only in SA

[ThePubSA]

Jokes aside its all good as long as u doing what u enjoy.Never been a marathon type reminds me of veld school where they tell u to go fetch a leaf from tree 4ks away then when u get back they say its the wrong leaf .Do have respect for it tho. I prefer the quick thrills and gravity.Megavalanche has always looked awesome.Think what friends sven & anka did is also epic

[Patensie]

Hi, first post on the hub...

 

Back in 2000 my boet, our best friend and I decided to start MTB-ing. We bought bikes, packed our rucksacks and my dad dropped us off at the top of the Baviaanskloof (Makkedaat) to cycle back, unsupported, to the family farm in the Gamtoos valley. Mom still nagged us to take helmets, which we duly strapped to rucksacks and promised to put on on the downhills. We planned to ride till nightfall and freecamp (i.e. tresspass) somewhere. That first day on our very first mtb ride we did 104km and camped (in the rain with survival bags) under a yellow wood tree in a kloof off the road. We were the ONLY cyclists in the Baviaanskloof.

 

At some point we got into the upgrade (my-bike-got-dior-you-got-acera) race and it took us a while to get over that nonsense, but a bike now still cost more than 1 month’s salary (before tax) like it did back in 2000 ;-) and non-riders don't understand that.

 

We didn't call it Endurance, XC, All Mountain, Downhill or whatever - we called it MTBing and we enjoyed it. We got a bit more responsible since then (wearing helmets - but that was only because my boet fell himself into hospital, as well as having wives and children), but we still ride to enjoy it.

 

It does, however, seem that MTB-ers lost a lot of the fraternity it once had: when you'd greet and stop to chat to anyone on a bike on some desolate road or track in a wilderness. That has happened due to the commercialisation that occurred and the big race scene. For this reason I haven't done an mtb race in the last four years: Personally, I don't enjoy it any more. Many are enjoying it: to each his own, but I don't. I'd much rather go on a 3hr Jonkershoek ride on my own than do a race over the week-end.

 

XC/marathon riding is big in RSA, but even though I have a XC bike, I just ride it for the fun of it.