Adventure and Travel

Trail Daze | Cape Town – Part 1

· By BikeHubCoreAdmin · 12 comments

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As part one of a two part series, we head to the ever friendly (and often relentlessly windy) Cape Town to take a closer look at mountain biking in and around the mother city.

With Tokai taken from us by wildfires during 2015, and Cape Town mountain bikers having to find alternative playgrounds to get their daily or weekly endorphin fix, trail riding in Cape Town has become somewhat of a controversial topic. Linking up the legal bits in a legal manner, wasn’t straight forward and required some urban hacks involving a lot of tar roads.

The alternative and less accepted option was to ride rogue on illegally built trails, or dedicated foot paths built for hikers. That was until the recent announcement by SANParks and the Table Mountain MTB Forum that soon, many paths on Table Mountain will become shared-use trails. It is the start of one glorious mother city trail network stretching all the way from the city centre to Tokai. We start off by showcasing the Rhodes Memorial area and riding South through the Constantia green belts.

ccs-38514-0-65199500-1480264374.jpg5:30am. Bikes loaded and heading for Table Mountain.

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ccs-38514-0-02869200-1480264387.jpgBeautiful views of the entire Table Bay, Bo-kaap architecture, and Robben Island.

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ccs-38514-0-31834500-1480264573.jpgLayers of early morning mist with Simonsberg dominating the skyline.

ccs-38514-0-33625400-1480264398.jpgGood morning, Cape Town!

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ccs-38514-0-63045700-1480264585.jpgParking at the end Table Mountain road, it’s a quick pedal along the tar road to the top of Plum Pudding, which will lead you down towards Rhodes Memorial.

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ccs-38514-0-49909800-1480264621.jpgDropping in at the top of Plum Pudding with views stretching all the way from Muizenberg to Stellenbosch.

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Devils Peak dominates the view from my garden and every time I step outside, the trails beckon to me. Sometimes the motivation is hard to find as there’s no such thing as an easy ride on Table Mountain! Once I HTFU however, the reward always outweighs the effort! I feel privileged to live in a city and to have a huge mountain on our doorstep to play on and show visiting riders. Now that we are officially allowed to ride on the Green Belt trails (and soon more), long, legal urban rides to Tokai are finally a reality!
Daniel Dobinson | iRideAfrica

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ccs-38514-0-71397900-1480264681.jpgPink Watsonia’s line these trails all year long, closely guarded by our very own proudly South African Silver Tree (Leucadendron argenteum) – an endangered plant species found nowhere else but in this part of the Cape Peninsula.

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ccs-38514-0-39768500-1480264765.jpgDropping into the Rhodes Memorial trail.

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ccs-38514-0-85511800-1480264906.jpgDawn patrols don’t always pay off, but sometimes you hit gold with some incredible backlit singletrack freedom.

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ccs-38514-0-77012100-1480263908.jpgTo get to the Constantia green belt, its about a 10 km drive/ ride from the bottom parking of Rhodes Memorial.

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Successful trail sharing lies not necessarily in segregation, but in tolerance and common courtesy between all trail users. A little bit of empathy for others’ impression of your activity goes a long way too. Slowing down to smile, greet, and pass a walker slowly takes little effort on the rider’s part, but goes miles with the overall mountain biker/walker/hiker relationship. We shouldn’t forget that we’re all out there for the same reason, and with so many areas in and around Cape Town being opened up to mountain biking, it is ever more important to not be a chop!
Harry Millar

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ccs-38514-0-66662500-1480263963.jpgHarry Millar engulfed by ivy-clad, bendy trees and getting lost in a sea of green. It might be South Africa’s driest year in recorded history, but some parts still remain green and fresh, offering great relief from the otherwise bone-dry and dusty trails…

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ccs-38514-0-75705000-1480263995.jpgTowering trees and 8 km of pristine singletrack just a few minutes from the CBD.

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ccs-38514-0-55583400-1480264290.jpgLush, rainforest like vegetation surrounds this entire trail, validating and reaffirming its title over and over.

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ccs-38514-0-33644300-1480264359.jpgCheers Cape Town! To be continued…

This project is made possible by:

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Rhodes Memorial GPS: 33°57’48.0″S 18°27’32.1″E

Riders : Daniel Dobinson | Harry Millar

All images by Ewald Sadie

instagram:

@ewaldsadie

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Comments

PhilipV

Nov 28, 2016, 4:55 AM

It always makes my day when I see a new Trail Daze article.

Thanks Ewald for stoking some Stoke. I will be riding after work for sure.

Headshot

Nov 28, 2016, 9:22 AM

Haha my local green belt trails in glorious colour. Just a few easy k's from home and surrounded by the mink and manure set, but you'd never know looking at the pics.

seaweed

Nov 28, 2016, 9:22 AM

For us visiting Cape Town during the December/January period, are there any route files available for these trails that we can load onto our GPS (such as Garmin, etc.)?  If so, where can I find them?

 

Also, are there some scheduled rides in the mornings or afternoons that we can join?

Suidwes Boytjie

Nov 28, 2016, 10:52 AM

Pretty awesome photos... Definitely one of the places i'd still like to ride. 

Dan Dob

Nov 28, 2016, 11:08 AM

For us visiting Cape Town during the December/January period, are there any route files available for these trails that we can load onto our GPS (such as Garmin, etc.)?  If so, where can I find them?

 

Also, are there some scheduled rides in the mornings or afternoons that we can join?

Hi Seaweed. We haven't had time to make a trailmap for these trails yet and it wouldn't really help much as there's a gazillion access points and routes to follow depending on where you start, where you want to go and what kind of trails you want to ride :)

Check out the PPA website link from the article for some (very) basic maps but I think the best bet is try to hook up with a local for the best experience.

nich the d

Nov 28, 2016, 3:10 PM

Great photographs - it really is awesome to have access to all of this right on the doorstep!

Riddem

Nov 29, 2016, 7:23 AM

Amaizing pictures, as always. Geez, I love looking through these images! Well done Ewald

Rushdee

Nov 29, 2016, 7:50 AM

about high time that the Trail Daze series features on "World's Toughest Jobs".

Hairy

Nov 29, 2016, 8:11 AM

should be riding now...not riding my desk :(

 

great pics, makes me want to get out on my bike and go.

splat

Nov 29, 2016, 8:16 AM

Awesome pictures !

 

There are a few spots that I don't recognize, or cant place. Seems its time to go exploring again.

JacoLRoux

Nov 29, 2016, 8:18 AM

Lekke Ewald! Top shots soos altyd!

Gramevloen

Nov 30, 2016, 2:52 PM

Hi Seaweed. We haven't had time to make a trailmap for these trails yet and it wouldn't really help much as there's a gazillion access points and routes to follow depending on where you start, where you want to go and what kind of trails you want to ride :)

Check out the PPA website link from the article for some (very) basic maps but I think the best bet is try to hook up with a local for the best experience.

 

The emp maps?:

 

http://tokaimtb.co.za/2016-revised-environmental-management-plan/

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