“I was scared to death!” – Bertus Dreyer on his 2024 Munga
With only a month to prepare, Bertus relied on years of endurance experience, grit and belief to complete this monstrous event.
Revered as the toughest race on earth, The Munga is a single-stage race that traverses South Africa, in the middle of summer. It starts in Bloemfontein and takes in some 1130km of sand, dust, wind, rain, rocks and wildlife, before finishing in the Cape Winelands.
Bertus Dreyer is an experienced endurance athlete from KZN who completed the 2024 Munga. We caught up with him to find out how it went, what lessons were learned and (ahem!) if he’d do it all again? Here’s Bertus:
Where are you from and where do you live?
Bertus: I grew up in the North West province, but now reside in Ingogo, near Newcastle in Kwazulu-Natal.
What do you do for a living?
Bertus: I am self-employed, working in the Forestry industry and Project contracts.
When and how did you get into riding?
Bertus: I started mountain biking in 2017. Lower back-pain was one of the main reasons I could not continue competing in running and horse riding. I borrowed a mountain bike and started riding alongside the runners at the Loskop Marathon and my love with mountain bikes began there and then.
Across any sporting disciplines, which athlete inspires you the most, and why?
Bertus: If one looks at cycling, any cyclist who completes the Tour the France is a special athlete. I am amazed at the talent of Tadej Pogacar and a youngster like Remco Evenepoel. Drikus Coetzee is also one hell of a talented man who inspires me, as well as the other Drikus du Plessis – hulle weet nie wat ons weet nie!
Tell us the history of your bike riding and racing experience?
Bertus: I competed in various sports including rugby, triathlon, road running and endurance horse riding with mountain biking being my favorite discipline. I have done many standardized races in the different disciplines but the ultra-events have always been my thing. Among the ultra events, I have done five full Ironman events (with canoeing), Comrades, Two Oceans, and the Fauresmith race which is a 206km endurance horse riding event. On the bike I’ve done the Cullinan to Tonteldoos, Race to the Sun, Trans Baviaans and have completed one Munga.
Talk to us about the Munga. Just how crazy is it?
Bertus: I have to say, I was very fortunate to complete this incredibly tough race. It is called the Toughest Mountain Bike Race in the World for a reason! The Karoo…. the road, the sand, the corrugation, wind and temperature, doesn’t give you one meter, in fact, it ‘takes’ from you every meter you cycle. The temperatures fluctuate from say 3° in the morning up to 42° in the afternoon. Luckily, I had no mechanical or medical problems which could have made it even worse. Before the start, I had a goal of completing the race within 100 hours; I finished in 106 hours.
For you, what was the most challenging part of the Munga?
Bertus: The slow-killer was the constant head-wind and the never ending uphill. Where I come from, when you climb the mountains, you have an idea when you are about to reach the top, but at the Munga, you never reach a summit. It is always up there, somewhere…
Talk to your choice of equipment and – would you change anything, if doing it all again?
Bertus: I rode a sponsored Trek Supercaliber 9.7 – what a bike! Honestly, if it was not for this bike, it would have been much harder for me. Me with my bike weigh in at 119kg. With the Supercaliber, it takes the minimum amount of watts to roll, even with the extra 12kg weight of the Tri-bars and travel bags. You can imagine the durability of this bike. The Maxxis Rekon Racer 2.4 tires were the absolute best for this terrain which consisted of rocks, stones, sand, corrugation and many more. The balance and handling of this Trek Supercaliber was absolutely fantastic. After about 850km one gets to the Ouberg Pass and on that descent the margins for error are very slim. I went down there at hair-raising speeds, according to the people with me, but with the superb handling it was such an adrenaline filled experience.
I also competed in the Munga Grit, which was held in the North West province, but I had some bad luck with my bike that broke down at the 250km mark. During that time, I learned about Named Sport Nutrition, and with them being one of the sponsors, I start using their products during training. My body got used to it, knowing it will fuel me during the Munga. If I was doing the event again, I’d also go with SRAM GX AXS components again — the shifting is unbelievably smooth and fast. The system was flawless.
Talk to your nutrition strategy; what did you eat when on the bike and when off the bike and did your plan work?
Bertus: On the bike I mostly used energy bars, and off the bike I used the food provided to us. These were always delicious and provided ample nutrition.
Tell us about your preparation for the Munga.
Bertus: Now this is the interesting part. I got a phone call on 21 October 2024 from Vicky Dockray from Trek, asking me if I want to do the Munga. Of course, I said yes, not knowing what I let myself into. On 23 October 2024 at 06:59 I got a WhatsApp from Jack Black saying “Ek is bly jy ry die Munga”. From that moment on, it was chaos. It was a dream come true and although I’m a dedicated rider, I was scared to death!
With less than a month to prepare, I was very far behind on all the aspects of preparation – especially in terms of the unsupported nature of the race. A big focus was to get used to riding with Tri-bars and I put in as many km’s as possible with them, to condition myself with that position.
Looking back, what parts of your training and preparation worked well and what would you re-look, if you are going to do another monstrous bike race?
Bertus: Looking back, if I could do something differently, I would definitely do more homework on the route. Next time, if there is one, I’d do more longer rides on flat terrain as part of my preparation. At the Munga, you end up pedaling for 95 % of the route.
It’s a massive bike ride and there’s a lot of time to think when you are out there. Can I ask both what your motivation was to ride it and also did you learn anything new – about yourself – from the experience.
Bertus: I was definitely invited by GOD to be there. He creates this opportunity through wonderful people like Mike Beeslaar, Conraadt van den Heever and Vicky Dockray who made it possible for me. Again, I came to the conclusion that life is not about things, but about opportunities to make a difference and to inspire other people. I did join up with Jannie du Plessis during the race at about 30km and from there on we stuck together. What a privilege to ride with him – he is just an amazing person who cares not just about himself but for all the other riders, the supporters, the farmers and people who man the water points and Race Villages. He was such an inspiration to everyone and I was privilege to spend 1 100km with him. Then there were the volunteers at the Waterpoints and Race Villages who just give 110% to us riders–to support and assist us in ways beyond words – to enable us to rest, refuel and proceed. To all of them a big big thank you!
I thank God for my good health and at 64-years-old I was blessed to spend time with wonderful people. At the end you realize that you were never alone, and that God was with you fighting the dragons of unbelief, tiredness and self-pity. It taught me to hang in there, to persevere through the weather, the wind, the heat and not to panic, but to concentrate on the task at hand.
Might be too soon but would you look at doing it again?
Bertus: It might be a possibility. For me, this is the only race that doesn’t stop at the finish line. It keeps on coming back and growing on you.
What advice do you have for other riders interested in doing the Munga?
Bertus: The race itself is always against the clock, so if you don’t ride, you sleep and if you don’t sleep, you ride! At a Race Village, if you don’t fall asleep immediately get up and ride! Look at yourself and your own strengths and weaknesses, and decide on that. Don’t think if so and so can do it, so can I. Prepare well! //
