Trail Daze: The hidden gem that is Piket-bo-berg

[ewaldsadie]

About an hour and a half's drive north from Cape Town, lies the small, rural town of Piketberg. Used by most people only as a fuel stop, or quickly skipped on the way to other things further up the West coast, it's not well known to many mountain bikers as a prime riding spot.

Click here to view the article

[Raydek]

Looks like some lekka riding out there... Now how does one crack an invite??? 

[JasonS]

Looks like some lekka riding out there... Now how does one crack an invite??? 

There's a race there next weekend - not sure if it's the same trails. Hope so!

 

http://www.dirtopia.co.za/index.php/piket-bo-berg-cycle-challenge-trail-run

Edited September 4, 2015 by brando

[Super_mil]

Baie mooi Oom Ewald.

[DIPSLICK]

if I knew of trails like that i wouldnt tell people  

[Ian PR]

I lived in Piketberg for almost 20 Years, so I am fortunate enough to know what lies beyond that sleepy 'Boland Town Facade' - in the Great People that live there, the magnificent scenery and the amount of freedom you have to ride...it is great to see what a fascinating trail network has been developed....I must get back there again.

 

Ian

[NicoBoshoff]

Pity it's by invite only.

[Josh0]

Those trails look bloody great! 

Man how bad do I want to move to the western Cape now! 

 

Excellent article Ewald.

[Matchstix]

Trails are awesome but tough. . The some spots you have climbed about 500m but feels like a 1000m. Looking forward to the piket bo berg challenge next weekend.

[nox1111]

What would be the point of showing us what we can not have?  It's like a fantastic concept car - just to bring us the next Juke...

http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/original.jpg

Any way to make a day out of it - similar to what you guys did?

[Skubarra]

What would be the point of showing us what we can not have?  It's like a fantastic concept car - just to bring us the next Juke...

http://www.zcarblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/original.jpg

Any way to make a day out of it - similar to what you guys did?

 

Agree, what is the point of promoting something that is closed to the public? What is the point of building trails when you don't want people to ride on them?

 

I can only assume that it will be formaly opened at some point in the future

[Dan Dob]

Hi Hubbers,

 

Like Brando said, there is a race there this weekend and it will include a lot of these trails. I'd highly recommend entering it if you are wanting to ride great trails and experience great hospitality! And as the articles says, they will be hosting events here in the future so keep an eye out for them. Another way to ride them is through our  'Wild weekends', where we focus on incredible rides, good food and self improvement through skills clinics. Our first one in Piketberg will only be in February 2016 due to the owners finishing off the campsite first.

 

I don't think it's fair to the landowners and trail builders to suggest that they have to give the public access to trails-perhaps in a perfect world they would gladly do so. In the real world, they would have to deal with are rogue riders, self entitled people and riders that aren't self sufficient on the trail that create more of a headache than a R50 trail entry is worth. Just my 2 cents on the subject...

[Skubarra]

 

I don't think it's fair to the landowners and trail builders to suggest that they have to give the public access to trails-perhaps in a perfect world they would gladly do so. In the real world, they would have to deal with are rogue riders, self entitled people and riders that aren't self sufficient on the trail that create more of a headache than a R50 trail entry is worth. Just my 2 cents on the subject...

 

Hi iRide - I'm not suggesting they HAVE to give the public access. I just found it curious that someone would build & promote trails and then make it extremely hard for the general public to get onto. I'm no trailbuilder but I'm sure these things take lots of effort & money to build & maintain. But if that is the model that works for the owners then fine.

[rickus.jooste]

Hi iRide - I'm not suggesting they HAVE to give the public access. I just found it curious that someone would build & promote trails and then make it extremely hard for the general public to get onto. I'm no trailbuilder but I'm sure these things take lots of effort & money to build & maintain. But if that is the model that works for the owners then fine.

Hi, 

 

We started building these trails for ourselves several years ago and slowly it grew beyond the point where we no longer can justify only private use. 

 

The model that the Cape Town trails use are day permits/year permits and in a short radius there are thousands of potential customers. We are however beyond the "golden circle" around CT (we are 150km from CT) - we will have no customers during the week and only a couple of people over a weekend. Therefore we have opted for a One Day Event in aid of the community and then from next year we will be hosting a two-day stage race - the profits of which will go to maintaining and building more trails. 

 

The one day event does not feature all the trails we have to offer. The stage race will feature more of the challenging trails. 

 

Often people have moaned about why they should enter a race on trails that they can ride for R50. We are "forced" to close the trails for day permits and year permits as the cost of managing permits year round for a couple of visitors over a weekend would not leave any profit. 

 

With these three models we are going for exclusive access - trying to cater for people looking for something different, something challenging and something not everyone can experience year round. 

 

The trails are fun , challenging and rather different to the rest of the Western Cape - please come visit us at this year's event: www.piketbobergcyclechallenge.com - it is this weekend so hurry!

 

Cheers

Rickus

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Thanks Rickus, Dan has certainly got some high praise for your trails! 

[Skubarra]

That makes sense, good luck Rickus