Born in Upington with a hole in her heart and told by doctors that she would never be an active child and would probably die young, Hannele Steyn has spent the whole of her 59 years on earth on the up and living as wholesome a life as possible.
Just last weekend she finished her 21st consecutive Absa Cape Epic endurance mountain bike event in the Western Cape.
That makes her the only woman to have finished every event — John Gale is the only other person to have done so — and she’s known as the “Last Lioness”. Should she one day become the only rider to have finished every Epic she’ll receive a bronze statue of a lion in honour of her sheer grit.
Grit and gumption go hand in hand for Steyn who owns her own health-food manufacturing company, Passion4Wholeness. “The letter O is replaced by a heart with a hole in it and it’s an everyday reminder of my sheer gratefulness at being alive,” said the effervescent Steyn this week.
To say she’s been there and done that when it comes to endurance sport would be a misnomer. Put it like this. Just a copy of her sporting CV would leave no space at all for this celebration of her journey.
Suffice to say she has provincial colours in eight sports and national colours for five.
But it’s her Epic story that takes centre stage this time.
“Kevin Vermaak, the founder of the Cape Epic, first called me in 2001 after he’d been to a four-day mountain bike event in South America, had an idea to do the same here, and asked if I’d be keen.
“My default answer is always: yes 100%.”
Three years later and she lined up for Cape Epic No 1 in Knysna with partner Johan Greeff in the Adidas/Bianchi team.
“Looking back the race has changed incredibly over the years. The race was point to point and finished in Stellenbosch. There were no single tracks, just jeep tracks and farm roads. There was no electronic timing, no stop watches, no official waterpoints — that would be an umbrella with a marshall and a few Cokes, water and bananas if you were lucky.”
Luxuries were absent and it was very much every man/woman for themselves.
“We got tiny tents overnight and a mattress with plastic covering that you weren’t allowed to take off.”
And the biking equipment has changed remarkably over the years as well.
“Most of the bikes were 26-inches with two or three bi-chain rings and V-brakes ... there were no tubeless wheels. Sludge was the first tyre sealant that came along a while later. The European riders who entered didn’t know anything about thorns in those days.”
Steyn and Greeff ended second overall in that first Epic and the next year she won the women’s category with fellow South African Zoe Frost.
It was in its third year that the Cape Epic suddenly found its feet (or wheels) with sponsors queuing to get aboard. Big corporates such as Woolworths started supplying lunches, electronic timing started coming in, and so on.
As for Steyn, her journey was soaring and plummeting much like the route. “In my third Epic my partner got sick, a new guy came in and stopped halfway [I actually heard he’s in jail today] and my fourth partner also fell out. I rode with [multiple world MTB downhill champion] Greg Minnaar a few times, and what an awesome experience that was. I also had a few more partners who didn’t finish and rode with an Australian/German girl.
“To date I think I’ve got about 15 podiums during my Cape Epic career and one first and two second overalls.”
Possibly her proudest moment came in 2018. “Kevin [Vermaak] named the trophy for the All-African Women’s category after me. To have a trophy named after you when you’re still actually alive is such a humbling honour.”
Ever keen to promote the role played by women, she lauds the role played by Absa marketing executive Tina Venter. “Tina started the #SheUntamed initiative that has brought a red [jerseyed] train of women into this event and it’s been one of the biggest opportunities to put all my experience back into this sport. The campaign focuses on women across the board but with a focus on women of colour to show that you can come from any culture under the sun and still complete this challenge.”
And Steyn, who rode her 21st Epic with partner Lisa Czepek this year has had many a challenge over the years.
“It’s a sheer blessing to celebrate my ‘coming of age’ with my 21st at the age of 59 and being grateful for my health at the same time.”
And she says there’s nothing about luck to finish an Epic, especially on 21 occasions. “After every Epic I take a break and then every other race is part of the build-up to the next.”
She’s had many breaks of a bad kind though. “I’ve had not one but two back fusions in the last 21 years — both of them six months or less before an Epic.
“In 2023 I had a broken arm seven weeks before the race and did the race with my arm in a cast. Last year I broke my wrist but had enough time to recover. I’ve had to have one of my arteries patched, I’ve had flu during the Epic and many, many bad falls.”
And she’s had bike problems too. “In one race my bike snapped in two — the pivot bolt snapped so I patched it up with wire , but had to stand up for the last 25km of the last stage because if I sat down it would have snapped again.”
Steyn has long been a stand-up advocate for the introduction of age-group categories for women.
“This year I raced in my very own age group category, the grandmasters 50+, and got second place on the podium ... what a life memory.”
Only two lions are left standing in the history of the Absa Cape Epic — one of them is lioness Steyn.
“I’m fighting for the whole of womanhood,” she says proudly. “I know by doing what I do at my mature age I inspire many other women to do the Epic.
“I had a fantastic teammate this year in Lisa Czepek and one must always remember that the heart of the race is the team and that’s not one heart but two hearts.”
Such is the nature of life and sport that nothing is taken for granted, but one thing’s for sure, whatever happens in the fight to be last of the lions, the farm girl from the Kalahari will go down fighting ... it’s the only way she knows.
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