Modderfontein Bike Park - what's happening

[thebob]

Thanks for the info Dieter and madmarc!

[scubes]

How about a massive group ride thru the black arrow white arrow route thru the ruins.....

[JK7]

I’m going to go attempt it tomorrow morning. Will head off 7:30am.

 

Does concern me to do it on my own - would hate to crash on a section that is not really used by people !

[Muttley]

This is what the entrance looks like (sorry about the large photo- using my phone):

 

When my mate and I rode the route late last year, some of the pipe bridges were destroyed by a controlled fire. It’s a cool section, just be careful with all the stairs!

[Uni]

I’m going to go attempt it tomorrow morning. Will head off 7:30am.

Does concern me to do it on my own - would hate to crash on a section that is not really used by people !

The reserve is closed on Mondays.

[Dexter-morgan]

How about a massive group ride thru the black arrow white arrow route thru the ruins.....

Lets do something next week with Dieter as captain

[JK7]

The reserve is closed on Mondays.

You just saved me a ton of trouble. And swearing. Plenty swearing.

[ChrisL]

You just saved me a ton of trouble. And swearing. Plenty swearing.

LOL!!!!!

[Dieter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

Yeah I did the ruins today! There was a fairly large group of others that did it as well. If you want a group ride we can talk during some beers at Over the Moon this Wednesday 

[madmarc]

Not useless at all!!! I would love to do a factory tour of the plant one day.

 

then you should visit the dynamite factory museum its situated next to 33 high street restaurant, havn't been there in years but was very informative when i did visit there last

[Eldron]

then you should visit the dynamite factory museum its situated next to 33 high street restaurant, havn't been there in years but was very informative when i did visit there last

I see your useless info and raise you a "I went to a gala dinner at Alfred Nobles original dynamite factory in Stockholm" a few weeks ago ????????????

 

It got renovated a few years back and is now a cafe/restaurant/conference centre.

 

It was pretty cool eating dinner in a building with so much history, science and prizes!

 

http://www.winterviken.se/om-oss/historia

[Nakoota]

Okay so if you have never been to the ruins...

 

Follow red and end up at (A) on my map. You do the river section (up the creek, Red path on the map).

 

After the river section, (A) don't cross the tar road. Follow black arrows with red borders, over the rocks and all that jazz (in orange on the map). There are other colour borders but i'm not sure if they reach the promised land. You will come across (B), the black arrow with white border. This takes you to the ruins and out of the Modderfontein reserve into the old factory. Can be tricky to navigate in there at one or two points as it's hardly ridden. We change that! Enjoy the Ruins of Mordor! 

 

Holy sh*t, how have I not found this in 8 years of riding modder!

[slickjay007]

Just some useless information -  as an ex employee of Modderfontein. The ruins you ride through are not the old dynamite factory per se, and neither is there a dynamite mine in that area. Dynamite is not mined its manufactured.

The Factory is the entire complex which can still be seen from the main road, here they manufactured various chemicals and fertilizers as well as detonators etc.

 

The main reserve is the where the old explosive storage bunkers were situated some of which are still used for other purposes and we ride through or past them on some trails. The ruins in the black section are actually mixing stations, where the final open cast mining explosive were processed. This was a process where Ammonium Nitrate (fertilizer) was mixed with diesel, which is an extremely volatile and dangerous process. This is why the ruins walls are all very thick and heavy with the roads and buildings have huge embankments surrounding them (these are blast walls).

 

Those of us who grew up in Edenvale and Kempton will remember some of the huge explosions that happened there - well this is where they happened, when the mix process went wrong the station blew up. During my time i was on the maintenance crew that had to clean out and rebuild 2 such exploded stations. Luckily they it was an unmanned process so no workers were actually present or killed in the stations (at least during my time there), but some were killed from flying debris which landed as far as 1000 m away from the explosion.

 

AEL - still use the area as an explosive storage are, these are now located behind the fence which runs parallel to the reed section. 

 

Awesome bit of info considering i stay in Edenvale and Modders is on my door step. I heard that an American company bought over the factory and only now use it to store and ship explosives?

[KevinRhino]

Modders is closed on Mondays, but if it is a public holiday like the the 17th June - then they are open for riders.

[Deonwes]

I have also been critical of the condition of Modderfontein trails the last few years purely because I know what potential it has.

What a lovely surprise to ride yesterday and find the ruins of Mordor in probably the best condition ever.

This is definitely my new favorite section. I even posted a KOM and I wasn't trying to.

It's a hidden gem that more people need to ride. Signage could improve but once you know the route it's easy.

[gerryonimo]

Yeah I did the ruins today! There was a fairly large group of others that did it as well. If you want a group ride we can talk during some beers at Over the Moon this Wednesday 

Thanks for all the info Dieter. I have ridden the ruins a year or so ago and they are great fun to ride! Not everyone that rides at Modder knows about them and I have spoken to a few people that struggled to find them. Perhaps a group ride guided by the experienced riders is a good idea. We are fortunate to have these tracks on 'our doorstep', for the Edenvale and Bedfordview residents, so to speak. There really is a good variety of different trails to ride , for all abilities, at a reasonable price!I was a little disappointed in the marking of the Yellow route trail, for those that are not familiar with the route there are some arrows that are misleading and a few that need to be added! Happy to support our local trails and will keep an eye on this thread should anyone take the initiative to set up a group ride there in the future!