Drake Cycle Tours

Some roads are really worth travelling across the country for.

South Africa has no shortage of them. Mountain passes that test your legs, quiet valleys where you can ride for kilometres without seeing another cyclist, and roads that remind you why you fell in love with cycling in the first place. Just you, vast scenery and the sound of your hub spinning.

That’s why we started Drake Cycle Tours. Every tour gives us the opportunity to introduce our guests to another corner of this incredible country. We take care of the planning, support and logistics so they can simply enjoy the ride.

What’s the one road you’ll never forget?

People often ask what makes a Drake Cycle Tour different.

It’s not one thing - It’s the hundreds of small things that happen throughout the day that most guests never even notice.

Routes that have been ridden before. Luggage waiting at the hotel. A support team nearby. Think Bike marshals keeping the group safe. Stops that are there when you need them.

None of those things are particularly exciting on their own, but together they allow our guests to relax and enjoy what they came for.

This is what we love about this photo. One of our international guests, Alexia, enjoying the road, knowing there’s a team looking after everything else.

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One of the best parts of travelling South Africa while reconning new routes is discovering moments you could never plan for.

On a quiet road just outside Beaufort West, we came across this little tortoise making its way across the road. Naturally, everything stopped until it reached the other side safely.

Recon trips aren’t only about finding the best roads. They’re about experiencing the country, taking in the unexpected, and appreciating everything South Africa has to offer.

It’s all part of the journey.

Grootrivier Pass. Sunny skies. Good people. It doesn’t take much for a perfect day out on the bike.

Days like these remind us how fortunate we are to explore South Africa by bicycle. Great tours take plenty of planning, but the weather is one thing we can’t control. When everything comes together like this, we’re incredibly grateful.

Tour life is a good life.

More than just kilometres…

One of the things we love most about cycling is how quickly it strips life back to the essentials.

Out here, there are no meetings, deadlines or distractions competing for attention. Just the road ahead, the metronomic motion of the pedals and the freedom that comes with being completely present in the moment.

Whether it’s a quiet back road in the Midlands, a mountain pass in the Cape or a stretch of coastline along the Garden Route, the feeling is always the same. The further you ride, the more space you seem to create in your mind.

That’s what Drake Cycle Tours is really about. Not just covering kilometres, but experiencing incredible places from the saddle and enjoying the journey along the way.

If you’re looking for your next cycling adventure, we’d love to welcome you on tour.

Visit our website to explore our upcoming tours.

www.drakecycletours.com

Over the years, cycling has given us the opportunity to experience South Africa in such a unique way. The riding itself is obviously incredible, but it’s often the places in between that stay with you most. Small coffee stops, conversations after long mornings on the bike and meeting people you otherwise would have driven straight past.

What started as a love for riding, and for South Africa, gradually became a love for creating experiences around it. Sharing the roads, places and hospitality that made us fall in love with cycling travel in the first place.

That’s become a big part of what Drake Cycle Tours is all about for us.

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Some of the best moments on tour happen around Box Bar, our refurbished horse box into a rolling water point...

After a long morning on the bike, people slow down for a few minutes, the conversations grows and somehow the coffee always tastes better.

What always makes me laugh is that despite all the snacks at a water point, sometimes the thing that disappears first is something as simple as a warm bovril sandwich. After a few hours riding, it just goes down perfectly.

The riding is obviously a huge part of what we do, but it’s often these moments in between that people remember most afterwards. The stops, the conversations and the atmosphere shared somewhere on the side of the road in South Africa.

The riding is only part of it.

The coffee stops. The conversations. The lunches under the vines. The stories shared after a long morning on the bike. The kilometres we share on the road really do bring people together, but it’s these moments in between that become so special.

Cycling takes us to incredible places, but more importantly, it introduces us to incredible people. One of the greatest privileges of experiencing South Africa by bike has been getting to experience the diversity of our country — the people, the culture and the hospitality that always seems to find you along the way.

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