tombeej Posted May 30, 2011 Share Proposal: Tour de Hub I had an idea, want to see if it has any potential with you lot. We organise an annual tour for hubbers. Format:• A 7 day tour somewhere in Southern Africa (SA, Lesotho, etc), running from a Sunday to a Saturday – so that people have a day on each side to get there & get home.• Gives us a chance to meet up annually, catch up, introduce new people to the Hub, and see parts of SA we’d never normally see.• Idea is for this to be an mtb-based tour, but certainly open to a road tour.• Option of either going the purist route (self supported all the way – easiest) to some form of support crew. This can be decided here amongst ourselves.• NOT a race – it’s a tour. So we pull for the slowest person, stop to take in the views, impromptu stops on the way, etc. End of each day, nothing happens until the last person gets in safe. It's about freedom & adventure, living in the moment, nothing at all to do with competition. How to decide the route:• Everyone has a chance to post their idea for a route. Each day has to be very doable in terms of distance, not super technical/difficult, relatively safe, etc.• Then hubbers first vote on their top 5 favourites, using a set of judging criteria that includes how scenic/interesting/unique the route will be for everyone (like riding the passes of Lesotho,or through Namaqualand when the flowers are in bloom, the Richtersveld, whatever). From the top 5 selection, a final round of voting gives us the route for that year. Possible interesting spin-offs over time:• Raising money for charities (e.g. for every km travelled). • Corporate sponsorship• TV coverage I'm guessing none of us have time to organise a whole support system, do all the preparations, etc. So my initial thoughts are that it's done in a very simple way - the start point is announced (could be a local hotel or town centre) and the ride starts on the Sunday. So people just start arriving on Saturday with their bikes and backpacks, spend the night before having a beer or two, catching up, and the loose mob rolls out at an agreed-upon time the next morning with not many more rules except that everyone looks out for each other and the end goal of reaching a particular destination by the coming Saturday. The only logistical question I can think of (if we keep it pure) would be how to get everyone back to the start point and their cars. Suggestion would be to hire a putco bus to collect us at the finish? Or switch: everyone meets at the finish point and the bus drives us all to the start? Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmaccelari Posted May 30, 2011 Share I've always wanted to do Sani across Lesotho to Ficksburg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Andreou Posted May 30, 2011 Share Nice idea, 7 days not likely to fly with our assorted spouses though.You're going to have to be a bit more organised than 'loose mob with not too many rules' though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EigerSA Posted May 30, 2011 Share i like! i've had a similar idea in mind, where everyone would ride from say Joberg to the Cape, but not everyone would start at Joberg. as the "train" went past your town you could just join up and travel as far as your legs/time would allow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tieffels Posted May 30, 2011 Share My suggestion: get hold of the legend that is Jaco Strydom. Well, wait till he's finished his Beit2Cape ride which he is currently on (incorporating the Freedom Challenge), and then get hold of him. In Dec/Jan of 09/10 we did a 7 day (I think) ride with him from Oliviersnek Pass to Rhodes picking up the Freedom Challenge trail about halfway. It was pure MTBing bliss, coming very very close to the Epic (2010 at least) in ride quality, except you are a small group of people so the experience is quite different. He sorts out all the nitty gritty detail and has the route waxed. That is ultimately the problem with self organized touring, you don’t have the time to suss out the best possible trail and end up on bigger roads etc. Not with Jaco, the route has it all. Cannot remember the actual cost, but it was a bargain for what we got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre 77 Posted May 30, 2011 Share Speak to maddog he is a tour guide and he once road with his mtb from Jhb to CT all on dirt roads he will be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eraser Posted May 30, 2011 Share Excellent idea My ideal ride would be... Start in one location and end in anotherDirt roads on a Mountain BikeOption to stay in a local guest house that can cater an evening mealLSD pace with a mandatory 1 hour lunch stop +- 100 km's a day5 day scenic routeInteresting company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EigerSA Posted May 30, 2011 Share How about the old route Joberg - Durban - Cape Town? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christie Posted May 30, 2011 Share I did a sort of training camp like this with vets team mates. Jhb-Reitz, Reitz-Drakensville (close to Harrismith. I think), Drakensville-Midmar, Midmar-Durban, Did Tour Durban race on the 5th day. The whole tour was lots of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tjokkits Posted May 30, 2011 Share great plan one can also try the johannesburg to durbs with the last day ending with the amashova race Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakkals. Posted May 30, 2011 Share Myself and my cousin are looking to do a trip in december from EL-CPT.would most likely be a 12day tour with girls in the bakkie preparing food and drinks at backpackers while we cycle.This will still take a lot of planning, but I can't wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepia Posted May 30, 2011 Share EL-CPT- always wanted to do it. Road or MTB?I'm keen. Pse let me know of the plans if any at this stage?Let's do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakkals. Posted May 30, 2011 Share EL-CPT- always wanted to do it. Road or MTB?I'm keen. Pse let me know of the plans if any at this stage?Let's do it!Will probly be mtb'ing. However road riding will be necessary in some parts. I will keep you updated. Let me know if u have any ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cat-i Posted May 30, 2011 Share west cost, from capetown up till as far as you have leave. dont do it the other way around - wind will be in your face. or west coast, then accross to calvinia & bac through cederberg. early spring might be a good time for that ... or around easter, lots of public holidays. i'm in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jakkals. Posted May 30, 2011 Share No one said its gona be easy. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed Posted May 31, 2011 Share great plan one can also try the johannesburg to durbs with the last day ending with the amashova race There are quite a few groups who do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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