St. Francis Bay Road Cycling Routes

[kerstinpackham]

Hi everyone, I want to know if there are good, safe road cycling routes in the St. Francis Bay region? I see that there are a lot of MTB routes but I haven't seen much on road routes. 

Also, how safe are the routes? Is drunk driving an issue there? I'm going to the area in Dec. and I'm not familiar with it much. 

[capediver]

Other than the local residential roads in St Francis Bay, one road in from Humansdorp with fair shoulder all the way to Seal Point..... the old road from Humansdorp to Jeffreys, little to no shoulder,

It will be December, expect the worst! Get a gravel bike and stay off the roads..plenty of tracks around including a challenging run to Aston Bay along the coast!

[splat]

There is one road in and out of St Francis
It gets busy, it gets windy and it gets boring quite quickly.

There used to be a really active roadie group who met every morning at 6:30 (or was it 6:00) at the Links Circle. And every day it was Humans Dorp and back. or Humans Dorp and the Quarry. Or Humans Dorp and The Farm Gate and sometimes it was Humans Dorp and Hankie and back.

The Jeffery's Bay Rd is really not recommended.
A few too many fatalities there.

So, my wife and I now take our gravel bikes and explore the many options, which include Humans Dorp, Oyster Bay, the single tracks and trail between St Francis Bay and the Light House etc.

There are stacks of cyclists - most of them on fatter rather than skinnier tyres.

 

[capediver]

1 minute ago, splat said:

There is one road in and out of St Francis
It gets busy, it gets windy and it gets boring quite quickly.

There used to be a really active roadie group who met every morning at 6:30 (or was it 6:00) at the Links Circle. And every day it was Humans Dorp and back. or Humans Dorp and the Quarry. Or Humans Dorp and The Farm Gate and sometimes it was Humans Dorp and Hankie and back.

The Jeffery's Bay Rd is really not recommended.
A few too many fatalities there.

So, my wife and I now take our gravel bikes and explore the many options, which include Humans Dorp, Oyster Bay, the single tracks and trail between St Francis Bay and the Light House etc.

There are stacks of cyclists - most of them on fatter rather than skinnier tyres.

 

like this one...

 

[Michael S]

Plenty of good gravel out there, loads of link up options out to Oyster Bay and back to Humansdorp side etc. 
Put the largest tyres you can fit onto your road bike and venture out on the dirt.

[Guest Mike Dewing]

6 hours ago, splat said:

There is one road in and out of St Francis
It gets busy, it gets windy and it gets boring quite quickly.

There used to be a really active roadie group who met every morning at 6:30 (or was it 6:00) at the Links Circle. And every day it was Humans Dorp and back. or Humans Dorp and the Quarry. Or Humans Dorp and The Farm Gate and sometimes it was Humans Dorp and Hankie and back.

The Jeffery's Bay Rd is really not recommended.
A few too many fatalities there.

So, my wife and I now take our gravel bikes and explore the many options, which include Humans Dorp, Oyster Bay, the single tracks and trail between St Francis Bay and the Light House etc.

There are stacks of cyclists - most of them on fatter rather than skinnier tyres.

 

My dad lives there.. that road sucks.. and ive sat waiting for cows to cross for a loooong time before.. 🤦‍♂️

[splat]

49 minutes ago, Bike Dewing said:

My dad lives there.. that road sucks.. and ive sat waiting for cows to cross for a loooong time before.. 🤦‍♂️

Oh yes. The dairy farm near Humans Dorp has become quite a hazard.
💩
Severely pot holed and slippery as snot if they have just crossed the road.
💩
Seen a few nasty crashes because of that .

 

[Guest Mike Dewing]

@splat Yes the roads in the eastern cape are not maintained at all.. my dad says ALL the money is stolen.. its really bad..

Edited November 8, 2024 by Bike Dewing

[Shebeen]

Maybe a dumb question, but how do you find the actual mtb cycling routes? 

Trailforks?

Strava? 

The cycling club has put so much effort into it, but only seem to have a private fb group as their Web presence. 

I'm in csf for the week

 

[DuncanCT]

You can also head out along the Wildside until you get to the sandy bit then turn back for a couple extra km's.

 

Edited June 30, 2025 by DuncanCT

[dave303e]

the adventure racer in me says Mordor is very close to CSF...

[Shebeen]

16 hours ago, DuncanCT said:

You can also head out along the Wildside until you get to the sandy bit then turn back for a couple extra km's.

 

Awesome. that's all i needed. couldn't find a map like this.

 

 

2 hours ago, dave303e said:

the adventure racer in me says Mordor is very close to CSF...

this is a "work from holiday home" week. but yes you are not wrong. Following on from the original post, good luck on your roadbike here. Pothole central!

[capediver]

Here's some footage of the section from Seal Point to Bruces (St Francis)...