Bicycling South Africa

The Toyota Fortuner is South Africa’s top-selling SUV – for good reason: it’s the perfect choice for finding that off-the-grid adventure. With plenty of space for bikes, kids and all the luggage, you can get away to the remotest places in style and luxury. The latest iteration of this South African icon is the new Fortuner Epic. There are two variants – the standard Epic and the Epic Black, which adds a host of unique black accents to increase the visual appeal of the vehicle. Both Epics are based on the bombproof 2.8-litre GD-6, and this package now becomes the standard for this derivative. On the exterior, the Epic gets a branded nudge bar and tow bar, and the Black has a black roof, black roof rails, black side-view mirrors and all-black…

PROFESSOR ROSS TUCKER IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S PRE-EMINENT SPORTS SCIENTISTS. He also happens to be my co-host on our regular The Real Science of Sport podcast (Punt warning: available on all major podcasting apps). // BUT MORE RECENTLY, ROSS HAS TAKEN TO MOUNTAIN BIKING. Now he’s like any newbie, despite his illustrious standing in the world of science and sport. JUST A WEEK OR TWO AFTER HE BOUGHT HIS FIRST SECOND-HAND BIKE – A WHIPPET-FAST BIANCHI METHANOL HARD TAIL MTB – I WAS OUT SHOWING HIM THE FUN OF CAPE TOWN’S RELATIVELY INNOCUOUS GREEN-BELT TRAIL. // Now, Ross has ridden road bikes before; but like any mountain-biking noob, feeling his tyres moving around, getting over roots and logs and negotiating singletrack meant that his heart rate was higher on…

TIM DE WAELE (RIGHT)/JUSTIN SETTERFIELD (BELOW)/GETTY IMAGES…

Let’s be clear: this is all provisional. Covid could well be continuing its ruinous path in some areas, forcing cancellations – some countries have already ditched their national championship races, for example. Keep an eye on www.bicycling.co.za for the latest calendar and (hopefully) TV times, as we enjoy (equally hopefully) the most concentrated block of racing we’re ever likely to see. WOMEN’S WORLD TOUR The women’s tour for 2020 is much abbreviated, but does contain one massive advance: a women’s Paris-Roubaix, for the first time in history. Will Annemiek van Vleuten stamp her authority on the cobbles of northern France? AUGUST • NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS• STRADE BIANCHE• POSTNORD VÅRGÅRDA WEST SWEDEN TTT• EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS• LADIES TOUR OF NORWAY• GP DE PLOUAY• LA CORSE BY LE TOUR DE FRANCE SEPTEMBER • BOELS LADIES TOUR• WORLD ROAD AND TT…

HENRIQUE AVANCINI, PRO Hardly a stranger to Cannondale and Absa Cape Epic fans in South Africa, Brazilian Henrique Avancini is a full-blown superstar back home. The 31-year-old has taken stages at the Epic; won his national, continental and the Pan-American championships numerous times; represented Brazil at two Olympic Games; and won the World Marathon MTB title. Mountain biking has become a big thing in Brazil, with live crowds of up to 20 000 watching national-level races. One of the more humble riders in the MTB circus, with an ever-present smile and time for fans and press alike, Avancini is unsurprisingly popular in his home city, Petrópolis, and across South America’s most populous country. The scale of that popularity, though, beggars belief: he is footballer-famous, along the lines of a rugby Springbok…

TIM BRINK FEATURES/ASSOCIATE EDITOR DID YOU EVEN RIDE IF IT’S NOT ON STRAVA? PRODUCTS I’M USING RIGHT NOW 1 / Ass Magic Bum Cream R150 Lockdown and the IDT made bum cream necessary, again. Ass Magic is exactly what it says on the tub. 2 / Holdfast Platform Sport Bike Rack R7 999 Local is lekker – Holdfast have been building bulletproof racks for years, and now they’ve added top-level functionality. 3 / Touch Adjust Multitool R750 Not all tools were created equal; the Touch is a masterpiece of aesthetics and engineering. THE BIGGEST WAY RIDING NEEDS TO CHANGE Us ‘experienced’ riders need to calm the ^&*$ down. We started riding bikes to explore, to discover, to enjoy. Remember? Now we’re all trapped in the need to hurt and be hurt, or to be somewhere on time. Let’s go back to…