For a different type of adrenaline rush, hop on a Fat Bike as you explore Port Elizabeth’s beaches.

You don’t have to be into extreme sports to explore the local beaches by bicycle. Fat Attack Beach Tours has made it possible for anyone to take a joy ride along Port Elizabeth’s beaches and scenic trails.

The 27-speed Fat Bike has larger than usual tyres, making it ideal for trails and rides on the beach sand.

For the more adventurous, there is the annual three-day Fat Attack race, with riders heading out for at least 30km every day.

This year’s Fat Attack race takes place from 31 May to 3 June. Day 1 starts at Morgan’s Bay on the Wild Coast, with Day 3 ending at Wave Crest in the Eastern Cape.

Watch footage of the first inaugural Fat Attack race held in February 2016:

Day tours

Whether you want to do a Fat Bike ride with friends and family or you are part of a corporate group interested in doing teambuilding, Red Cherry Adventures provides a variety of packages including the bicycle rental.

Day tours – called Fat Attack Beach Tours – were launched in Summerstrand in November 2017 by Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism in partnership with Red Cherry Adventures.

Trail packages can last from two hours to three days and can accommodate all levels of skills and fitness. Popular offerings include the 15km Lighthouse trail to Cape Recife and the 12km Sacramento trail.

“The Red Cherry offering ensures that tourists are able to engage in inner city activities that will expose them to the most beautiful beaches and combine these excursions with Lighthouse tours and historical meanders,” says Mike Glover of Red Cherry Adventures.

Reviews
“They do awesome day trips that include visits to well-known landmarks and end with drinks,” writes Eleanor Douglas-Meyers on her blog Just Ella Bella. She took her family of three on a Fat Attack tour; and a “bunch of friends did go on the ride despite not being super active types (their words not mine)”.

She praised the professionalism of the guides, who “ensure that everything is both fun and safe. I know this personally because a guide had to chase me down when I realised that I couldn’t actually pedal properly and he didn’t even laugh at me, so double win”.

On her blog In The Meantime, Venean Bosch describes the experience as enthralling. “I have been down our beaches hundreds of times but I have never driven down the coast on a bike.

“Not only did I ride, I also freed down a ramp-type thinga majiggy, and rode a bit on the sand. No, I didn’t pop wheelies but lots of people did. Getting off the bike I thought my legs were going to cave in but I think that was all part of the fun because they didn’t.”

Apart from the sunburn, and the aching butt, she loved the experience – it’s “definitely a must try for the whole family”.

To join the Fat Attack race in East London or the day tour on a fat bike in Port Elizabeth, book a flight via www.flysaa.com, here.

For more information on the Fat Attack Beach Tours, visit the websites fatbiketour.co.za and www.redcherryadventures.co.za.

SOURCES: Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism, Fat Bike Tours and Red Cherry Adventures.