Suikerbos

[The Saint]

Right so arriving to a long que of cars parked outside the Suikerbos Rand gate on Saturday morning we are confronted by a guy wanting us to sign a petition to get the gates opened earlier.

 

Fair enough. On talking to him we find out that the powers at be want to stop cyclists from going into Suikerbos because the bird watchers are complaining that cyclists scare the birds away and cyclists in general are not obeying the rules of the park.

 

Ok so anyways we sign the petition contemplating the fact that this guy is giving in a petition by people who are almost in the banned list demanding that the gates get opened earlier in the morning therby affording them more opportunity to disobey the rules of the park - not logical but anyways.

 

So taking note of this our cycle begins and low and behold on finishing the ride I obeserved 5 riders 4 Mountain bikers 1 Road Biker comming down the wrong way. Jow Louw went up the hill to pick up one of our guys waiting at the top and had to dodge another 2 cyclists comming down the wrong way and at the top of the hill observed another 1 turning down the the no entry road. So we had 8 people disobeying the rules of the park in the space of about 10 minutes. I would not like to hazard a guesss as to home many there were throughout the day.

 

We are our own worst enemies. How can we blame the park officials for wanting to get rid of us when there is this blatant disregard for the park rules by what I can only term as these f#ckwits who are too lazy or too unfit to ride the 12 Km's required to complete the course properly.

 

I am of the opinion that only season ticket holders should be allowed to ride in the park and any transgression of the rules should result in the season ticket being revoked and that person banned from riding in the park. I am increasinly getting tierd of these fly by nights comming in to the park and stuffing it up for the regulars who abide by the rules.

 

I will be staying at the park next weekend and will try to meet with the park officials to come to some sort of an agreement to keep cyclists there, but an agreement that is going to ensure that cyclists stick to the rules and if they don't they can go back to the Lido routes or go ride on the f'ing N1 highway for all I care.

[turtlek]

Muxman i can agree with you in all but one of the points as a person that might ride there once every two months if that, i find that it will be a bit unfair for all of us that do ride out there from various points without season tickets to get a good long ride in with a decent set of hills

 

 

 

so i can agree with you there but then shouldn't we as cyclists confront these idiots and give them a good talking to about it because if they dont get spoken to then how can we complain

[The Saint]

Turtle the problem with confronting them is that there is no authority or ramifications behind the confrontation and the chances of that person just telling you to f off are high.

 

A total ban from the park would be first prize but how do you manage that?

 

A hefty fine from the parks board might be the answer to the casual riders  and a no throughfair at the gate of the road at which they are transgressing and make them ride back up the bloody hill and do the additional 12 km's aswell.

 

The other problem they have there are that very inexperienced riders are going there and falling badly. I am not sure if the parks board is covered for this type of incident insurance wise and the first lawsuit laid against them will certainly bring an end to our cycling pleasure there.

 

What people need to realize is that his place is a NATURE RESERVE and is all about CONSERVATION and when they start messing with that they are not going to get to stick around there for a long time.

[Spidey]

Geez i would be sooooo pissed if they ban us from the reserve!!!!!!!

[turtlek]

I can agree with that Muxman and confronting them is a risk i will be more than willing to undertake seeing as i actually enjoy riding there swearing and cursing at a guy asking you to do something that is actually right shows a person how mature the other one is

 

 

 

and if that does happen then we can take it further by either reporting the cars registration to the guys at the gate or calling thier offices durin the week and getting the park to prevent access for that car (might not solve the issue if they come in another car but will make them think twice about doing something stupid again

 

 

 

it will take time doing it like that but as time goes by the work that will be done by us will eventually pay off

 

 

 

although it is cliched i do believe rome was not built in a day and i would rather have us riding there than banned from there

[The Saint]

Turtle, I am actually on the parks side on this one. Why the hell must they go through a whole administrative nightmare just because some wanker cannot obey a no entry sign.

 

Enough of this ****, cyclists already disobey just about every rule on the road and in most cases are far worse than the taxis they complain about.

 

I am all for a no tolence policy at the Park - take those that transgress and throw them out - ban them for life!! 

[turtlek]

Yes Muxman very good point i am also sick of the people who always complain but can never do anything that they seem to love to preach about

[epoh]

It will be really bad if they want to close Suikerbos down for cyclists. I will do my part and make sure I play by the rules and also warn others.

[Delgado]

Agree with Muxie 100%!! Cycle by way of seasonal card whose details are vetted through ID. Season cards to be carried on all rides - no exception!! Trangressors given a 2 strike out rule and there after hoofed out!! Thereafter it matters not what car they arrive in it is the season card that determines entry or not!! We need to police our own before we all suffer because of the actions of a "minority" of w@nkers!!

[SwissVan]

 

You guys are fortunate to be able to cycle there, the management must have changed.....

Years ago we tried to get permission to cycle in there and were told without any doubts to FORGET it. We (the running / tri club i belonged to) then arranged to hold an annual marathon in there and it was always an issue to get and maintain this permission to have the event on just one sunday of the year, never mind to get them to open early every weekend for training...

 

Moral of the story - lick arse and kick some butts if you want to keep it open.

 

 

[porky]

There has been this niggeling relationship between park officials and cyclists for a few years now, I have been a season ticket holder for ages, though I seldom cycle there anymore, I still enjoy spending a day bird watching or just reading a newspaper at one of the stops.

 

...............but I remember about two or three years ago already the park was been abused by cyclists and there were rumors of stopping them, it blew over, but I dont think its going to be long before they do something, from my experiences there most cyclists exhibit the usual arrogant "could care less" attitude by blocking the roads in bunches, littering, riding the wrong way round, going through no entry roads, urinating on the road side, trying to sneak in and not pay, lifting fences and going through closed gates, and,and,and...............!!

 

Totally agree and I have said it before as well, until the cyclists collectively clean up their act, they can expect no favours from anybody.

    

[goofs]

 

' date=' from my experiences there most cyclists exhibit the usual arrogant "could care less" attitude by blocking the roads in bunches, littering, riding the wrong way round, going through no entry roads, urinating on the road side, trying to sneak in and not pay, lifting fences and going through closed gates, and,and,and...............!!

 

[/quote']

 

I regularly ride there and can tell you its not the majority.

[turtlek]

 

?

 

' date=' from my experiences there most cyclists?exhibit?the usual arrogant?"could care less" attitude?by blocking the roads in bunches, littering, riding the wrong way round, going through no entry roads, urinating on the road side, trying to?sneak in and not pay,?lifting fences and going through closed gates, and,and,and...............!!

 

?

[/quote']

 

?

 

I regularly ride there and can tell you its not the majority.

 

 

 

goofs might not be the majority but it is still enough of them to be able to get us all tarred by the same brush

[scotty]

Cant understand how someone can ride 50k's then suddenly be too tired and opt to take a short cut down the 1 way. Also was disgusted with the all the glass lying on sections of the road, which the parks board should also be addressing. I have also previously seen parks vehicles doing just that, riding down the one way in the wrong direction.

scotty2009-01-18 23:21:19

[hot stuff]

I have a suggestion, that works for us horse riders, who are also having problems  riding in the green areas of suburbia. One of the places to ride is Groot Constantia wine farm. Not the entire farm, but selected routes. We pay R350 a year to use it, but we have to wear numbered coloured bibs, and these bibs get changed every year. No bib no ride. If you break the rules u have the guys number as it is large number. Of Course the park must issue Ur bibs with name address ID etc....hope this helps hot stuff2009-01-18 23:36:58

[MsBehavn]

I also signed the petition at the gate on Saturday morning.  I met scotty (hi ) but didn't get a chance to introduce myself to any of the other hubbers (clearly, you were all pedalling a lot faster than me )

 

I enjoy riding at Suikerbos even though it hurts my legs (a LOT ) but, honestly, I've never seen a discarded goo wrapper or other garbage lying next to the road and most of the cyclists that I do see are very polite.  Of course, that could just mean that I'm blinded by pain or hypoxic for the 57kms

 

I hope that we can work out a way to co-exist with the parks board and not lose this fantastic venue to train safely!