Coming Soon - Posh and Becks’ Inaugural Western Cape 1,000 Miler

On 11 December 2023, John Loos and Becky Sands (aka Posh and Becks) , will do the 1st ride of the new Western Cape 1,000 Miler Challenge, starting and finishing in the Boland town of Wellington.

The Western Cape 1,000 Miler route is the 3rd 1,000 Miler route to be added to the Miler Club's route options repertoire, and promises to be a beaut.

Click on link below for an introductory video:

https://youtu.be/2fjQ_XGSks0?si=lFM0Qa-BMpB-glF2

It is a 1,633km “round trip” route, of which the majority is gravel road, with 23,617m of vertical ascent over the entire route.

The loop/round trip format to the route means that one can start and finish the Miler at any point, as long as the start and finish are the same point, and do it in a clockwise or anticlockwise direction. This makes the logistics significantly easier than a point to point route.

The aim is to take the rider through some of the Western Cape's most popular mountain areas, notably the Cedarberg and Swartberg, over some of the province's finest passes, and through some popular tourist destinations.

From what we count on the Mountain Passes of South Africa website, our route has 53 official passes. The most significant of these, for various reasons, are:

- Bainskloof: Historic, as one of the early constructed passes connecting Cape Town with SA's upcountry hinterland...built by famous pass builder Andrew Geddes Bain in 1854

- Franschoek Pass: Historic, as the the oldest properly engineered pass in SA

- Montagu Pass: Historic, as the oldest unaltered pass in SA, taking the rider up from George over the Outeniqua Mountains into the little Karoo

 - Prince Alfred Pass: The longest pass in SA at 68.5km

- Swartberg Pass: One is SA's most popular passes, built by famous pass builder Thomas Bain, Swartberg Pass has a vertical ascent of 838m. This is the pass with largest vertical ascent of any pass on the route, and the 9th biggest vertical ascent in SA.

- Seweweekspoort: The pass through a mountain cutting next to the Western Cape's highest peak, i.e. Seweweekspoort Peak

- Rooiberg Pass with a vertical ascent of 509m

-  And many more

The route also takes the rider through some of the Western Cape's finest tourist attractions, including:

- The main road through the middle of the Cedarberg, past the mountains where the Wolfberg Cracks, Maltese Cross and Wolfberg Arch are found, and are popular hiking and camping areas

- The Tankwa Karoo

- The historic Lord Milner Hotel at Matjiesfontein

- Seweweekspoort Peak, the highest peak in the Western Cape

- The Knysna Forests

- Seven Passes Road from Knysna to George

- The major ostrich farming centre of Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo

- And the beautiful winelands towns of Franschoek, Stellenbosch and Paarl

The route starts and finishes in Wellington, but being a loop means that riders can complete this Miler challenge by starting anywhere on the route, as long as they finish at the point where they started, and can also choose either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.

The route distances between towns and significant resupply points are as follows, going in a clockwise direction from Wellington:

Town/Village                        Distance from start (distance from previous town in brackets)

-  Wellington                                        0km (0km)

- Ceres                                                 56km (56km)

- Prince Alfred Hamlet                        66km (10km)

- Dorp Op Die Berg                            100km (34km)

- Citrusdal                                           172km (72km)

- Cedarberg Algeria Campsite            216km (44km)

- Tankwa Padstal                                333km (117km) (approximately 2km off the route)

- Matjiesfontein Lord Milner Hotel      462km  (129km) (1km off route)

- Laingsburg                                       506km (44km)

- Zoar                                                  598km (92km)

- Calitzdorp                                        626km (28km)

- Prince Albert                                    707km (81km)

- De Rust                                            788km (81km)

- Uniondale                                         889km (101km)

- Avontuur                                           900km (11km)

- Knysna                                              976km (76km)

- Rheenendal                                       994km (18km)

- Karatara                                            1,010km (16km)

- George                                              1,054 (44km)

 - Herold                                              1,075km (21km)

- Oudtshoorn                                       1,122km (47km)

- De Hoop                                            1,140km (18km)

- Van Wyksdorp                                   1,214km (74km)

- Suurbraak                                          1,335km (121km)

- Buffeljagsrivier                                   1,348km (13km)

- Swellendam                                       1,357km (9km)

- Riviersonderend                                1,432km (75km)

- Greyton                                             1,468km (36km)

- Franschoek                                        1,544km (76km)

- Stellenbosch                                      1,574km (30km)

- Klapmuts                                           1,600km (26km)

- Paarl                                                  1,609km (9km)

- Wellington                                         1,632.6km (23.6km)