So the weekend has
landed and we going to be hitting a few trails. The one we looking at is Deer
Park by table mountain. If you have taken your bike on a little ride there, let
us know what you thought. We will definitely let you know next week.
Here is a break down of
the different trails so far:
Deer Park
For great views of the
City Bowl, not to mention easy post- or pre-work ride access, Deer Park is hard
to beat. The gravel roads below Tafelberg Road on the entire front face of
Table Mountain from Kloof Nek to Mowbray Ridge are generally open to cyclists,
with many entry points clearly visible along the length of this road. In fact,
a gravel track begins at the parking area at the eastern end of Tafelberg Road
and, following the same contour, is ridable all the way to close to the King’s
Blockhouse at 436m (1 430ft).
Other Deer Park access
points are from the top of Derry and Pepper roads in Devil’s Peak Estate, Deer
Park East drive in Vredehoek, Molteno Road in Oranjezicht and Glencoe in
Higgovale. Though access from the City Bowl is easy, the steepness of these
tracks necessitates a good warm-up beforehand and a fair level of fitness. The
area has no shade and is north-facing, making it extremely hot in summer. It
nonetheless offers some good riding that, it is envisaged, could connect with
the tracks on Groote Schuur Estate to provide a longer route, starting from
Signal Hill and ending at Rhodes Memorial.
*images courtesy of http://irideafrica.com/trail-maps/
*Information
courtesy of http://capetown.hotelguide.co.za/Extreme_Table_Mountain-travel/mountain-biking-table-mountain_p2.html
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Jonkershoek:
The Jonkershoek trail is well-known in the Cape.
As an international reknowned racing spot in the past, many riders come to this
place to test their skills, their endurance and pure fitness. The trail starts
out flat with a gradual climb but by no means it is not a strenuous steep
climb. At a certain point there are two different routes which one can take.
The first trail leads to the left and climb to the top, which will eventually
level out and lead to some exciting downhills. These will bring you back to
where you started. The other route will take you right and over the river
crossing to ride the "other side" of the valley. This is a fun route
which has some smooth contour climbing, which again will end in a loop and
bring you back to where you started. Don't be fooled, Jonkershoek is not only about
climbing and downhill jeep tracks, no my friends, there are plenty of single
track technical routes as well. In the past, many of the routes were used as a
World Class Downhill Circuit for WC downhill Champs. Some trailshave degraded
and have not be maintained to say the least, but many are restored and still in
great shape for some really good old single track fun!
*images courtesy of http://irideafrica.com/trail-maps/
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Trail - Majik Forest,
Durbanville - Cape Town, South Africa
Distances - 3Km - 15Km
Toughness - 3.5
Do you believe in magic? A
question which every young child asks and every
young-at-heart person still asks. When riding through Majik Forest,
this question will come to mind often during your first ride here.
Majik Forest is a different
and unusual ride as one is not quite sure what to expect. When arriving at the
entrance of the trail, the view is straight up towards the vineyards of
the Cape winelands, while behind you is the normal hustle and bustle
of the commuters whom watch you getting ready to take your break from the
working day and to enjoy the outdoors. When starting your ride, you approach a
moderately steady uphill climb; for the beginners, this is not the most
appealing factor on which to start, but if you stick it out, it
will definitely become rewarding, which I will get to soon.
After a slightly uncomfortable
start, where you are saying, "why, oh why do I do this all the
time?", you take a left and the path leads to a nice level section, to let
the rider catch their breath and relax the legs, before taking on the next
climb, not as tiring as the first one, but that is most probably because your
legs are upset with you and are going with the motion. Once you reach the top
of the second climb, your view of the trail starts to take a different turn....
(PHOTO)
At the crest of the climb, one
starts to get a feeling how the rest of the trail is going to be....FUN! There
are two options, the straight boring down the hill option, which is actually
more there for the return trip, and the second option, the switch back single
track! This is of course the number one choice for all riders. The single track
is not tough, yet it is still fun, and for the beginner to intermediate rider,
that is what Majik Forest is all about. After this first single track section,
there is a another climb, and not the last unfortunately, but the reward
is worth it. At the top of the climb, one makes a U-turn and straight away
into the next single track, a little more challenging and
more rigorous on the wrists; but one must remember this is all
gearing you up for the final "Majik" run as they call it.
After the climbs and the
single-tracks, you are placed at the first crest where one starts to get that
nervous, but good feeling, in their stomachs and knowing deep down that now is
the time for the "Majik" to begin. From the start, the single track,
which takes you off the normal "boring" route, forces the rider to
awake and start paying attention, as the berms and the little whoops
can through you off. After a zig-zag single track, the rider enters the forest,
where you can choose 3 different routes, all will join up but they are all
different ranging from easy and soft, to the more hard-core drop-off sections,
where one just let's loose.
Weaving in and out of the
corners, throwing the bike into the best positions is most of the fun, all a
while, you are thinking “I Believe in Majik” as every corner is different but
just as much fun as the last. Each single track through the forest,
allows for different riding styles, either very aggressive or more cautious.
Riders will come across wooden bridges, some big drop offs and even a nice
"little" table top jump for the
more adventurous rider.
Once through the forest, you
will experience a very nice peaceful end to your journey along the river bank
and finally find yourself back where you started and looking back up to the
mountain, and 9 times out of 10, saying "Let's do it again!".
Overall Majik Forest might not
be a long ride, or even a tough ride. It will take the super-fit rider about
50-minutes and the not-so-fit just under 2 hours, but it gives every rider
the chance to have fun, break away from the concrete jungle and believe in
Majik just one more time!
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