UCT XCO Track ?!?

[Oufy MTB (Roadie)]

I ride it quite often, totally enjoy it, can't wait to take my sons there. I often see High school kids training there

[lee pastor]

Hi everyone,

Is the track above UCT tennis courts still there?

I found the other one close to the windmill but it needs to be resurrected, anyone able to point me in the direction to get it cleared, or can we just go in and start pulling weeds and clearing the track? It's not fenced off or anything but the land is owned by UCT and the sign states that UCT cycling club maintains but I've reached out to them and haven't gotten a response.

I'm by no means a trail builder and I'm actually quite new to the sport, but I'm keen to get my hands dirty and the tracks back up and ridable.

Edited March 8 by lee pastor

[Donovan Le Cok]

The track above the tennis courts has been long gone unfortunately. It was destroyed in the April 2021 fires (or 2022 cant remember)

It was a great little techy loop to practice XC.

[Nuffy]

Sad news all round. As part of UCT Cycling I got permission for us to build on Middle Campus by the windmill, and spent many hours there shovelling dirt. I left Cape Town in 2011 and have lost touch with the crews riding and building there. I believe there was a guy who had no UCT affiliation who took the lead on the jump building, but I’ve forgotten his name and I don’t know what has become of him.

@lee pastor if you want to go and do some maintenance and building I’d be surprised if anyone had an issue with it, especially given how neglected it looks. However, if you plan on spending a lot of time there it might be worth visiting the UCT sports centre and just introducing yourself to the club coordinator and explaining your intentions. Unfortunately the students come and go, so there isn’t always continuity between generations. I don’t know what UCT Cycling is like now. I also never had anything to do with the XC loop above the tennis courts, except to walk around it once on a visit to Cape Town. It was built after I had left.

Edited March 8 by Nuffy

[DJR]

18 hours ago, lee pastor said:

Hi everyone,

Is the track above UCT tennis courts still there?

I found the other one close to the windmill but it needs to be resurrected, anyone able to point me in the direction to get it cleared, or can we just go in and start pulling weeds and clearing the track? It's not fenced off or anything but the land is owned by UCT and the sign states that UCT cycling club maintains but I've reached out to them and haven't gotten a response.

I'm by no means a trail builder and I'm actually quite new to the sport, but I'm keen to get my hands dirty and the tracks back up and ridable.

 

Both have been in disrepair since the Covid pandemic and the big fires.

I suggest talking to the UCT Sports Admin people, but remember that they will likely be a burocratic bunch and you are not likely to get much in terms of agreement or support. But really, all you want is to not get any explicit prohibition from them.

Then, when the first winter rains started and the earth there is soft enough to work with (at the moment it is rock hard clay), start clearing and fixing up the jump track near the mill. One line at a time. But it will be a good idea to get someone who knows about jumping to give advice. Some of the jump lines are good for bmx and others for dirt jump bikes. One of two lines work for any MTB. But unfortunately there are several that were built and are totally crazy and impossible / dangerous. At one stage I think a total madman constructed stuff there that never worked and was probably built in a drug fueled craze. It is important to know what to restore and what to demolish or you will waste time and energy. Ignore the UCT signs.

The XC track abouve Upper Campus I think is gone forever or at least until the UCT Cycling club revives itself and get trail builders and funds to rebuild it.

(I live close by, used to jump there, but no longer do.)

[Hairy]

That sign is so old it looks like the Archaeology uncovered it after being underground for 150 years

[DJR]

37 minutes ago, Hairy said:

That sign is so old it looks like the Archaeology uncovered it after being underground for 150 years

After the 2021 fires, UCT used the site to dump the wood chips and debris from the trees they cut and removed. A big par of it is now just a huge compost pile. The sign has mostly been a joke and relates to the area between the jumps and the historic old Welgelegen homestead which belongs to UCT and which they have neglected so badly that it a terrible shame.

[timdklein98]

As the former Chairperson of the UCT Cycling Club (during the time of the fires), I can weigh in on what happened...

Obviously, the fires destroyed the track and the surrounding area (especially the trees). After, there were some discussions around how to rehabilitate the area. UCT were advised to remove the trees which further damaged the track (heavy machinery and debris everywhere). We, as the club, were told that UCT had a plan to rehabilitate and rebuild the area and that we could submit our plans as part of that discussion. But that never really happened. We were met with a wall of poor communication and haven't really been able to have proper discussions around it with UCT since. We had potential investors and builders already lined up and all we needed was the green light - which annoying hasn't come.

Although I'm no longer on the committee, I'm sure this challenge still remains on the annual agenda. 

It is very sad to see the state of the area now. Especially having seen what the track was and the efforts that were put in by previous committee members to bring it to life.

[DJR]

47 minutes ago, timdklein98 said:

As the former Chairperson of the UCT Cycling Club (during the time of the fires), I can weigh in on what happened...

Obviously, the fires destroyed the track and the surrounding area (especially the trees). After, there were some discussions around how to rehabilitate the area. UCT were advised to remove the trees which further damaged the track (heavy machinery and debris everywhere). We, as the club, were told that UCT had a plan to rehabilitate and rebuild the area and that we could submit our plans as part of that discussion. But that never really happened. We were met with a wall of poor communication and haven't really been able to have proper discussions around it with UCT since. We had potential investors and builders already lined up and all we needed was the green light - which annoying hasn't come.

Although I'm no longer on the committee, I'm sure this challenge still remains on the annual agenda. 

It is very sad to see the state of the area now. Especially having seen what the track was and the efforts that were put in by previous committee members to bring it to life.

It really was a lovely track.

[Shebeen]

On 3/8/2024 at 1:03 PM, lee pastor said:

I'm in danger of letting a good story get ruined by facts, but this is how it was relayed to me (thumbsucking circa 2010):

"group of UCT cycling club dudes wanted to get a jump track going, they identified the portion on middle campus and laid out potential lines. Getting green light through sports admin was taking forever, as potential issues kept on cropping up. Tertiary sports admin is like that, things moving quicker than glacial pace are viewed with suspicion and will either be stopped or slowed down. Plus they need to play windows Solitaire for the first and last hour of the morning and afternoon work shifts. Final sticking point was insurance; the admins got poepscared when they looked on youtube and saw danny macaskill backflipping off a parkbench onto an old shed roof or sumfink.

- how would they control who was riding and what was stopping someone from suing UCT if/when people got properly injured?

So the project stalled, until one of the students was chatting to his Archeology prof, and they uncovered the obvious solution staring at them. UCT insurance covered any accidents at archeology sites, so the plan was to declare the jump track an " archeological dig" and all students who wanted to jump signed up for the Archeological society at R200/year. 

This got the ball rolling, and after a year or two when it was functioning like they said it would, uct sports took it over as an actual facility and the admins went back to Solitaire."

 

 

 

[DJR]

On 3/11/2024 at 9:19 PM, Shebeen said:

I'm in danger of letting a good story get ruined by facts, but this is how it was relayed to me (thumbsucking circa 2010):

"group of UCT cycling club dudes wanted to get a jump track going, they identified the portion on middle campus and laid out potential lines. Getting green light through sports admin was taking forever, as potential issues kept on cropping up. Tertiary sports admin is like that, things moving quicker than glacial pace are viewed with suspicion and will either be stopped or slowed down. Plus they need to play windows Solitaire for the first and last hour of the morning and afternoon work shifts. Final sticking point was insurance; the admins got poepscared when they looked on youtube and saw danny macaskill backflipping off a parkbench onto an old shed roof or sumfink.

- how would they control who was riding and what was stopping someone from suing UCT if/when people got properly injured?

So the project stalled, until one of the students was chatting to his Archeology prof, and they uncovered the obvious solution staring at them. UCT insurance covered any accidents at archeology sites, so the plan was to declare the jump track an " archeological dig" and all students who wanted to jump signed up for the Archeological society at R200/year. 

This got the ball rolling, and after a year or two when it was functioning like they said it would, uct sports took it over as an actual facility and the admins went back to Solitaire."

 

 

 

Ha ha, yes, I can see that as a totally probable story, having had to deal with large institutions, including UCT, myself. But is IS apretty good story!