Pipsqueak Posted December 11, 2012 Share Holla is the best place to train if you're into any race over 50 Kay's. Some routes get sandy, but there are a lot of trails here, and they're all different. It's no Karkloof, but try belting out a 60 at Giba without looping or getting stuck behind plonkers. If you wanna grind out a bit of distance, with a some lovely forest track thrown in, go to Holla. Yellow gets very swampy when it's wet and sandy when it's dry, but there are three visions of the black that are pretty reliable. Red is great, maroon too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouxtjie Posted December 11, 2012 Share Holla is the best place to train if you're into any race over 50 Kay's. Some routes get sandy, but there are a lot of trails here, and they're all different. It's no Karkloof, but try belting out a 60 at Giba without looping or getting stuck behind plonkers. If you wanna grind out a bit of distance, with a some lovely forest track thrown in, go to Holla. Yellow gets very swampy when it's wet and sandy when it's dry, but there are three visions of the black that are pretty reliable. Red is great, maroon too.Ta thanks for the info....@mackie we are doing black when I am coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombeej Posted December 11, 2012 Share Anybody know the state of the Holla tracks? Keen to ride tomorrow..... but with all this rain, may be unridable? Any locals got a report The Umhali is flooding, so yellow and maroon is definitely out. The last 3rd of black will also be out. But I'd say you've got a chance for red, purple and maybe the first half of black. There's only one river crossing on black (after crossing the tar road) that might be sketchy, but it's a concrete causeway and it's a small stream so you should be able to cross with your bike on your head. After that, black pretty much keeps to the high ground, so you could ride the first 35km and then retrace your steps. But after this weather, keep a sense of humour and have a sense of adventure - you might find that some of the little arrow markers might be down, so be diligent about staying on the route. And it's going to be seriously muddy. The R50 for the bike wash will be the best fifty bucks you ever spent. Edited December 12, 2012 by tombeej W1Z@RD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbelBuys Posted December 11, 2012 Share Here's a Google Earth image of one of my routes down from the Noodsberg at about 1,000m altitude into the upper Tongaat river valley. This is about 2/3 of the way down, where you drop off the edge of a ridge and descend for about 10km, losing about 700 vertical metres, all singletrack, and probably never ridden by a mountain biker except me. There's hundreds of km of this stuff, all waiting to be discovered. Without my Garmin I'd just disappear into these valleys and get lost in the spiderwebs of tracks and roads. Cycling nirvana, no doubt. This looks KILLER! I just need to really "up" my skills (& fitness) but will hopefully be ready for this kind of riding 'soon' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clinton1 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Holla is the best place to train if you're into any race over 50 Kay's. Some routes get sandy, but there are a lot of trails here, and they're all different. It's no Karkloof, but try belting out a 60 at Giba without looping or getting stuck behind plonkers. With an EMBA board you can easily do 60km without the issues you mention. And I am yet to get stuck behind a plonker, most willingly let you pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipsqueak Posted December 12, 2012 Share EMBA? Why don't you just stick to the road? My be safer too. I too have an EMBA board. Not so useful that one. No riding on your own, no riding abreast, no riding before 6:30, no riding after 5, no single track, no mean hills, no EMBA board, no problem. Just go to Holla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouxtjie Posted December 12, 2012 Share EMBA? Why don't you just stick to the road? My be safer too. I too have an EMBA board. Not so useful that one. No riding on your own, no riding abreast, no riding before 6:30, no riding after 5, no single track, no mean hills, no EMBA board, no problem. Just go to Holla.Winner winner....chicken dinner. I am sure as hell not going to schlep my bike down to KZN to go and ride dirtroads and to be honest holla has never dissapointed. Def want to do some of the black routes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombeej Posted December 12, 2012 Share Holla from the air, looking towards the Glendale ridge in the distance (where the black route goes to): Pipsqueak and rouxtjie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouxtjie Posted December 12, 2012 Share Holla from the air, looking towards the Glendale ridge in the distance (where the black route goes to):wow quite flat hey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombeej Posted December 12, 2012 Share wow quite flat hey No problem, here's what it looks like out behind Holla if you want a bit more of a challenge. When you drop into the valleys, following the tracks along ridge lines, you'll be going through the odd homestead too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouxtjie Posted December 12, 2012 Share cool pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouxtjie Posted December 12, 2012 Share PING PING PING @mackie....why didn't you take me there swaerie, holding out on me broer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clinton1 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Winner winner....chicken dinner. I am sure as hell not going to schlep my bike down to KZN to go and ride dirtroads and to be honest holla has never dissapointed. Def want to do some of the black routes. I have ridden Holla and the sugar cane fields around Shongweni and Summerveld, for which Emba boards are required, and fail to see what makes Holla superior in this regard? Much of my time at Holla, riding with two locals, was spent on sugar cane roads and the like. The point, which still stands, is that you can easily do a 60km from Giba without "looping or getting stuck behind plonkers" as he appears to insinuate is the case. Just this last Sunday a 45km race took place around Summerveld alone and most of it was spent on single track. Edited December 12, 2012 by Clint_ZA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikekid Posted December 12, 2012 Share I have ridden Holla and the sugar cane fields around Shongweni and Summerveld, for which Emba boards are required, and fail to see what makes Holla superior in this regard? Much of my time at Holla, riding with two locals, was spent on sugar cane roads and the like. The point, which still stands, is that you can easily do a 60km from Giba without "looping or getting stuck behind plonkers" as he appears to insinuate is the case. Just this last Sunday a 45km race took place around Summerveld alone and most of it was spent on single track. Did you ride Sunday? Was there lots of technical stuff? Wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like so didn't even bother Do you know of the trails are open to the public (same sorta system as Karkloof?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouxtjie Posted December 12, 2012 Share I have ridden Holla and the sugar cane fields around Shongweni and Summerveld, for which Emba boards are required, and fail to see what makes Holla superior in this regard? Much of my time at Holla, riding with two locals, was spent on sugar cane roads and the like. The point, which still stands, is that you can easily do a 60km from Giba without "looping or getting stuck behind plonkers" as he appears to insinuate is the case. Just this last Sunday a 45km race took place around Summerveld alone and most of it was spent on single track.Can't say the same for the routes I have done there...also heard the shongweni area isn't the safest and will be a drive from where we stay, and what's with the no riding before 6:30 and no riding abreast(that alone tells me its dirt roadie heaven). Holla ftw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W1Z@RD Posted December 12, 2012 Share The Umhali is flooding, so yellow and maroon is definitely out. The last 3rd of black will also be out. But I'd say you've got a chance for red, purple and maybe the first half of black. There's only one river crossing on black (after crossing the tar road) that might be sketchy, but it's a concrete causeway and it's a small stream so you should be able to cross with your bike on your head. After that, black pretty much keeps to the high ground, so you could ride the first 35km and then retrace your steps. But after this weather, keep a sense of humour and have a sense of adventure - you might find that some of the little arrow markers might be down, so be diligent about staying on the route. And it's going to be seriously muddy. The R50 for the bike wash will be the best fifty bucks you ever spent. Thanks for the info... appreciate it! Gonna do a ride tomorrow AM for the RED again. Downloaded the track just incase... Gonna be an adventure! Def doing bike wash again. They are brilliant. Just wish they had a coffee shop while you wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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