Race Reports | Freedom Challenge

The hardest choice | By Gill Graaf

How do you make the decision to stop, to call it, to accept that you are going no further. The trail is there in front of you. The pull to get on your bike and ride is like an uncontrollable force in your soul. Physically you are strong and fit. You still have the time to get there before the cut-off. We’re just ordinary riders, taking on a challenge way beyond anything we have done before. We are not new to the trail. We’ve ridden almost the entire route since we signed up

Rider Reports

Gill Graaf

Jul 25 min read

Oh The Places You'll Go. Oh The PEOPLE You'll Meet. Oh The Impact You'll Make. | Nigel Payne

FREEDOM CHALLENGE ALLOWS US TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE THINGS THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DREAM ABOUT. ONCE YOU HAVE RIDDEN FREEDOM CHALLENGE IT WILL DOMINATE YOUR DREAMS FOREVER. In thinking about how to describe what riding Freedom Challenge is like, I realized that the story has already been told - by Dr Seuss - so I started with some extracts from his incredible book 'Oh The Places You'll Go', then searched for more wisdom in the other 60+ books he wrote. I have ma

Rider Reports

Nigel Payne

Jun 77 min read

Freedom Challenge 2026 - 4 weeks to go | By Mike Woolnough

4 weeks… that’s all. Four weeks until the first batch of riders, huddled together in the shadow of the Pietermaritzburg City Hall for a departure photo, glance over their right shoulders to make sure the road is clear before applying pressure to their pedals. For me, the race started last night. I woke from a vivid dream in which I was fumbling around on the Black Fountain spine, unsure of how to get off the mountain. I lay in the dark staring at the ceiling, running through

Rider Musings

Mike Woolnough

May 182 min read

What the Freedom Challenge builds | By Mike Woolnough

From a distance, the Freedom Challenge appears to be about riding bikes across our country. Distances measured. Elevation accumulated. Riders leaving in small groups with the goal and desire of rolling around the dam in Diemersfontein to feel the earned weight of a blanket across their shoulders. That’s the visible part. What’s less visible, at least initially, is the community it has spawned over the years. Not just riders, but the wider circle that gathers around the event.

Rider Musings

Mike Woolnough

May 183 min read

They arrived without spectacle | By Mike Woolnough

The last few hundred metres curve around the dam and climb through the tree line to the finish of the Race Across South Africa. Legs pump in a steady rhythm, deliberate but unhurried. No raised arms. Just a quiet easing, the race loosening its grip, pedal stroke by pedal stroke. They cross not with a shout, but with a kind of inward nod. For days and nights the trail has taken them in pieces. Endless climbs with few summits worth marking. The ever present certainty that every

Rider Reports

Mike Woolnough

May 42 min read

Riding the Inaugural Race Across South Africa | By Greg Fisher

“I’m not a gravel racer.” “I love the Freedom Challenge Support Stations and ice cream tubs.” “The cut-offs are too tight.” These were some of the excuses I made for myself to avoid signing up when I first heard about the inaugural Race Across South Africa (RASA), the GPS-navigated race along the Freedom Trail that would skip some of the most hectic bike-carrying portage sections. Having done the traditional Freedom Challenge event twice before, I was wary of tackling th

Rider Reports

Greg Fisher

May 415 min read

As one journey ends, another begins | 28 April 2026

As the Race Across South Africa draws to a close, what lingers is not only the achievements of the riders, but the spirit that carries them. A quiet, unwavering camaraderie and a reminder of just how gorgeous this country truly is. Our beautiful South Africa. Again and again it is the landscapes that take your breath away. Our riders, our hosts, and most strikingly, the kind people along the way. There is a thread of kindness and openness that runs through even the most remot

Race Reports

Janine Oosthuizen

Apr 293 min read

Race Across South Africa | Across the Generations | 11 April 2026

The inaugural Race Across South Africa (‘RASA”) starts in 2 days at the Oaks Hotel in the small village of Byrne near Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The 2000km race takes place on the legendary Freedom Trail and is an interesting new alternative to the long standing Freedom Challenge (‘FC”) event that has been held (and will continue to be held) on the same trail since 2004. The differences between the two events, RASA and the FC are as follows: - For RASA t

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