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Dear Trail Builders


OVERDRIVE

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31 minutes ago, Eddy Gordo said:

I thought that Sam Reynolds, Nico Vink and Clemens Kaudela, built the darkfest line?

that's what they'd like you to think, but if you look closely at most of the trail building footage you would see Duran hard at work, both in the excavators and also just swinging spades. Sam, Nico and Clemens were the brain sparks, for sure, but don't dismiss Duran.

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3 hours ago, MORNE said:

I have the photos of a split open face, plastic surgery and shoulder X-rays of a posterior dislocation with a nice V groove sawed into shoulder ball by the shoulder blade to prove that if you go fast enough on a melo trail and run out of talent…ssshit can still be scary and go wrong big time haha. 
 

ps: bike was ok.

I ran out of talent in the street in front of my house attempting manuals last year. My ankle is definitely not thanking me for that.

But then, I realised back in 2016 by the a-frame that starts the trails after the skills-park at Hoogekraal that I need skills, when jumping over it one fine day I landed with the front wheel beside the bit where the wooden landing was. That bit that is also commonly referred to as thin air. . . concussion and a broken arm and some scars to the face as a result made me realise that just riding as far as possible and hours and hours in the saddle will not adequately address the issue of knowing in fact how to jump a bike.

That day steered me on a different course and now I ride trails that at least challenge me in some way or form for fun, and singletrack must at least include some level of advanced features that would preferably make me stop and ponder the next move to be considered fun to ride.

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28 minutes ago, Robbie Stewart said:

that's what they'd like you to think, but if you look closely at most of the trail building footage you would see Duran hard at work, both in the excavators and also just swinging spades. Sam, Nico and Clemens were the brain sparks, for sure, but don't dismiss Duran.

Ahh, awesome stuff, thanks

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21 hours ago, PhilipV said:

Nothing, but if he's bored of Tygerberg, Tokai will be much of the same..other than the Broken Road/Donkey trail and the DH line that is.

And the gnarlier stuff is outside of Tokai. 

Never ridden either, hope to soon!Where does Jonkers rate? 

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2 hours ago, PregoRoll said:

Joburg is in dire need of steezy trails. 

I've noticed thw WC chaps can actually have a full debate about trails, while we keep circing the same GP ones. Maybe we need to all get down there and ride those, get a break from what we have..

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15 minutes ago, OVERDRIVE said:

I've noticed thw WC chaps can actually have a full debate about trails, while we keep circing the same GP ones. Maybe we need to all get down there and ride those, get a break from what we have..

Or make the much shorter trip to KZN. You've got Giba Gorge, which has some decent steep, technical trails and some big drops, road gaps and jumps...all beyond my pay grade. Then there's Cascades, which is properly steep and gnarly and probably one of the best venues in the country for a proper enduro event. Just not a pleasant experience riding up that steep hill to get to the trails. Then there's Karkloof and Howick which have everything from mellow XC/Marathon cruising to rocky, steep and technical terrain that will give your skills a proper workout. As a recent immigrant to the Deep South here in the Cape, I've only ridden Tokai and some of the TM trails. I miss those KZN trails. Can't wait to try Jonkers to see how it compares to KK and Howick. 

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35 minutes ago, OVERDRIVE said:

Never ridden either, hope to soon!Where does Jonkers rate? 

Well that is relative to what you ride, and I can't comment on that. 

But Jonkers has everything from black lines  for the GnarBros, fast red and blue flow trails for the guys who want to feel like riding gods no matter how slow they go, a DH line, and old school lines that force you to work for everything. Oh, and you can climb on dedicated climbing trails too. 

If you visit down here, Jonkers is definitely worth a decent ride. 

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58 minutes ago, PhilipV said:

Well that is relative to what you ride, and I can't comment on that. 

But Jonkers has everything from black lines  for the GnarBros, fast red and blue flow trails for the guys who want to feel like riding gods no matter how slow they go, a DH line, and old school lines that force you to work for everything. Oh, and you can climb on dedicated climbing trails too. 

If you visit down here, Jonkers is definitely worth a decent ride. 

Take Me There GIFs | Tenor

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2 hours ago, Ride and seek said:

Try going faster...

 

Your boring trails with smooth corners suddenly become technical

Going faster on my "local trails" won't cut it, since that would lead to inevitable braking while speeding into corners, which would lead to inevitable trail damage, which would lead to inevitable threats of mutilation by the trail builder on his next email newsletter tirade.

Apparently a trail may only be ridden sedately and slowly with not so much as unsettling even the dust. If you are suspected of even looking at your brakes your membership may get revoked, or worse.

I was out at the skills park a few weeks back and upon taking the first table jump my right foot came unstuck from the pedal as I landed. Of course I grabbed a fistful of brakes to stop myself from launching off the next jump with only one foot on the pedals. As I made my way back up to the top I got chewed out by the trail guru himself for braking and not dying quietly. Funny that, since I thought part of the point of paying to ride was to remedy trail damage if and when it occurs. . . My bad, clearly I was wrong. 

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10 hours ago, Ride and seek said:

Try going faster...

 

Your boring trails with smooth corners suddenly become technical

The whole "go faster for it to be more technical " thing is a fallacy. It confuses technicality with risk.  

The "boring trails with smooth corners" will definitely become more fun. But those smooth corners will definitely develop braking bumps. 

7 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

Going faster on my "local trails" won't cut it, since that would lead to inevitable braking while speeding into corners, which would lead to inevitable trail damage, which would lead to inevitable threats of mutilation by the trail builder on his next email newsletter tirade.

. My bad, clearly I was wrong. 

 

This is not just A Tygerberg MTB story.

If you don't want braking bumps, don't build berms. But then 80% of the riders won't enjoy it as much, and they need to cater for that 80% for them to pay to maintain and build new trails. Flow trails bring in more numbers, but flow trails cost more to maintain. 

Robbie, you need to go ride in the platteland. You won't be disappointed. 

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21 hours ago, YaseenEnos said:

as many has alluded to here, are we just not overbiking in most cases?

Pinkbike posted an opinion piece with this question last week. After reading it I opted to take my singlespeed on that night's ride. It was so much fun. Going back to basics is totally underrated, 

18 hours ago, Rock Guy said:

Aah, my favorite topic again!

Soon we'll have okes rolling in here to say we need to fill up the gaps in the gap jumps to make more table tops.

On a side note, I was under the impression that Status Quo doesn't exist anymore. Last time I went past there MTO were logging that area. And to my knowledge it hasn't been open for a good few years now. Is it up and running again? Any plans to revive it?

 

Status is still very much closed. I've heard that they want to resurrect it after the harvesting is done. We can but hope. 

16 hours ago, Eddy Gordo said:

I thought that Sam Reynolds, Nico Vink and Clemens Kaudela, built the darkfest line?

They built the darkfest line, but Duran (and the rest of their crew) are constantly building other lines on the farm. They also built Plasir IIRC. 

 

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11 hours ago, Ride and seek said:

Try going faster...

 

Your boring trails with smooth corners suddenly become technical

The only way I can make Hennops fun now...

 

No brakes as much as possible and launch the massive braking bumps they have built

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19 hours ago, Robbie Stewart said:

A bit late back to the party - sometimes I need to get some work done too 😁

I ride mostly Conties Black Rhino, Bloemendal flow and Hoogekraal Skills park on the local trail network these days. Conties for the jank, Bloemendal when I'm lazy and Skills park for that very reason - skills.

It took met 2 visits after my ankle was able to hit big jumps again to clear the big intermediate jump line all the way to the bottom.

As what @ChrisF references, I see so many people pedalling past without even once taking a cursory glance at what's available. Each time I ride there, its the same faces. Each time. Even after a 7 month hiatus due to aforementioned broken ankle, upon my return, again the same faces.

I see a new line at Hoogies being plumbed by none other than Duran van Eeden, so there's something to look forward to. His trail building prowess needs no introduction as he has a rather large hand in Hellsend.

I do venture out to Jonkershoek Armageddon and Red Phoenix, Banhoek, Plaisir etc. more and more these days, but with the prices of diesel these days that is not such a frequent occurrence as I'd like. I am already consuming a tank a week as it stands for work.

I have to confess to not having ridden Tokai yet. The price has been the major issue I have with riding there. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but a day-pass to ride there seems exorbitant for what you get in return, at least, that is what I have been led to believe by mates who have ventured out that way before.

But look, I'm not looking for the gnarliest, jankiest, craziest lines out there, just some variation in skills that do not require me to simply point the wheel down the trail and push "go" on the autopilot. It seems of late that the trails in general are all the same old, same old and are mostly there for the " ek ry 100km per dag, my bru" crowd.

How about for instance adding one or two options at Hoogekraal for instance that would enable me to actually use the skills I've been learning by riding the skills park, instead of limiting me to only riding the skills park since a lap over the hill by contrast would be the equivalent of taking a step back. Maybe add a A and a B line option, where A is a gap and B is a table of the same size that is rollable. That way you get best of both. Some adrenaline for those seeking it, and some upskilling options for those who opt to roll the table. 

In hindsight, reading my post again, did I just describe Berm Park ? I wish . . .
 

Grab a bunch of mates to fill all the seats in a car, go to Tokai and make a morning out of it. Pack a picnic and avoid bootleggers on the way out to save moolah.   It'll be worth it just for the sake of variation that you crave, but if you do the Broken Road it will definitely challenge you. And riding UNFAMILIAR flow trails will also challenge you, and it's a lot of fun.

 

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12 hours ago, Ride and seek said:

Try going faster...

 

Your boring trails with smooth corners suddenly become technical

I was trying hard not to write here..>As Robbie has noted...The trail builders/clubs, Tokai and Tygerberg MTB do NOT like being asked for more technical trails, mostly IMOP because they won't stop to listen to what it is people are actually asking for...but that's for another time...maybe.

And here you see the HUGE problem because so many *** trail builders say the same...This is 100% a recipe for significantly worse injuries than having a trail that is more technical but slower and steeper. 

Think a lower gradient Status Quo for example.

It's not speed that kills...it's acceleration....So the more difference you have to slow down to 0m/s in a crash the worse off you'll be.

Slow people down...i.e. less berms, more off camber, less removing rocks from trails and you will likely have less severe injuries, more capable riders and most importantly less freaking monotonous trails where.

FYI...Iron Monkey does not have a 20m gap jump Jewwie...I see distance inflation here goin on the same as when climbers say a route is 18m long when it's closer to 12 :P

And the Hoogies skills park ... It's OK, but I can see why a lot of people just bypass it. It's mostly about jumping, some ppl don't like jumping and I for one don't consider jumps a "technical" MTB feature. They are kind of totally separate in that a pure flow-jump line (like what appears to be being built at Hoogies?) takes a hugely different skill set to riding a trail where line choice, braking points etc are paramount. 

At present...the only real places in CT we have where one is challenged from that perspective are all off-grid.

Tokai is BTW, running amazingly at the moment, with Switchbacks (I must remember to bring a saw for one particular tree trunk) being seriously good. Cobra has had a little "too much" work on the first section and corner but is also in good running amazingly well and DH0 needs more people down it. Plenty additional scope there for trails, but TMNP will just dig their heels in on that one.

So Jonkers it is and Witfontein...Most of the "best" trails are rider built in these to spots by more "old school" should we say peeps and are the ones people always bring up when referring to prime examples of excellent tech trails..>Status for example or the DH line in George (which is rideable on a 100mm travel HT in trail shoes on plastic pedals circa 2008) to mention but a few.

We certainly could do with more trails like that as well as proper grading of our trails such that ye olde average rider doesn't think they're riding a black trail (cough cough Cobra Hoogies or DH1 and 2 at Tokai) so has something to "look forward to" progressing towards :)

Anyway...I'm just glad I no longer live on Majik Forest and aren't reliant on having to ride Tygerberm every day anymore. OK Byeeee....see some of you on the mountain

 

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10 minutes ago, PhilipV said:

Grab a bunch of mates to fill all the seats in a car, go to Tokai and make a morning out of it. Pack a picnic and avoid bootleggers on the way out to save moolah.   It'll be worth it just for the sake of variation that you crave, but if you do the Broken Road it will definitely challenge you. And riding UNFAMILIAR flow trails will also challenge you, and it's a lot of fun.

 

You joke...we wanted to picnic there after a ride and they wanted to charge us R50 per person after riding to do this...even though we all had Craptivity Permits and/or had paid day permits 😐

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