A bit of Rand honesty

[agentgreen]

Everyone's opinion of expensive is relative...what would you budget for a trip to Europe? What would a similar trip (ie like for like...flights, accommodation, lifts passes/shuttles, maintained trails, trail networks) to South America cost?

Flights are more expensive but food is a lot cheaper in local markets (restaurants can be expensive but thats the case everywhere there are tourists) and accommodation is also really reasonable if you don't expect luxury (you can get that too if you want to pay). Hard to say as a tourist, as I lived there, but three of us gringo's who worked as guides rented a three bedroom house for 500 sole a month (about 2500 rand). Some things are cheap (produce, beer) while imports and luxury items (and petrol) is not. One key difference is the trails are all free, no access passes or shuttles (but you have to pedal and push when it gets steep) or hire a taxi (mini bus like here, which you can do for a reasonable amount- 100 sole, and share the cost,  getting you and your mates a driver and car for the day [figure is a couple of years old, may have inflated since]. Most of the good tourist and archeological sites in Peru are free (there are thousands EVERYWHERE) and the ones that charge can all be entered with one tourist ticket (except Machu Picchu). A rough estimate (including airfare) comes to about 35 000 for Peru. I recon for an extra 15 000 you could include Bolivia (La Paz, Oruro and Uyuni). I'd avoid Brazil and Chile, they are way too expensive and if you're going to ride Bolivia and Peru are far better options. Argentina is great too, but the economy is super-volitile, when I studied there it was cheap as hell, I lived so well off 300 pesos a week (600 Rand at the time) but when I returned a year later it was insane expensive, so it really depends on the political/economic climate at any moment...

[agentgreen]

Will follow with interest, but as asked above,,, how long is a piece of string?

 

The hub has done a few household income surveys in the past and the ratios if I recall were pretty high, remember biking is the new golf. Yes there are lower income people in love with cycling but I think the hub has more than its fair share of coin.

 

I know people who save a year for amazing trips that takes months to plan, and I know people who sit at lunch and decide to do stoopid expensive spur of the moment trips climb on a plane and buy clothes when they arrive

 

Why does everyone do the USA EUrope trips rather than the cheaper off the track trails,,,easier question,,,,it not as easy and predictable to book and arrange the special trips. To book to go to Europe u need limited internet skills credit card and cheers you off

and then there is skill set as you say much tougher climbs and rides not everyone here are mountain goats, with extreme biking skillz

 

It's like doing the epic vs joberg2c

 

Joberg2c you pull in and wing it

Epic "little different"

 

Going to be fun to watch the chirps on this one

I want to address the skill set point you raised, I agree it's way easier to do Europe/USA and it may be comprisable in terms of Rand value. As a lower income hub member (grad student, self sustaining, who lived, studied and worked in South America) I'd never really had the opportunity to ride a DH bike before I went over so aside from road, xc and some street trials fun I also didn't really possess the skill set to deal with such a formidable mountain range, but going there and trying it improved my riding. I'm sure the same (or similar logic) applies when scouting for destinations elsewhere in the world (or not, maybe people just want a leaker, relaxing break from life). And to be fair, I guided a 65 and 69 year old American couple from Ohio, who were devout roadies and on a whim decided to try mountain biking in Peru on holiday down a gnarly-as-hell, technical and, in some places, downright dangerous trail (of their choice). It took in two major archeological sites they were keen to see, and despite our reservations and warnings, they were insistent and it took them about five hours longer than the slowest imaginable group. They took it very slowly but rode nearly all of it and had the time of their lives (even bought themselves mountain bikes upon returning to the USA). As for the climbs (roads or if your an xc guy) we gravity folk would taxi shuttle or hitchhike with produce trucks that traverse the many passes carrying goods, or in remote areas push and carry our bikes (great workout lugging a DH sled up thousands of meters of trail) but my point here was if climbing is an area you'd like to improve on, and that requires a little more time than is possible in a dollar or euro currency place (longer term), as @michaelbiker said, Peru is darn cheap, one can stay there and train well for long at low cost and you will come back a beast of a climber or overall rider. 

 

[rudi-h]

A europe trip is anywhere between R25k and R50k for two weeks of riding abroad with the main driver being accommodation costs, food and "other" touristy things.