The Ultimate African Adventure FAQ's
Cancellations may occur. However, the boutique nature of our tour keeps our groups small and intimate, so this is unlikely. If we do have to cancel the tour due to Covid-19, inadequate tour bookings or for some other unforeseen circumstances, we will naturally provide you with plenty of notice and do our best to recover monies paid to date, however, this is not guaranteed. We will not be liable for any flight or insurance costs you have incurred. Therefore, it's a requirement that you arrange travel insurance, and we recommend you do this as soon as you have booked your trip.
Yes, we have access to top end carbon road bikes for hire. Advance notice would need to be provided based upon the extremely popular Cape Argus Cycling Sportif held during our tour. If you would like to rent a bike, please let us know when you book your trip, so we can discuss your specific requirements and guarantee the right size, gearing and specs are available.
Yes, however, these are hard to come by. Therefore, advance bookings need to be made for all E Bikes. If you would like to rent an E bike, please let us know when you book your trip.
The Cape Town Cycle Tour (previously known as the Cape Argus) is the largest one day timed bike ride in the world, which will be held on the 10th March, 2024. This sportif is NOT part of the Après Vélo South Africa Experience and is an optional event that guests can partake in at their own expense. No road support or any other support is offered by Après Vélo for this event, and as such Après Vélo does not accept any responsibility whatsoever for any misgivings, accidents, trauma or theft, that may occur as part of this event (pre, during and after).
We will arrange Mountain Bikes for you to use.
In Cape Town, you will use your own road bike over asphalt (unless you wish to rent a road bike).
In the Wine Region, you will use a mountain bike supplied by ourselves (at no extra cost) over non technical gravel surfaces.
In the Game Reserve, you will use a mountain bike supplied by ourselves (at no extra cost) over non-technical gravel surfaces.
We will have riders on standard and compact crank set ups. It is not essential that riders change the crank set up on their current bikes for this tour. For the rear, we recommend at least a 28-30.
We would HIGHLY recommend that you leave tubular tires at home.
25mm-28mm tires.
We are never in a rush to get from Point A to Point B. This itinerary has been designed for everyone to be comfortable. We will always have a support vehicle for guests to use if needed.
Most importantly, we are here to Live the Ride safely and take in the beauty that these incredible landscapes have to offer. If necessary, we will offer 2 different ride groups.
The trip covers a combination of road cycling on bitumen surfaces in Cape Town as well as non technical gravel cycling on mountain bikes in the Cape Winelands and the Game Reserve.
Difficulty of this trip is rated at 3/5. We are not riding vast distances on a daily basis, and there are plenty of breaks and stops along the way.
The gravel cycling is not classified as “technical”. However, we encourage everyone to take their time as there will be some elements that are more difficult than others, which includes a few ascents and descents on gravel surfaces. The gravel conditions will generally be a little more adventurous to what you're used to. Therefore, we encourage everyone to ensure that they are familiar with riding on gravel terrain and have the required level of fitness to support their riding skills.
This is not a tour for beginners and caters for seasoned and recreational cyclists with the required level of fitness to back up +70km days. If necessary, we will split the rides into two groups, to cater for different speeds.
We also expect that riders can ride safely in a bunch situation.
This is not a tour for beginners and encourage everyone to feel comfortable with their bike handling skills having some experience with “non-technical” gravel cycling. We would suggest everyone do at least 6-8 weeks of training to enable you to enjoy every aspect of this trip.
No, Shamwari Game Reserve is a Malaria free region.
With the Après Vélo Cycle Tour, you will always have at least one ride guide on the road with the group. Depending upon the group size, there may be two ride guides. We understand that everyone has different levels of fitness and therefore we often break into two groups, with a ride guide leading each group.
APRÈS VÉLO ENCOURAGES AND WELCOMES NON-RIDING PARTNERS TO ATTEND OUR CYCLING TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA
We understand and recognise that for many, an overseas trip is part of a shared dream. It is for this very reason, that we have designed our boutique South Africa trip to cater equally for riders and their non riding partners. During the booking process, we communicate with each of our non-riding guests to identify if there are any specific requests that cater for their interests.
We ask all customers to pay a deposit, which confirms their reservation. The balance is due 90 days before departure. If you book less than 90 days before departure, we will ask you to pay the full price upfront.
Our tour price is priced based on double occupancy. A Single Occupancy is an additional charge (speak to us when booking) that secures a private room for solo travellers. If you are traveling alone and would prefer a roommate, please notify us when booking. Although we cannot guarantee a match, we will make every effort to pair you with another solo traveller in order to waive the Single Occupancy charge.
It is a requirement that insurance is taken out for your tour of South Africa at the time of booking, as this should then cover you immediately, should anything occur between the time you book and departure/return.
For Australian customers, we have a partnership with CoverMore and can organise you a 20% discount. Please contact us to arrange your insurance.
Yes, it is a requirement that you provide a medical certificate to be eligible to ride on our South Africa trip. We believe this is mostly for your protection and is good practice to undertake prior to any cycling trip.
100%. We cherish the opportunity of designing bespoke tours for groups of friends, corporate clients, teams and families. Anything is possible in terms of the amount of riding you want to do, to the amount of post ride activity you’re interested in, accommodation style and any budget restraints you may have – whatever your timing and interests, please talk to us.
