With just a week left until we all gather in Knysna for the inaugural Nedbank Gravel Burn, I’ve been reflecting on the incredible mix of people this event has brought together. We announced the pro field a few weeks back, and the buzz has been amazing. It turns out a lot of people were pretty surprised by just how deep and talented our men’s and women’s fields are. And honestly, I’m thrilled by it too.
In the early days of the Cape Epic, we had to go out of our way to convince cross-country titans to give an eight-day mountain bike stage race a shot. This time around, it’s like the tables turned: once we put the word out about Nedbank Gravel Burn we had top-tier pros approaching us on a near-weekly basis. It’s a fantastic feeling to know that we’ve created an event that riders genuinely want to be part of.
But the real heart of this blog, just like the last one on this topic, is about the people we meet—and in this case, the friends who’ve come out of the woodwork to support me. Looking further down the start list, I’m honestly humbled to see so many personal friends who decided to join in. Some of them aren’t even gravel riders by nature—they’ve gone out and bought gravel bikes just to be part of this first edition. That’s a level of support that really hits home for me.
My friends from Hong Kong who usually only see gravel in their dreams — fit, adventurous, and diving straight into South Africa’s wild roads on gravel bikes they’ll basically be riding for the first time. My cousin, famous for waking up Cape Epic riders for years with his bagpipes, hadn’t ridden a bike since his junior school days — yet he’s gone out bought his first-ever bike and embarked on a nine-month journey to complete the Burn. Then there’s our long-standing Tuesday morning “Round the Mountain” ride crew – no fewer than six have entered. And my special friends Andy and Steve are back too — the same two friends who joined me in Costa Rica in 2002 for La Ruta, the race that planted the seed for the Cape Epic. They were my original guinea pigs when I opened entries for that first Epic, and now, two decades later, they’re doing it again for the Gravel Burn. Steve even bought his first bike in decades — gravel or otherwise — and shed 15 kilograms in the process. And our new neighbours in Zurich, new friends from a new life, will also make the trip to Knysna.
It’s these friendships and this kind of support that remind me why I love doing what I do. It’s not just about the pros or the prize money; it’s about the community. It’s about old friends, new riders, and the spirit of adventure that brings us all together. And for that, I’m incredibly grateful.
See you all in Knysna!