Modderfontein Bike Park - what's happening

[OVERDRIVE]

5 hours ago, thebob said:

Something interesting on the proposed Chinese development of Modders:

 

Wish they left some money for trail maintainance...

[OVERDRIVE]

So...where are we now. Is this sorted? Can we ride? 

[TheoG]

9 hours ago, OVERDRIVE said:

So...where are we now. Is this sorted? Can we ride? 

Not in this weather ... It will be properly MODDER !   

[thebob]

Only a 10km and 20km loop available at the moment. Those trails are fine and clear to ride. The rest of the place is choked with weeds and blackjacks

[JRN89]

Hey all, 

I’ve never ridden the venue before, so some quick questions:

Have the trails been repaired? 

If not. Only 10 & 20km loops? 

Can you ride any day of the week? 

appreciate any guidance 👌🏽

[Nakoota]

I've ridden there weekly for the past 2 months or so, here is my take:

There are 3 loops open Orange (10km), Green (23km), Yellow (and extended variation on Green about 28km but I'm, still exploring it).

The loops are indeed shorter than "the old" Modder for now but in my opinion this will eventually be 1000% better. Instead of just cutting grass on 60km of poorly thought out and designed trails, Trail Wolf is rethinking the trail park, bringing back sections long forgotten (or reserved for the brave - like the unmaintained ruins) and actually building trails - there are now subtle features added all over the place. I had so much fun on the downhill through the trees yesterday I rode back up to the top on the fire road a few times just to redo the berms and jumps - and jumps scare me normally but these made me feel like Greg Minnaar.

They've also built a pump track by the shop if that tickles your fancy.

They are adding distance, but for now you have a well thought out, fun and rideable track that gets you to many of Modderfonteins' hidden gems.

Who wants to ride the red hillside and the river section anyway  ? These are largely the only parts still not in active maintenance - this said, you can ride any trail you want to if you know the park well.

I think they are open every day and Wednesdays till late.

Edited May 16, 2022 by Nakoota

[madmarc]

We rode there on Sat - Started at Flamingo Shopping ctr and went through the bottom or old gate, sneaked onto the hikers trails just after the gate to get to the MTB trail which is not open, so we expected it to be a bit rough - Once we were on the Dark Green route the trails were good and well maintained. 

The current maintained trails are a lot shorter than the old trails but you can see a lot of work being done on those that are open - Nice berms and jumps been built on the DH single track through the tree line. the rest of the trails were clean and grass cut back, the only real black jacks we encountered were off the maintained trail. The river and urban section is also good to go.

We did 30km and if you need extra distance then I suppose a double loop is the answer for now. 

I'm actually excited to see what next will be opened There is lots of potential, but will take time as lots of work still needs to be done.

A small irritation was the amount of litter i saw, I cannot believe in this day and age some people still don't give a toss - At the top gate, one area looked like it was a water point for a trail run event with plastic water sachets lying all over the place, obv. they didn't clean it up and just left after the event.

Maybe i'm to blame as well for not taking a few minutes to pick it up - Maybe an idea that we all ride trails with a checkers packet and take a few minutes to pick up litter when we see it and bin it at the trial head. 

I see in June they hosting another 24hr event  which i certainly intend to support.

 

[RearWheelDrive]

Been a long time Modder fan purely because I stay in Greenstone and its close. I think there are some nicer or different trail around but I'm not a fan of driving somewhere to cycle. So it is really cool to have something on our doorstep.

I have always found Modder a tough ride, done plenty of double red loops training for various events and even a single red can break you a little. (The old Red) 

I've been there twice since last week. Been avoiding the place since Jan because it was really un-ridable. I like the changes they did and you can see they are trying and doing well. It amazes me how quickly the old trails are overgrown. I can only imagine what the Red/Yellow bits look like. I'm not brave enough to go and look.

I would like it if they could do a 'Long distance type" route along the perimeter so that you can get some of that Trans type terrain. Not single track and jumps etc. Like along the fence and the old green route finish then up the hill to the gate. Don't know how long that would be 10/15km. Do a few laps of that at night would be cool.

I'm also keen for that 24 hour story, Don't know if I'm ready for it so I might just do the 12 hour. But if they make me ride that tar road climb over and over they cam keep it 😁

[Harryn]

I rode the green route yesterday. And its really nice. That said,  I thought green is for beginners/ dirt roadies. But I was surprised by some technical sections which are way above beginner level, especially in the ruins of Mordor where I ran out skill and saw my ass. twice. 
 

we bumped into the trail building team, and they are nice and friendly guys, and they are obviously putting in huge effort and seem excited and passionate about it. 

[OVERDRIVE]

On 5/16/2022 at 7:46 AM, Nakoota said:

I've ridden there weekly for the past 2 months or so, here is my take:

There are 3 loops open Orange (10km), Green (23km), Yellow (and extended variation on Green about 28km but I'm, still exploring it).

The loops are indeed shorter than "the old" Modder for now but in my opinion this will eventually be 1000% better. Instead of just cutting grass on 60km of poorly thought out and designed trails, Trail Wolf is rethinking the trail park, bringing back sections long forgotten (or reserved for the brave - like the unmaintained ruins) and actually building trails - there are now subtle features added all over the place. I had so much fun on the downhill through the trees yesterday I rode back up to the top on the fire road a few times just to redo the berms and jumps - and jumps scare me normally but these made me feel like Greg Minnaar.

They've also built a pump track by the shop if that tickles your fancy.

They are adding distance, but for now you have a well thought out, fun and rideable track that gets you to many of Modderfonteins' hidden gems.

Who wants to ride the red hillside and the river section anyway  ? These are largely the only parts still not in active maintenance - this said, you can ride any trail you want to if you know the park well.

I think they are open every day and Wednesdays till late.

 

On 5/16/2022 at 8:41 AM, madmarc said:

We rode there on Sat - Started at Flamingo Shopping ctr and went through the bottom or old gate, sneaked onto the hikers trails just after the gate to get to the MTB trail which is not open, so we expected it to be a bit rough - Once we were on the Dark Green route the trails were good and well maintained. 

The current maintained trails are a lot shorter than the old trails but you can see a lot of work being done on those that are open - Nice berms and jumps been built on the DH single track through the tree line. the rest of the trails were clean and grass cut back, the only real black jacks we encountered were off the maintained trail. The river and urban section is also good to go.

We did 30km and if you need extra distance then I suppose a double loop is the answer for now. 

I'm actually excited to see what next will be opened There is lots of potential, but will take time as lots of work still needs to be done.

A small irritation was the amount of litter i saw, I cannot believe in this day and age some people still don't give a toss - At the top gate, one area looked like it was a water point for a trail run event with plastic water sachets lying all over the place, obv. they didn't clean it up and just left after the event.

Maybe i'm to blame as well for not taking a few minutes to pick it up - Maybe an idea that we all ride trails with a checkers packet and take a few minutes to pick up litter when we see it and bin it at the trial head. 

I see in June they hosting another 24hr event  which i certainly intend to support.

 

 

On 5/16/2022 at 9:53 AM, RearWheelDrive said:

Been a long time Modder fan purely because I stay in Greenstone and its close. I think there are some nicer or different trail around but I'm not a fan of driving somewhere to cycle. So it is really cool to have something on our doorstep.

I have always found Modder a tough ride, done plenty of double red loops training for various events and even a single red can break you a little. (The old Red) 

I've been there twice since last week. Been avoiding the place since Jan because it was really un-ridable. I like the changes they did and you can see they are trying and doing well. It amazes me how quickly the old trails are overgrown. I can only imagine what the Red/Yellow bits look like. I'm not brave enough to go and look.

I would like it if they could do a 'Long distance type" route along the perimeter so that you can get some of that Trans type terrain. Not single track and jumps etc. Like along the fence and the old green route finish then up the hill to the gate. Don't know how long that would be 10/15km. Do a few laps of that at night would be cool.

I'm also keen for that 24 hour story, Don't know if I'm ready for it so I might just do the 12 hour. But if they make me ride that tar road climb over and over they cam keep it 😁

This is such awesome feedback. I live quite far from Modders but still did the drive...the new, shortened/adjusted tracks arent bad, but they're just not what they were-my boy enjoyed the ten, did the 23 after but it really didnt blow me away like the old track did. Really hope before too long everything is restored to its former glory. 

Edited May 19, 2022 by OVERDRIVE

[Henryfeather]

Absolutely love modders,have been a fan for 7 odd years,through thick and thin. It is much safer than spruit,which I also love.

Any trail you ride is as hard or easy as you decide.

[stevieg8]

Rode this morning. Did the yellow route, supposed to be 30km, but I was short , only did 26.5km. Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere 🙂 

The trails were the best I've seen them in a while. Very little mud around although that will change after tomorrow's weather sadly. 

Just beware, seems that hawk is back on the river section. It buzzed me 3 times, twice on the way out and once on the way back. Awesome to see but scary when you're not expecting it, flew low over my head from behind each time.

Edited May 20, 2022 by stevieg8

[I FLY]

1 hour ago, stevieg8 said:

Rode this morning. Did the yellow route, supposed to be 30km, but I was short , only did 26.5km. Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere 🙂 

The trails were the best I've seen them in a while. Very little mud around although that will change after tomorrow's weather sadly. 

Just beware, seems that hawk is back on the river section. It buzzed me 3 times, twice on the way out and once on the way back. Awesome to see but scary when you're not expecting it, flew low over my head from behind each time.

Never leaves the area. We live about 5 kms away and we often see them harvesting the pigeons we feed in our garden. It’s now breeding season so they are territorial and will be so for a few months

[Chadvdw67]

First time I have ridden here in almost a year, really enjoyed it, the new little features are really fun, and I cant wait for the "enduro bro" lines I saw to be properly opened, that is going to be fun....

 

The birds tagged me twice, once on the way in and once on the way out, obviously mom and dad were coming down at me, will be riding here more often now again, but will skip the creek part for the next few months while the birds are doing their thing.....

[JK7]

Seems like every other week there is a new (or old) section being opened up. Which is cool to see. Just need more riders to rip the grass up on them 

[stevieg8]

Rode this morning and was happy to see a couple of new routes and features in the first 5 km. I'd say 99% of the mud is all dried up too, so was very pleasant.