(Deon)

The irony of Juju trying on a Trek, 'n groot nogal!

I know, I thought that fine was actually for entering a disaster area closed off from the public due to the fire. Until recently riding out of bounds was R500..

She is a swinger. You want her address? A little lost, sure.

Look, I am not being facetious when saying that you could also ask CoCT to improve the road to make it safer.. what you are suggesting cannot be handled in isolation of the process the TMNP region of SANParks national reserves to go through. Rob just tried, before him Cobus tried, before him Meurant tried, then there is the legislated way. Fact is CoCT too will need to run a process that considers various factors that we as laymen don't consider. All I want at home is a garage for my car and you'd think since it's MY land I could head off to builders warehouse and take advantage of the Weekend Winter Warmer Wild Whale of a Sale, but I too am held to process. Damn, I have to ask the guy down the road who was surprised that there was even a house at the end of the dirt drive.. So too Table Mountain National Park will need to ask Granny Wiggins who walks her "Foofie" once a quarter down that stretch. You cannot blame the Park's staff for the need to follow protocol, this is a national reserve.

Just so you know, in Tokai if a trail was going to be repurposed based on the call of the section ranger, it would need to be substantiated by how frequently other users use the trail.. We never got any singletrack but a few options were open for consideration before the fire, mainly inaccessible jeep track which was due for rehabilitation - we could rehab it into ST.. The one old ST route which seemed near impossible to gain from a heritage angle was in discussion for MONTHS and stopped at the fire.. The Punpudding trail used by hikers, dog walkers, trail joggers and now mountain bikers does confuse, I'll concede. Ed: Oh, and an EMP does exist for the North.

Hi Toby, I am no "official" but have for some time been included in the emails between the City of CT, Table Mountain National Park and various stakeholders, and while not actively involved in the discussion on the subject of route openings initiated by Table Mountain Bikers, can confirm a few questions from recent email updates, my involvement in the TMMTB forum, as well as stringing together some detail emerged in this thread. The answer to your above question is set in bold. As expected, neither Greenbelt nor Cecelia are open to cycling and confirmation that fines will be issued for transgressions on TMNP land has been made clear some time ago.At the time of Cecelia's inclusion for mountain biking in the 2002 EMP, it was not a part of the Table Mountain National Park cluster of reserves and in 2005 following it's induction, was subsequently removed from the list as no mountain bike EMP exists for this area allowing effective management of the activity or an infrastructure keeping the possible conflicting activities apart.The "trial Cecelia agreement" seems to in-fact make up part of the process underway with the Table Mountain Mountain Bike forum (TMMTB) comprising PPA, Amarider, TokaiMTB and Table Mountain Bikers. The TMMTB forum is tasked with revising the management plan (EMP) for mountain biking in the reserve and works with an appointed consultant (through tender) for rationalising and proposing an expanded network of trails in Tokai, and linking network of trails to/from the area north (City). One of these goals is a circum-peninsula mtb/shared-use trail. As each group operates autonomously, it seems it was an initiative of Table Mountain Bikers to secure commitment that the trail in question could be opened for trial shared-use to eventually be included in the revised mountain biking map currently being planned. The intent of the Cecelia agreement was not communicated to the forum by the time the agreement was made public but it is expected will form part of the vision in the next trail planning meeting. While timelines were not provided in the public release of information, the request to refrain from riding until further notice was mentioned. The "trial basis" in Cecelia as handled by Table Mountain Bikers independent of the TMMTB forum, is dependent on the completion of the revised EMP for which the TMMTB forum has a set goal of no-later than the the end of this year - 2015. It requires public participation and various joint document revisions which takes time due to the level of detail. The CoCT Greenbelt approval is not dependent on the Table Mountain National Park required processes but is still subject to further consultation before being adopted as a mountain bike shared-use area. The public has also been advised to refrain from riding this route until further notice.Why the communication of the letter of intent from Table Mountain National Park was publicised as an interim agreement without the need for first completing the EMP is not understood. The communication sent out did however state that these areas are to remain off-limits until further notice.

Cape Pine want a million per compartment, we are all stuck! HEY, can we ski behind the landi?

Geez, hope there is a mountain left standing when the rain clears? HECTIC downpour in Tokai!

Hardly surprising with the "activist" role he's adopted. While sometimes a good thing, throwing your constituents in front of the bus is just plain wrong - oh, TMB is not constituted, it doesn't matter as much then? You'll find similar posts in various places and if following these risky guidelines and caught, you will have only yourself to blame. Better hope the judge doesn't see a pattern forming because how many cases can possibly be thrown out before it looks plausible. ED: better not mean PPA promotes civil disobedience

Humbled, but I am only relating the info. I guess I did see the value in it though..

doh!

You don't walk with dogs, do you?

Thank goodness we don't have lions. Japanese tourists consider those "cute" and are willing to jump from the landi to hug one. Fact!

I heard an interesting point about the silvermine closure. The fire trucks which fought the fire from the JT would spray as far as they could to contain the fire, leaving all the high growth along the road unaffected and not burnt to ash like the rest of the area. In the weeks following the fire, small animals return to start again but can only find shelter in the remaining bushes on the road. They need the shelter for their safety as cycling circling birds of prey would take easy pickings out in the open. Now reopen that area before anything has been reestablished for people/bikes/dogs to walk/ride/run along the road, suddenly the small animals are being chased out of the only shelter out into the open, making reintroduction near impossible. But that's not all. Tokai is closed, S'mine east is closed, imagine the saturation of traffic moving along one route. Brings new meaning to "nowhere to hide". See, from our perspective, there is no danger to us.

I also smile when I see that but it could be for different reasons. How things work in the north is where Tokai was in 1998 until 2012. From 2012 it has been about making it better but this will take time and official agreements through due process. Passion. Let me not get started. I hinge on divorce for passion for the sport..

Slowbee is still watching you..

Please, we are not here to consider the other users. 6 pages later and now someone mentions it.

He would have to be a contract employee with the disclaimer that he doesn't work for parks when the heat is applied, and we all know it will.

This should have been decided from day 1 before the announcement made.. Fact is the "agreement on paper" was done around the table bypassing the process that is required. It was a letter of intent. It scored some social media points, that much is a fact.. but at what cost? I fully support the link between North and South but understand that promises cannot be supported indefinitely. Frustration sets in when things take too long and the people who suffer are the ones on the ground getting fined, riding out of anger at the people who are employed in a position to administer the mountain. Remember, we are discussing a national reserve.

It's been suggested in meetings with HOD's - not possible due to the extensive needs in each area. We think of Parks as one body looking after table mountain but forget they have thousands of employees each running with an individual project covering everything from social to environmental heritage, through to conservation. The answer is not as clear cut as some have presented in 3-4 lines. Sp

If there is one thing that needs to be clear from the start it is the contents of this tweet, especially as we are lobbying for access. I have just read through the notices on FB and alarming to note that one thing the "announcement" lacked was clarity. I think the call to hold off riding this route is mentioned in the last line.. surely not included in word of mouth..

There is too much truth in this. Almost an uncomfortable amount..

When were you told it was open to cycling?

anyone see where Toby went? One hit wonder?

I'm gonna throw up.