Hellwarp

Ja porcupines .... Africa's largest rodent. Damn spiky rats enjoy the trails just as much as we do. The trails make access to feeding areas easy so it's no coincidence they ferret around on the trails. This time of year the soft soil conditions make for easy pickings (read diggings) so the porcupines have a field day, actually a field night. They are mainly nocturnal but evidence of their presence is obvious. Look out for holes with leftover bulbs and roots nearby, possibly a quill or two. Consider yourself lucky if you do get to spot one.

Rooikat singletrack has undergone maintenance so be aware of bits and pieces of the trail that may be shifty until compacted.

We've re-routed part of the trail on the Green/Red loops at the top of "Kaapzicht Killer". Please stay off the origional route as per the Landowners request. The signage has been adjusted so pay attention to the route markings. A short section of singletrack has been added to link back up with the start of "Long Green". The pink line is the new route while the origional route is scribbled over in white. (see image)

There will be an updated form with the new pricing.

Not all shops yet so carefull you don't arrive at your LBS and are told haaibo. Wait till saturday.

Yes, hoping to have them available at all sales points from saturday (27th).

Website maps are due for an upgrade, have been for a while. We're busy creating mapwork for the trail signage which will be transferred onto the site once complete. Our deadline is June 30, sounds like a long way down the road but putting maps and signage etc together is not as staightforward as one would imagine. GPS files will also be made available.

From Die Boord, closest would be Asara Wine Estate, day permits available from Asara hotel reception.

Really feel for the Tokai MTB community. Hang in there guys.

Bottelary Hills MTB ride pinkbike ... http://www.pinkbike.com/news/trail-daze-vineyard-haze-stellenbosch-south-africa-2015.html

Yes

Please note that no day permit sales take place at Overgaauw wine estate, the closest day permit sales point to Stellenbosch is hotel reception at Asara wine estate. You can however start your ride from Overgaauw if you are in possesion of the required annual or day permit

Does the "Project Charter" include the formation of an "interested and affected party" grouping of various entities to help via community service? The thinking being, the more hands available on a volunteer basis to assist with alien removal, runoff control, rehabilitation, trail construction, admin work etc etc. could go a long way to speeding up recovery and access and solidify relations between mountain users and the powers that be. We know that labour and finances are stretched for said powers that be to get the job done.

Take a look in 6months time.

Wear a raincoat, spectators are going to be putting out a lot of "fires" along the route, be like cycling in a cloudburst. Wish I entered for this one, once in a lifetime event ! Enjoy it guys ! Lets hope some of the money goes to clearing alien vegetation that will flourish after the fire.

The route going through suburbia with X 1000's of spectators is going to make for an incredible vibe and ride experience. For the spectators seeing the riders fly by twice is going to be awesome, specially as the front guys will be leaving nothing in the tank. Guns blazing !!!

Open and no event.

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll sort it tomorrow.

We recently spent R1152 / 100m of singletrack on a 2.5km trail. The nature of the terrain and topography determine the eventual cost, along with unforseen obstacles once construction has commenced. One could be spending anything from R6000 - R18000 / km depending on the terrain and build style. Throw in big berm corners, jumps, rock gardens, bridges etc and the cost escalates exponentially.

Here you go, long green on image below (typing error, it's 4.8km not 3.8) Add green and you get 20.8 km with 650m elevation gain.

Bottelary Hills 2015 Annual permits are available at selling points and are valid from now until 31st December 2015.

Bottelary Hills MTB permit holders and would be day visitors for this Saturday (18 October 2014). Please take note that we are hosting the STBB event on Saturday morning so plan your ride for Saturday mid afternoon or Sunday.

We've named our singletracks and infamous climbs along with some info about the fauna, flora or topography surrounding them.

Bottelary Hills "Short Purple" this morning with Rooi Els in the distance ....

We have routed a new link to the yellow loop from Devon Valley Rd which is open for riding. This will make more sense once the new yellow singletrack opens in a few days but was also done to avoid passing workers cottages with the odd dog lurking.