Tygerberg MTB Trails

[Robbie Stewart]

4 minutes ago, Thermophage said:

Prepare for being dragged over the coals for that "Cobra is honestly not a hard trail to ride". Yes, it's a blue and needs regrading for the benefit of the community OK that's me out

I had to smile on my last ride down the Cobra...I was sitting on the bench at the bottom catching my breath and watched two okes on #endurobro bikes, kitted to the nines with knee guards, elbow guards, full face helmets, the lot... and then shortly behind them a guy and his wife / gf on their xc marathon bikes kitted to the nines in lycra and no other protection riding as hard as the #endurobros (including the rock slab)...

I was somewhat bemused.

[Thermophage]

1 minute ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I had to smile on my last ride down the Cobra...I was sitting on the bench at the bottom catching my breath and watched two okes on #endurobro bikes, kitted to the nines with knee guards, elbow guards, full face helmets, the lot... and then shortly behind them a guy and his wife / gf on their xc marathon bikes kitted to the nines in lycra and no other protection riding as hard as the #endurobros (including the rock slab)...

I was somewhat bemused.

Why do you think for years now we've been asking for slower, more technical trails and not more high speed deathtraps. Anyway, it's still a fun boy, but man is it severely overgraded both IRL and in people's minds

[Jewbacca]

Just now, Robbie Stewart said:

I had to smile on my last ride down the Cobra...I was sitting on the bench at the bottom catching my breath and watched two okes on #endurobro bikes, kitted to the nines with knee guards, elbow guards, full face helmets, the lot... and then shortly behind them a guy and his wife / gf on their xc marathon bikes kitted to the nines in lycra and no other protection riding as hard as the #endurobros (including the rock slab)...

I was somewhat bemused.

The padded full face guys would probably fair better if they crashed. 

Oli Munnik placed top 10 at the Jonkers enduro 2 years ago on a hard tail XC entry level signal, a 30mm stanchion fork and no dropper.

The 2 you saw could well have been the Georges or the Leonards... There are a number of power couples shredding together.

I say who cares. Wear what you want, ride what you want and most of all, stop judging

[Eddy Gordo]

1 hour ago, Mamil said:

Do people blame the trails for their crashes? I've only ever heard people post crash saying things like "I wasn't concentrating" or "I overestimated myself" or "I don't know what happened". I have never heard anyone say "that stupid trailbuilder". That would be like climbing Mt everest and blaming the mountain for killing you. 

Edit - cos while I made cofffee I was just thinking that it's the other way around - I've only ever heard the people I regard as "proper mtb riders" complaining about how easy the TGMTB trails are!

Yes. Just recently some one I know who is trying to progress, does not want to ride certain trails, for fear of falling/crashing. This is due to there being too many rocks and too many jumps.

[Robbie Stewart]

1 minute ago, Jewbacca said:

The padded full face guys would probably fair better if they crashed. 

Oli Munnik placed top 10 at the Jonkers enduro 2 years ago on a hard tail XC entry level signal, a 30mm stanchion fork and no dropper.

The 2 you saw could well have been the Georges or the Leonards... There are a number of power couples shredding together.

I say who cares. Wear what you want, ride what you want and most of all, stop judging

I agree on all points. I wasn't judging. I was pointing out how two polar opposites approach the same trail in the same way, making it clear the trail is easy ( to me at least )

But, I'm NOT on a Cobra moan-fest. I love the trail. All I said is I don't believe it is a hard trail to ride.

peace

 

[Newbie321]

12 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I can only guess its people who have not spent enough time focussing on skills progression who end up hurting themselves.

There's a good reason for the existence of the Leatt Skills Park. I have spent many hours this year just doing repeats there and I can attest to the improvements this has made to my overall riding.

So many people just pedal past on the average Saturday morning, and it always ends up being the same faces using the skills park each time I ride there.

So when new trails like the flow line is introduced people end up getting hurt, and first to blame will be the club for creating such dangerous trails, and those same people will never consider that their lack of skills are really at fault.

I did the flow trail a couple of times and decided it wasn't worth it for me. It's fast and if you get behind the brakes you are in for a world of hurt if you don't have enough skill and I think there in lies the problem, it was advertised as friendly to all. Ultimately the responsibility is on the riders though so I'm not blaming the trail-builders/club.

 

What I am miffed about though is that I enjoyed 'the pedal fest' at the bottom of Lombard's and were Lombard's and the flow trail meet will probably lead to some accidents. The new and 'improved' last bit is fast and the brake bumps show that most people riding on it probably don't have the skills to do so.

[Jewbacca]

1 minute ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I agree on all points. I wasn't judging. I was pointing out how two polar opposites approach the same trail in the same way, making it clear the trail is easy ( to me at least )

But, I'm NOT on a Cobra moan-fest. I love the trail. All I said is I don't believe it is a hard trail to ride.

peace

 

hahaha I didn't mean you in particular, just in general. 

The riding fraternities and sub groups tend to have quite a bit of judgy disdain towards one another.

I'm of the opinion that the Hoogekraal Cobra is a pretty perfect trail. It's easy to get down in one piece, but it also changes immensely as you get faster. 

There is enough there to keep you honest. As a deep south Local, the real Cobra is in Tokai...... 

[Eddy Gordo]

1 hour ago, Robbie Stewart said:

I had to smile on my last ride down the Cobra...I was sitting on the bench at the bottom catching my breath and watched two okes on #endurobro bikes, kitted to the nines with knee guards, elbow guards, full face helmets, the lot... and then shortly behind them a guy and his wife / gf on their xc marathon bikes kitted to the nines in lycra and no other protection riding as hard as the #endurobros (including the rock slab)...

I was somewhat bemused.

[Mamil]

I'd be interested to know the correlation co-efficient between number of years riding bikes on mountains and subjective rating of the cobra slab. I bet it's a negative one.

Bikehub does science. 

1. How old are you?

2. How many years have you been riding mtb?

3. On a scale of 1 to 10 - with 10 being impossible I'll never do it and one being - meh piece of cake how hard would you say the rock slab on the cobra is.

 

 

[Mamil]

1 hour ago, Eddy Gordo said:

Yes. Just recently some one I know who is trying to progress, does not want to ride certain trails, for fear of falling/crashing. This is due to there being too many rocks and too many jumps.

I would say that's sensible - I make that call about the DH lines on the trails - I know where that ends and it's an overseas holiday for the orthopedic surgeon.  If I aspired to that level of skill or believed I had it in me though, as an adult beginner I would get a mate or a coach to take me down the trail and teach me - no way I would attempt it solo.

I think if you're a kid (lets say teenager through to early 20's looking at a trail and thinking "I'll figure it out on the way down" is a reasonable approach.

[Thermophage]

5 minutes ago, Mamil said:

I'd be interested to know the correlation co-efficient between number of years riding bikes on mountains and subjective rating of the cobra slab. I bet it's a negative one.

Bikehub does science. 

1. How old are you?

2. How many years have you been riding mtb?

3. On a scale of 1 to 10 - with 10 being impossible I'll never do it and one being - meh piece of cake how hard would you say the rock slab on the cobra is.

 

 

When I first rode it in 2012

29 years old, 3 years riding (only moved to CT) and rode completely blind without issue.

I think you'll find most people are overthinking it and also don't bother to take the time to upskill off the trail or to session pieces of trail.

Another thing that helps a lot is simply getting your saddle out the way when trying new/scary things. IN the land of pre-droppers we did this even.

[Mamil]

2 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

You should go spend a Saturday morning at Bloemendal. I've seen the results of people trying to purposely dumb down obstacles intentionally placed there by the trail builders. Lombard's Terra point in case. Folks have been moving rocks around on that trail for years, and sadly I've also noticed how the trail has been getting steadily dumbed down over the years. Example being the step down jump which became a table, which became a roller. Is this to make it rideable for the majority? Has to be considering the handful of people riding the XCO line by comparison.

But sure, I am not implying people are blaming the club for their own deficiencies, but they're probably likely thinking it otherwise why try and make a trail rideable for you. If you can't ride a particular section of trail, go around it, and take that as the cue to improve more.

But in saying that, I haven't ridden the flow line yet due to my inability to even walk at this stage, but from what I've seen it really does not seem hard at all. Plaisir de Merle has an even bigger flow line than Bloemendal's one. Point I'm trying to make is that riding a mtb guarantees that at some point, you will separate from the bike resulting in a crash. The best way to mitigate this is to upskill and progress your riding. Just blindly getting on a bike and hitting some new feature just because its there is not the wisest thing to do.

You can't walk yet? You posted you were injured long ago I think? No weight bearing?

[Eddy Gordo]

1 minute ago, Mamil said:

I would say that's sensible - I make that call about the DH lines on the trails - I know where that ends and it's an overseas holiday for the orthopedic surgeon.  If I aspired to that level of skill or believed I had it in me though, as an adult beginner I would get a mate or a coach to take me down the trail and teach me - no way I would attempt it solo.

I think if you're a kid (lets say teenager through to early 20's looking at a trail and thinking "I'll figure it out on the way down" is a reasonable approach.

I hear you, rocks is a hard one to get around. Most trails have them. Jumps all have chicken runs.  Not every trail is gonna be as smooth as butter, so learning to ride rough stuff is important

[Rock Guy]

I'm sure if we increase the membership fees by a few 100% TMTBC could pad all the trails with high density foam. This should make everything very accessible to riders of all skill levels.

Added bonus, weeds cant grow on high density foam.

[Mamil]

Just now, Eddy Gordo said:

I hear you, rocks is a hard one to get around. Most trails have them. Jumps all have chicken runs.  Not every trail is gonna be as smooth as butter, so learning to ride rough stuff is important

Ja you can't ride a mtb and have a rule that says no rocks. It is however definitely possible to ride all the TGMTB trails except the DH trails, finish your ride and still belivee that Manu(e)al is a character from Fawlty Towers. 

[Robbie Stewart]

2 minutes ago, Mamil said:

You can't walk yet? You posted you were injured long ago I think? No weight bearing?

I can walk unaided from the kitchen to the couch which is around 10 meters. Do this a few times and the ankle swells up and starts to ache, which is normal apparently. For the rest of the day I walk with either one or both crutches keeping me upright, so essentially swopping between 50% and 100% weight bearing. It will be 7 weeks since the op on Wednesday, so slowly does it. I am aiming to be off the crutches by Friday 26th and then I will slowly venture out on tar. I started driving at least a week ago again, so that's sorted.