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Fountains closed to mountain bikers


_Daemon_

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Or at least to everyone except the pta mtb club, whoever they really are. Me and a buddy took a brand new mtb'er there on saterday, after a session at Logwood in the morning just to

be told we are not allowed to ride in Fountains anymore cause it's closed to all mountain bikers except Pretoria mtb club members. There's already so little decent places to ride apart from logwood, nfarms and the odd little field here and there, what makes the pta club so special to have exclusive riding there? Anyone know anything more about this or am I missing something?? If they want to control access to Fountains, then a permit system like at nfarms or logwood would work much better, but it seems a little wrong to close a "public" place to everyone except a certain club.

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maybe the pretoria mountain bike club urgently needs some members? a pity, those singletrack were awesome playground!

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There is no mention on any website that you have to be a member. If the gate guard wanna get a klap I will give him one if he tells me I have to be a club member.

 

The Managers e-mail address: davidb@tshwane.gov.za

 

 

 

I will write and ask what is going on.

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

Cois

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same thimg happened here in Worcester...

The person who owns the land where we always do 'Windpompie' said that no mountain bikers were allowed here anymore.

After some negotiation the Worcester Wheelers club got permission to use it again. But only if we wear club kit and follow all rules and regulations given to us by the land owner.

 

I think it is basically to control the flow of people going in and damaging things. If there are only a select group allowed there, the guy knows where to complain if something is out of place. He also encourages communication and expects us to tell him if we saw someone that should not be there or something that has been damaged. 
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same thimg happened here in Worcester...

The person who owns the land where we always do 'Windpompie' said that no mountain bikers were allowed here anymore.

After some negotiation the Worcester Wheelers club got permission to use it again. But only if we wear club kit and follow all rules and regulations given to us by the land owner.

 

I think it is basically to control the flow of people going in and damaging things. If there are only a select group allowed there' date=' the guy knows where to complain if something is out of place. He also encourages communication and expects us to tell him if we saw someone that should not be there or something that has been damaged. 
[/quote']

 

I can understand that to a point, however this is "public" land as anyone can go there and have a braai or walk around etc. There's lots of parties that happen there, and it's then that damage get's done, like broken beer bottles all over the place etc. And who is PTA mtb club anywyay? Never seen any of their riders, or anything...If they want to control it, then control it the way Logwood or Northern farms does it.

 

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Sa, for example, I owned Fountains Resort, and each day a bunch of mountainbikers arrived and broke basic rules of respect by destroying the vegetation and causing general erosion by not sticking to demarcated routes, I would then be very annoyed and not allow any mtbing to take place.

 

If then some individuals approached me and said they were prepared to take responsibility, but only if access was restricted to members, I would be happy, but is it my responsibility to ensure the PTA Mbike Club is legit or accessible to the general MTB community?
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Sa' date=' for example, I owned Fountains Resort, and each day a bunch of mountainbikers arrived and broke basic rules of respect by destroying the vegetation and causing general erosion by not sticking to demarcated routes, I would then be very annoyed and not allow any mtbing to take place.

 

If then some individuals approached me and said they were prepared to take responsibility, but only if access was restricted to members, I would be happy, but is it my responsibility to ensure the PTA Mbike Club is legit or accessible to the general MTB community?
[/quote']

 

Fully agree, however fountains is a public place and not a private resort, and the mountain bikers actually keep the place in a good condition. It's the "freedom day" and such parties that mess the place up with broken beer bottles and junk thrown all over the place even between the jungle gyms where the kids play....

 

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Does anybody know if the same applies to Groenkloof Nature Reserve???? Dirt Rider what is you angle on this??????? I might be wrong but you regularly frequent this locale with your night rides and other rides. You can act as a voiciferous agent there!!!!!!!!

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Does anybody know if the same applies to Groenkloof Nature Reserve???? Dirt Rider what is you angle on this??????? I might be wrong but you regularly frequent this locale with your night rides and other rides. You can act as a voiciferous agent there!!!!!!!!

 

Groenkloof is open to everyone, fountains right next door is closed to everyone except pta mtb club. Which is sad, cause IMO groenkloof does not even come close to the quality of singletrack that fountains have. And offcourse the dirtjumps as well.

 

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I like Groenkloof because it serves well for "amateur" MTB'ers.

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There is no way that anybody can convince me that the mountain bikers can damage fountains valley more than the other non cycling folk "enjoying" booze there.  It has happened that I had to carry my bike, on that road passing the entrance, for about 500 meters because all four lanes were covered with glass.

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Hi there.

 

 

 

David from Groenkloof just phoned me.

 

 

 

He said that it isn't true at all. The can't restrict the entries in any way. There must have been a comms error with the cashier or something.

 

 

 

He said that if we have any trouble getting in at any of the venues we must ask them to give him a call and he will sort it out.

 

 

 

Nice bloke isn't he?

 

 

 

So lets hope this sort things out.

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

Cois

 

 

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Hi there.

 

 

 

David from Groenkloof just phoned me.

 

 

 

He said that it isn't true at all. The can't restrict the entries in any way. There must have been a comms error with the cashier or something.

 

 

 

He said that if we have any trouble getting in at any of the venues we must ask them to give him a call and he will sort it out.

 

 

 

Nice bloke isn't he?

 

 

 

So lets hope this sort things out.

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

Cois

 

 

That's great news! Mailling him quickly to explain what happened.

 

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From David:

 

 

 

Soos met jou bespreek die Fonteine oord is onder gee omstandighede slegs oop vir die Pta bergfiets klub nie, almal is welkom om daar te ry indien hulle die nodige toegangs gelde betaal. Ons waarsku die besoekers aan “Jumbo rally” vir rowery aangesien ons oor die laaste paar maande probleme in die area opgetel het. Tans is daar daagliks patroleerders wat die area patroleer om sulke probleme te voorkom.

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