mountain bike

To mark World Mental Health Day on 10 October, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group will hold mountain bike and trail run races in the Cradle of Humankind to raise funds for its national Suicide Crisis Centre, which receives over 400 calls a day.

Eight days, 800 kilometres and some seriously steep ravines – this is the Absa Cape Epic, one of the most extreme things a person can do with a bicycle. The hors catégorie event is the most televised mountain bike stage race in the world. Each year a new route is chosen, as difficult and as beautiful as the last.

The Berg River Marathon is probably the most gruelling way to spend four days in mid-winter. The canoe race sets off from Paarl and ends 240 kilometres away in Velddrif, in the Western Cape. Throw in howling wind, driving rain and lots of portage, and you've got a recipe for extreme sport.

Though October is still a way off, the list of podium contenders for the 2014 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek is already an impressive one, with national, continental and world champions committing to the international mountain bike stage race.

While most people are tucked up warmly indoors during winter, a group of dedicated extreme athletes is out riding the Freedom Challenge. The mountain bike race takes riders more than 2 000 kilometres across some of South Africa's harshest but most beautiful scenery.

Some of the world's most extreme races are held in South Africa, where elite athletes – and ordinary people – pit themselves against the unforgiving elements and huge distances. Perhaps the most well-known is the Comrades Marathon, a gruelling 90km run between Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

The sixth edition of South Africa's Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek is set to be the best yet in the history of the event. Now officially recognised by world cycling's governing body, the UCI, the race also features the richest single stage in mountain bike racing worldwide.

It's summertime in South Africa, and time to head for the beach. The country has more than 2 500 kilometres of coastline, stretching from the cold waters off the arid West Coast region, southwards around the tip of Africa, and heading up again all the way to the lush St Lucia estuary in the east.