Holla trails

[W1Z@RD]

25kms of easy riding. One proper climb after the singletrack in the forest but it's short and over quickly (if you stick to the route) Otherwise you have a few nasty climbs if you go where you think you should be going....

 

The route was easy and did offer a bit of everything. I was nursing a back injury so decided to check out website and chose maroon. Would like to do red and yellow on my next trip down and if I'm at a good level black.

 

As for the complaints re markers, I can only agree with some frustration by others about it not being clear. But then again, it's also fun to explore. I guess many are one time riders from outta town so the unknown may be an issue.... so not knowing which way to go in a fork can be frustrating.

 

Will I go back? FOR SURE!

 

Hopefully Holla management will take on the feedback and make it even better.

[Mackie]

Have just sent this link to the owner of Holla. He will sort it out. Pity as I am a Holla local so i don't not get lost. Not making excuses at all paying money for a ride it should be worth it. Holla is a great place to ride, doing the Blue in the morning with some unmarked trail in between, heading out at 530 if you want to join in. Yellow route is undoubtably the best 48 Kay's of awesomeness.

[Hollanic]

Hi Guys

 

I am the founder of Holla Trails and I am very disappointed to hear the bad experiences some of you have had at Holla.

 

We try really hard to provide an awesome riding experience and the last thing we want to do is have riders coming back unhappy - we obviously want to give you the opposite experience.

 

We have challenges in maintaining and ensuring our markers are well maintained. Some of these are tractors, vehicles, weather and people knocking over signs. We also cannot go beserk putting up huge markers all over the place as the lands we ride over are private farm land and we have a balancing act to keep our trails as low key as possible, The farmers don't want our trails to be too invasive. Strangely, the biggest challenge we have is that when we ride our own trails, It is difficult to consciously check all the markers while riding as we obviously do not use them to navigate with and therefore we often don't notice when a couple are missing unless we specifically look for them. It may seem strange but it is really easy for us to miss seeing a marker that is knocked down. I rode yellow on Saturday and did notice only one marker which was missing, yet by Monday I received a report of a rider who got lost there. therefore I must have missed something else.

 

However these are our challenges and we clearly need to do better. Getting lost is crap - especially in the heat of summer. My crew will be sent out onto all the trails immediately to confirm that every single marker is there. It will take us a couple of days to complete this (we do have 340 km's of trails to cover) but it is probably the most important part of managing the trails so it is now our biggest priority.

 

Unfortunately, King crispy's experience on Monday was a series of errors. We are normally closed on Mondays out of season and its my managers day off. He unfortunately took the trail phone home with him which he is not supposed to do. I did receive Crispy's comments from the comment book and did not get to phone him back as I am a farmer in the real world and we were flat out closing down for Christmas break. My error.

 

I hope you guys will give us another go. I am a mtber and reckon we have some of the nicest riding in the country here on the North coast which is why I started Holla. Ultimately my goal is to provide an awesome mtb experience. Give us a couple of days to get our route markers back up to standard and I am confident that you will get the experience we all want you to have.

[Hollanic]

If I can add one more comment: we have often found people missing markers which are actually there. A golden rule when riding extensive trail areas like ours is if you don't see a marker for more than a km, go back to confirm you are on the right track.

 

Cheers

Nic

[jules1976]

Sheeew.

 

Sounds like you ladies need a Bushveld GI Survival course.

 

I will see what we can arrange.

 

Bring a big knife, signalling mirror and some toilet paper.

 

Oh, and your bikes.

 

[The Drongo]

Well said Nic! :thumbup:

 

Now back to mountainbiking you pack of Girlguides.

 

How's that for an answer from a man who is not only a MTB'er himself, but is also a 'farmer in the real world', who happens to have, in his "spare" time, been good enough to develop, negotiate and build trail through private land for YOUR pleasure?

 

Where is the sense of adventure fellas?

 

Lost....pffft, I ask you?!

 

Cosmos > Milky Way > Planet Earth > Durban > Ballito. The sun rises East and sets West, how "lost" can you ever be?

 

Rule No 1: When "lost" go back to the last point you weren't "lost" at.

[King_Crispy]

Thanks for the response. All we need is to know is that the issues are being addressed and that the next time we ride there it won't be the same, but an awesome ride.

 

Shot, and happy trails.

 

Merry Christmas

[Sepia]

I don't buy into this. ......

 

 

Taken so long to notice. it happened to me a year ago when I was looking for a safe place to ride alone. Same old, same old.......

 

 

I will never go back after paying top dollar. Not worth the risk.

Holla is now off my list.

Anybody tried Virginia Trails?

Recommended by many

[The Drongo]

Thanks for the response. All we need is to know is that the issues are being addressed and that the next time we ride there it won't be the same, but an awesome ride.

 

Shot, and happy trails.

 

Merry Christmas

 

There you go King_C..

 

Strangely enough all it took was an email.

 

You have a good one too.

Happy trails.

If in trouble 10177 (although it helps them if you know where you are )

[The Drongo]

I don't buy into this. ......

 

 

Taken so long to notice. it happened to me a year ago when I was looking for a safe place to ride alone. Same old, same old.......

 

 

I will never go back after paying top dollar. Not worth the risk.

Holla is now off my list.

Anybody tried Virginia Trails?

Recommended by many

 

Yes. Been AWFULLY "lost" there too. AND saw a Mamba!

Have also been AWFULLY "lost" at Karkloof - but always had a blast and managed to find some form of civilization before I expired.

If you want to have tremendous fun - go to Kamberg valley. The local guys know EXACTLY what they are describing, so you are DEF. going to get "lost".

 

However, if you need hynie cream and scones, then GIBA is the place. ALMOST impossible to get lost, although we did have to help a rather distraught lady once - who had to laugh when she realised she was only 400m from the Restaurant.

 

Have a wonderful break...

[King_Crispy]

Well said Nic! :thumbup:

 

Now back to mountainbiking you pack of Girlguides.

 

How's that for an answer from a man who is not only a MTB'er himself, but is also a 'farmer in the real world', who happens to have, in his "spare" time, been good enough to develop, negotiate and build trail through private land for YOUR pleasure? BULLS H I T. It's a commercial venture, the chap is making money out of it and as such should be maintained.

 

Where is the sense of adventure fellas? Adventure ends when simple things like markers are gone. It has been this way for a while and needs to be fixed

Lost....pffft, I ask you?!

 

Cosmos > Milky Way > Planet Earth > Durban > Ballito. The sun rises East and sets West, how "lost" can you ever be?

 

Rule No 1: When "lost" go back to the last point you weren't "lost" at. At no point did I ever say I was lost. It's easy to find one's way around and to retrace one's tracks to find your way back, but you're missing the point here numbnuts. If it was a free ride it still wouldn't be ok. Ask the lads who got lost after we got back. They bought 10 rides each and wanted their money back. Not good for business. I only ride there 3-4 times a year so I'm not fussed. I'll still go back, but my brother who joined me for the ride from Hillcrest probably won't.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2011 by King_Crispy

[jules1976]

I don't buy into this. ......

 

 

Taken so long to notice. it happened to me a year ago when I was looking for a safe place to ride alone. Same old, same old.......

 

 

I will never go back after paying top dollar. Not worth the risk.

Holla is now off my list.

Anybody tried Virginia Trails?

Recommended by many

 

I can think of two in the Virgina area , havent tried them , i normally use the the Tongaat Hulett roads in La Mercy or Umdloti/ Sibaya nice open roads but no technical areas.

[leet22]

Well said Nic! :thumbup:

 

Now back to mountainbiking you pack of Girlguides.

 

How's that for an answer from a man who is not only a MTB'er himself, but is also a 'farmer in the real world', who happens to have, in his "spare" time, been good enough to develop, negotiate and build trail through private land for YOUR pleasure?

 

Where is the sense of adventure fellas?

 

Lost....pffft, I ask you?!

 

Cosmos > Milky Way > Planet Earth > Durban > Ballito. The sun rises East and sets West, how "lost" can you ever be? And u have the sea

Rule No 1: When "lost" go back to the last point you weren't "lost" at.

[Joobs]

Where are the trails in the Virginia area?

 

Or where do they start from?

[tombeej]

Well then from Sunday to Monday it went bad. Maybe there was a fire that we didn't see??? The marker wasn't on the pole. We ended up nearly 40km's on a 25km route. We had enough water for a 25km ride which should have taken just over an hour but took us 2.5hrs in the heat that Monday had to offer.

The very least to expect was a call from the owner like we were promised by the manager.

 

W1Z@RD was talking about the maroon route, you're talking about purple. They're two very different routes. Maroon is 28km, a much better ride and more challenging than purple.

 

The other thing I need to mention re. the emergency cell phone number. There are large areas in some of the remote valleys (black, yellow, etc.) where there is no cell phone coverage. Phone are useless in those parts, so don't rely on the emergency number then.

[jules1976]

if take the M41 north bound and take the Virginia offramp, proceed left. Enter the traffic circle and take your third exit left after the Food Lovers Market building ( oops its no longer there ). You will see the Trail park in front of you at the stop sign.