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Sorry, not. But you can google some of it and use your instict on the rest! Go through Sir Lowrys Pass village, up the old disused road. When you cross the railway turn left and follow the railway as far as you can. Here you will see what looks like a footpath that winds up to the wagon trail. Once at the top just follow the dirt roads towards Elgin. From there it is the tar road through Grabouw to Peregrine. Over to the Highlands road. You have to turn left after a while and then you just follow the road over the Highlands. Becomes a dirt road with a nice climb to the top. At Arabella you turn left and I then usually turn left again back towards Bot River on the tar road. Then right on Karwyders after a few km's. Then at some stage there is a road to your left that goes to Hemel and Aarde. Again a nice climb! This you just follow until you go past the dam and just after it you will hit a tar road. Right on that and this takes you to Hermanus entry. ENJOY!

There are a few farms between Durbanville and SSW, but could take a while to figure out. Otherwise from SSW, take the Old Sir Lowry's pass rd and work your way to the wagon trail. Will have to walk a while there but worth the effort. Then at the top you take the gravel roads towards the Elgin Country Club, then towards Peregrine. At Peregrine you can take the Highlands route that comes out at Arabella. from there you can take the tar road to Hermanus, or take the Karwyderskraal road towards Hemel and Aarde. Lots of dirt roads and frm SSW about 100km.

Yip, they want us to earn that medal! Came from someone that is involved with the route for next year.

One thing about next years Epic, is that they are making it tougher... Heard talk about the stage to Oak Valley over Groenland can have as much as 3000m climbing in the first 50-100km and that the last day into Lourensford will take a detour over some of the hills in Schapenberg - just to make life interesting! Therefore now is the time for lots of base / endurance training.

This is in the line with what I thought, but when you look at where people ride the no ride rule does not always make sense here. It is a joining dirt road that is used by people purchasing wine, going to the Spier markets, etc. Then you ride along a single track along the river. I have never seen people misbehaving and still think that having responsible bikers on these properties is actually good for security as well. Then again, as I said, would be happy to pay as well. Just seems strange that it suddenly has happened now and am wondering if there was not some event that created this stance from them?

Was riding into Spier from Annandale road yesterday and saw some new signs that have gone up regarding no cycling, walking, horse riding.... Does anyone know why they have done this as many people use the dirt road between Annandale and Baden Powell as part of their rides? I know this is private property, but was just wondering why Spier have now decided to stop people riding through their property. Even if they start charging people to ride on their property, I will be happy to support.

Heard a birdy whisper that the Oak Valley stage of the Epic will start with a 3000m climb over the first 50km!

They are aware of it....but not that they are doing anything about it. Like post something on their website! The stock answer is that membership renewal will be available in about a week's time, where about can mean anything. This is highly frustrating and not sure why the event (or CSA) just does not except current PPA members. How many members are going to enter this race and not renew their membership?

Good luck and let me know when you find something!

Went for another ride yesterday from Middelvlei. Was there at 9 and all was closed, which meant that we could not pay. Am not sure if this is a general problem but it does cause some to ride without permits. We did, however, pay when we were finished.... and thanks to the owner had some very cold Windhoeks afterwards! I just have one massive concern and this was also reported to the owner at Middelvlei. As we were heading back towards Middelvlei at the end of the ride, we took the Yellow loop that goes back up towards a small dam with some pine trees around it. Two of us were ahead with a third slightly behind. As we came around a corner at the dam two very suspicious characters (one under 18) came walking down the path; one with a long nose pistol and the other with a rifle. They did not even worry about concealing the weapons. Still not sure what they were up to and at no time did they threaten or confront us. Just found it quite unnerving....

Did the ride about a month ago. Going down the hill towards Arabella is very bumpy! But this is a nice ride - I generally go from there towards Hermanus via Karwyderskraal and hemel and Aarde.

From a training perspective top notch - there are enough ups and downs to keep you honest. Some of the views are also awesome - just a pity we saw the Helderberg fire evolving.... I would just take the beginners there and ride. If fit they should handle most of the ride. Bit early to do, but an organised race would also do wonders for advertising this area?

I am actually not complaining, this was perfect for my training ride. Did 80km and just happened to hit that hill 2 hours into my ride And I made it all the way to the top! As I said this is a fantastic place to ride and will definitely become a fixture in my rides

Did the route on Saturday for the first time. Entered at Middelvlei and what a joy. Except that first monster climb from the dam at the start of the yellow route Think you guys have done a brilliant job and that this will become very popular!

Found out what happened....as your sugary drink spills on the shock (and that is any drink..), it mixes with the dust and eventually becomes a sticky area which then turns into sandpaper. Basically the stem then becomes rough and then damages the seals as they move over it.

Cannot mention - maybe I will get banned! They actually said even something like energade can damage the seals.. Lately i have been using the Maltodextrin concoction, so only sugar and salt. Before that the normal USN, once or twice coke and water, nothing special.

Have just had a rear shock serviced where the bottle cage is situated above it. The energy drinks have literally destroyed the valves... luckily the shock is less than a year old and has been serviced without charge. Has anyone had a similar experience as it is not always possible to ride with water only in your bottles!

See that according to the PPA newsletter they are opening on Sunday: OPENING OF SCHAPENBERG MTB TRAIL This Sunday, 17 April, sees the opening of the new Schapensberg MTB trails, built with funding from the PPA. The trails start and finish at Ongegund Conference Centre in Sir Lowry’s Village (Somerset West) and offer four routes; Black (27km), Red (23km), Yellow (15km) and Green (4km). On opening day there will be a Farmer’s Market with various vendors. Please note this is not a race - just come and check out the new routes and enjoy riding your MTB in a beautiful new setting. Read more in the news section on the website. The Trails will be open from 08h00. Day fee/permit for PPA Members is R20.00 and R40.00 for Non-Members. Everyone welcome. DIRECTIONS TO VENUE Take the N2 towards Somerset West. Travel for approximately 30 minutes. Take the R44 Somerset West (Broadway Boulevard) turn-off on the left hand side. At the set of traffic lights on the bridge, turn left towards Somerset West Main Road. At the first set of traffic lights, turn right into Somerset West Main Road. Continue down the main road and through town, past several traffic lights. Remain in the left hand lane and pass the Vergelegen Medi Clinic on your left. Follow the signs for the Sir Lowry’s Pass Village road. Continue for approximately 3 km up Sir Lowry’s Pass Village Road. Waterkloof entrance gate is on your left hand side - Ongegund is about 500m from Waterkloof.

From Spier there is a route to the technopark, but they close the gate over weekends. Then you cross over to Blaauklippen and then Eden....

No, this is another one close to Sir Lowry's Village. Maybe that is why it could be dangerous... Just think about starting there, going through Lourensford, Spier, Technopark, Eden, Bergpad and eventually Bottelaryhills... Nice to dream!

See this news on the home page of the PPA website. The Schapenberg website has not been updated yet, but things are happening down in the Somerset West and Stellenbosch Valley (Bottelary MTB route)... Maybe one of these days we will be able to do social rides that link all these farms and one that may even go up Sir Lowrys to Grabouw / Elgin!

Just had a look was R660 to be exact bought in Feb at Mellins Eyes in Somerset Mall. They do Adidas, but you can also go through the concept stores

Yip, got mine from local optometrist. Takes a few days and cost between R500 and R600 I think. They will need your frame to get the model number as the lenses are not all the same size

Perfect! I have always heard that you must ride yourself fit into the race and that guys that go in over trained tend to do well the first few days, but then bomb out towards the latter parts of the race. For me it was just the question how much is too much!

But what do you do in those weeks leading up to the race? Just do some longish rides at low heart rate or do you still add one or two big climbs or endurance rides?