Anthem24

And Wild Card entries Daniel van der Walt and Rogan Smart

AKA watch Matt Beers in action

Elite Gravel Race (3 laps totalling 90 miles) is this evening at 7pm (for us) and will be live on YouTube here from 6:45 pm: Full Sea Otter schedule here:

Good luck -- that looks like a heavy load to carry down Die Leer! Are you going to do one trip for the bike and another for the panniers? I see Sean Fraenkel has just posted a video on his descent of it on Facebook Gamkaskloof page.

The website is a great way to find all the videos for a trail hub easily -- I generally watch them before riding a new trail, and find them very useful. Personally, though, I was hoping for more of a one-stop shop in terms of information. Like a gpx link from those rides to get a map or an idea of distance and elevation, or even just a link to the Trailforks route -- oh, I see there's a Strava button so I guess they can be found there, and perhaps you ride sections more than once when you film. Is it worth providing a button up top for users to easily leave feedback to update info? Just looking at Tokai, for example, it would be so helpful to include all the vagaries of day permits for SANParks gates (some places cash only, some card only, but luckily an online day permit system has just been introduced: https://www.sanparks.org/parks/table-mountain/cards-permits/activity-permit ) Other feedback is that the grey text against a black background is very hard to read on my laptop screen, but great job overall -- thanks!

?? Try https://wmgoriding.com/

Thought that motorbike was going to lose it on that loose rocky climb up the old pass, but he was just waiting for the riders to catch up. Must be pretty competent to do that with a cameraman on the back. The e-bike team know what they're doing, given their racing experience. Who saw Sofia Gomez Villafane and her partner almost get taken out by the media crew in a beach buggy at the weekend? Check out her Instagram reel at sofithevilla.

Send to Howard to post to Tokai MTBTrail News Facebook page?

20-odd years ago there was an event from George Country Club in December that took us up Montagu Pass to overnight at Louvain Guest Farm, then back over the old Oxwagon Trail/Voortrekker Pass over Duiwelskop to Bergplaas Forestry station and back along the Seven Passes Road to George. That trail is spectacular, and if you're going light, it could be ridden in reverse -- but send the car round on the Outeniqua Pass unless it's a 4x4 with a skilled driver! There is a cost involved and a permit is needed, but all details are here: https://louvain.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Oxwagaon-NEW-4x4-Route-Info.pdf Don't let the cover photo put you off -- most of the route is not like that and the Mountain Passes of SA Facebook page posted in September 2024: " The Old Oxwagon 4x4 Trail between Louvain and Bergplaas has been beautifully repaired after the devastating flood damage earlier this winter." Louvain could advise on the current condition, but given that Montagu Pass is currently stuffed and officially closed, it's an option. No champagne gravel though, and better for MTBs than gravel bikes. Oh, still pretty rocky in places -- this was from the last two weeks evidently:

Trailforks -- free on your desktop -- and here : https://bottelaryconservancy.co.za/about-mtb-trails/ The map under the Access Points tab is old -- a few more have been added, and it doesn't show The Goat (Devonbosch) or Polkadraai bike parks. Follow their page on Facebook: Bottelary Hills Conservancy & MTB Trails

In 2018 the SA Blood Transfusion Service published a paper on the results of a survey. ID = iron deficiency "A total of 4412 donors were enrolled in the study. Specimens were collected for full blood count, iron, transferrin saturation, and ferritin assessment. Donor demographics were recorded. ID was indicated by a ferritin level of less than 20 ng/mL for men and less than 12 ng/mL for women. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin levels less than 12.5 g/dL. A total of 17.5% of all donors had ID, with 16.3% prevalence in women and 18.6% in men. Among male donors, an interdonation interval of less than 3 months was associated with ID." Ref: Van Den Berg et al. 2018. Transfusion. doi:10.1111/trf.15001

This happened to me too -- I started giving blood again after two decades and thought it was perfectly safe to give blood every two months, but it's not. The Western Cape blood donation services only started monitoring ferritin a few years ago -- I got all my results out of them and it showed how my ferratin crashed down to 13. They warn you when it gets below 15, although the WHO considers >50 the ideal level. I was left a couple of thousand rand out of pocket, after the GP visit, blood tests and the meds. The intravenous infusion is an option but does have some risks. You would have to be off the meds for a while before the infusion, I think -- because you can do a lot of long-term damage by over-dosing on iron. Note that ferratin is your iron storage, and that will take a while to recover, while your iron (haemoglobin) levels may be fine and will respond quickly to diet and the meds. There's no quick fix unfortunately -- at least not in less than two months.

Surely if you have done so much research, you would have discovered the alien and invasive species regulations under the Biodiversity Act, which require that pines and eucalypts need to be controlled or removed, particularly in protected areas. But I suggest you get in touch with Parkscape, which have taken on SANParks in an effort to preserve some shade trees in Tokai Forest. They may be able to provide some context.

You can get a sense of the elevation from The Cape Cycle Routes' Karoo Crossing route, which does it in reverse from Knysna and goes via the R339 to Uniondale rather than the Potjiesberg Pass on the N9. https://bicyclesouth.co.za/2021/02/karoo-crossing/

Trailforks shows a trail at the San heritage reserve, but also shows it hasn't been ridden for more than 6 months. The trails map on their website, dated July 2025, indicates the route may be quite new though: https://khwattu.org/visit-and-explore/tours-trails/ https://khwattu.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/trails.pdf Please report back if you give it a go.

You can also gauge quite a lot from Tracks4Africa, although there may be road closures that aren't reflected. https://map.tracks4africa.co.za/map

By zooming in on smaller roads in Google Maps and going into streetview at each end (if available), you can typically see whether there's a gate or a sign indicating a private road. Alternatively, take note of guesthouses in the area and contact them to check.

One way is to go onto Google Maps desktop version, choose the motorbike option and click on streetview -- all the blue roads that the Google car has been down should be public. The smaller roads aren't shown here though.

The Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, has no jurisdiction over the metro police either, since they fall under the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The Premier’s powers are indirect and supervisory, not operational. a. Provincial oversight of policing (limited) Under Section 206(3)–(5) of the Constitution, the province may: Monitor police conduct Promote good relations between police and communities Assess policing effectiveness Liaise with national government on policing issues This applies mainly to SAPS, not Metro Police — but some coordination can occur. b. Policy, funding, and cooperation The Western Cape government: Can fund or co-fund safety initiatives Can enter into intergovernmental agreements with the City Often works jointly on crime prevention strategies But: Funding or cooperation does not equal command authority The City can refuse provincial involvement unless required by law. c. Provincial legislation (within limits) The province may pass legislation affecting: Community safety frameworks Oversight structures Reporting requirements However, it cannot legislate itself into control of Metro Police operations, because local policing is a municipal executive competence.

Try messaging Table Mountain Bikers on Facebook.

Or Shutterhub https://shutterhub.co.za/product/gopro-rental-hero12-black-action-camera/

You don't want to go with established rental agencies in Cape Town, like Zootee Studios or Camerashack?

Same distance from Somerset West in a different direction are the Elgin and Oak Valley trails up Sir Lowry's Pass, with plenty of different route options. Great trails there with a nice mix. Paul Cluver trails are only open for events.

Helderberg Farm is nice. Lots of climbing but worth it, and safe. Be careful of riding the Winelands trails around Faure and close to Somerset West alone -- there have been muggings in the past few years, but nothing recent it seems. Trailforks on desktop is free and will show you the local trails, popularity, technical level etc. Phone app is R400 and well worth it sometimes can see where you are if trail markers aren't great

This was published 6 days ago, so looks like we won't be getting a livestream