marko35s

Pretty sure I have the same issue and it is a monumental pain/pest. Would be very interested to see if any good cures are around.

Odd that you find that, never had an issue there and have been helped out (with punctures, broken bike issues etc) often and a lot of the guys are very willing to offer advice to beginners. In fact there is a whole bunch that regularly have to temper their speeds (and possibly enjoyment) by dragging me and my youngster along with them.

For a while there this thread went all sensible and the issues were put across in a non hollywood B movie way but... The simple fact is that a business (even if the owner comes across as a bit of a dick by all accounts) has the right to complete commercial deals with whomever they like, as long as no laws or by-laws are broken. The guys building the trails don't like this but have no recourse and throwing a hissy fit on a public forum is highly unlikely to make the slightest difference to the status quo. Threatening to close the trails is all a bit dramatic in relation to the issue (a branding cat fight) and if the guys need to take a look at how they are dealing with this and try and sort out the issues without ruining it for everybody.

Thats a great place to start and before too long you will be wondering how it is you cant keep up with him on the snake trails.

Is that to help with avoiding people?

What has any of that got to do with riding on private land?

I realise the intention here is good but this is not going to go well.

You don't need electricity either but it's damn handy.

For a while there I was thinking you were turning into a full blown capitalist

Technically yes but that has to be booked, not sure if that is the case at Silvermine where the facilities (for what they are) seem to be open to the public. I would like to see you convince the wife to carry the coal/wood from Tokai to Silvermine, I sense a fight arriving not too far up the mountain Edit. There is no truth in the rumour that the last time I went for a hike at Silvermine I may have inadvertently shown them my MTB access card and told them I was there for a ride. No really...

Must admit I haven't had too much of an issue with hikers on the ST over the past year but I did see a group of maybe twenty head up Fairy Garden one day last week. I sat around a while to listen for screams but nothing... To me one or two, if they are aware, isn't too bad but a group that size is just asking for an accident.The years activity card looks steep when you pay (I came close to tears when buying mine) but I must have been up there close to 200 hundred times since last July (I may be a little obsessive!) and viewed like that it provides really good value. As far as I am aware Parks only charge hikers at places where there are *facilities* such as braai areas etc (Silvermine is an obvious example) so I doubt they will levy a charge for hikers at Tokai.

It's sods law in action. Carried a spare tube for the past year all over Tokai and other places, number of punctures nil. Give the tube away to a person in need, forget to replace it, and two rides later... Get home and fix the puncture, yet again forget to buy a spare tube and the next ride my youngster gets a pinch flat. I mean really the little whippet doesn't even register on a scale and he manages a pinch flat. Thankfully a few helpful people came along and helped us out. The first gave us a tube and the second pair helped with a bomb after it finally dawned on me that the pump I was carrying was bloody faulty. Really lucky I suppose because apparently abandoning an eleven year on the mountain if frowned on... Edit - Oh and any walk of shame lists from me "not carrying a spare tube" would be way down the list...

Noticed that too, but selfish idiots will always do what they want.

It certainly encourages you to carry more speed through that section. A big plus for me is the small broken stump just after the little wooden section is gone, but only after spitefully giving me one last flat tyre and the attendent long walk to the carpark.

Thats six months, or close to it, of Tokai membership for one race. Seems very expensive to me.

To add to my earlier comments - That new trail plan looks very ambitious. Fantastic if you can get it to happen but boy do you have your work cut out for you, thats going to be some process for you to deal with.

Unless things have changed then to the best of my knowledge MTB isnt a specified exclusion on any insurance/medical policy as yet. Add a motor however...

Yeah but who takes a pen up there? A DHer with delusions of an autograph session after he nails his run?

Not a lip really but it is an incline making a jump very possible.

Some more pictures of the latest work, just below where the other pics were taken. Very much smoother and appears wider. And no I didn't ride it I just went up there to take the pictures (although by the looks of it someone had been dragging brakes big time all the way down Vasbyt and My Roots sometime today) http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r251/mss-65/20140509_140351_zpse0eaf1e9.jpg http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r251/mss-65/20140509_140416_zpsde1ea659.jpg http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r251/mss-65/20140509_140438_zps61cc08ee.jpg http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r251/mss-65/20140509_140409_zps991c4405.jpg http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r251/mss-65/20140509_140449_zps7333f9e7.jpg

Riding them just makes it more difficult for the commitee when they have to negotiate with parks for new trails.

Judging by that picture and the standard of writing it may actually have been the baboons then.

Are you saying that people, apparently fully functioning adults, are doing that? Not just the actual baboons?

Yeah those rowers look completely cooked when they finish, they don't keep anything back. As far as the list goes I think MMA is a fair call (I would add Judo, in fact anything that involves a mix of standing and grappling in there too).

I honestly don't think the two can be compared - the footballers are really fit and those 12 km's are a sprint-stop-sprint kind of thing which can be very draining.