Captain Fastbastard Mayhem

It is strange, that, isn't it? After all the work that Meurant put into it initially, the REAL focus (from those outside) only really started happening in the last few months, max 1 year... Just after it was publicized that there were plans to cut everything down over the next few years... I think alot of that was a spin-off from the sentimentality that everyone here has with Tokai Forest as a whole. And then the MTBers who weren't the volunteers working on the trails (like me) suddenly thought "Hang on. If the trees are going, what about the trails?" Like they were never there before and always sustained themselves... Like little trail gnomes (not Fairies, Pain) were just maintaining them overnight, sleeping in the brooks and pine-boughs during the day. Getting it on with the trail fairies to create trail nirvana... Sorry - the visualization carried on a bit there...

Makes sense. Both your mate's point and your wife's!

I'd be choosing between the Silverback and the Scott. Merida seems to have a lower spec than the others, and a lower-specced Suntour fork and gruppo. Personally, I think I'd go for the Scott. Try Bridge Cycles in Plumstead for good deals on Scott. They were very well priced last time I went there...

it's a shop that has been linked with quite a few "dodgy" bikes. I'm not surprized, really... Just do a search and you'll see

of course you can! You'll manage it for sure, but it'll be tough! That's like riding to the mast at Tokai forest. Do-able, but you're stuffed when you get there!

Absolutely, Pain or Shine... He does indeed. Especially regarding the potential future loss of Tokai Forest as a riding destination due to the lack of work on the trails... one thing though - there are areas where there is JUST fynbos, and it is quite rideable. Rinkhals and Mamba remained rideable for aeons while it was surrounded only by Fynbos. It's just lack of maintenance that has led it to become as sandy and rutted as it is now. Fynbos does still have some root structure to it. Not as deep as the pine does, but it's still there. And the trails, if maintained properly, can still thrive when there is fynbos there. IMHO, that is... Even so, there is still alot of work to be done. If I am wrong, please tell me... Oh - and Deon - rode the berm today. 'twas sweet as, bro. Drops you right into the corner, and creates a SWEET line all the way through the corner. It's packed in very nicely for only just 24 hours, and it will continue to get better. The absence of the barbed wire was another real bonus! Still gotta do the plank jumps though... Legs were a bit stiff this arvo!

No. That was an entirely different argument. But that doesn't reduce the need for the rest of the trails to be maintained. Which is exactly what is being done. The 600m that you refer to has not really even begun to be worked on yet... That was another section of the DH routes that was being complained about, but for different reasons. As for which trails have been worked on, they are, in no particular order: Faerie Garden (beginner trail - far from DH) Vasbyt (most of it, but still more to be done) Divert on Vasbyt, for those going up So no, not all downhill track. Some for ALL riders.

Not cool, Leet. I don't have it, but I know people who do. It's not pretty...

lol... right you are!

Yeah, this flu lately is harsh, ain't it?!

@ grb - I echo Capricorn's view here as well. Sick suggestion. But if you think about it, what are we paying for access? R 60 for the 12 visit card, and then R 285 for the yearly permit. That's R 400 per year. R 35 per month or so. Where can you get access to such a fantastic recreational area for that little? If you ride twice per month, that's R 17.50 per ride. I don't see how you can complain about that.

lol... TP of 4 years ago, yeah... Except TP LANDED most of his stuff.

What, like a divorce and sudden influx of business that I earn millions off of? No to the former, and not yet to the latter. Thus. Bike is still 100mm REBA shod dirt thumper. Getting ready to ride it now, before a long, late night of work...

Hi Marius, don't worry - there are plans for something JUST along the lines of what you describe. There are plenty areas where this can happen, but, as always, it just takes time. I must stress though - as before, these are PLANS! Don't go out and just start building! (not directed at you, Marius, rather everyone here)

Damn. I thought your locale setting as "Stutterheim" might have been a bit of a fibula. Do you have a teleportation device, perhaps? Just a small one...

Can't I, in exchange for manual labout & a place to stay when he needs help?! He can also help us out when we build...

Banna & PB - awesome rides there!

Right you are mate. But still, at those times a simple pop of the front wheel sorts a lot of *** out!

Deanbean - can you get hold of any?

Ja, we (Pain or Shine) and I chatted to the guy manning the gate. The guy on Vasbyt came off and did his collarbone in. I think he was just trying to be a hero, going too fast into a corner or getting the wrong line. The 2nd guy came clean off either the new 1/2 metre wide bridge on Your Roots (the route that continues over the road from the Faerie Garden exit) or the bridge at the bottom of my roots. The only way he could have done that is by overcooking it into the corner. The bridge at the bottom there is SUPER wide...The bridge on Your Roots is also Super straight. He fell on his head and knee, and we suspect he sustaned a concussion... nothing serious. Most of the accidents happen due to people trying to be superman. Not looking out for the trail ahead, or overestimating their abilities...

on another note - do you have access to that wood? I sure would like to use some small amounts for bookcases / chairs at my place!!! It's crazy to think of all that over-specced wood being thrown out when it could be used to make a perfectly good tv cabinet or bookcase!!! And I need to make myself some of those, so the wood would NOT go to waste! In echoing PorS though - if we could get hold of that wood for Tokai - a ma ma ma maaaaazing!

Sorry David, but that section you're talking about is not even remotely technical... the water was 50mm deep, and had no underlying obstacles. The roots were being traversed by kids on 24" rigid mtb's... a little pop on the front wheel and o'er she goes... Or you get your bike dirty... The point is that the illegal diversion should never have been made in the first place. But please, carry on paying the permit fee... It WILL be helping in the future... And I have to edit your post here... guys like Omega Man (currently in France, riding some sick trails - the bastid) Pain or Shine Jarek Wysocki myself and many others do it for free...

we were actually talking about this yesterday - I agree with you bro. It's just that there is so much more that needs to be done first. I know it'll just be a 1 hour job to refurb it, but once again, we need to make sure that the other trails are looked after first. As for WHY it was left out, I can only suggest that My Roots (as it used to be) was becoming EXTREMELY eroded. I loved it, but it was getting bad. Snake Eyes & Rinkhals - I don't go anywhere near those trails anymore. Too rutted & sandy. Plans are afoot though, but it will take time.

I really wanna nail that berm now...

Looking good, Rock! Almost there!