SCHOOLED IN LESOTHO

HAVING HEARD RUMOURS OF ALPINELIKE CLIMBING AND SMOOTH, TRAFFICFREE TAR ROADS, AN INTREPID BUNCH OF CYCLISTS SET OFF TO FIND THE MYTHICAL ASPHALT OF THE LESOTHO HIGHLANDS. LUCKILY FOR THEM, THEY HAD... KEITH.

- STEVE SMITH

THERE'S A ROAD NEAR MY HOUSE IN CAPE TOWN called Milner Road. It's vicious. Milner Road is only about 30m long, but it's really steep. Strava says the gradient on the 'Murder On Milner' segment is 12.3%. But Strava's a bloody liar - it's way steeper. Has to be. Sometimes I attempt it on my way home from a ride, but only if there's a little juice left in my legs. And even then it's a weaving, blood-vessel-popping effort that takes around a minute and 20 seconds to complete.

But Milner Road is nothing compared to what we came across in Lesotho.

One hairpin on Moteng Pass was so steep, I thought the road above was an entirely different road. Surely our approaching sharp-righthander's exit could not possibly be that same piece of asphalt two stories above us? Plus we'd already been climbing for a good hour or so.

It was one of those WTF-am-I-doing-here moments.

But let’s back-pedal to the beginning. Here’s how we got there.

A year or so earlier, while doing the Red Rock 200km gravel bike race outside Colesberg, my mate Rob Vogel and I had met Keith Wilson. Keith organises the event; and around the fire, we got chatting to this big, amiable bloke about his business. Turns out, he also offers tours into Lesotho, with a custom 14-seater Toyota Landcruiser and a trailer that can take as many bicycles.

We’d heard rumours of the Lesotho Highlands roads that the Chinese had tarred – beautifully smooth, apparently, with spectacular mountain scenery. We knew Lesotho has some great mountain biking; but this sounded like it could also be an undiscovered road-cycling paradise. And in Keith we had a guy who not only knew the area, but knew where to book accommodation, and crucially, would be our support vehicle on the route too.