Blog#18: The Greatest Heroes (Part 2)
Last year, Bryce Carter finished Nedbank Gravel Burn on a Bowhead. This year, four adaptive riders line up – and making it possible has been one of the biggest logistical puzzles we've ever solved.
I hope everyone has read The Greatest Heroes. One of the heroes of that story is Bryce Carter, who rode the inaugural Nedbank Gravel Burn on a Bowhead – basically an off-road handcycle for adaptive athletes. It was one helluva achievement – not only riding the race, but living in our Burn Camps in a wheelchair.
One thing I want to add to that story: a lot of people came away from last year's inaugural event thinking Nedbank Gravel Burn was pretty tough. And in the back of my mind, I always think, well, Bryce Carter finished Nedbank Gravel Burn. So "tough" is indeed a relative term. And it's exactly that toughness that makes a Nedbank Gravel Burn finisher medal mean so much.
Bryce starts a movement
A few months ago, Bryce randomly met Manuela Schär on his flight via Zurich, as she headed home after winning the wheelchair race at the Cape Town Marathon. If you don't know Manuela: she's a three-time Paralympic champion and the first athlete ever to win all six World Marathon Majors – Berlin, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Boston and London. Manuela also rides a Bowhead, and so it wasn't long before Bryce challenged her to race the Burn…
Fast forward a few months, and Manuela, Mark Skarupa and Ramon Stauber from Switzerland, and Bryce, are all going to race the 2026 Nedbank Gravel Burn on their Bowheads – our first adaptive bike category. We've put together a comprehensive logistics plan to make life in the Burn Camps that little bit easier than it was for Bryce last year, including specific ablutions, dedicated support personnel with vehicles to carry their everyday wheelchairs, and battery back-ups.
The great battery hunt
Ah, the batteries. A Bowhead is electrically assisted, and over a week of Karoo gravel – with no plug points between the Burn Camps – the riders need spare batteries. Lots of them. You can't exactly pick those up at the hardware store in Graaff-Reinet. We had to source them from Bowhead in Canada and fly them in, and batteries like these travel as dangerous goods: special packaging, special paperwork, only certain airlines, and more emails than I care to count.
I'll be honest: it's quite some organising and expense for four riders, and to this end I'm extremely thankful to MetCon for financially supporting this initiative. MetCon already forges the gold rings in our Fire Starter trophies and our podium medals, and now they're helping to forge a whole new category. You can read more about what their support covers in our story, MetCon enables Nedbank Gravel Burn's first adaptive bike category. Grant and the MetCon team: thank you.
Was it worth it?
There was a moment during one of the numerous planning meetings when I asked myself if this was worth it… and then I realised that for Manuela, Bryce, Mark and Ramon, this is their daily life. At every turn, they face challenges they need to solve as adaptive riders – so many things that you and I take for granted. I never hesitated again, and we leant into this initiative with everything we had. We won't be perfect, and I'm sure there'll be more solutions we can introduce when adaptive riders race again next year.
But personally, I'm very excited and proud that we can welcome adaptive riders to Nedbank Gravel Burn. Just as Bryce was the inspiration for Manuela, Mark and Ramon to ride in 2026, I hope we'll have even more adaptive athletes enter in 2027, and that we as an organising team will make their experience even better in the years to come.
A call to the Burn riders
We need everyone at the Burn to get behind this initiative too. Just like last year, there will be river crossings, and this is a good example: you and I just confidently ride through the river. Bryce, on the other hand, had to stop and wait. And in true Burn spirit, the first riders who came upon him generously put their bikes down and, together, carried Bryce and his Bowhead across the river. This year, the Bowhead riders will need your help to cross the rivers again – I thank you in advance!
Finally, I wish good luck to Manuela, Ramon, Mark and Bryce. We're all in awe of how you live your lives, and of you taking on this challenge. See you in Graaff-Reinet.
