There is a question I have asked myself more than once. Why am I doing another three-day stage race? Three days. Three long days on a mountain bike. Early mornings. Dust. Hills. Tired legs. Questionable decisions somewhere around Day 2. And yet, here I am, doing it again. This time, it is the FNB Wines2Whales, and I think I have finally worked out why these three-day adventures keep pulling me back.
By Joanne Badenhorst | Tread Femme Editor
It is not because I enjoy being tired. I don’t. It is not because I wake up on race morning thinking, I cannot wait to see how much my legs are going to hurt today. And it certainly isn’t because I need another medal. It is because a three-day stage race gives you something a one-day event simply cannot. An experience.
A DIFFERENT PART OF SOUTH AFRICA
One of the biggest attractions of Wines2Whales for me is that it takes me out of my usual riding environment. Living and riding in Gauteng, I am very fortunate to have access to some fantastic trails. But the Western Cape is a completely different mountain-biking playground.
The landscapes change. The vegetation changes. The rock changes. The climbs feel different. Even the light is different. And then there are those trails.
Wines2Whales has its own personality. It isn’t simply another three days of riding from A to B. The route winds through a landscape that feels distinctly Western Cape, with vineyards, mountains, fynbos and trails that can be completely different from what I am used to riding at home. That is part of the attraction. I get to go somewhere different and ride a bike. It really doesn’t get much better than that.
THREE DAYS CHANGES THE EXPERIENCE
There is also something about riding a stage race that you don’t get from a normal weekend ride. On Day 1, you are riding. On Day 2, you are riding with yesterday’s kilometres still sitting in your legs. By Day 3, you know exactly what you have signed up for – and there is something incredibly satisfying about getting back on the bike and doing it all again.
A three-day stage race becomes less about one particular ride and more about managing the whole experience. When do I eat? Am I drinking enough? How do my legs feel? Do I push this climb or save something for later? Can I afford to spend a few minutes taking photographs? And, perhaps most importantly: How much chocolate milk is there at the finish?
You learn to pace yourself, look after yourself and accept that not every kilometre has to be ridden at maximum effort. For me, that is part of the appeal.
AND THEN THERE IS THE PARTNER
For this year’s FNB Wines2Whales, I have chosen to ride with Bonita again. Those who know me will not be surprised. There is something very special about doing a stage race with someone you know, trust and genuinely enjoy riding with.
We have already shared a Sani2C adventure, so we know that we can survive three days on bikes together. There will be laughing. There will probably be complaining. There will definitely be moments when one of us says, “Are we nearly there yet?” And there will be plenty of stories to tell afterwards.
But that is exactly why I chose Bon again. A partner stage race isn’t only about finding someone who can ride at the same speed. It is about finding someone whose company you enjoy when your legs are tired, the weather isn’t doing what you hoped it would, and the final climb suddenly looks considerably steeper than it did on the route profile. The right partner makes the experience better.
THE MOTIVATION TO ACTUALLY TRAIN
There is another, slightly less obvious, reason I love the idea of a stage race.
It gives me a reason to train. Let’s be honest. Training when there is no particular goal on the horizon can sometimes be a little like going to the gym because you should. You do it. You know it is good for you.
But there is always the possibility of finding a very convincing reason why today might be an excellent day for a rest day. A stage race changes that.
When you have committed to three days on a bike, you suddenly have a very good reason to get on the bike when you don’t really feel like it. And having a partner makes that commitment even stronger. Because you don’t want to let Bonita down. But equally, I don’t want to let myself down.
I don’t want to arrive at Wines2Whales knowing that I haven’t done the work and spend three days simply trying to survive. I want to arrive knowing that I have prepared as well as I reasonably can. I want to be able to enjoy the trails. I want to look up and appreciate the views instead of staring at my front wheel wondering if my legs have resigned.
I want to have enough energy to laugh. To chat. To take photographs. To stop occasionally and actually appreciate where I am. And, importantly, I want to finish each day feeling tired because I have ridden, rather than completely broken because I have survived. There is a big difference.
Training isn’t just about getting through the event. It’s about giving yourself the best chance of enjoying it. And when someone else is relying on you to be there beside them, that little bit of accountability can be exactly what you need to get the training done.
THERE IS ANOTHER REASON
There is something particularly appealing about the Chardonnay event at Wines2Whales. A women’s-focused event changes the dynamic. It creates an environment where women can ride together, compete if they want to, encourage each other, laugh together and simply enjoy being on bikes.
And that is something I have become increasingly passionate about through TREAD Femme. Women don’t necessarily need a different version of mountain biking. But sometimes we benefit from an environment that makes it easier to say: “I feel like I belong.”
Whether you’re an experienced racer chasing a result or someone whose biggest achievement is simply getting through three days of riding, there is space for both. That is important. Because the best thing about women’s cycling isn’t that we all ride the same way. It is that we don’t have to.
IT’S ABOUT THE WHOLE WEEKEND
Perhaps that is the real answer to my original question. Why do another three-day stage race?
Because I don’t see Wines2Whales as three days of racing. I see it as three days of riding somewhere beautiful with a good friend. It is the excitement before the start. The early morning coffee. The nervous energy in the start chute. The first kilometres when everyone is still feeling fresh. The unexpected views. The trails that make you grin inside your helmet. The conversations with other riders. The finish-line relief. The hospitality. The laughs. The tired legs. The stories that start with, “Remember when we…?”
And yes, probably a few moments when I wonder why on earth I thought this was a good idea. But those are usually the same moments that become the best stories.
SO WHY WINES2WHALES?
Because South Africa has an incredible variety of places to ride. The Western Cape trails offer something different. Because three days gives you the chance to properly immerse yourself in an event rather than simply arrive, race and go home.
Because it gives me a goal to train towards and having Bonita beside me means we are accountable to each other. Because I don’t just want to survive the three days, I want to enjoy them. Because I get to ride and experience the Chardonnay, a women’s-focused event, my first women’s focused stage race.
Will it be hard? Almost certainly. Will my legs complain? Definitely. Will I question my life choices somewhere along the way? Highly likely. Will I enjoy it? Absolutely.
And maybe that is the real reason we keep signing up for these things. Not because three days on a mountain bike is easy. But because when you finish those three days, you have experienced something that you simply can’t get from a Sunday morning ride.
You have trained for it, worked for it, shared it with someone, ridden somewhere beautiful and you have a whole lot of new stories to tell.
Bring on the 2026 FNB Wines2Whales Chardonnay.
There are three editions of the annual FNB Wines2Whales race. The 2026 Chardonnay and Shiraz are already sold out, but you can still get an entry for the Pinotage edition. All the details are here.
Joanne Badenhorst is the co-founder of TREAD Media and Editor of TREAD Femme. She started riding mountain bikes in 1991 and is a passionate advocate for women’s mountain biking in South Africa.
