The Road to the Munga

“The harder the challenge the better” is a phrase that runs true for 23-year-old Reece Bezuidenhout. His passion for cycling started at a young age but took a back seat during his teen years as he pursued another passion, Rugby. After representing Western Province and South Africa at schoolboy level and participating in the U19 and U21 Currie Cup, Reece made the tough decision to hang up his togs and buckle up his cleats again.

Ultra distance riding and bike packing are two cycling distances that are rapidly gaining traction here in South Africa, when Reece heard about these riding styles he knew that he’d found his place. He loves long days out on two wheels, exploring lesser travelled roads and pushing his limits. Weekends you’re most likely to find him out on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere pedalling it out.

If you check out his Strava you might be concerned that he is currently suffering from some sort of quarter-life crisis. However that is not the case, Reece is training for the Munga, an 1100km mountain bike race starting in Bloemfontein and ending in Paarl. The race is described as one of the toughest races in the world as it takes riders across the blistering Karoo in the height of summer. Riders have 120hrs to complete the event and they can choose when and where they stop to rest if at all.

Competing in the Munga isn’t something that you decide on a few weeks beforehand, it’s the result of months of intensive training, careful planning and testing. Reece’s journey to the start line started 6 months ago with an average weekly training total of around 18hrs of riding. The training hasn’t always been easy, getting up day after day and putting in the hours has been challenging, however knowing that he’s going to be riding for a good cause has helped to keep him motivated. Reece will be riding for Durbanville Children’s Home, an organization that is very close to his heart with one of his extended family members having spent some time in the home several years ago. The Home does amazing work looking after 139 underprivileged children, many of whom wish for daily items that most of us take for granted.

With the Munga less than 2 weeks away the nerves are starting to kick in, Reece will be using it to raise funds for the Children’s home and you can click here to get involved. While 1100kms in one go is a bit crazy for most of us, we can’t wait to follow his journey.

To see some of the gear that Reece has been using in his long training rides, click here.