered him one bit as a person. Anyone with children will agree that this is also a parenting success story. Well done to Jeff and Jackie on raising a fine man.
I always tell cycling fans, especially the young ones, not to get too enamoured with the stars in our sport. Those champions didn’t start out racing bicycles with the intention of becoming nice people and role models. They wanted to be the fastest bicycle racers in the world. Fans are sometimes left disappointed by the off-the-bike behaviour or character of their heroes.
Before, during and after the ride at Wolwespruit, Greg shook hands, hugged, listened, replied, gave advice, posed for photos and signed countless autographs. Not once did he get flustered or show contempt. He patiently treated every single person with respect and kindness and made them feel noticed – for many, a huge moment that will live with them forever…
Not every human has the capacity to be a world champion bicycle racer and a good person. That’s one of the things that makes Greg Minnaar even more of a national treasure. And we can be proud to know that he’s one of ‘our people’.
When I buy beer in future, I will buy from the Devil’s Peak range. It’s actually a decent beer by my non-expert standards, which sees me forget as soon as the next day how certain beers taste. But what I will never forget is how Devil’s Peak cut through the digital era barriers and brought a hero to his fans – in person. The Devil’s Peak GOAT Tour brought hundreds of passionate mountain biking people together. My people. Our people. What an accomplishment.
GALLERY
