3 tonnes of reservations against mountain bikers
Around three thousand kilos of live weight are striding towards us with great vigour. It doesn't look as if the elephant cow is going to change her mind. She wants us to turn round - now. Unfortunately, the dusty track is too narrow for the turning circle of our jeep, the reverse gear cracks and we have to reverse again.
"This has to go faster!" Jeff Goldblum's classic line from Jurassic Park pops into my head. However, a sticker appears in the Spielberg remake: "Objects appear closer and larger in the mirror than they are." We don't have that all-clear - and it's getting really close.
The children have fun with the funny mzungus
Five days later, as we pedal up a winding gravel road on our bikes, I have the Goldblum phrase in mind again: this time I'm trying to escape a large group of children who have been surrounding and accompanying me since the bottom of the valley. They run easily alongside me, laughing and cheering me on. But the heat alone sucks all the energy out of my legs - no chance of escaping these noisy bundles of energy.
Only later will I realise that these children are simply part of the Rwandan experience. I only wish I had their stamina. The two other "Mzungus" - as we white people are called in the Bantu languages - my companions Ludo May and Fred Horny, are also surrounded by a pack a few bends above me. But from the corner of my eye I can see that they are even doing wheelies for the children, which always causes a storm of excitement. Clowns seem to be popular all over the world.
Fred and Ludo are waiting for me where a path branches off from the gravel track. We look down a ribbon of bright red earth. Like rusty water, it flows elegantly around emerald green fields. Within seconds we have shaken off our pursuers, the cooling breeze dries our sweat and the grippy bends of the trail are great fun.
The rain turns trails into tyre-sticking mud slides
Suddenly, however, a distant rumble of thunder mingles with the silence. Behind us, pitch-black clouds pile up in the sky - the harbingers of a typical afternoon thunderstorm. This means we have to hurry once again, because downpours quickly turn these dusty, grippy earth tracks into tyre-sticking mud slides, as we have already had to learn the hard way. Rwanda really doesn't give you a minute's rest.
Google search for "bike" & "Rwanda" returns
We are bombarded with hustle and bustle around the clock here: from cheering crowds of people who meet us on the tracks, but also from the chaos on the roads, where sooty lorries duel with safari jeeps for the right of way, and in between, cargo bikes loaded to the rafters with bananas, doors or sewing machines look for their gaps.
I hadn't expected that, but to be honest, I couldn't find out in advance what this small Central African country had in store for mountain bikers. If you search for bike and Rwanda on Google, all you get is the Congo Nile Trail, which is a mixture of gravel road and single track. Or you might come across Tom Ritchey's Coffee Cargobike charity campaign from the mid-2000s - a project that gave rise to today's Rwandan national road cycling team.
Rwanda's cruel past is over
However, if you simply google Rwanda, hundreds of pages open up about one of the darkest chapters in world history: the genocide of 1994, a cruel genocide that wiped out an entire generation. To this day, the average age in Rwanda is just 19.
But 26 years later, the wounds seem to be slowly healing: The country is considered a safe destination and now attracts 1.5 million tourists a year again. Most visitors come for the lion and elephant safaris in the eastern Agakera National Park. Or because of the gorillas in the Virunga Mountains, a chain of volcanoes over 4,500 metres high that separates the country in the north from Uganda and the unrest-ridden Congo.
"Once a month, the paths throughout Rwanda are maintained and rubbish is collected. I've never seen a cleaner country." Fred Horny, MTB adventurer from France
Single trail search in the Virunga Mountains
Freshly showered and with a beer in hand, we watch the lightning that is now flashing down over the peaks of the Virunga Mountains. Olivier has arrived. The Rwandan bike guide comes from Musanze, a bustling town with glass-fronted hotels, espresso cafés and art galleries, just an hour south of here.
It is the starting point for the gorilla tourists, but also the headquarters of the Africa Rising Cycling Centre, the headquarters of the national cycling team. Everything to do with cycling is organised there. This includes our bike tour. So far, Olivier admits to us right at the beginning that only tours on gravel roads have been in demand. But he has been looking for single trails for us for the first time in recent weeks - and after a short break, the 30-year-old adds with shining eyes: "Mr Dan, now I only want to ride trails. No more gravel!"
"So far, we've only had tourists who wanted to ride gravel roads. Single trails are easier for me, we have enough of them!" Tyisenge Pilote Olivier, bike guide
A destination that should be easy for him, because if there's one thing Rwanda has in abundance, it's single trails. However, they are not created here as a playground for biking tourists. Rather, they are the daily lifelines between the mountain villages and are therefore carefully maintained. We find out just how much on the descent from Mount Kabuye, where we spent the night in the gorilla tourists' trekking camp at an altitude of 2640 metres.
Rwanda probably has the most trail builders in the world
We scramble over moss-covered, rough scree down to the village of Mushube. Just as we can make out the ochre-coloured cubes of houses between the eucalyptus trees, we come across a team of around 30 men. They are repairing the main access road to their village with pickaxes and shovels. Many of them are barefoot. As we approach, they look up and pause. There is great amusement at the three Mzungus who are toiling down the still unrepaired section of the path on bicycles with helmets on their heads.
"This is Umuganda," Olivier explains when we stop at the workers' house. "It's a nationwide community work that always takes place on the last Saturday of the month. It helps us to develop a sense of community again after the genocide." Then Olivier grabs a shovel and helps with the digging. We also put our bikes away and help dig. Soon the men are singing a song. A melodic song in the Kinyarwanda language, accompanied by eager shovelling noises.
If you look at the terraced mountain slopes of Rwanda, you will discover countless trails created by Umuganda. They meander from mountain village to mountain village, climbing up cloud forests and winding down into the next valley. There are so many trails here that it's hard to know where to start without local knowledge. Unknowingly, Rwanda is probably the country with the most trail builders in the world.
Burera surprises with the finest single trails
We spend our last four days in Burera, a remote area in the north of the country where even Olivier has never been. There is only one tourist accommodation here, on the island of Cyuza in the middle of Lake Burera. We sleep in safari tents under thatched roofs and get on a boat with our bikes in the morning, which takes us to the mainland to our tour spots. 20 minutes of peace and quiet before the hectic hustle and bustle between coffee bushes, bean fields and mountain villages begins again on the shore.
As we sit for lunch in a colourful café at the bus station in the border town of Butare, we watch a police van drive past. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city, they are checking passers-by for waraji, an illegally distilled banana liquor that is often smuggled in from Uganda.
The little-known Burera turns out to be a singletrail goldmine for us. Long, winding descents on which we glide almost effortlessly down the terraced slopes. Only suddenly appearing, metre-wide stream fords across the path sometimes require emergency braking and remind us that this is not a bike park.
Later, I ask Olivier what the men actually sang when we helped them with the Umuganda. "We will rebuild it, we, the children of this country. We'll make it the most beautiful paradise in the whole world," he says, smiling proudly.
Info Rwanda
The precinct
The small state is located in the centre of the African continent and is about half the size of Switzerland in terms of area. However, with an average altitude of 1500 metres, it is 150 metres higher than the Alpine country. Of course, there is no snow here near the equator. The average daily temperature in the "Land of 1000 Hills" is a mild and humid 18 degrees throughout the year. Rain and afternoon thunderstorms are a daily occurrence, especially from March to May. The landscape is characterised by volcanic mountains 4500 metres high, large lakes, agricultural landscapes and lots of mountain rainforest. The network of dirt tracks and trails in the mountains is gigantically ramified and is kept in perfect condition by the monthly team work prescribed by the (authoritarian) state. After the terrible genocide in 1994, in which around 800,000 people were killed, Rwanda is now considered a safe country to visit again.
Cycling in Rwanda
The country's strong focus on cycling tourism can already be seen in the various organisations such as Rwanda Alternative Riding Events (RAR Events) and the Africa Rising Cycling Centre in Musanze in the Virunga Mountains. In 2025, the UCI Road World Championships will even be held in Rwanda for the first time! Our guide Olivier from Ntakibazo-Tours realises individual guided MTB tour requests via Facebook.
MTB stage race Rwandan Epic
After the kick-off in March 2022 and the continuation in November, the next Rwandan Epic will take place from 31 October to 4 November 2023. Five stages with a total of 300 kilometres and 5000 metres of altitude difference are planned for the teams of two (max. 70 teams). Starting fee including hotel accommodation, full board and luggage transport: from 1500 euros. Information and registration at www.rwandanepic.com
Interview with marathon pro Karl Platt
BIKE: Karl, you also won the first Rwandan Epic. Is the race easier than the Cape Epic?
Karl Platt: In terms of track length, yes. But you can't compare the two races. In South Africa, you ride all day in a thick cloud of dust. In Rwanda it's up and down, and we had to contend with a lot of rain. That made the trails extremely slippery and made the tyres heavy as lead. I was glad to have my Rwandan team partner Habimana Jean Eric. He knew a few tricks on how to free up the tyres.
The next Rwandan Epic took place in November 2022. Why?
It was a bit unfortunate to schedule the race at the beginning of the rainy season. The weather is much more stable in November. To avoid having to wait a year and a half for the second edition, the next race was organised this year. Now with one more stage.
What did you like most about the Rwandan Epic?
The enthusiasm of the audience. You really have to experience this Rwandan joie de vivre!
