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Anyone have any idea what the singletrack is like down there? I am used to riding north & south Wales which I absolutely love! - Now I am moving to Cape Town and was wondering what the trails are like. More into aggressive trail riding than cross country style, so was worried there might not be enough to keep me amused for a few years.
Head out to Gordons bay, Franschoek, silvermine - lots of places to play....
On the plus side theres been 3 or 4 decent bike shops opened in the last couple of years and cycling is on a definate up - sure therell be a very active scene when i go back in November.. 😀
There's a forum that someone linked me to that might help. I was there on holiday a year ago but never got round to doing it. I'll try and remember it; though it mainly told of stabbing incidents and being attacked by monkeys!
Apparently loads of good stuff.
www.thehubsa.co.za have a look MTB is on the up there is lots of good stuff in Cape Town and surrounding area's believe I did a bit of a write up on here in the past. Lost off good stuff in the rest off the country as well though be safe muggings and attacks are a real threat down there.
Get yourself over to knysna and plett along the garden route and ride the harkerville red and petrus se brand trails. Nothing technical, but the views and "out there" feeling are amazing. At one point you pop out of the trees onto a clifftop path. Next landfall Antarctica! That's a strangely awesome thought for someone from the UK.
all the mountain bikers i saw in the cape town area looked like roadies, lycra and big wheels are king over there.
lots around the Franschoek area, there were a lot of cyclists around there..
i'm doing the Argus in about 6 weeks,...scary!
Cheers for that guys - looks like I'm gonna have some fun!
My bloke and I have just come back from a mtb single track trip with iRideAfrica.co.uk. A lot of really fast fun single track and some technical stuff to be had and the guys running the tour were fantastic and really friendly. They do single day guided tours too so might be worth hooking up with them to get the low down.
I did a couple of rides with iRideAfrica when over there for work; we did some sort-of-trail-centre-y type stuff which was really good fun, and it sounded like there was loads more not too far away.
+1 for iRideAfrica. The bike hire is great - really cheap and they deliver! Look up Tokai forest - good stuff. The Cape Epic did a stage there last year so there should be vids around.
also look for places that do cycle safaris - not serious mtb by any means, but it gives a whole new meaning to 'meals on wheels' when there's two rangers with you with loaded rifles front and rear to cover you. One tip - don't ride into elephant dung expecting it to squelch and move - it's like hitting a large kerb.....
I got told to watch out for these when I went for a scrabble up the sentinel (hout bay)
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Not sure how common they are but worth a thought. Possible the guy in the hotel was trying to freak me out. S.A is definitely a wild place.
scorpions are more likely to be a problem. Take a digital camera and get decent pics of anything that bites you, or take it with you to the A&E.....
Oh, and a good rule of thumb is that if it has large claws and a small tail, it's less venomous than the small claws, large tail variety. Just make sure your mates know CPR and can support you - few people actually die, though it's damn painful.....
I seem to remember the night life being rather good; blokes greatly outnumbered by the gals 😈
Just showed the missus the 'same time same place' vid, she being a mtbing saffa. Turns out she went to school with David Mercer (in the yellow) and had a massive crush on him. Small world...