KNYSNA NEWS - Ultra-endurance cyclist Grant Lottering is attempting to do the impossible after he set off on a 1 340km cycle ride through the Cape in the name of charity on 23 May.
At 05:00 on Thursday 23 May, Lottering was to set off from Patensie, just east of the infamous Baviaanskloof in the Eastern Cape, to begin his journey through the Cape, climbing 17 mountains – almost 16 400m – in one single ride.
Lottering aims to finish this unforgiving Im'possible Tour in Paarl, three days later on Sunday morning 26 May.
Unforgiving terrain
This year's tour is attracting a vast amount of interest given the unforgiving terrain, short timeframe Lottering has given himself to complete it, and the fact that he will be cycling through three consecutive nights, nonstop. No one has ever attempted a ride of this magnitude in South Africa, over virtually every mountain pass between Port Elizabeth and Paarl.
The first 200km of the ride takes Lottering up the Baviaanskloof, riding into the first night via the Prince Albert Pass to Knysna, following which the Seven Passes Route, to George awaits. From there, Lottering will switch to his road bike, heading over the Robinson Pass to Oudtshoorn, then back onto the mountain bike over one of the most exquisite mountain passes in the world, the Swartberg Pass, which Lottering hopes to reach just before sunset on day two after some 622km.
Descending down the Swartberg Pass at night to the town of Prince Albert will be the most dangerous part of the ride, before embarking on a 230km gravel stretch across the Karoo around the isolated valley of Gamkaskloof, and through the breathtaking Seweweekspoort Pass to the Anysberg Reserve to Montagu.
More passes await
The challenging Ouberg Pass will await Lottering at around 22:00 on the third night after having covered a gruelling 1 000km, before heading north to Touws River. Once on the road bike again, a further three passes await, including the Bo-Swaarmoed Pass and Bainskloof Pass.
After passing through Ceres at sunrise on Sunday 26 May, Lottering aims to arrive at the finish at Reuben's & Co Restaurant, The Yard, at Val de Vie Estate in the Paarl-Franschhoek Valley at around 10:00.
The purpose of Lottering's annual Im'possible Tours in aid of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, is to inspire, challenge, and be relevant – which is precisely what he has done in the five Im'possible Tours since his near-fatal cycling accident in July 2013 in Italy.
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