Berg and Bush 2 day first timer

[MphatiPyga]

Mikes is on the south side of the mountain and will most likely stay wet, Puff adder is on the north side so here's hoping that it dries out but I see more rain is forecast for Thursday night and Friday morning. Those round rocks are already a bit tricky, add a bit of water and we're going to be tested

Mikes is like a freeway now so shouldn’t be a problem and Pufadder was riding awesomely a few weeks ago so should be just great

[MphatiPyga]

And bloody jealous not to be doing it this year! Enjoy it guys and girls

[River Rat]

Mikes is like a freeway now so shouldn’t be a problem and Pufadder was riding awesomely a few weeks ago so should be just great

I so hope you're right. But I spoke to a mate who did the Descent and he said that the mud made it almost unrideable. Looking at Strava it seems that the Great Trek might have skipped this section but then again they had way more rain. I'm hoping that it dries out sufficiently before Saturday but hey this is Mountain Biking anything can happen.

[MphatiPyga]

I so hope you're right. But I spoke to a mate who did the Descent and he said that the mud made it almost unrideable. Looking at Strava it seems that the Great Trek might have skipped this section but then again they had way more rain. I'm hoping that it dries out sufficiently before Saturday but hey this is Mountain Biking anything can happen.

True, is a very freshly cut section of track so not properly compacted yet, when I rode it I struggled with the loose turf, it was the day after they did the work apparently, so I can imagine rain would not be good for it

[MphatiPyga]

Enjoy Pufadder guys

[River Rat]

Enjoy Pufadder guys

Ooh yes!

[River Rat]

So Puffadder was a jol except for the traffic, I noticed that the old overtake options were blocked off with branches which was a pity, overall it is way more manicured so everyone was riding just slower than I would of liked. Long drop and Bell run was fantastic even our novice riders enjoyed the thrill.

 

Only negative was the insane cut off at the first waterpoint on day 2 almost the entire K batch was cut and missed the Spionkop climb or maybe not the climb just the view!

[Monark]

I had a blast this weekend, the trails are riding so well.

 

My major gripe is sadly about my fellow riders and the complete lack of trail etiquette. A complete lack of calling and communication; stupidly dangerous overtaking and even some shoulder barging. I saw and experienced so many close calls this weekend. Some could have ended up near fatal had an accident happened where it would have.

 

I am astounded that riders can be this ignorant and selfish.

 

I hope that next year the organisers give the participants a short talk on trail etiquette. It was severely lacking this weekend.

[River Rat]

There are two sides to this story. So to set the scene I rode this race with my wife and were generally at the back of the field. I have no personal ambition but to ride the trails to the best of my ability, my finishing time is not my priority. The best of my ability in my book equates to as fast as I can, so my wife agreed that I would ride with her but when the trail heads down or is of a technical nature I get a pink slip to give it a go. This requires my fellow riders to play nice which as you'll see from this short clip has three very different outcomes.

 

In the first encounter the lady offered to let me pass and I told her to stay on the track and I'll look for a gap, in the second encounter her partner heard me coming and pulled off the track and encouraged me to give it horns. The third encounter is where the problems you are talking about occurs, there was absolutely no chance this chap was going to let me pass you'll notice that he actually speeds up when I attempt to pass. Fortunately, it was towards the end of that trail and I had to wait for my wife anyway. But you can see how this can get out of hand with tired legs and rampant egos.

 

As for the music this was playing in my head on Puff Adder pass which had way more traffic than this and that was hugely frustrating, no egos were bruised but then again I don't have eyes in the back of my head!