Spring Riding Inspo: Trackpacking South Africa

By now you’ve probably heard of bike packing which is essentially backpacking on a bicycle. Typically riders will strap all their belongings to their bicycles in preparation for multiple days spent on the bike riding from one stop to the next. This usually includes a tent, sleeping set up, food, basic cooking essentials, etc. The bikes used are typically determined by the terrain they’re traversing. A slightly lesser known term is track packing, which is basically the same concept as bike packing but on a track bike/fixed gear specifically. That’s where Quintice and Riaan come in, two creatives with a goal to track pack from Port Elizabeth through to Cape Town.

When the Aero Agencies team caught wind of their adventure we decided we’d help them out with some product to make their journey safer and that much more pleasant. Starting on the 1st of April the boys departed from Port Elizabeth and stopped off in Jeffery’s Bay where they would stay the night. Despite the cycle being relatively short it didn’t come without its challenges. Rain paired with a block head wind coupled with a few punctures – a product of the wet national roads made for a miserable ride. A short while after their arrival in Jeffery’s Bay a video surfaced on Instagram about their day on the bike. In spite of the miserable weather, which the Eastern Cape had dealt them, it was apparent that spirits were high and seemingly nothing would stop them. Over the next few days the boys continued to rack up miles as they traversed the N2 on their way to Cape Town. 

At the end of each day a video surfaced covering their journey. These short videos developed somewhat of a cult following with viewers eagerly awaiting a new video each day. Through their videos we were given an insight into the very real and brutal elements they faced on their fixed gears. 

I recently sat down and had a coffee with Quintice to catch up with him about their epic adventure.

Q: How did this whole track packing trip to Cape Town come about?

A: It’s hard to say exactly where the idea came from, initially it started as a plan between an old Varsity friend of mine, Theo. We planned to make the trip with what we had and not to spend too much money on the journey being students and all. Years after this, our trip never materialized because something always came up. Fast forward a few years and the idea manifested once again between myself and Riaan. This time I had just finished studying with some time on my hands and Riaan proved his commitment to the cause by taking a month’s leave. I figured if he’s that committed he’s a great person to do the trip with.

Q: Why track packing? I haven’t heard too much about it, what inspired that?

A: Riaan and I both happened to have fixed gears and we wanted to keep with the theme of not spending too much to make this trip possible. So in that sense Trackpacking was the obvious solution. Track packing is also a thing on Reddit so reading about it was inspiring as I knew at least there were a few people out there making it happen despite the limitations of  fixed gear bikes. The idea that track bikes have limited mounting opportunities and only one gear was also appealing. I’ve heard a lot of stories about people bike packing with crazy expensive setups but track packing seemed like it was going to be a bit more of a challenge which was appealing.

Q: How many days were you on the bike and how did you decide how far you’d ride each day?

A: Initially we tried to space it out as evenly as possible trying to cover the same distance everyday. By day two it was quite clear that this wasn’t going to be the case. The type of terrain and weather really affects what you’re able to do in a day. We were also very inexperienced in the sense that we didn’t do too much training with all our stuff attached to the bikes so we never really knew how we would feel the next day. Despite our obvious lack of experience we learnt our limitations quickly and used that to decide how far we’d ride on any given day. Things like weather, terrain, fatigue and where we would spend the night were usually the factors that decided how far we’d ride each day. I’d say on average we rode about 70 kms a day which was surprisingly good but there were bad days when we’d only really be able to do 50kms or so. In total we cycled for 9 days but it was a 16 day trip but with nowhere to really be we had a few rest days where we’d catch up and hang out with people we met along the way.

Q: What was the best day on the bike for you?

A: I think probably the last day, which was also the craziest day on the bike and just very unhinged in general. At the time it was horrible but looking back it was for sure the most epic. It was the day we left Montagu and we were just so stoked about cycling after meeting so many people at Eroica. Eroica really had a profound influence on me because I’m so used to cyclists being people who just do it for sport or training and at Eroica the people just really love bikes. To engage with a community bound by shared love of bikes and riding them was inspiring. So leaving Montagu we were definitely on a bit of a high, additionally the weather was also so perfect – not too hot and not too cold and a tail wind to Cape Town. This really set the stage for a big day on the bike, we’d been toying with the idea of just riding straight through to Cape Town from Montagu but we left Montagu with the idea that we’d be responsible and stop in Worcester for the night instead. Once we arrived in Worcester we felt like we still had something left in the tank and made the spontaneous decision to push through all the way to Cape Town knowing that there would be no stops in between. From there on there was a bit of a chaotic vine as we quickly bought some lights from the nearest outdoor store and filled up on fluids and sugars to prepare for the journey ahead. This frantic energy carried us through to Cape Town and the rush of doing one last big push fuelled us to have our biggest day on the bike. We also had to cycle through the Huguenot Tunnel which is a whole story on its own. We arrived in Cape Town in the dark after doing about 150 kms and grabbed some Wimpy for dinner which was arguably the best I’ve had. 

Q: Worst day on the bike?

A: For sure one of the stormy days. There were a few, between block head winds and the heavens opening up. One day we were in between Heidelberg and Swellendam and my pockets literally filled up with water. It was also pretty sketchy because we couldn’t see much so we knew we weren’t very visible either.

Q: The content you and Riaan produced gained somewhat of a cult following – was it difficult to produce content on the road?

A: Creating the content on the bike was chilled because we would just film things along the way. Riaan did most of the editing and I think that was really difficult because we’d arrive at the spot for the night so tired but at the same time we’d have people messaging us asking when the next video was dropping so the added pressure didn’t help. But knowing that people were enjoying the insight into our trip was encouraging, hopefully a few of them will make a trip of their own at some stage. Although editing a video and finding a song to put with it at the end, the worst day you’ve had on a bicycle is the last thing you want to be doing. But looking back I’m happy that we got it done and created these videos to look back on in a few years and keep the riding psych high.

Q: Would you do it again?

A: Absolutely, I’d love to connect with the Eroica community again – maybe next year. I’ve got a job now so it would have to work out with leave but I recently acquired an old 26 inch Trek mountain bike that I’ve been nurturing. So maybe a Lesotho trip is on the cards next.

Check out their trip here.

Photos By: Quintice Esterhuizen

Words By: Munro Munnik