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

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.

For more than two decades a bunch of special people have got their bikes from Pietermaritzburg to Paarl through some breathtakingly...

As a business school professor, I often discuss and debate with my students whether it is better for a small business to develop a deep,...

I get overwhelmed by emotions when I talk about this race. When I reminisce on the true value of my experience and the impact it had on...

The short story is…The Freedom Challenge we know as today was kind of a beautiful accident. A frustrated environmental lawyer thought it...

In 2022, as we were coming out of COVID, I took part in an ultra endurance bike “race” across South Africa. The event is a Mountain Bike...

Trouthaven is the final support station on the Freedom Trail. It’s a cute cluster of self catering cottages set halfway up a valley, in...

Today Tim has the final task of pushing through Stettynskloof. Arriving at Diemersfontein he will have been on the road for a continuous...

As per the narrative, the distance from Trouthaven to Diemersfontein is 51km. Only 51km – that is less an average coffee ride for a group...

By the time you reach Prince Albert on the Freedom Challenge RASA pilgrimage, the routine of waking up long before it gets light,...

In 2019 I made a bike harness so I could carry the bike hands free. I strapped on the bike at the bottom of Lehana and made good progress...

The violent gust of wind on the tin roof awoke me abruptly. I honestly thought the roof might blow away. I rolled over and looked at my...

Why are you walking? I thought this was a bike race? My non Freedom Challenge riding friends are often amazed at the many photos they see...

So this adventure came out of the blue. You know of course I am sworn off many-hour, multi-day rides - chafe on my nether regions, a...

[Scratched! Part 2] Winter’s nearly over. It’s Spring. Time to keep our promise to ourselves, to return to finish our Race to Rhodes, to...

I have sometimes been described as a gregarious person. Whilst generally shy, I do like to meet and find out more about the people and...

A looong time ago, when I was young, my grandmother had a domestic lady by the name of Rachel. I was not at school yet, when she used to...

Anyone who enters the freedom challenge will spend a lot of time considering the appropriate equipment to take on the journey across the...

Kim Ward, RTR 2023 When you start a Freedom Challenge event, you know you are going to get scratched – rocks and branches are part of the...