We rode it yesterday. Simply put, Oak Valley is great. Fantastic even. It's the best R20 I have spend on MTBing this year.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> We did both the green and the red routes. Total distance for both was 34km with only 495 meters of climbing. There is NO ?technical? single track, no rocks or roots or massive drop offs. It is all very much like what you see on TV at the Sani2C. It's pristine, fast, flowing, and never ending. The route must easily be 80% single track and stunningly beautiful in a Harkerville kind of way. (blasphemy I know) After a while we just called the place Narnia because around every corner is another view or sight that just takes your breath away. We spent over 90 minutes of our ride simply stopping to look at the beauty of the place I was amazed how the owners have even cut single track into flat fields which join wooded areas to make the journey more fun, but be warned, take soap to wash your hands because the cows think that the single track through the open fields is for walking on, and cows tend to crap where they walk. Carry water in a camelback unless you don't mind eating bulls**t off a water bottle. Directions. On the N2 from Cape Town turn left at the Peregrine Farm Stall near Grabouw, turn right onto the R321 to Villiersdorp and turn right again onto the tar road leading past the Elgin Station and on to the main entrance gate of the farm. You can see some pics at www.theworld.co.za/oakvalley although most of them are taken in open areas because we were having too much fun to stop and take phodies on the single-track.
