Surprisingly few people are aware that one of the world’s oldest proclaimed nature reserves is in the centre of a metropolis in Gauteng.
Proclaimed in 1895, the 1000-hectare Groenkloof Nature Reserve, with giraffe, herds of zebra and other antelope, runs to within a few hundred metres of the main Pretoria Gautrain station.
It is here that tour operator, Ebiking Africa, proved its notion that any tourist who has once owned a bicycle can be shown how to ride an e-bike – even 62 years later.
The guinea pig was author and tour guide, Robin Binckes, of Johannesburg.
In his own words this is what he experienced:
It was probably in 1959 when I last rode a bike and here I was about to embark on a three- hour cycle ride at the age of 80 on an e-bike as part of a taster for a new venture for overseas visitors.
Ebiking Africa offers three-hour tours of Groenkloof Nature Reserve on the edge of Pretoria to view the game and enjoy the history, outdoor freshness and closeness to nature from the saddle of an e-bike.
On arrival at Groenkloof, as we saddled up, I looked at the track and the steep incline and expressed my misgivings to Dave, the guide.
“It’s very hilly. I might not be able to make it up the hills.” He laughed. “The e-bike turns every hill into a flat surface. Wait and see.”
After a brief instruction on how to move between the five choices of auxiliary electric power and the nine gears, we were off. The track ran up a dauntingly steep hill. I pushed the electric power to the maximum with a touch of my forefinger and pedalled. There was hardly any resistance to my pedalling! It was effortless as I glided up the steep slope. A feeling of liberation swept over me.
‘Keep the old man out; that’s what this does!’
“How is it?” shouted Dave (Marsh) who was a few metres in front of me. “Unbelievable,” I replied with a grin from ear to ear. “I’m doing something at 80 I wouldn’t have been able to do without a great deal of blood sweat and tears at 25. Keep the old man out; that’s what this does! This is really something.”
Our first stop was at one of the two fountains where an underground lake bubbled crystal-clear water into a pool.
“There are two fountains and they still provide 8% of Pretoria’s water. In the early days, they provided all the water needed,” said Dave.
On we rode. Impala, giraffe and wildebeest gazed at us inquisitively as we silently rode past. Our next stop was at the ruins of the first Voortrekker home, built in 1843 by the Bronkhorst family, then it was on to the Iron Age cave at the top of another hill. My confidence had surged and this time I relished the ascent.
It was a remarkable three-hour meeting with nature in the most pleasant way possible…on an e-bike.
Ebiking Africa also operates e-bike day tours of Cape Town’s Big-3 icons – Cape Point, the Winelands and the Table Mountain Panorama Loop.
