Northern Farm - Needs some upkeep?

[Paul Ruinaard]

I was out on my local trail today - Northern Farm. Its 20 minutes from home and I can ride there if i want  so i use it a lot. Or have in the past  Now I know its a working farm and there are many good causes there.

 

But

 

To me the trails are badly in need of some upkeep and some maintenance.

 

Which lead me to thinking a bit about this, and lead to some questions I think need to be answered

 

Its not like they arent getting a sizable chunk of change in there every weekend. There must be upwards of 200 cars Saturday and Sunday through summer, so it's a lot of money (at average of R 30 per rider which is conservative, they make R 400k to R600k per year out of the MTBers, even taking in to account that it drops off in winter)

 

And have been doing that for years - at least the past 5. So lets say about R 2m has been collected. THat is not a small amount of money.  Plus there are some big corporate sponsors.  

 

So where is that money going?

 

If its under Johannesburg Water then we probably haven't got a snowball's hope in hell of ever finding out.

 

Its certainly not going in to MTB (or R2m hasn't) and trail upkeep or additions. Its rutted, overgrown and the trails are stale and the trail builder lacks vision and creativity. The Spruit beats it hands down and it isn't getting close to the funding.

 

Does anyone know how this works - seems to me its another case of cycling is the golden goose that is being used by a lot of people. Maybe its time to give back to the cyclists Northern Farm?

 

Is it just me or is there something here ?

 

 

 

 

[Bonus]

I was under the impression that the land NF sits on belongs to Jo'burg water but that the "MTB Business" was a leased out entity?

[EmptyB]

I was under the impression that the land NF sits on belongs to Jo'burg water but that the "MTB Business" was a leased out entity?

That's what I've always heard?

[Uni]

Ian, the guy who manages the trails is on here, maybe worth dropping him a message but I agree there's been little to no new trails and sections to keep things interesting for many years

[Paul Ruinaard]

Ian, the guy who manages the trails is on here, maybe worth dropping him a message but I agree there's been little to no new trails and sections to keep things interesting for many years

Hopefully he comments.

 

I keep thinking what if the Spruit Fairies could do what they did to the Spruit - we would be in a different place....

['Kaze Pete]

I did a ride at NF during December, and found it more overgrown than anything else

[Paul Ruinaard]

I did a ride at NF during December, and found it more overgrown than anything else

My experience exactly.

 

Overgrown, badly rutted because of erosion on some of the sections, muddy (as in axle deep) on some of the others and in some places with overhanging trees actually plain dangerous. Hit my helmet very hard on a low branch that could not be seen.

 

It just seems like an opportunity lost - this place could be so much better.

 

If the trails are dangerous or havent been maintained or muddy because of irrigation, then close them, but having hundreds of folks through in a day when the trails are already not in good condition menas they get destroyed.

 

It seems like there is no control or oversight of the trails and hasnt ever been.

 

FWIW I have always felt that the actual single track (where itt exists) were uninspired in their design. Corners tighten and are off camber, no berms or anything resembling jumps on the single track, log bridges are badly put up and are dangerous. 

 

You can have the technical tight sections but some speed and flow are also important.

 

FWIW I love the little section below the Lanseria airport against the Jukskei but even that hasnt been maintained - its muddy, overgrown and its now eroded to the point that the exposed roots are pretty treacherous. I have been OTB once on those roots and whilst recovering on the side a much more experienced rider than me did the same thing in the same place. So its not just me.

 

It seems like the trails are built by someone who never rides MTB's, just weed whacks a track and leaves it to the MTB's to do the rest.

 

And its pretty big bucks that we are talking about - more than any other trail network in Jhb I would venture to say, although i dont know that definitively. IN comparison most of the others offer much more as well, which is the paradox

[MSquared]

Don't want to hijack...@ the Modderfontein /Central Park operator.... multiple BIG trees have fallen onto the single track. And those handle bar high black jack tunnels..???

[Reden]

The routes are overgrown a bit and some are rutted quite a lot. The mud...get used to this as there are a lot of ground water and recent rains creates more mud. We need the water.

 

There are quite a bit of new trails but if you stick to the old routes  you will not see them as some are just off the old sections. One have to miss some bits to get to new sections.

 

Single entry tariff is getting a bit stiff. R50!!!

20 Entry at R600 seems better but would make one wonder why the maintenance is behind.

[Paul Ruinaard]

Maybe need to change the topic to where is all the money going?

 

Honestly i get that its not a walk in the park to maintain and it's summer and there is rain etc and mud is part of MTB (although as everyone knows i hate mud) and its overgrown.

 

Spruit has the same issues as do all the trails in the Jhb area over summer. 

 

However what i am really pointing out is the amount of cash that the place generates compared to everywhere else in Jhb. Its a lot more than other trails - parking lot is full Saturday and Sunday weekend after weekend. And from another thread my simple calculations don't even take into account events that go through there (including 94.7 now) which adds to the pot.

 

Also FWIW the Diepsloot academy has corporate sponsors (Exxaro and ABSA AFAIK).

 

So what the real question is that I am asking is not so much about the trails, but in the light of the lax maintenance where is all that money going to?

 

Who is managing the N Farm finances and what does it look like.

 

I am just asking as the primary revenues source there is without doubt MTBers, and if that is the case possibly some others like me would like to see some of this money go back in to MTB - be it teams, development or maintaining the trail networks.

 

So question is  and who knows what the finances look like? Where are they disclosed and who has a handle on this?

 

Just asking questions - I am not alleging anything. Possibly someone knows.

 

FWIW, my back of matchbox calculations comes in at around R 2m over 5 years during which the place has looked like it does.

 

There was quite a large expansion of the trails about 4 to 5 years ago if memory serves me correctly to the current 40 to 50 km loop and since then not much more (incremental at best). The maintenance of some sections has really reduced.

[Bonus]

Having to increase security from young Stimrol on the gate to a crew of guys all over the farm cannot have come cheaply.

[ChUkKy]

Last time I rode at NF my arms got shredded by all the overgrown thorny weeds and blackjacks.

I go there to enjoy myself, not to torture myself and with all this rain recently... id rather keep away.

Maintenance has never been a top priority there which is sad because they have some great riding there.

[The real buffalo]

Hey guys,

Without answering on behalf of the farm let me shed some light on this thread and hopefully address your issues as Northern Farm is about the recreation through conservation.

 

Northern Farm is owned by Joburg water and is leased by NFRUG (all volunteers). The MTB academy is its own entity that is a benefactor of the farm as a community upliftment project. Unlike other trails around, this is a non-profit organization.

 

So that's the boring stuff out the way... well, kinda. Where does the money go? And why aren't the trails being maintained to their potential?

 

Where does the money go? The farm is very fortunate to have a very good security record (yes there was an incident 16 months ago), but security comes at a huge cost of having 16 - 20 staff out on the perimeters all weekend. That literally chews up a massive portion of any surpluss. The rest is spent on improvements, albeit slow without a cash injection and the small team behind maintaining everything we all enjoy. I know for a fact that the farm volunteers are trying really hard to bring in partnerships to inject the much needed boost into the farm.

 

So how about that trail maintenance? Not many people know it, but if you add up all the trails out there you will be in surpluss of 100km of trails. This is maintained by a team of 4 who do not manage to get to all the trails after every storm. So if a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it... please tell them if you come across low hanging trees or broken trees (and be nice, they all there to help you). I assure you, Bongani will get to it asap. There is no need to meantion the challenges that exist around the current weather, but it will be dealt with.

 

Trails are fun, they exhilarate and they do need upkeep or serious design. The farm is a nature reserve too, so the team cannot go out there and build berms or anything invasive.

 

I hope I have cleared this up as a volunteer at the farm. We do appreciate everything you tell us, but we need to work with people to make this better. There are big plans afoot for 2017 and we hope you appreciate them when they are complete.

 

If you really want to help out at the farm, we could always use hard working volunteers ready to make a difference.

 

Thanks guys, keep those wheels turning.

[FlandersZA]

Two weeks back I had a humdinger of an OTB on one of the downhill sections I've done a hundred times. The grass was overgrown along one of the sprinkler sections and I couldn't see the ground properly and so hit a newly formed erosion ditch. Not a poke at anyone, just a word of warning to take it easy if the trail isn't visible.

 

My absolute wet dream for NF would be to have a huge berm at the bottom of the first cow hump descent at the start and then another at the bottom of the next descent. I'd love to be able to carry speed through that section. Make it happen! You guys can grow mushrooms out the back of those!

[Bonus]

Two weeks back I had a humdinger of an OTB on one of the downhill sections I've done a hundred times. The grass was overgrown along one of the sprinkler sections and I couldn't see the ground properly and so hit a newly formed erosion ditch. Not a poke at anyone, just a word of warning to take it easy if the trail isn't visible.

 

My absolute wet dream for NF would be to have a huge berm at the bottom of the first cow hump descent at the start and then another at the bottom of the next descent. I'd love to be able to carry speed through that section. Make it happen! You guys can grow mushrooms out the back of those!

 

 

You're talking about the Left turn when you ride down from the barns at the start and then the right turn at the bottom of the next descent (which has always been an awful loose/muddy corner) - both would be ace!

[New2tri]

Two weeks back I had a humdinger of an OTB on one of the downhill sections I've done a hundred times. The grass was overgrown along one of the sprinkler sections and I couldn't see the ground properly and so hit a newly formed erosion ditch. Not a poke at anyone, just a word of warning to take it easy if the trail isn't visible.

 

My absolute wet dream for NF would be to have a huge berm at the bottom of the first cow hump descent at the start and then another at the bottom of the next descent. I'd love to be able to carry speed through that section. Make it happen! You guys can grow mushrooms out the back of those!

Ya 90 degree turns at the bottom of a downhill it's that great. So I second that.