Hellwarp

Piket Boberg should be added to the list https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/142550-piketboberg-cycle-challenge-2014/

TRAIL NOTICE: This Saturday (6th Sep) Jan Kriel school will be hosting a fund raising event on the Bottelary Hills Green loop. To avoid congestion kindly plan your weekend ride for Saturday after lunch or Sunday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK0EeBdAyTE&feature=youtu.be

Very roughly here ...

Fabian 46 refer to the above image regarding "blue route". All maps online and on-route will be updated as soon as we are done with all trail builds for the year, quite a bit going on right now. Hoping to have everything in order by end September.

We are aware of this and it should be marked as routed via the labourers cottages. We are busy with a workaround. The main sign has not been moved yet.

We have one or two "stay away" weekends every year thanks to the weather, this one is one of them. We've had a pretty good run of saturday weather but for the sake of the trails give them a break this weekend. Routes will take at least 2 days to recover after the predicted rain.

2014 Half-year permits are now available. See website for more info http://bottelaryhillsmtb.co.za/?p=1509

Apologies for only contributing to this thread now but needed to make a few enquiries. Zevenwacht is a no go unless you have valid Bottelary Hills annual or day permit which only allows you to ride Bottelary Hills marked trails. The downhill track is a complete no-go and out-of bounds. I have not been informed otherwise. Building of any additional trail, be it on Zevenwacht or anywhere else n Bottelary is not allowed. Please guys, landowner relations are fragile and there are repercussions for those who don't respect this.

Common sense prevailing, what that trail needs is a makeover, not a patch job. This time of year (as quite rightly commented upon in this thread) a patched rut can quite easily end up in the drain if the trail tread has not been restored and effectve runoffs and water management put in place. Run-offs may need to be reinforced with flat rocks or treated poles for longevity. Its a R20 000 job, conservatively. Its potentially a cool fast trail but the structure and maintenance have to be top notch. A good makeover will stretch the maintenance periods and pay for itself long term. Flowta your thought on the tree removal can be considered as a fact.

Looking at R12000 - R15000 to get it decent, closer to R20 000 for a full-on repair.

Great news, hell its a nice piece of trail that.

While this is an awesome trail it has a pretty steep fall line (grade) considering the slope its on. With hardly any grade reversalls managing runoff is critical, evidence of that are the ruts and cross trail erosion. It's in a sad state and requires a serious repair job. Diagnosis: Given a committed team of 6 people. - 2 days to cut it open, may need a chainsaw in places. - 2 days to touch up all the bends, 2 more to fix them properly. - 2 days at best to angle the tread and dig decent run-offs, seriously bad cross erosion. - some rain and riding in to compact - further maintenance on the complete trail on a bi-monthly basis. It's not a "build day" quick fix and the time alotted above is the bare minmum it would take. Get a contractor to do a proper job and the MTB community (clubs) who ride there come up with ways to fill the kitty and pay. Not a simple solution but the alternative is what one sees on the video.

As long as I keep shoving popcorn in my mouth I can fend off the urge to comment ...

Will be available from 1st July.

Do yourself and us trail managers a favour and stay off the trails during or after heavy rains. Usually 1or 2 days of sun is enough to dry things up. Riding in the mud has a heavy impact on the trail and high traffic volumes make it exponentially worse.

Do SKY have the option of entering a 2cd team ?

Nicely put. Was the basis for my questions. The only real concern should be about funds for maintenance and keeping the cost as low as possible.

Hi Bobby Thanks for taking the time and sticking your neck out on a public forum to offer your side of the story as someone who has been heavily involved in developments in Jonkershoek. I'm assuming, and emphasize assuming, that events which make use of Jonkershoek trails pay Cape Nature. The alternative would be Cape Pine? Either way I'm making a further assumption that none of that money goes back to trail maintenance. Furthermore, not sure what amount of money would be involved as it would likely depend on the number of participants. Question is, is any of that money channelled back to trail maintenance and if not could one not negotiate for a portion of those funds. Regarding maintenance, Jonkershoek trails are extensive, the maintenance figures you mention are scary (250-300k) and I'm not challenging them. However with Jonkerhoek having some of the highest annual rainfall figures in the country I feel its important that this fact be taken into consideration when building new trail. Take for example the double black that was built recently, built by people with the required experience etc. From what I've heard a great piece of trail but is it going to stand up to the amount of runoff Jonkershoek valley receives? Is the cost of maintaining a faster downhill type trail like double black not going to exacerbate the funding restraints? I understand the demand by certain more experienced riders for that type of trail but is it affordable?

This a clandestine marketing strategy to boost popcorn sales, or am I missing something ?

SeaBee, we were considering going the annual permit only route but tweaked our day permit system and gave it another chance. The problem with indemnity signs on the trail is they get vandalised and or riders claim not to have seen or read them. In the end it comes down to a signature on the dotted line .... Like I said, when it comes to managing MTB trails nothing is simple.

SeaBee. Your frustration is justified but there is no alternative to a "pay before you play" system as the rider needs to indemnify the landowner. Yes the landowner should fascilitate this by providing an entry point and have the required documentation available for a rider to do so. But people who man such an entry point phone in sick or don't pitch and you have the problem you experienced. However, as a rider you cannot then say oh well I'm going to ride and pay later because as you quite rightly mention " So for the entire 4 hours we rode, we rode "unlisensed" and could have been seen as trespassers". For cases like that there should be an alternative, question is what though, something all trail operators grapple with. Thats why annual permits and bikeboards are the preffered form of trail access for trail owners. Day passes are difficult to manage and can lead to, like in your case, frustration for riders. Never understood "honesty box" arrangements, how does the rider indemnify the landowner ? Does the rider sign in a register which includes indemnity ? As you can see, there's actually more to what otherwise may seem straight forward.

"the fuss" is quite simple really and justified. I'm a landowner and yes, while I do not own the earth the farm belongs to me. iow private property. But that aside. For you to ride on my property you need to indemnify me in the case of you falling off your bike and injuring yourself. Otherwise I'm at risk of public liability and its a risk I'm not willing to take on. It costs money to build and maintain trails. Trails need to be managed. So as a result riders need to purchase a permit to indemnify the landowners and to contribute toward maintaining the trails and the enviroment they're in. Take my word for it, there's very little "benefit" for the landowner.