Septuagenarians conquer Zuurberg Trek without breaking a sweat

You’re only as old as you feel, and three septuagenarians who took part in the 2023 Rubicon Great Zuurberg Trek E-edition in Greater Addo this weekend could not be feeling any better.

After the first day over 40km on Friday, Stuart Woodhead, 78, Alex Solomon, 75, and Pierre le Roux, 77, had hardly broken a sweat, their sense of humour still very much intact.

“There were some very steep sections, but the e-bike sorts it all out. You become a member of the Flat Earth Society,” Plettenberg Bay’s Solomon quipped.

Joking aside, their performances epitomise what battery-powered bicycles can do for mountain bikers for whom conventional steeds have become too difficult to handle on routes like the ones encountered at the GZT-E.

Woodhead, who travelled from Hoedspruit in Limpopo, acknowledged that his age would not have allowed him to ride a normal bike given the “ups and downs” of the course.

A seasoned road cyclist, he participated in 26 Cape Town Cycle Tours before turning his attention to mountain biking.

This was before both knees were replaced and he had to undergo two back operations.

Thankfully, e-biking allowed him to continue in the sport he loves.

“A lot of my younger mates say, ‘Wow, respect’, and I think my children are quite impressed I carry on,” he said.

Woodhead added he thought he had been to most parts of Southern Africa, but he missed the Addo and Zuurberg area.

“I am very impressed with the scenery. I’m very impressed with everything, the communication and accommodation [at Zuurberg Mountain Village].”

Solomon described the first day of his ride as “absolutely fabulous”, and sarcastically hoped Eskom would spare a thought for the participants, “so we might even get to ride day two”.

He too is a Cape Town Cycle Tour veteran, having conquered 21 events.

Cycling allowed him to meet so many wonderful people, so he was thrilled that he was still able to take part.

“At the young age of 75 I decided to get an e-bike.

“Mountain bikes got so amazing. To the guy who invented e-bikes thank you!”

The 2023 Rubicon GZT-E is Gauteng resident Le Roux’s first organised event on an e-bike, and like his fellow 70-somethings, he is loving every moment. An adventurer by nature, he started cycling some 14 years ago after friends suggested he give it a go.

A week later he bought a road bike and was on his way to competing in his first 947 Ride Joburg.

“Then I saw guys riding in the bush and I said, ‘I’m going to do that’.

“So I went into Cycle Works and bought a mountain bike,” he said.

Le Roux, originally from the Eastern Cape before moving to Johannesburg decades ago, said he loved the scenery in the Greater Addo area, which encapsulated the Zuurberg mountains.

“If I couldn’t cycle here, we would be walking here. I am a nature person.

“It’s the absolute peace we have with nature that I love.”

He has taken part in several of SA’s most well-known mountain bike events, including the Wines to Whales, sani2c and Cradle Traverse, but praised the GZT-E for its unique offering.