HeinMies

Lol. Nicely summed up there. How dare I complain about a problem that shouldn't be a problem in the first place if people just had more mutual respect for each other. I don't go riding my MTB where I shouldn't or I am not allowed to...or where I can potentially hurt other people that are walking their dogs or hiking...how dare I expect the same treatment! The life advice and history lessons have been great...something to think about next time I am hurtling down a single track at 55kph at some wide eyed hikers and screaming I don't have any breaks. Aside from the bonus packages of history and life advice, I got what I came here for, some advice from my fellow cyclists on how they deal with the issue!

@Bub MarleyI am just gonna call a spade a spade...But it is a bit of a silly comment. lol. Don't ride the MTB trails that were completely and purposely built and created by the MTB club that I pay membership to...and also being maintained with the same membership fees. And just because some entitled hikers can't stick to the hiking trails that have been exclusively assigned to them...but insist on using the MTB specific trails that they shouldn't be on... Don't you think it's a bit ridiculous to expect that mate? Seriously...It's not like the hikers don't have an alternative... And no....Meerendal is not geared more towards trail running. The have historically been very involved with hosting prologues and even final finishing spots for one of the biggest MTB races in the world...the Cape Epic, and also some other MTB races. And this year once again brought the Epic to the Meerendal trails, so if they are more geared towards trail running it is a funny way to show it...At least one could say they are equally serious about both, and then both need to have the mutual respect to stay off each other's dedicated trails, so each one of these sports can get the enjoyment out of their respective trails. But thanks for the advise, but I don't think I will avoid the wonderful Meerendal trails over the weekends just because some hikers forgot to check their sense of entitlement. Somebody else on here had much better advice...scream that you have no breaks and watch them jump out the way...think I will rather try that approach and see how it pans out...

I am not even going to comment on road cycling because that is opening a whole other can of worms... just specifically talking about MTB built tracks and trails made for the sole purpose of the MTB enthusiasts. Your last comment misses the point a bit... the whole point for the overwhelming majority of the MTB tracks is to race!! Lol. People are chasing PR's and trying to better their skills and a lot of people are training for actual races. The whole point and attraction of the sport is the "race" aspect of it, the adrenalin. And a lot of the trail networks have been built for this sole purpose. You don't don't build a berm on a MTB track because you want people to take it slow and easy in the corners...it is there to go as fast as possible through the corner! I understand what you are trying to get at...but the majority of the MTB specific single tracks and the MTB community is about racing and speed....that's what makes it fun for most people. And once again I am referring to the purpose driven MTB single tracks. There are many trail networks and sections that can be shared and that everyone is willing to share, but the same cannot be applied to a purposefully built MTB track that was designed and built for MTB's to go down as fast as they possibly can. It should be treated differently and the same rules of being nice and sharing cannot apply here without people getting hurt. If I decide to take my MTB and go cycle on a motocross specific built track like the Zone 7 track, I should expect to catch some flak and get hurt by a much faster and powerful motocross bike. But I shouldn't be there because it's not meant and was not built for MTB's and I also didn't pay to be on that track... The same applies to hikers and MTB specific tracks in this case

Haha. I will try this out thanks!

@ShebeenThanks for your inputs. Although interesting, it is a bit irrelevant...You seem to be missing the point being made. Certain trails are not meant to be shared for obvious safety concerns. Be nice to hikers and share the trails...this butterflies and unicorns approach is going to land people in hospital with serious injuries. Certain trails we can most definitely share with each other where it is safe and practical to do so, and we do that in multiple locations. But MTB specific trails where it is a narrow single track with high speed berms and fast flowing trails sections where you don't always have clear line of sight of the next section of trail....is no place for hikers to be unless they want to get seriously hurt. Education is relevant however and does go a long way...hikers need to educate themselves to get familiar with the signs and clearly marked MTB trails if they want to prevent themselves from getting hurt.

I was out riding the Meerendal trails in Durbanville on 1st May when I again almost maimed an entire family of 4. This is a common occurrence nowadays on the Meerendal trails…It’s not that I went out that day with the sole purpose of hunting down innocent people with my MTB as weapon of choice, but they were leisurely using the MTB specific trails (Switchbacks and berm sections) as hiking trails. This is unacceptable because it is a clearly marked MTB specific trail section that I was on and as a Tygerberg MTB member, some of my, and all other member's yearly membership fees goes towards building and maintaining these trails so that I, and other Mountain Bikers, can make use of them and enjoy them. They are not for hiking! Also, if you as MTB rider would dare to go on the hiking specific trails, they would probably gather their torches and pitchforks and hunt you down! But in all seriousness, if I were to hit somebody with my MTB at 30 km/h, which you can easily reach on these trail sections, they will definitely be seriously hurt, and I will probably as well! Any ideas of how to get the hikers to respect the MTB trails and stick to their own trails? I never see any of the Mountain Bikers using the hiking specific trails…. Just a bit of mutual respect is all that is required to keep everyone safe so the Mountain Bikers and Hikers can each enjoy their own designated trail sections. Currently the Meerendal trails are an accident waiting to happen…one of these days a Mountain Biker is going to mow down somebody on the MTB specific trails and then the hikers will probably be blaming the Mountain Bikers…even though it will happen on our MTB specific trails….that the club members pay for to maintain…. that the hikers aren’t even supposed to be on…. But hopefully this can rather be prevented from happening so that somebody’s beloved MTB doesn't need to be needlessly damaged….or the people involved obviously!