Imagine a network of cycling trails that connect Port Alfred with Makhanda and Kenton-on-Sea – and imagine arriving on your bike at one of those destinations after an amazing day’s ride to find a meal, shower and your luggage waiting for you. That’s just one part of the bigger vision that the Amarider cycling project represents.
The Amarider made their mark on the local cycling community in 2023, when a group of them completed the G2C cycle race from Makhanda to Port Alfred. The local initiative empowering young riders, building trails, and bringing bikes to schools was very visible at last year’s event, too: close to 20 young cyclists in their bright yellow cycling tops were at the finish.
But there’s a lot more to these cool kids than cycling to Kowie once a year. This week, Talk of the Town chatted to Antony Wanell, whose love for cycling, the outdoors and practical empowerment for youth has sparked something much bigger.
First up, did you know that the Amarider have already developed a network of more than 100km of single-track trails around Makhanda. The trails on Mountain Drive and the eastern commonage (near Makana Brick) have been cleared, marked, and made accessible for riders of all skill levels.
Then, members of the Amarider are being trained as trail guides, so that visitors and locals can enjoy the open veld surrounding Makhanda that is ideal for mountain biking. The aim is to use the Amarider as guides in a slack-packing environment that joins the dots for ecotourism, youth development and the local economy of Makhanda, Kenton-on-Sea and Port Alfred, Wanell explains.
Mountain bikers are invited to come and try out the new trails around Makhanda on Saturday June 21, the day before the G2C. There are two events on that visiting and local cyclists will definitely not want to miss. Here they are:
Saturday June 21 8am to 11am
Singletrack group ride: Explore Makhanda’s secret single-track gems through valleys and ridges. Choose your challenge – 20km, 30km, or 40km – at a chill, no-drop pace. R150 per person (includes refreshments). Limited to 50 riders.
Saturday June 21 3pm to 6pm
Makhanda paleontology tour: Ride into the past with a 20km guided gravel tour through ancient fossil sites – led by the legendary Dr Rob Gess himself. R200 per person (includes museum visit & refreshments). Limited to 20 riders.
Space is limited and cyclists should enter these prologue events (as well as the race on Sunday June 22) at www.g2c.co.za PS: Week 7 of the Zero to G2C Hero training programme is on page 13 of this edition, along with some more useful information about your race preparation. Talk of the Town is the proud media sponsor of the G2C and we also host the first refreshment table of the event. Come and say hello at the end of the race at our finish-line gazebo!
Fitness, safety and empowerment
It’s Sunday 11am in Makhanda and on an open patch of veld in Joza, next to the road connecting Extension 8 with Extension 10, about 20 children have already gathered for a fun and finding-out session with the Amarider. This is the second “open” community session that the Amarider are doing. They already have a strong footprint in local schools, where they present weekly sessions.
Senior Amarider members Lutho Ncanywa, who is in Grade 10 at Mary Waters Secondary School and Sanda Sodladla, a Ntsika Secondary School Grade 9, pull in on their bikes, ready to help with the session. Leading it are Amrider coordinator Ziphelele Fatyi and mentor Zoyisie ‘Bob’ Qolohe.
First up are Q&A interactions on the subject of road safety – and particularly being safe on a bicycle. Parts of a bicycle, healthy habits and understanding the natural environment are other topics covered in the mini-class.
One of the prepared sessions that has older children gasping in amazement is a breakdown of the cost of transport. The aim is obviously to demonstrate that using a bicycle for transport – and all three towns are well suited for cycling – helps you stay healthy and saves you a lot of money. Here’s how it goes: A one-way trip to school or to work on a taxi costs R15 – R30 both ways; that’s R600 a month, R7 200 a year, and over 10 years you could have spent a staggering R72 000 on transport. By comparison, the cost of buying and maintaining a bicycle was considerably less.
Back in Joza, last Sunday, it’s time to ride. Amarider has a handful of demo bikes and the children are taken through a skills session – adapted for their current level of skill. There’s some nervousness, then triumph as children more or less master Newton’s laws of motion.
“The long-term aim is to create a cycling community through a sustainable long-term programme,” said Wanell. Trail-guiding could be a source of income for local guides trained in a range of relevant skills.
Wanell, who is chair of the Kariega Fundation and on the board of the Endangered Wildlife Trust, has for the past two decades sought to create synergies between conservation and community development. The big picture is to create a tourism economy that not only links the project’s core centres of Makhanda, Port Alfred and Kenton, but develops a broader slackpacking network among the conservation hubs of Addo, Woody Cape and Fort Beaufort.
You can meet Wanell and the young Amarider cyclists at the G2C. If you’d like more information about the Amarider, call or WhatsApp Ziphelele at 082 612 1618 or email antony@wildoke.co.za
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, June 5, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
