nigelhicks Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 That's the thing with the cost argument. The flat trail was there already and the jumps had to be built. Most of them are fairly wide jumps so they could have been made a little smaller and built more to one side and the "chicken run" could have been left at no additional cost. Anyway I like the section of the new trail past the broken down white house. I also love the Cat (?) trail as it still provides those fast swooping bends I enjoy. There is still definitely something for everyone but I just don't want to see them ruining all the trails with jump overkill. Hey Clint ... lets clear something up ... The ONLY track in Giba that has/will have jumps like that on it is the section of Gravity that I have built. It was designed Specifically with the average South African XC rider in mind and therefore the jumps are actually often a bit short. If you look closely at the jumps not one of them has a "lip" they are all rounded to allow any rider to flow over them without getting air. I know too well that the view of the majority of SA mountain bikers (having be involved in trail building and KZN and National XC for 17 years) and the new perception of mountain biking in SA is one of going as fast as you can for as long as you can along a dirt road (like all the classics seems to be these days ... i mean guys were complaining that there was too much singletrack at the Cedara race this weekend??? WTF - but thats another story) ... Now before you get your back up and think that im accusing YOU of being this type of rider .. I am NOT!! ... But what I have tried to do on the gravity trail is give the general SA MTB rider a taste of international-style trails ... its just to show the riders that there is more out there than just dirt roads. ... the track was styled on an XC trail in Willengen bike-park in Germany where the trail flows down hill with tons of shallow rollers that you can ride or jump ... PLEASE NOTE ... that as soon as someone in SA says "FREERIDE" (and Jason from Giba is shocking at doing this) they percieve the Gravity trail to be Freeride!!! .... which it is definately not!! ... Freeride incorporates wooden structures etc with dropoffs and large rock steps etc. The Gravity trail is an XC trail designed for 120mm trail bikes. ... This trail would only just gain a blue or medium ranking on any overseas trail. I agree with you that if we put jumps on EVERY trail it would be overkill and would not be fun to ride .. but thats why its only ONE section of a trail that has been done like this! ... AS to your comment about the chicken runs around the jumps ... we tried this on a number of obstacles and as i mentioned previously the mentality of SA MTB riders makes them go around every little obstacle to try keep speed. ... Its mountain biking!!!! not road riding!! if we were to take out every root, every bump we may as well be on road bikes. .. ... And i dont mean to sound like a **** of a Dh rider here ... but im sorry ... if a rider needs a chicken run to ride around a large rise on a trail they shouldnt be riding a mtb ... they should be on a road bike. HOWEVER.... I would agree with you that IF the "jumps" all had steep lips and kickers then a chicken run would be needed ... and this has been done where the only jump that has a definative lip is actually 70% roller with a small kicker on the left side of the jump .. out of the way of the main line! .... And now to costs ... it might come as a surprise that this section of trail was not actually paid for by Giba per say ... I organised volunteers (riders) who came and helped me build it ... we organised a bobcat cheap ... and labour and went and did it ourselves ... (after being given the go ahead by Giba of course) ... Unfortunately everyone is really set in their ways and instead of trying something new and different they complain (again ... not accusing you of this ad i know you just voicing your opinion which is great!) .... I just look at the rollers i built at the top of gravity ... man did i get into *** for those .. with guys also wanting chicken runs around them ... but now ... 2 years down the line ... no one minds ... its only when something is new that people dont like change and get their back up ... ok thats my rant! ... hahahaha hope you at least like the berms we made though even if the rollers arent your thing ...
geecee Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 nige...whats the plans for when that jump is removed there? a nice big berm ?
nigelhicks Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 As made quite clear by myself in my first post on this topic, I was merely adding my opinion. I would not want to see jumps on every available downhill section. If enough "jumpers" made noise then Giba may make an assumption that this is what most riders wanted. A jump adds absolutely no value for me personally. I prefer free flowing trails so I would prefer not to see jumps all over the place. In my opinion, no it has not been improved with the addition of jumps but we all have different desires. I'd be interested to find out whether Bizhub did in fact specify what they wanted or whether they merely put money into a trail for naming rights and advertising. I personally have no idea. to clear this point up ... the gravity trail has NOTHING to do with Bizhub ... Bizhub paid to have the trail that links gravity to Shayamoya made and also to make the new uproute that is nearly finished ... the section of trail with the rollers is NOT part of bizhub ... remember that trails often link on and off existing trails and the bizhub trail is defined as the upper singletrack trail before the dam ... and then the trail that links gravity to the shyamoya trail ... it links on and off the existing gravity trail ...
nigelhicks Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 nige...whats the plans for when that jump is removed there? a nice big berm ? ya 3!!!!!!!!!!
geecee Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 ideas are coming to mind, keep us informed when you have a build day, i got no issues pulling in and throwing sand around if im not working
nigelhicks Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 ideas are coming to mind, keep us informed when you have a build day, i got no issues pulling in and throwing sand around if im not workingwill do but as i said it will only be after the world cup ... cus im flat out with the track there at the moment! but will have a bobcat again for giba for a couple of days for free so i need to do some stuff on the DH track one day ... but will also use him for a day or 2 on gravity to make more BERMS ... and remove the one table and make some of the others longer and safer ....
The Drongo Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 Rant, rant**** sock it to the ninnies****rant, rant.... ok thats my rant! ... hahahaha hope you at least like the berms we made though even if the rollers arent your thing ... Keep it up Nige! The little lad over the road rides our bridge at the local on his 20 inch single speed kiddies bike. Falls off 1m to the ground, picks himself up and has another bash.... ...too much single track, I ask you???!!!
geecee Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 will do but as i said it will only be after the world cup ... cus im flat out with the track there at the moment! but will have a bobcat again for giba for a couple of days for free so i need to do some stuff on the DH track one day ... but will also use him for a day or 2 on gravity to make more BERMS ... and remove the one table and make some of the others longer and safer .... im picturing a nice berm into longer table, but im guessing some people might moan haha. i have yet to even look at the DH route, i think i should take a slow cruise down it this weekend if i make it there. anything obvious i should look out for?
Grebel Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 Three opinions again.... first, further destruction of the Giba Gorge conservancy and not sure of the effect of a straight path on erosion; second, noise for us who enjoy the peace and quiet of a ride (presuming of course your motor makes noise); third, earlier finances were an issue, I can't imagine this being free and will need to be maintained, I don't want my membership fees going up for something I don't use (call me self-centered if you wish). My thoughts! Firstly, we need to understand the concept of light hearted banter/humour which seem to have gotten lost here... If this were to happen, (Highly unlikely if you ask me. It was merely a reference to Whistler) I am sure that Jason and his band of merry men would take that into consideration with some form of erosion prevention. The motor in question would be electric (assuming of course that a sponsor for the cable could be sourced as that would be a LOOOONG cable run. As far as paying for something that you don't use, how many times have you ridden the BMX track or used the dirt jumps seeing as you aren't partial to jumping? Just asking Your membership fees are going to go up every year regardless because things cost money. Whether they are for your benefit or not. If the blue route scares you that much, perhaps you should stick to the flowing routes on the other side of the valley. As a word of warning though, stay away from the paths that have the black spiky pictures on. They have jumps. Big ones. If you happen to get as far as the abandoned house, I suggest you turn around and go back up. Nothing for you there. Ride to the top. Ride down at a speed you can handle. Nubbins. Come now, have pity on us fat boys. We hate pedalling uphill. Gravity is our friend. The only downside is physics. When a 100kg hits the deck at 30km/h, the force is a lot bigger than when the same thing happens with 65kg...
Caerus Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 Keep it up Nige! The little lad over the road rides our bridge at the local on his 20 inch single speed kiddies bike. Falls off 1m to the ground, picks himself up and has another bash.... ...too much single track, I ask you???!!! What is this world coming too?
nigelhicks Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 im picturing a nice berm into longer table, but im guessing some people might moan haha. i have yet to even look at the DH route, i think i should take a slow cruise down it this weekend if i make it there. anything obvious i should look out for?dont bother until ive fixed it dude - at the moment its just rut city and crap to ride
geecee Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 cool ill stick to blue then. might even end up doing some peddling for a change
nigelhicks Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 but here is the way to get to the DH track Just watch out for the rocks at the top!! and the ruts at the bottom!
The Drongo Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 but here is the way to get to the DH track Just watch out for the rocks at the top!! and the ruts at the bottom! And the pooh around the pylons!
The Drongo Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Firstly, we need to understand the concept of light hearted banter/humour which seem to have gotten lost here... If this were to happen, (Highly unlikely if you ask me. It was merely a reference to Whistler) I am sure that Jason and his band of merry men would take that into consideration with some form of erosion prevention. The motor in question would be electric (assuming of course that a sponsor for the cable could be sourced as that would be a LOOOONG cable run. As far as paying for something that you don't use, how many times have you ridden the BMX track or used the dirt jumps seeing as you aren't partial to jumping? Just asking Your membership fees are going to go up every year regardless because things cost money. Whether they are for your benefit or not. If the blue route scares you that much, perhaps you should stick to the flowing routes on the other side of the valley. As a word of warning though, stay away from the paths that have the black spiky pictures on. They have jumps. Big ones. If you happen to get as far as the abandoned house, I suggest you turn around and go back up. Nothing for you there. Come now, have pity on us fat boys. We hate pedalling uphill. Gravity is our friend. The only downside is physics. When a 100kg hits the deck at 30km/h, the force is a lot bigger than when the same thing happens with 65kg... 69. I put on a few in the last 6 years. Less Steers for you bru! EDIT: Judging by some of the PM's I have received, the concept of "light hearted banter/humour" appears to get lost regularly.... Edited February 7, 2012 by The Drongo
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