South Africa's MTB women: The untamed - Women's mountain bike community in South Africa
Markus Weinberg
· 20.06.2024
Cycling is as much a part of South Africa as Table Mountain, wildlife and wine growing. The country at the southern end of Africa is a hotspot for the MTB world elite, leisure cyclists and for great events. A biker's paradise with thousands of kilometres of trails, numerous bike parks and a constantly growing community. The Western Cape province around Cape Town in particular is experiencing a boom, with new bike infrastructure constantly being created.
They are also responsible for the spirit of optimism: South Africa's MTB women. Their wishes and visions, but also their worries and needs, are driving the development of cycling in South Africa. We visited seven of them in their home country.
"The Bike Park" - THE spot in Cape Town
The hub for newcomers to the sport, but also for many girls and women, is the small bike park "The Bike Park" south of the centre of Cape Town. Ila Stow and her sister Jessi Nixon run the spot, including the bike shop and riding technique school, together with their stepfather Chris. "Many women come straight to our shop because we are not so male-dominated," explains Ila and her sister adds: "Customers often ask for us specifically so that we can address women's issues. That removes a big hurdle."
The two are also present outside of their own business and lead by example. Ila regularly takes part in races. She recently competed in the professional women's Cape Epic for the first time, after taking part in the famous stage race with her husband in the mixed competition in 2016 and 2017. She has also been on the hunt for UCI points at the Cross-Country World Cup in Stellenbosch. After the birth of her son, she rode a media e-bike for the Cape Epic organiser, fully loaded with cameras and batteries. "An incredible experience", which her sister Jessi was also able to do three years later. The task is extremely challenging: riding full throttle and highly focussed for eight days in the race of the world's elite women's mountain bikers, providing spectacular images and not hindering the race. "I was a bit worried because Jessi is technically very good, but she's never ridden a race like this before," laughs Ila.
Ila Stow is happy to be a role model
While Jessi disappears to the bike park with a group of children for riding technique training, Ila sinks into thoughts about the future. As a young mum, it's hard to juggle everything. As well as looking after the family bike park, she also wants to continue taking part in races. "It still makes a big difference whether there are more or fewer women at the start - unlike at the men's events," says Ila. "I consider myself lucky and it motivates me that I can be a role model for many young girls."
Katja Steenkamp is also confident about the future. She has been running the company BreakAway Rides since 2015, with which she offers riding technique training and guiding. "When I first came to Cape Town in 2006, there were hardly any real trails nearby, but a lot has happened since then," says the Dresden native. "After corona, things really took off here!" Over 140 girls and boys now take part in her courses every week, and Katja also employs several guides who know the area like the back of their hand.
From Dresden to South Africa
Katja got into cycling through her boyfriend when she was studying politics and media in Cape Town. Her first races and trips through southern Africa followed. After graduating, she remained loyal to the country and eventually founded her own company. In 2016, she experienced her personal highlight when she crossed the finish line first in the Tour d'Afrique - a race covering more than 9,000 kilometres from Cairo to Cape Town - beating all the male competitors. "An unforgettable experience," remembers Steenkamp. The stamina she showed during the 76 stages was also useful in her company.
New start with own bike school
The first few years were tough. A lack of registrations for the courses, repeated cancellations. Steenkamp relied on a sustainable and fair business model, paid her employees despite cancelled classes and offered alternative dates for children if they were unable to attend on one day. "Word got around in the scene," says Katja. The fact that there are many more trails in and around Cape Town has also ensured that her registration numbers are increasing and that she can now make a living from her company. Her customers mostly come from the white middle and upper classes. But German schools are also taking advantage of her offer. "Today, schools offer cycling courses and many more children are getting on their bikes." It's not just the language, but also her concept of combining skills and adventure that enhances the experience for the children. "I want to be able to jump in the puddle with them." Katja also uses Ila and Jessi's bike park for this. "We all know each other here and are well connected."
The community is large, but people still know each other
Katja enjoys spending time on her bike or surfboard with Caroline Elleke. The committed entrepreneur from Germany has built up a second home in South Africa with her family. At home, she runs the well-known Stadler bicycle chain with her sister, and in South Africa she now not only runs a hotel, but also an entire wine estate, the Laborie Wine Estate, as part of the Paarl Trails trail centre. "I believe that you can convince more farmers and landowners to create trails on their land if you can also show them a source of income." In Paarl, she has succeeded in doing this with local partners. Today, the estate is not only home to a restaurant and an organic market, but also a bike station for the Paarl Trails, including bike hire.
South Africa's first trail builders trained
The trail network, which is several hundred kilometres long, connects some of the surrounding vineyards. The costly maintenance, trail construction and user fees for the land are refinanced through a whole range of revenues: Trail tickets, catering and accommodation offers as well as the bike service, camps and trips feed the running costs. Caroline is proud of the fact that she and her partners trained the first trail builders in South Africa and that she and "her" students are now also responsible for trail maintenance and trail building for neighbouring mountain bike resorts such as Wellington. "In this way, we are creating local expertise, prospects and regular jobs and taking the local residents with us as we develop."
The entrepreneur is also involved in Somerset West, south of Cape Town. Here, she runs the Erinvale Estate Hotel right next to the Lourensford vineyard, which was the starting point for the 20th edition of the Cape Epic this year.
Caroline Elleke is now firmly anchored in the South African bike scene, not only in business terms, she is also involved in the local cycling community. She is particularly involved in Trail Angels, a women's community that functions like a kind of fitness centre, but goes far beyond sports activities. Her friend Nikki Haywood not only brings women together here, but also gets them cycling. The community now has more than 500 registered women. "When I started in 2011, we first developed our own collection of cycling gear for women. They were almost impossible to get here," remembers Nikki, proudly pointing to the Trail Angels logo on her shirt.
The Trail Angels - the largest women's MTB club in the southern hemisphere
Nikki was born and raised in South Africa and worked as a Pilates instructor for 20 years until she discovered her love of mountain biking. When she spent several weeks travelling the country on her bike after separating from her partner, she came up with the idea for Trail Angels. "Men often don't understand that it's not just about the sport," says Haywood, and her success proves her right. "The trick is to get women on their bikes again and again." Trail Angels is now the largest mountain bike club for women in the southern hemisphere. Hundreds of like-minded people meet here every week to have fun together on two wheels in various groups.
The next generation is already in the starting blocks
Another such pioneer is Frankie du Toit. The 27-year-old has become an integral part of South Africa's cycling scene. Growing up in Pietermaritzburg near Durban on the Indian Ocean, she started racing at the age of 15. This was followed by national championship titles in the individual time trial on the road, and later in the cross-country and marathon. Just a few weeks ago, she once again took the title at the South African Downhill Championships.
Frankie studied sports science in Stellenbosch and has always wanted to work in the cycling industry. She now runs a bike shop in the cycling stronghold of Stellenbosch. Enduro has become her great passion. "It's the essence of mountain biking," Frankie is convinced. She only brought her new love with her from the UK, where her parents live, in 2021. Since then, she has also been involved in organising races in the Western Cape. She is aware: "The downhill and enduro scene is not big enough to fully focus on it. Above all, there are far too few women practising this sport."
Even though time is tight between her full-time job and training, it is important to her to take on responsibility: "Even if I just make sure that a women's race takes place at all." This also pleases Katja Steenkamp, who also likes to take part in an enduro race when time permits.
Help for the poorest in the country
Alisha Myers has a completely different perspective on cycling. She has been working for the aid organisation World Bicycle Relief for ten years and is responsible for southern Africa. She sees the bicycle as an aid for people who have to cover long distances without access to public transport. "It makes a difference whether people in rural regions have to walk for days to the nearest town. The bike simply reduces their travelling time."
For Alisha, who grew up in Ohio in the USA, learning to ride a bike as a child was completely normal. In Africa, predominantly among the black population, this is by no means the case. Not even in South Africa, where the income gap between the white and black population is huge. "There are often simply no bikes available," says Alisha. The security situation in the country does the rest: "You need to know where you can ride, at what time of day and whether you are travelling alone as a woman." Her office is located in the centre of Cape Town. She got into cycling herself via a fitness studio. It was a coincidence that she took up mountain biking: in 2012, a film crew needed a person of colour on a mountain bike for a commercial. Alisha jumped on and almost never got off her mountain bike again. Just one year later, she was at the start line of her first Cape Epic. The event is still a local centre of attraction today. The main sponsor has now launched its own programme for women under the hashtag #SheUntamed, which translates as "She is untamed". The aim: to get more women on mountain bikes and on the start line. A goal that our seven female protagonists are also constantly working towards.
Info on the Western Cape province
The precinct
Cape Town and its surroundings are a mountain bike stronghold. A network of almost 8500 kilometres of MTB trails (see map below) criss-crosses the region's mountains and more are added every year. In addition, more and more connecting trails are being created between the bike centres. The best known is the Tygerberg area in the north of Cape Town near the village of Durbanville. In the east, several regions have joined together to form the Wine Lands Trails, including Wellington, Paarl, Franschhoek, Stellenbosch and Somerset West. To the south of Cape Town's city centre, on the edge of the famous Table Mountain, is the Tokai area, which is directly connected to the Table Mountain Trails.
Prices
The regions offer day and annual tickets or club memberships for using the trails. Prices range from around EUR 3 for a day ticket to EUR 90 for an annual membership in one of the regions. There is no overall ticket for the Western Cape Province. The trails are mainly on private land belonging to wine or fruit farms. Exceptions are the trails on Table Mountain, which are located in the national park on state-owned land and are created and maintained by local clubs. These also sell tickets for use.
All information about the trail regions
You can find detailed trail descriptions and helpful information on bike hire etc. on the websites of the individual bike regions in the Western Cape province.
- Wine Lands Trails: winelandstrails.com
- South African National Park Table Mountain: sanparks.org
- Tygerberg: tygerbergmtb.co.za
- Paarl Trails: paarltrails.com
- Tokai MTB: tokaimtb.com
- Table Mountain Bikers: tablemountainbikers.co.za
- Bikepark Constantia Uitsig: bikeparkatuitsig.co.za
MTB events in South Africa
Some of the most popular cycling events take place in South Africa every year. The leading ones include:
- Cape Town Cycle Tour (the world's largest cycle race for everyone), capetowncycletour.com
- Absa Cape Epic (eight-day MTB stage race), cape-epic.com
- FNB Wines2Whales (three-day MTB stage race), epic-series.com
- Cape Pioneer Stage Race (five-day MTB stage race along the Karoo and Garden Route), capepioneer.co.za
- A detailed selection, including smaller events, can be found here: sabiexperience.co.za
