Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted December 5, 2011 Share as easy as it is to point fingers at the authorities it's as much our fault. There should probably be a tokai mtb club, an official organised lobby group would have got quite a lot further than the individuals who have been valiantly pushing our collective cause for so long. This very last point is the reason why Deon (Pain or Shine) as an AMARider representative, is so pivotal to the cause. Official, organized lobby group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Deon) Posted December 5, 2011 Share My Thoughts. It's sad that the illegal trails otherwise known as the Horse Trails got shut down. These little lines on the hill get shut down cos of "erosion" concerns when there are heavy machines making their own roads ripping the place apart less than 1km away. For me the problem is the hypocrisy on that mountain and for that matter all the land that seems to be under Sanparks management. I've aired my views on this a number of times so this won't be news to Deon. It costs R35 to ride there and 2000 people ride there per week. That's well over 3 million rand per year that we pay Sanparks to ride there. WE then have to maintain the trails and Deon has to BEG to get build days and maintain trails that are already in place. It's just ridiculous. Every time I ride at Tokai (2-3 times a week)I come out feeling a little sad. The few trails that there are are hardly maintained and I can't think of a single new piece of trail that's been built in the last 5 years. (diverts do not count as new trail) That mountain has SO much potential and it just seems to go backwards. Disclaimer: I applaud Deon's (Pain or Shine) efforts in establishing the relationship with Sanparks and listening to me whine every time I see him. I am not ignoring you.. - I can say though that this process goes a lot further than just a closed trail, you have picked up on some of them. Need to hear how others feel about the state of the big T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Deon) Posted December 5, 2011 Share Morning Mayhem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted December 5, 2011 Share Mornin! When are we dousing the trails? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Deon) Posted December 5, 2011 Share as easy as it is to point fingers at the authorities it's as much our fault. There should probably be a tokai mtb club, an official organised lobby group would have got quite a lot further than the individuals who have been valiantly pushing our collective cause for so long. This comment, just read it again, plays down the natural progression MTB is seeing. Steve, two years ago there was substantially less pressure on the mountain. It was also a time before any real justification could be made since the numbers were so low... Mountain biking has naturally reached a maturity where the scales in terms of sustainability have tipped. We have again brought this to the authorities attention and the facts and figures now support the claims. Any meeting at some point gets to the bottom line, we finally have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shebeen Posted December 5, 2011 Share Hi Steve, there is a group, it is the AMA representing Tokai specifically. The MTB working group made up of several bodies including the AMA represents the greater Cape Town area. Tokai will not have a club system as it caters to the citizens of SA. To coin a phrase "A park for all"..Fair enough, keep up the good fight and tell us troepies when we're required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Deon) Posted January 20, 2012 Share Just a reminder that the unapproved set of trails are closed and are please not to be reopened. Kindly respect this closure as it seems all my time lately is not about improving existing trails, it is more about closing illegal ones. What a waste! ThanksDeon AMA TokaiMTB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelhicks Posted January 20, 2012 Share aaah the good old attitude of the fellow mtb rider - "i pay so i sould be able to ride what i want" ... hahaha PS ... i have the same here at Giba Gorge dude so you not alone. I closed a small link section the other week to help make a trail better and longer for the riders ... most love the new change but theres always Joe Soap who gets hit tits in a tangle and complains and tries to reopen the trail. Bummer that southern trails closed at Tokai that one was a winner. rode it last time i was there and it was probably the most fun trail on the hill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Deon) Posted January 20, 2012 Share Mayhem and I had such a laugh while closing them, we both thought about your comment after your visit, that you like these trails the most.. and there we were digging OUT the berms! Fact is, we have no control over what gets built there and it is so far off the approved network that we cannot monitor the changes. All we need is for some visitor to slam off a 4ft drop and break something.. without warning coz the trail is not graded.Funny that, rogue builders don't seem to consider safety when making changes to a course. ?? Anyway, we are planning something and this closure has been part of the deal for continued DH3 access (which was never on the map either but SANParks has realised the need for a continuous DH run....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelhicks Posted January 20, 2012 Share hahaha but isnt it always the case that the most epic trails are the ones that have to be shut down! ... I dodnt enjoy the bottom of that track (just above Fairie Garden) but the sections higher up where there were natural off cambers and natural dug in berms was insane. Im all for manicured tracks with berms and jumps but old school is so cool still. And that track was proper old school. But yeah as you say the okes who come in and just build (generally th elighties dont take safety or environmental into account at all and its a bummer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted January 20, 2012 Share Nige, my man... We were both actually releasing some small globules of H2O from our ducts while we were closing the trail. I totally agree that it was an Epic trail, but unfortunately it had to be closed. It was a shame... But but but... More is coming. More as in better trail, better maintenance (if people put up their hands to help) and better experiences due to those improvements. We just need to tread carefully now. These next few months are pivotal ito the future of maintenance and addition to the trail system that is there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Deon) Posted January 20, 2012 Share Nige, my man... We were both actually releasing some small globules of H2O from our ducts while we were closing the trail. I totally agree that it was an Epic trail, but unfortunately it had to be closed. It was a shame... But but but... More is coming. More as in better trail, better maintenance (if people put up their hands to help) and better experiences due to those improvements. We just need to tread carefully now. These next few months are pivotal ito the future of maintenance and addition to the trail system that is there... Welcome back Mayhem. All good in the hood? D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted January 20, 2012 Share mostly... The old man is recovering well after his triple bypass, and I got back to CT on Wednesday pm. Amped for a weekend of riding after the madness & emo strain that was 2 weeks in Dbn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelhicks Posted January 23, 2012 Share you were in durbs and didnt call me to come and ride! what a looser!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Fastbastard Mayhem Posted January 23, 2012 Share you were in durbs and didnt call me to come and ride! what a looser!!!****. Sorry bro, it was a hectic week & a half to say the least. My mother unit really needed help dealing with it... I'll be back up there in June/July though, if that's any consolation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelhicks Posted January 23, 2012 Share hahahaha no worries Ya just give me a call when you coming up and we can make a plan to go out to karkloof etc. Just make sure you are semi fit so you can handle a decent ride - not like Omegaman was last time i was CT ... hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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