Hellwarp

Where the routes overlap they are marked with both colours. Middelvlei do a "Boerebraai" on Saturdays, booking required. Alternatively there's the "Food market" at Oude Libertas (on the way to Middelvlei) if you want a bite to eat afterwards. Enjoy !

Route marker issues from the opening ride on the Red Route have been sorted to make them clearer, so you won't get lost. From where the Purple Loop rejoins the Red Route, the Red Route is marked with pink arrows in reverse back to "The Only One" restuarant. Has been since the start of the trails. Enjoy the ride.

We moved and added a few markers on the Pink Link between Middelvlei and the Yellow Loop. Just to make it easier to follow as we had a few riders take the wrong option there.

Hi guys. We’ve added a Purple Loop to the trails which gives riders starting from Middelvlei the option to do an additional 6 km without having to continue over the hill on the Red Route. We did this because we felt riders from Middelvlei needed another option with more distance and climbing without having to do the entire Red Route. It will also give riders coming from Bottelary side the opportunity to bail out via the Purple Loop if they don’t want to continue on the Red Route. There’s a map for the Purple Loop on this page http://bottelaryhillsmtb.co.za/?page_id=435 All the necessary signs and markers are in place, so try it out and give us some feedback.

I've ridden the 1000 version of this bike and its a great ride. Prefer it to the Scott scale I've been on for ages. Nimble, climbs well and very responsive. The 1000 has the RS recon gold fork which punches way above its weight imo. The 3000 is the same frame with better harware so should have same character. But then again guys tastes in bikes is like their tastes in women, actually guys are more fussy about bikes.

Could anyone who finds a single key with a white and red Mitsubishi ring/tag on it please contact me. Lost by a rider on the red route. Cheers, thanks.

Thanks covie. We've added some temporary signage from Hazendal to prevent peeps taking a wrong turn there. Riders keeping to the route is essential so people getting lost is a major problem. We accept that some of the markers may not be obvious enough. We will be doing another check of the entire route so that there can be no doubt in the riders mind of which direction to take. This can't be done overnight as it takes a while to cover the entire system and plant poles etc where necessary. We did 2 test rides (with riders who didn't know the route) before opening to make sure they could follow the route, yet we still have the odd rider getting lost. So we will triple check and add more or move markers where necessary.

Guys the farmers have agreed to co-operate and stand together by making a route available across their land. So it would be nice and to everyones benefit if the MTB community could stand together and follow the rules laid out for the trails. There's enough politics elsewhere, the farmers don't need it and MTB being a sport definately can do without it. So we not interested in cycling or club politics. Enough said. For clarity on the rules of our trails visit our website http://bottelaryhillsmtb.co.za/?page_id=682 Thanks to everyone who has supported us so far by buying day or annual permits. Looking forward to seeing many more.

Up to now we haven't taken a hard stance against people we've come across without permits. We've given people a warning who have not had permits but will soon have to charge people with trespassing if they do not carry the required permit. Remember its private land.

All those people you saw were either trespassing or had permission form 1 or 2 landowners. With the formation of the trails all prior permission/arrangements with landowners falls away and everyone has to buy a day/annual permit to ride. I think its more unfair to expect some people to pay while other get to ride for free just because they've ridden there before. Who did and who didn't ride there ..... were they trespassing or did they have permission? I think its clear why we have taken the decision we have. Take note if you not displaying an annual permit bikeboard or wearing an armband you will be stopped and asked if you have a permit or not. The copy (slip) of the day permit must also be in your possession while riding.

Hey guys Replaced a missing route marker on the link between Hazendal and the GREEN loop this morning. Great to see so many riders on route. There were however a few without permits. Our view is that if you know about the new trails then you know that you need to aquire a day or annual permit. If you not sure where to buy a permit then go visit our website, all the info you require is available there http://bottelaryhillsmtb.co.za/ The success of the trails is going to depend largely upon two things: 1. riders must stay on the marked trails 2. riders must carry a valid day or annual permit. If you encounter someone along the trails without a permit then explain to them in a friendly manner that they require a permit to ride.

Just to show the bigger picture. The Green line indicates the Bottelary Hills Renosterveld Conservancy boundaries. The red lines enclose the larger remaining areas of Renosterveld. There are many smaller bits and pieces of equal importance to the biodiversity of the area. If you study the area on Google earth you will notice areas will little alien vegetation (cleared over the past 10 years) and heavily invested areas which will take many years to rehabilitate.

Howzit Mountain Lion We looked at the ditch you referring to but left it out because with traffic in winter it has the potential to become a complete mud bog. We don't want to cross the boundary to the other farm because that section has too much camber and loose rock. We also have the MX bikes riding there, we don't want to ride the same routes they do and end up having to maintain them. The single track parallel to and where the purple ends .... once again MX bikes become an issue. Believe me when I say we have taken a good look at the area and all things considered,(land access, rideability, maintenance, erosion, landowner preference, flow, elevation change, cost etc) we have made the most of our options. Forward us a google map with your suggestions and we will have a look at it but whether we can implement any of it will depend on a multitude of factors.

Howzit guys We've moved a sign on the "GREEN" loop so that riders can access the singletrack on the southern side of the hills without having to do the RED route. There's a sign along the GREEN loop which gives you the option to take a right and circle back to Hazendal via the GREEN loop. This sign has been moved further along to roughly 250M before the GREEN loop joins the RED route. This point is at the foot of the last climb before the GREEN loop joins the RED route. Take a right here and another right to circle back via the singletrack and eventually all the way back to Hazendal via the GREEN loop. The route markers are in place. This will be great for guys starting from Hazendal.

Hi everyone Please 'like' our facebook page, click here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bottelary-Hills-MTB/183227135056695?sk=wall Thanks!

The entire area is part of the Bottelary Hills Renosterveld Conservancy. The conservancy runs the trails and all funds go to the conservancy for conservation projects in the area, at this stage mainly alien clearing. All the bits and pieces together with the larger Renosterveld areas are being conserved. The combined Renosterveld area alone is 900 ha. That said the entire area, icluding the vineyards makes up the conservancy, its about conserving the winelands "culture" and natural heritage as well. Night rides haven't been discussed officially yet and at this stage NO NIGHT RIDING is allowed. Just about all of the larger mammals are nocturnal and we don't want to disturd them. Larger mammals you may see include Caracal, Steenbok, Duiker, Cape Grysbok, Small spotted genet, Porcupines, Cape fox, Bat eared fox, Cape scrub hare, Large and small grey mongoose. For more info visit: http://www.bottelaryconservancy.co.za/index.html

We not looking to cater for any "extreme downhill" route. The MX bikes you saw ride on one of the landowners property, he himself is a MX rider and they have organised rides there.

We are definately looking into this, will make the files available via the Bottelary Hills MTB Website. We just need someone to gather the data for us. Any volunteers?

Riding on any other roads other than the marked trails is strictly forbidden, so under no circumstances is anyone allowed to stray off the marked routes. Remember this is not public space, its private land. Here are the Trail Rules : http://bottelaryhillsmtb.co.za/?page_id=682

Hi all The Yellow Loop Before the "dam wall crossing" there's a right turn at the plum orchard with two roads running parallel, one a brick road the other jeep tack. This turn was marked but some folks took the jeep track instead of the brick road, which is understandable. We've moved the marker to rule out any confusion. The route marker that went "missing" on the turn immediately after the one mentioned above has been found. Lying in the grass at the side of the trail, still attached to the pole to which it was nailed. Anyones guess ... This marker indicates a left turn at the end of the orchard which leads to the dam wall crossing. Some of you would be familiar with the spot because you may have spent some time there trying to figure out the route. The Red Route 450m after the point where the Green Loop rejoins the Red Route there's an old fence and one has to cross over a "middelmannetjie" to continue along the opposite side of the fence. Instead of crossing over some folks went left and lost the trail. This crossing over point has also been made more obvious with route markers and some temporary danger tape, so should be sorted. If you get lost, please let us know where on the trail so we can attend to it. I know that sounds ambiguous (how do you know where on the trail it was if you were lost?) but if you figured it out and know where the problem lies then please inform us. info@bottelarymtb.co.za We apologise for the frustration you would have gone through if you got lost, the heat on the day couldn't have helped matters either.

Need a holiday, volunteering is for volunteers, found that out recently ....

Sheesh now you going back a few years ...... I did but under -=69th=-GRiM. I take it you ex XSHOCK LEET ? I'll leave the details to the guys who rode today, it wasn't easy ...

The guys that got chased by dogs are some guys that got confused with the markers or didn't/couldn't see them. They ended up going past someones house. When the routes were layed out we kept as far away from houses as possible, to eliminate dog or shotgun encounters. As far as the route marking is concerned, after today we are aware of 4 places(there may be more) where the route marking could be made more obvious. Thats 4 too many. Having riders stick to the marked route is priority number 1 for us as we don't want to give landowners reason to complain. So we will attend to problem spots on the route as soon as we can get the required signage. Most of the farming activities take place during the week when there aren't that many riders on the trails. Vehicle movement over week-ends is minimal. However riders need to be aware that these are working farms and be on the lookout for vehicle movement. Vehicles have right of way, thats the best we can do as far as thats concerned. In the case of an emergency you take the quickest route to the nearest visible "farmyard" the farmer will be more than willing to assist you if you require medical attention. (ie call the ambulance etc) If you are unable to cycle get your partner to seek help at the nearest farmyard. Thats why we advise people to preferably ride with someone and at the very least to carry a cellphone. Put the numbers of the "starting points" on your phone so that you can contact them if you cant get assistance from a fellow rider. They will inform the Conservancy in the case of a serious incident. Thanks for the feedback, its the only way we can identify where we need to make changes.

Well I wouldn't say "smoothly" I'd say it ran ok. A few people took a wrong turn here and there, either couldn't see the route markers or they didn't make sense. We'll take the blame for that, we marked it as we thought best but until you get people who have never ridden the trails before you won't know whether you've got it right. We've already identified 2 or 3 places where we need to mark the route more clearly. Another issue was the "Yellow markers", in the early morning light they were difficult to make out. We'll sort out the route markers issue asap so that newcomers to the route don't get lost. Thanks to everyone, especially the group form Tygerberg (+/- 120 riders) for supporting our trail on the first day. Any feedback be it good or bad would be appreciated.

BRING ENOUGH WATER GUYS ITS GOING TO BE WARM TOMORROW !! IF YOU HAVE A CAMELBAK, BRING IT.