Cape Town Cannon Challenge

[capediver]

30 minutes ago, Mamil said:

Very pleased to hear everyone saying it's not rideable... Felt a bit of a wuss walking down it a while back when a wrong turn sent me off course. 

Waiting to hear from someone who has ridden it now.

Hahaha, OK, a bit of context...I'm referring to the topic...the Cannon ride, the route has you going up this short stretch which is a short-cut between jeep tracks...so UP, no.......DOWN,.....well that's debatable and depends on your skills and the size of your knaaters.....don't be ashamed, that excludes the majority of riders!!!!.🤣

[capediver]

45 minutes ago, capediver said:

That's "Traill 11" according to Trailforks...that section is definitely not rideable, either hike-a-bike or you have to ride on past it way out towards below Queen's blockhouse and climb the switchbacks....from Rhodes Gate all the way to the King's Blockhouse is rideable with almost any MTB/gravel bike if you stick to the main jeep track....video coming soon!

Fresh from the edit bench, waiting for HD version.....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4EV4CPkm44

 

PS first time up here and I did get lost and had a tough hike-a-bike....but all in, great ride....got there via Kirstenbosch/Newlands trail, then round Atlantic side, Llandudno, back up Constantia Neck..47.27km loop and 1626m ascent....

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Myself and a few mates including @leon_pro took on this challenge this past Saturday. It turned out to be a truly epic day out on the bike and a challenge I can highly recommend to anyone who enjoys these longer distance events. At times we felt like we were taking part in one of those "Amazing Race" episodes, having to navigate and find clues. The views of the Cape along this route are simply incredible. It was a reminder to ourselves that we live in a beautiful place. A stop in Kalk Bay for lunch was very welcome and gave us a chance to rest the butts and legs.

A mate of ours, Tom Bishop, had done it previously and his only words of caution were... "this ride only starts at the top of Kloof Nek at around 130km's, so keep something in reserve" and boy oh boy, those words were spot on the money. Table Mountain was the testing ground of our resolve as it included a rather nasty hike-a-bike portage that was hell on tired legs.

We started the ride in the dark at 5:30am from East City Cycles in town and finished in the same spot, 12h39m later, just as the sun was dipping over the horizon.

Here's a few photo's of the day to help motivate others who might be considering taking up the challenge.

Edited April 12, 2023 by BuffsVintageBikes
spelling

[Shebeen]

25 minutes ago, BuffsVintageBikes said:

Myself and a few mates including @leon_pro took on this challenge this past Saturday. It turned out to be a truly epic day out on the bike and a challenge I can highly recommend to anyone who enjoys these longer distance events. At times we felt like we were taking part in one of those "Amazing Race" episodes, having to navigate and find clues. The views of the Cape along this route are simply incredible. It was a reminder to ourselves that we live in a beautiful place.

A mate of ours, Tom Bishop, had done it previously and his only words of caution were... "this ride only starts at the top of Kloof Nek at around 130km's, so keep something in reserve" and boy oh boy, those words were spot on the money. Table Mountain was the testing ground of our resolve.

We started the ride at 5:30am from East City Cycles in town and finished in the same spot, 12h39m later, just as the sun as dipping over the horizon.

Here's a few photo's of the day to help motivate others considering taking up the challenge.

i think i need to tick this one off!

[Shebeen]

On 5/2/2022 at 2:38 PM, Trance Dance said:

I see they missed the cannons at the queen's blockhouse. Oversight or intentional display of patriarchal monarchism??? 

looks like this one also didn't get a look see

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@-34.3146726,18.4499015,3a,60y,223.13h,85.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjArUpN5hOvv9hWofm9NCAA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

and before you say Kanonkop is there, that's a different one

[Jewbacca]

5 hours ago, Shebeen said:

i think i need to tick this one off!

I'll do it with you..

[milky4130]

On 5/2/2022 at 2:38 PM, Trance Dance said:

I see they missed the cannons at the queen's blockhouse. Oversight or intentional display of patriarchal monarchism??? 

 

6 hours ago, Shebeen said:

looks like this one also didn't get a look see

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@-34.3146726,18.4499015,3a,60y,223.13h,85.35t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjArUpN5hOvv9hWofm9NCAA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

and before you say Kanonkop is there, that's a different one

Intentionally "missed" it's just not practical to tag +100 cannons scattered all around Cape Town. It's only required to pass the Cape Point gate to complete the route, if you really want to then by all means pay, enter the gate & tag away. There is another Cannon in Kommetjie where we just ride past the location of the cannon which is quite a hike to get to, again not a must but optional if you really need to. Same with the canon at Apostle Battery where the gate is always locked. Good luck with planning entry to the Noon Gun and still wanting to complete the route on the same day.

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Yeah, this ride states "16 historical cannon sites" not "all" the cannon sites in the WC. If that was the case we'd need a few weeks, there are cannons scattered all over the mountains around CT. I own a rather interesting book called "The Muzzle-Loading Cannon of South Africa". At the time there were something like 720 odd cannons placements recorded in SA.

[dave303e]

17 hours ago, BuffsVintageBikes said:

Myself and a few mates including @leon_pro took on this challenge this past Saturday. It turned out to be a truly epic day out on the bike and a challenge I can highly recommend to anyone who enjoys these longer distance events. At times we felt like we were taking part in one of those "Amazing Race" episodes, having to navigate and find clues. The views of the Cape along this route are simply incredible. It was a reminder to ourselves that we live in a beautiful place. A stop in Kalk Bay for lunch was very welcome and gave us a chance to rest the butts and legs.

A mate of ours, Tom Bishop, had done it previously and his only words of caution were... "this ride only starts at the top of Kloof Nek at around 130km's, so keep something in reserve" and boy oh boy, those words were spot on the money. Table Mountain was the testing ground of our resolve as it included a rather nasty hike-a-bike portage that was hell on tired legs.

We started the ride in the dark at 5:30am from East City Cycles in town and finished in the same spot, 12h39m later, just as the sun was dipping over the horizon.

Here's a few photo's of the day to help motivate others who might be considering taking up the challenge.

looks like it was an awesome day out. I might even have to brave the cape to give it a go

[Shebeen]

10 hours ago, milky4130 said:

 

Intentionally "missed" it's just not practical to tag +100 cannons scattered all around Cape Town. It's only required to pass the Cape Point gate to complete the route, if you really want to then by all means pay, enter the gate & tag away. There is another Cannon in Kommetjie where we just ride past the location of the cannon which is quite a hike to get to, again not a must but optional if you really need to. Same with the canon at Apostle Battery where the gate is always locked. Good luck with planning entry to the Noon Gun and still wanting to complete the route on the same day.

hold the phone - there's a 100+ cannons? now you've given me a proper challenge!

boltcutters are heavy, even the carbon ones.

11 hours ago, Jewbacca said:

I'll do it with you..

Radness!

[splat]

Weapon of choice:  MTB or gravel  bike ?

[BuffsVintageBikes]

Hardtail... or Gravel bike with mtb tires. We had one of each on the ride, a hardtail, a dual and my gravel bike (running 45C). The gravel bike was perfect for the first 130km's but some of those trails and descents in Newlands and on Table Mountain are rocky and washed out and I was forced to walk down a few of them for fear of binning it. Maybe younger more talented riders will cope fine but I wasn't willing to risk a fall so late in the day. I also pinched flatted on my rear tire after dropping the pressure for traction on the climbs. Fortunately a plug helped seal it.

[leon_pro]

11 hours ago, milky4130 said:

 

Intentionally "missed" it's just not practical to tag +100 cannons scattered all around Cape Town. It's only required to pass the Cape Point gate to complete the route, if you really want to then by all means pay, enter the gate & tag away. There is another Cannon in Kommetjie where we just ride past the location of the cannon which is quite a hike to get to, again not a must but optional if you really need to. Same with the canon at Apostle Battery where the gate is always locked. Good luck with planning entry to the Noon Gun and still wanting to complete the route on the same day.

The canon at Apostle Battery,  now that was a fun experience, we rode up to the gate, it was open, we carried on to the cannon, got met by a fella who looked rather surprised to see us. We told him what we were up to, and he said we can take the photos. He even tried to guide us to the other cannons lower down at another site. 
As we were leaving the area, there was a "oomie" with his coffee + slippers + cigarettes' standing at the gate, shouting, "you are trespassing" we tried to chat to him, but did not want to hear anything, so we left. 

Made for some entertainment. 

[leon_pro]

1 hour ago, BuffsVintageBikes said:

Hardtail... or Gravel bike with mtb tires. We had one of each on the ride, a hardtail, a dual and my gravel bike (running 45C). The gravel bike was perfect for the first 130km's but some of those trails and descents in Newlands and on Table Mountain are rocky and washed out and I was forced to walk down a few of them for fear of binning it. Maybe younger more talented riders will cope fine but I wasn't willing to risk a fall so late in the day. I also pinched flatted on my rear tire after dropping the pressure for traction on the climbs. Fortunately a plug helped seal it.

I was on the hardtail, and must say, at no point did i feel i needed anything else. I did however feel for @BuffsVintageBikes on the gravel bike. The last 30-40km is more suited to a MTB. 

There is marginal gains with the gravelbike over the 1st 130km but then when you hit the single tracks and rutted the MTB comes into its own. 

[capediver]

Muizenberg Poshys is there....

Make it 17 with a quick stop also in Muizies opposite Corner Surfshop!!!

[Johan A Marais]

What a crazy, but I am sure rewarding, ride.  Tom, who you referred to, also raved about this ride during our regular morning Vida "business" meetings. 

On my "to-do" list, must just find the time.  It seems like a day-of-fun event, and not let's see how quick we can do it event.