The Routes

Day 1: 60km | 1100m ascent

With 1100m of climbing over 60km, no roads and very few free kilometers, it’s a tough one.

Trails wind their way through miombo woodlands and along the edges of dambos. Loamy soil means the trails are smooth and forgiving: until they turn upwards.

Climbs are steep and technical: often exceeding 12% in gradient, but rarely lasting longer than 500m. You’ll likely run out of gears, and rely on low-cadence torque as well as your technical climbing skill to get you to the top. Once you’re up there, though, the views are stunning. Uninterrupted forest stretches as far as the eye can see, nestled between mountains, cliffs, and curious rock formations.

The downhills make the climbs more than worth it. They alternate between fast, flowing and steep, rocky, technical sections. They remind you why you bought a bike in the first place.