The Tour of Lesotho
The tour of Lesotho started as a 3 day 500km mammoth exploration of Southern Lesotho by Road bike. We rode this for the first time in 2015 and were blown away by everything Lesotho had to offer on a road bike. Lesotho is one of the few places in Africa you can experience alpine Le Tour De France style mountain passes. And the only place you can do it with so little traffic.
Today we recommend to ride the Tour of Lesotho as a 4-day road ride tour with a total distance of 439km (Day1: 126km Day2: 103km Day3: 126 Day4: 84) in small groups with support vehicle. Contact us here for a custom booking.
Come experience the awesome cycling in Kingdom of Lesotho on your road bike.
Alpine Passes, African Splendour.
NEXT DATE: contact us for a customised tour :-)
START/FINISH: Roma Trading Post Lodge
Roma, Lesotho
Route:
The total distance is 439km with 10,500m of climbing over 4 days.
The Route:
Day 1: Roma - Mohales Hoek
Day 2: Mohales Hoek - Bethel
Day 3: Bethel - Semonkong
Day 4: Semonkong - Roma
The route comprises of some of the most amazing passes in the country as well as the crossing of the mighty Senqu (Orange) River Bridge. The entire route is tarred with about 200km being on newly tarred sections and 200km being on good tarred sections and 70km being on tarred sections with a few potholes.
Fitness
This is an extreme undertaking, you should be comfortable with the idea of riding your bike for 8hrs in the mountains. As it is not a race you can travel at your own speed, making it somewhat easier.
There will be support car to pick you up if you are not going to make it.
Bike
Bring your lightest bike, you will be climbing a lot… The gradient gets 30% in places so I would strongly recommend a compact crank and large cassette (27 – 32 teeth).
The road surface is really good but we frequently get a lot of gravel in the road so make sure you have hardy tires (Continental Gator Skins are perfect)
It’s a long way on the bike especially if you bike is playing up so make sure it has been serviced and running perfectly BEFORE YOU COME.
Accommodation
We will be staying at lodges and guesthouses along route, starting and finishing at Roma Trading Post Lodge in Roma, Lesotho.
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It is strongly advised that you stay the night before and after the event as we start very early and you will not have much energy to drive home after the final stage.
Group of riders crossing the Senqu river on day 2 of the Tour of Lesotho/ Tour de Lesotho to Semonkong
2 road cyclists in the distance on the Tour of Lesotho/ Tour de Lesotho
Riders climb out of Quthing on the Tour of Lesotho Day 2
Group of riders crossing the Senqu river on day 2 of the Tour of Lesotho/ Tour de Lesotho to Semonkong
How to get here
Road
The closest border to the start is Maseru Bridge which is open 24hrs a day. South Africans get a 30 day tourist visa on entry and you need only pay ZAR 40 road tax as you come into Lesotho.
Air:
If you fly in, we recommend SA Airlink. They currently only fly from O.R Tambo International. It is only a 35min flight, and there is a taxi from the airport to Roma Trading Post (Mikes Shuttle, airportshuttle@ymail.com )
Contact
If you want more information, get in touch with us:
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