Idyllic experiences in the bush on bikes
The Tour de Tuli is not a race, it’s a memorable mountain-biking adventure, and it’s all in a good cause, writes Max Gebhardt
IHAD to be airlifted out of the bush in Zimbabwe by a helicopter just days after the country held its presidential election campaign. Well, sort of. I was actually taken from our morning tea stop on day three of the four-day Nedbank Children in the Wilderness Tour de Tuli mountain-bike tour (it is not a race, it’s an adventure) back to that night’s camp, known as “Fly Camp” on the Knot family’s property in Zimbabwe.
I had managed, at zero kilometres an hour, while standing in my pedals, to fall at one of those mighty Zimbabwe rivers, the Pazhi River, which consists of nothing more than sand. My team-mates had been queuing to find their way across when I softly plopped over onto my right knee, which, two weeks before, I had sliced to the bone during another mountainbike race.
The rather soft, innocuous fall split open the injury like a burst pimple.
Within seconds, blood was streaming down my leg, a rather concerning prospect when you are in the middle of the bush in Zimbabwe, on a mountain bike, with no hospital for hundreds of kilometres.
This was my third Tour de Tuli, an event that has become the highlight in my yearly mountain-bike expeditions.
The event is a four-day, fivenight ride traversing the Greater Mapungubwe area through three countries — SA, Botswana and Zimbabwe — covering about 250km. I say “about” 250km because there will without a doubt be a day when you and your team get lost in the bushveld. This is because the move from each camp is done with nothing more than a global positioning system.
This year, though, I was able to see what it takes to look after the 300 cyclists who participate.
After my fall, I was not allowed to continue riding so spent time with the support staff, following the cyclists over the last day and a half.
The events that take place behind the scenes, before we all arrive en masse at our camps.
The sheer number of people and hours required to prepare and then take down the camps are what makes this event so remarkable. There is roughly one person looking after every two cyclists. From medical teams, to helicopter pilots, sweeper vehicles carrying spare bikes, people to put up and take down the camps, the cooks,
You ride through some of the most beautiful scenery in Southern Africa, down paths carved out by elephants
masseuses, the Land Rover club, which shepherds all the staff between the various camp sites. Making sure that when we leave, nothing is left behind in the nature reserves through which we traverse. The list goes on.
There are 19 teams that participate, consisting of anything between nine and 19 cyclists. Each team has a team leader and back-up leader riding at the back, equipped with radios and, importantly, medical equipment to deal with people like me.
So once we bandaged my knee, medical assistance was called for and I was transported back to our tea spot and the helicopter. Once there, the tour doctor, Eddie Jooste, took over and later that day, in the African bush, he stitched up my knee.
Jooste has been on every tour since its inception nine years ago.
That’s the thing about the Tour de Tuli, it just brings people back over and over again. Everyone who has participated always remarks that one of the standout features of the time you spend together is the camaraderie and spirit that is built among your group.
You spend each day riding together as a team. You sleep together in a row in the tent city that is the camp site each night. You eat all your meals together; you help each other out in the bush when things go wrong.
Of course it helps that you are riding through some of the most beautiful scenery in Southern Africa, sweeping down paths carved out by elephants over thousands of years. There are always memorable moments. This year for me it was on day two as we wound our way to the Maramani camp, which is set in the Limpopo river bed.
We had just left the tea stop and were heading to the Shashe River to cross from Botswana to Zimbabwe. It is a long flowing section of single track through the Cycle Mashatu Fly camp before you start heading southeast towards Paul’s Old Wilderness Camp and Bryce’s Store, which was flattened by the Boers during the Second Anglo-Boer war.
It was just perfect riding weather, slightly cool and overcast, which accentuated the many colours of the bushveld.
It’s that moment when the worries of the big city become meaningless. It was just me, my bike and my fellow cyclists in group five, the Livingstones group, which had been led by Livingstones CEO Peter Anderson until flu put an end to his tour.
It was Pete’s helicopter that took me out of the bush and back to camp. Of course my team-mates said it was a pretty poor way to get a ride in a helicopter to see some game.
A feature of the Tour de Tuli is, of course, the elephants.
It should never be forgotten that you are riding through game reserves.
And there are a lot of these majestic creatures in this part of Southern Africa. They are not the sort of creature you want to run into on a bicycle, which can literally happen as you are often riding the elephant highways.
Luckily our group didn’t have any encounters this year, though one of the other groups did manage on a couple of occasions to have some fairly close run-ins. We did at least see some wildlife such as giraffe and zebras — always a special treat at this vantage point.
In the end, though, what makes the Tour de Tuli such a unique experience is not just the people, the places you ride and the superb food and accommodation. It is that all the money raised by those riding goes to Children in the Wilderness, which teaches children living in rural communities next to wildlife reserves the importance of nature conservation for their future. The tour comes to an end, always, too soon at the Mapungubwe National Park. The final night is one of reminisces and laughs. For me it was tinged with sadness at not having being able to cross the finish line on my bike. But I will be back next year, to see the friends I made in group five and hopefully ride a full tour with Pete and his team from Livingstones.