South Africa Calling...

[Stretch]

So I put this under routes and trails because its more about riding in our country than it is about gravity...great write up by pinkbike

 

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/south-africa-calling.html

 

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804651/p5pb10804651.jpg

[ThePubSA]

Very good , should be a sticky .. wanted to post was to busy today

 

: dont mind if i add Stretch ?:

[ThePubSA]

by Nathan Hughes

 

GSADEJ- The Great South African Deutschlander Exploration Journey. That was the original name of this mission to enjoy the fruits of a far away land by bike with two of Germany's finest downhillers before the 2014 World Cup season lift-off... it was a concise and precise coinage you can't deny, but in the end it wasn't much of an exploration. Africa's a big island and neither Trek's Steffi Marth or Liteville's Jasper Jauch knew first-hand of anything bike outside Pietermaritzburg. In just a few days of this alternate hemisphere discovery we would find enough in the surrounds of Stellenbosch alone to know we were out of our depth mapping the length and depth of this new-found mountain bike kingdom. You should go and see for yourself. South Africa is calling.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804569/p5pb10804569.jpghttp://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804570/p5pb10804570.jpg

Edited April 9, 2014 by 2Nutz

[ThePubSA]

For the (hugely) uninformed, South Africa is fully connected to the rest of Africa, which really provides some scope to roam. It also means there are zebras. Around the lower edge is the ocean where it is also possible to ride temporary trails by board, providing scope to be swallowed whole by a shark. We'll keep dry.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804576/p5pb10804576.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804579/p5pb10804579.jpg

[ThePubSA]

We picked up the trail, a hiking trail to be precise, straight of the bat just outside Stellenbosch, a short red-hot rental car drive from Capetown. Some sections were impassable even on big wheels, but already the terrain promised it all.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804592/p5pb10804592.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804589/p5pb10804589.jpg

[ThePubSA]

Described by biased locals as the best landscape on Earth, it's hard to disagree with a berm in-front and golden hour beaming in.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804691/p5pb10804691.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804689/p5pb10804689.jpg

[ThePubSA]

The Ride In coffee shop, come bike rental, come guest house was home. And a fine home it was, only a year or so young, still a little known place for anyone other than Cape Epic pros and Stellenboschers. Standing just outside the all-mountain paradise that is Jonkershoek nature reserve, it is impossible to look up at the well-vegetated peaks and not hear Jurassic Park music

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804632/p5pb10804632.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804629/p5pb10804629.jpg

[ThePubSA]

Jasper caressing the G-Spot just nice. G-spot being the name of this ultra-flow trail in the red dirt above the Stellenbosch University sports grounds.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804626/p5pb10804626.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804649/p5pb10804649.jpg

[ThePubSA]

A visit to a township leaves you feeling pretty small and puts any problem in perspective. Capetown is a city like no other. The landscape, the history and the societal extremes.

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804640/p5pb10804640.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804613/p5pb10804613.jpg

[ThePubSA]

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804603/p5pb10804603.jpg

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804696/p5pb10804696.jpg

[ThePubSA]

Jonkershoek Park, the host of South African enduro events is on a world class level of awesome. The burnt-out forest area that bares 'Never Ending Story' was a favorite of Jasper and Steffi, but there's burly downhill, mega climbs and hundred of kms of bitter-sweet saddle sore at this place

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804668/p5pb10804668.jpghttp://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804656/p5pb10804656.jpg

[ThePubSA]

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804670/p5pb10804670.jpg

 

Danke schön Trail Gott. And the Germans are a hard people to make smile.

 

http://ep1.pinkbike.org/p5pb10804687/p5pb10804687.jpg

[DJR]

:thumbup:

[straatvark]

hmm, need to get outside on my bike