Future of DH in SA

[nigelhicks]

In other parts of the world building trails is part of the culture, I wish we had that here.

 

 

I would love to assist in building and am thankful for the guys that do, but with two young kids and a demanding professional career, I'm lucky to be able to assign 6 hours a week on a Sunday morning to go ride, let alone build.

That being said, if there were a trail building association that focused on building and maintaining trails in Gauteng, I would happily pay a members fee to support the guys who can devote the time.

It's  why I try and support Hakahana at least once a month, without buying a multiple entry pass so that they can get continuous funding from me and I'm happy to pay their entrance fees for their races, which I'm extremely grateful for.

 

I think we in KZN have this culture that the nerd mentioned instilled already ... With DH and Enduro in KZN at least,  as we get a lot of riders putting up their hands to help - its not all the time, but there is a core group of about 5 riders who are ALWAYS there ... and then other who come now and again ... 

We need to get more of the youngsters into building, as it always seems to be the ballies who build, but if i think back to my youth, I never picked up a spade unless it was to build a dirt jump ... so i can understand why it is how it is ...

Also the ballies have the eye to see stuff that is potentially dangerous and can therefore mitigate against this so that there are hectic lines but also stuff that a noobie can ride.

 

As for PhDots comment - I think we all know what its like not having the time ...

I do all the KZNMTB admin stuff in the evenings or during lunch breaks at work ...  and then many a weekend is spent building rather than riding as I also only have 5 or 6 hours a week to ride or build - so in many instances we have a build weekend where we dont touch our bikes, just build, ... then the next weekend we ride! ...

I dont think there is any way around it unfortunately .... I like your idea of a trail association ... that would be good to get a money pool together - and hire labour to help build on build weekends

[nigelhicks]

I did not take it that way...no offence at all

 

I was going very slowly taking no chances for a fall...I was riding alone and it was very early and muddy.

 

Sho it was muddy that morning ... your tires were caked! hahaha

I couldnt even get up the hill in my car it was so bad! ... had to hike! hahaha

[blondeonabike]

Fair enough. That's why I asked for the explanation as I know that written comments can often be taken out of context.

 

But you have beefy tyres now! No excuses 

They are so awesome The old ones were smoother than road tyres....Haha!!

Thanks Super and Kath, you guys rock!

[hayleyearth]

I don't understand this paragraph Hayley?

To me it perpetuates the 'us Vs. them' attitude. Am I misunderstanding it?

 

No no...Please read the next paragraph with that too...

 

...eventhough she walked that bridge then (and seemed intimidated by it), if she were to ride such trails more and more then progression will be seen for sure (she will not feel the need to walk them anymore)...

 

I was actually trying to encourage her not to feel intimidated (people get scared off by tricky trails...mentioned earlier in this thread too), but to keep on going!

[Super_mil]

No no...Please read the next paragraph with that too...

 

...eventhough she walked that bridge then (and seemed intimidated by it), if she were to ride such trails more and more then progression will be seen for sure (she will not feel the need to walk them anymore)...

 

I was actually trying to encourage her not to feel intimidated (people get scared off by tricky trails...mentioned earlier in this thread too), but to keep on going!

Understood! I think I need some of Maxxis's coffee before making any further comments.

[Headshot]

I am not sure of the proportion of riders in say Europe or Canada who participate in gravity events, but i am sure it is far higher there. We have quite a large cycling population in SA if roadie events and marathon stage races are anything to go by, but a disproportionate number of riders only do those events and only train and ride for such events.

 

The MTB culture in SA has something to do with this. The emphasis is on fitness rather than skill and fun. I saw the light about 3 years ago after always being frustrated by terrible slow riders on fun pieces of dh track. I already had a bike skills book and had read lots of skills articles in magazines. Then I did a jump skills clinic and never looked back.

 

Now its all about skills progression rather than km ridden or heart rate or any of that boring stuff. Every ride is as challenging as you want it to be and overcoming fear to ride a bigger obstacle or rail a corner better is addictive. 

 

Once you adopt the skills progression mind set you realize how utterly stuck most riders in SA are. They ride their bikes many km but avoid dangerous looking obstacles  - even tiny jumps and so on, and get a bit fitter, maybe even a lot fitter, but their riding skills don't improve. 

 

Recently  my sister-in laws husband who rides a lot went for a skills clinic as his wife, who my wife took  for skills lessons told him he should. What he took away was that he should drop his outer pedal and weight it in corners. This after riding for  years. 

 

So, although we have a pile of riders who call themselves MTBers, many are just a few steps away from road bikers in terms of off road skills. 

 

In the UK, the gravity side of the sport is growing, without big mountains or chairlifts like Europe and the States. How do we do the same here?

[JPD]

 

Now its all about skills progression rather than km ridden or heart rate or any of that boring stuff. Every ride is as challenging as you want it to be and overcoming fear to ride a bigger obstacle or rail a corner better is addictive. 

 

 

 

+1

 

after doing many local half marathon and the odd marathon since i started riding 5 years ago, the Enduro bug hit me as the local scene grew in KZN since 2013, to the point where i have only done Enduro races and my first DH race this year!

[nigelhicks]

Headshot - I agree and disagree ....

 

1. Marathon here vs Europe: I disagree to some extent ...

I would agree that SA has a culture of marathon events being seen as the pinnacle of MTB, and from a phsyical perspective I would agree ... you need to be proper strong to do Joberg2C and Epic etc, 

So yes we have a culture that its ok not to be technically proficient, and organisers go out of their way to make trails easier to flow better to accommodate the rider numbers, but this is them playing to the market ....

 

Check out the calender here http://www.marathonmtb.com/marathonmtb-calendar/for all the world wide marathon events and you will see that there are a ton of events out there around the world ....

Whether they cater for the pros only, or also like our marathons cater for everyone from the pro to the dirt roadie ... I dont know ... but there is a market out there ....

 

2.Skills vs fitness - the age old argument .... and both have their merits ... but here is a good video i saw yesterday about DH skills in XCO which i thought was pretty valid ...

 http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/How-Fast-Can-You-Really-Descend-on-an-XC-Bike,28756/iceman2058,94

 

3. Why doesnt SA have a growing gravity side? 

I think we do as discussed above - but gravity races here have not caught on to the extent of Marathons as we dont have the terrain like the Euros do ... thats a main reason why Enduro and DH are so big overseas ... because they have the infrastructure ....

The UK is a different kettle of fish though as Enduro is not doing that well so I have heard, but DH is flourishing ... and this is all thanks to Si Paton and the guys at BDS who run first class events and therefore attract the Pros as well as the plebs ...

So again it comes down to guys at grass roots level getting together and organising races that are then governed by the local governing body as thats how Si runs his series.

Si uses the local trail teams to build the trails etc that he hires as a venue, but then runs the event like a business ... charging entry fees, camping fees etc, but has a ton of infrastructure so that the event is actually like a miniworld cup ... and that gets the riders amped!! So he runs it like a business, unlike here were its all volunteer based

[NicoBoshoff]

I think a LOT of you suffer from a sad miscomprehension that XCM riders do it for the fitness element and because they're too crap to ride "real trails".

 

I'm sure a lot do, just as a lot of gravity riders rock up with pads and their flat pedals and burly tires and then walk the easiest of drop-offs, obstructing the road for XCO laaities who know how to actually ride a bike.

 

South Africa is a country that has vast expanses of road that goes through mindblowing parts of the world. We have landowners who in general like the idea of us riding on their property as long as we don't think that means we can build there or do whatever we like.

 

SA lends itself to adventure riding / racing. It's no surprise it's the preferred format in SA.

 

The amount of new places I've discovered and adventures I've had the last 6 weeks alone training for my first stage race has opened my eyes.

 

That's not to say I still don't seek out the descents. My DH bike isn't going anywhere soon, but there's a part of mtb'ing that's opened up to me that DH riding simply doesn't allow for because it is restricted by tracks, shuttles, land access...

 

Ask yourself this - when's the last time you went riding without a clue where you're off to, how you'll get over that peak, whether there's even a way down on the other side? When's the last time you opened Google Earth and went "hmmmm, I wonder if that's rideable?" That's the most alive I've felt in a long time.

 

I don't think my post really contributed to the thread topic, but I still think it needs to dawn on a lot of people that some riders actually choose to ride XCM and it's not because they're wussies.

[RocknRolla]

In the UK, the gravity side of the sport is growing, without big mountains or chairlifts like Europe and the States. How do we do the same here?

 

I am of the opinion that the normal bike parks up here in Gauteng need to create A B and C line options on the regular trails, it will aid with rider progression. It will also open the trails up to be better suited to all kinds of bikes and riders.

 

These lines need to consist of various types of obstables, specifically jumps and drops etc.

Much like the tree line near delta park school. To me this will develop a natural progression onto more difficult obstables.

 

The two parks that that I frequent namely Heia Safari and Avianto, both have been steadily building up their trails to not only be a piece of singletrack going through the veld. I know lots of people dont like winding up and down the same hill a couple of times, but I am of the opinion the they dont like having fun around bermed corners, or going around corners in general.

 

Like stated earlier, this will appeal to the guys with more than 120mm suspension, and even the lighties on their 100mm xc bikes. My favorite part of these parks are going down the really technical sections quickly. ( although my speed is a lot less as my suspension travel decreased.)

 

I think waiting for a sponsor to pitch up to assist organising or setting up an event is silly.

Just organise something, spread the word, forget about timing, ask R20 for spectators and R50 for riders. Dont make it an Event else CSA would want their slice of the pie (and worry about safety, he he) That to me is how you attract people to the sport, think of how it was done in the days of the klunkers. people got together and rode their bicycles down a mountainside.

 

Now we have the internet, and event sections of ads and sponsors and goodie bags, and expectation. If the expectation is for a fun day out, hell I get my monies worth even if I only ride 5 kms and have to turn back because of some mechanical or other issue.

 

Thank you for reading this far and congratulations if you did.

[Stretch]

Fair enough. That's why I asked for the explanation as I know that written comments can often be taken out of context.

 

But you have beefy tyres now! No excuses 

 

funny thing is that blondie is quite capable of technical stuff..of all the girls I have ridden with she is leaps and bounds ahead of them (except for Kath).....so...if that was blondie that hayley saw then they should have asked her as she would have been more than capable of fitting in

[Headshot]

I think a LOT of you suffer from a sad miscomprehension that XCM riders do it for the fitness element and because they're too crap to ride "real trails".

 

I'm sure a lot do, just as a lot of gravity riders rock up with pads and their flat pedals and burly tires and then walk the easiest of drop-offs, obstructing the road for XCO laaities who know how to actually ride a bike.

 

South Africa is a country that has vast expanses of road that goes through mindblowing parts of the world. We have landowners who in general like the idea of us riding on their property as long as we don't think that means we can build there or do whatever we like.

 

SA lends itself to adventure riding / racing. It's no surprise it's the preferred format in SA.

 

The amount of new places I've discovered and adventures I've had the last 6 weeks alone training for my first stage race has opened my eyes.

 

That's not to say I still don't seek out the descents. My DH bike isn't going anywhere soon, but there's a part of mtb'ing that's opened up to me that DH riding simply doesn't allow for because it is restricted by tracks, shuttles, land access...

 

Ask yourself this - when's the last time you went riding without a clue where you're off to, how you'll get over that peak, whether there's even a way down on the other side? When's the last time you opened Google Earth and went "hmmmm, I wonder if that's rideable?" That's the most alive I've felt in a long time.

 

I don't think my post really contributed to the thread topic, but I still think it needs to dawn on a lot of people that some riders actually choose to ride XCM and it's not because they're wussies.

Thats certainly not what I was implying. You have missed the point - people haven't rationally chosen it in most cases, they have simply gone with whats big and what the bike shop sold them eg a steep angled marathon bike and so on. They actually don't have a clue what they are missing out on or the skills angle. All the gravity oriented riders I know are forever trying to improve their skills while staying pretty fit as well and obviously the skills and fitness makes any kind of ride more fun, be it  an enduro, marathon or dh race.

 

I agree on the adventure side of MTB - we were in the bokkeveld at Easter. I found a dry and very rocky river bed on a longish ride that was mostly rideable on my 150mm bike but a lot trickier on a marathon bike. I did nearly 100km on my big bike that weekend some of it in sand. I could ride all of that and still have fun on the gnarly river bed stuff. My XCM BIL on his Anthem would not even try the tech trail despite my enthusiasm and encouragement. 

 

Nothing wrong with stage races either, but getting back to my initial point, many riders don't even know there is anything else or that there are a million skills to learn in MTB...

 

I guess my point is that if more people adopted a skills progression attitude to their riding beyond the basics, there would gradually be a bigger pool of riders to participate in gravity type events...

[popcorn_skollie]

This month there were a few articles published on TheHub regarding the World Cup and National Age Group series in BMX racing. Not a single comment was dropped on any of these features. What does that say about the average hubbers interest in BMX racing?

or by extension the average south african cycling enthusiast?

But the events were held. Sponsors were acquired. Riders raced. Supporters showed up. Photos were taken and articles were written and published.

 

Competitive events for sports which have minimal public interest thrives on the intense passion of the few who actually love the sport. 

[DJR]

....................

Competitive events for sports which have minimal public interest thrives on the intense passion of the few who actually love the sport. 

Very true. It is the same for all of the sports other than the big 3 (rugby, cricket, soccer). The athletes and their families keep it alive.

[Samurai Pizza Cat]

Two quick points before we go on a long weekend and ride our bikes:

1.  Looking at the success of Peach's skills clinic and the enthusiasm of all his "students" be it newbies, intermediate or advance riders, I think there is a quite a bit of interest in the skills aspect of MTB. I'm sure you guys in KZN and WP are seeing the same trend. Nigel I think you arranged for a DH Intro day at Giba some time ago? The feedback on that seemed pretty good? We need more of these "beginner" days to get more people involved. Having Enduro races the same weekend as XCM races is a excellent idea. The Enduro track on these weekends should in theory be quite easy.
2. It is highly unlikely for someone with no or limited DH skills to build his own DH track . The reason XCM is so popular is accessibility. Almost anyone with a bike can start riding in events, and trail centers cater for all skill levels. I don't necessarily think it is fair, but the existing DH riders need to take some responsibility when it comes to the tracks they build: Keep in mind that it is a good thing for the sport if new riders join in the fun. Build fun easy lines for everybody to enjoy. More people will start to ride gravity trails and those newbies are probably going to be the trail builders next year.

Really appreciate the work everybody involved in DH and Enduro is doing countrywide!

 

Now to make it work in Gauteng.

[remfactor]

I would ride the **** out of a trail like this(from 00:25):

 

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/362785/

 

It's big enough that I would need to session bits of it, and it would be a great beginner dh trail IMO, and there's no 2 story drop that is gonna kill a trail/am/enduro bike...it would be great if someone built a trail like this

Me too, it reminds me a bit of our trails in Tzaneen!!!!