Long time customer of Curve, Andy, took on our South Africa Expedition in 2025, read on to hear his stories from the road and why, once again it is on his bucket list for 2026. Andy went on after the Expedition to race the inaugural Gravel Burn, making for a suitably EPIC few weeks of gravelling adventure in South Africa.

Curve will be running the South Africa Expedition in 2026 as a COMMUTE to the Gravel Burn, so if you want to join the adventure, get in touch at sales@curvecycling.com

Nine riders. One support car, and two outstanding guides. A lot of kilometres. And absolutely no mushrooms.

The CURVE Expedition through South Africa didn’t so much start as it rolled out casually, a gentle 35km “warm-up” before things escalated quickly into 130–145km days, 35-degree heat, 2,500m climbs, and the kind of terrain that makes your Wahoo quietly judge you. We crossed mountain ranges, baked in the Klein Karoo, descended washed-out roads where line choice was more philosophy than science, and somehow survived it all on water, electrolytes, gels and vibes.

Along the way we were chased by monkeys, shot at by someone… (still unclear if aimed at baboon or human), escorted by motorbikes through Buffalo Park, climbed fences we probably weren’t meant to climb, and rode past ostriches, giraffes, oryx and one very important travelling rhino. We cooled off by jumping into pools fully clothed, slept in mosquito-filled tents on ostrich farms, and ate candlelit chicken pie, lamb shanks, and BBQ ostrich fillet like kings who happened to be completely cooked.

There were rest days at game lodges, dodgy Instagram posts, impromptu first aid sessions, hospital visits (everyone’s fine), banjo-playing locals at the pub, and one final glorious descent to the ocean that made every hard kilometre worth it. Exhausting? Yes. Type-2 fun? Absolutely. Would we do it again? Without hesitation.

And that’s the thing.

If you like big rides, wild landscapes, great food, unforgettable stories, and the kind of adventure that becomes fun the moment it’s over, then you should probably be thinking about the Commute to the Burn - South Africa 2026.

Same spirit. Same scale. Slightly fewer mosquito bites (maybe).

- Andy Lanskis, long time Curve LEGEND!