Eldron Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 Hey guys - I need some "local knowledge"... I'm doing a charity drive & ride from Jhb to Cape Town and back in Aug and need some info on bike parks to ride along the way. The plan is to ride 1 or 2 parks per day between Jhb & CT. I've trawled a few pages and read up but actual tyres on ground knowledge is way better than a write up on the internet. So.... I'll be driving 300-400km per day each way. Completely flexible though - if there is more than 1 awesome park in an area I'll spend a day or two there then drive a long way the next day... The route down will be Gauteng-Northwest-Northern Cape-Western CapeRoute back will be Western Cape-Eastern Cape-Freestate-Gauteng I'm into the more technical stuff - not quite enduro/free ride but fast flowing pumpy jumpy mtb heaven style riding.... Great views and panoramic vistas would be awesome if I can fit those in too. Hell any touristy info would also be appreciated as I've always done the highway thing rather than back roads... If you've ridden an awesome park along either of these two routes please let me know! If you're keen to join me and show me that would be frikkin awesome - beer and lunch is on me! Cape Town we have sorted - we've ridden those flat :-) Thanks in advance!
Eldron Posted July 4, 2016 Author Posted July 4, 2016 this is a must http://www.gardenroutetrailpark.com/ That is on the list of definite maybes :-) 500km due east of Cape Town adds a lot of km to the route....
V12man Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 http://www.mtbroutes.co.za/ And some searching on Strava maybe to find routes?
Eldron Posted July 4, 2016 Author Posted July 4, 2016 http://www.mtbroutes.co.za/ And some searching on Strava maybe to find routes? Been through mtbroutes extensively - cool write ups but that doesn't always tell the tale of the trail... Strava is a fine idea!
MTBeer Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 That is on the list of definite maybes :-) 500km due east of Cape Town adds a lot of km to the route....but you said - "Route back will be Western Cape-Eastern Cape-Freestate-Gauteng" So you're going right past it. Or am I missing something?
Duane_Bosch Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 I've seen trails close to Clocolan in the Free State. You can see them from the road at the Cabin Farm stall if I remember correctly. More I don't know.
V12man Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 I had to google this, but Strava's heatmaps might help you get in the ballpark http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#6/22.71973/-30.05008/blue/bike
Eldron Posted July 4, 2016 Author Posted July 4, 2016 but you said - "Route back will be Western Cape-Eastern Cape-Freestate-Gauteng" So you're going right past it. Or am I missing something? That is the route - just not sure I'm going to hug the coast for that long. The Cape Town - Knysna route then heading back via Bloem direction looks really appealing though.
Eldron Posted July 4, 2016 Author Posted July 4, 2016 I had to google this, but Strava's heatmaps might help you get in the ballpark http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#6/22.71973/-30.05008/blue/bike That is pretty damn cool - thanks!
MTBeer Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 That is the route - just not sure I'm going to hug the coast for that long. The Cape Town - Knysna route then heading back via Bloem direction looks really appealing though.there's also Harkerville near Knysna - so worth going that way in my opinion. Garden Route TP is a blast. 4 different routes in the one park.
RockCoach Posted July 4, 2016 Posted July 4, 2016 I'll give you a tour of Hakahana's best flowing trails Since we haven't ridden together for years.
Josh0 Posted July 7, 2016 Posted July 7, 2016 I've seen trails close to Clocolan in the Free State. You can see them from the road at the Cabin Farm stall if I remember correctly. More I don't know.Apparently The Cabin trails are closed due to a bunch of chops riding there without permission, so the landlord got fedup and closed that part of the trails. In Bloem we have nice trails in the 7 Dams conservancy, Brandkop and also Happy Valley where the recent XCO nationals happened. Eldron you are welcome to contact me when you are on route to Bloem and I can show you around. We also like the tech and flowy stuff.
Eldron Posted July 25, 2016 Author Posted July 25, 2016 Apparently The Cabin trails are closed due to a bunch of chops riding there without permission, so the landlord got fedup and closed that part of the trails. In Bloem we have nice trails in the 7 Dams conservancy, Brandkop and also Happy Valley where the recent XCO nationals happened. Eldron you are welcome to contact me when you are on route to Bloem and I can show you around. We also like the tech and flowy stuff. Josh! Thanks for the offer but I've decided to make the trip Cape Town-knysna-Cape Town rather than Jhb-Cape Town-Jhb. There just aren't enough parks to justify the ~3,000km drive. Cape-Knysna-Cape Town is chocablock with trails! I'll certainly keep you in mind when I next hit Bloem :-)
MTBeer Posted July 25, 2016 Posted July 25, 2016 Eldron, I can add Heldeberg Trails in Somerset West to my earlier recommendation. Rode it for the first time this weekend and definitely one of Cape Town's best trails. Right up there with Jonkers and Welvanpas.
Eldron Posted July 25, 2016 Author Posted July 25, 2016 MTBeer! Cool. Added. Here is the list: In and around Cape Town I'll be doing "all the usual" with my mates Hoogekraal/Meerendal/Hillcrest/Contermans etc.Welvanpas for sure (my all time favourite park!)Heldeberg (thank you!) The on the road trip:Hemel & AardeOudeboschBonnievaleHomtiniGarden Route Trail ParkHarkerville Not sure I'll get to all of them in the 9 days I have available but I'm certainly gonna try! Does anyone have anyone have any other ideas?
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