Pro's loving Grabouw

Teams from all around the globe are busy completing the penultimate stage of the awesome www.cape-epic.com. It's been an exciting week of racing and there have been loads of tales of drama, great competitive spirit and amazing examples of team camaraderie.

Reading through the commentary on the race will give you an idea of the class of trails we have here in South Africa and especially Grabouw where our MTB tours will take you on some of our trips. Below are a few quotes from some of the top riders on the world, talking about Stage 5 :-

Christoph Sauser rates this stage in Grabouw "We were riding in good spirits, racing to win the stage and not just chasing down time like yesterday. The last few kilometers were a real cross-country ride - we loved it!"

Burry Stander said "We wanted to win this stage and took over the lead. On the last 2 or 3 climbs, I was struggling a bit. Luckily the last single-track section pulled me through. It was so much fun - I really enjoyed today’s stage. It was definitely the best part of all the courses we've been riding so far.”

In the Mixed category, Alison Sydor and Nico Pfitzenmaier (Adidas Big Tree) are hanging onto their lead by winning their category yet again. At the end of stage 5 , Pfitzenmaier said “We had a great stage today – the single track was unbeatable"

Werner Leitner is one of Austria’s top triathletes and comments that he never expected that the terrain of the route would be so rough. “I thought we would be riding on gravel roads most of the time. The amount of single track is astounding. Despite it being very, very hard, I’m also enjoying it. The scenery and the route are really amazing.”

Bart Brentjen's team mate Chris Jongewaard says the last stretch of single track was loads of fun. “It brought me home. Also, Bart's passion is infectious. We've talked a lot about winning this race. It would be really nice and if there’s an opportunity, we’ll definitely go for it.”

So there you have it, from the horses mouth. If you want to ride great trails in South Africa book a tour with us- we guarantee smileage!

Raging fires, raging rides

It's not in my nature to harp on about negative incidents but it just seems that the Cape fires have been relentless in the last month. So I apologise once again for being the bearer of more bad news with the following photos.

Just a few weeks ago we were riding on Table Mountain and I was commenting on how green it was for that time of year. A few scorching weeks later and the grass was brown and dry and the winds were starting to pick up as is normal for this time of year.

Unfortunately last Thursday night, a fire broke out below Rhodes Memorial and winds quickly fanned it into a horrific scene of destruction. The photos on various blog sites show the magnitude of the area burnt.
www.capetown.travel/blog/entry/fires_on_table_mountain

The good news is that no properties were burnt and fire fighters did an amazing job as usual... The bad news is that the mountain we ride on now resembles a lifeless moonscape.

On Saturday we rode out to watch the prologue of the Cape Epic www.cape-epic.com and we rode through the burnt areas and took the following photos. The one above is what's left of our extreme descent down the face of Plum Pudding - not looking good but at least we won't be getting any branches in our eyes for a while!

The photo below shows some of the damage looking South towards King's block house - OK, it looks bad but after the first few rains, just imagine how green this is going to be!



The last photo is of South Africa's very own Burry Stander leading out Christoph Sauser on their way to win the 19km prologue of the most televised MTB race in the world.

Good luck to all the competitors of this grueling 8 stage MTB race! We plan on holding a special Cape Epic tour next year so if you are interested in taking part, contact us now so we can secure your ticket!

Jonkershoek's grief

I've finally got a photo of what Jonkershoek looks like after this months fires. I have to warn you though, that if you're a sensitive viewer you may want to avert your eyes from the right of the screen! The photo really is quite appropriate for todays date-

Meurant says that about 300ha got burnt and as you can see theres not much cover left. That said, I have to say that the singletrack in the photo looks awesome! So Jonkershoek is probably off the cards for a while :( The loggers will get in there and take care of the dangers and before long we'll be riding through young green saplings and a bit more indigenous fynbos. We've been through this before and while it really saddens the heart we can only look to the limitless possibilities of the future!

Clean Dirt Jumps

On a brighter note the 4X track at Dirtopia is looking wicked and you could easily spend an afternoon there just jamming with mates and learning some new bike skills-I look forward to actually testing it out this weekend! Have a great one! Here's a photo from a few weeks ago of some guys having fun on it.

1st Place Argus Cycle Tour 2009!

Well done to our lead guide, Jennie Stenerhag, for winning the biggest (and most scenic) road race in South Africa!

This weekend was 'The Big One' for cyclists and Cape Town was absolutely full up with riders from all over the world as they descended on the Mother City for the mother of all races. Thirty five thousand (yes, 35 000!) cyclists take part in this annual road race of 110 km around the Cape peninsula, the biggest road race in the world.

Jennie rode a brilliant race in the most testing conditions this race has ever been held in. Winds up to 55km/h blasted through Cape Town, tearing down banners and bowling over cyclists even when they were just standing at the start line! The ladies finish came down to a sprint as it usually does and after a few replays of video footage Jennie was awarded with the number one spot for 2009 and some well deserved national TV coverage. Well done Jennie! This is on top of an already great season in South Africa, where she has won the Burger cycle race, the Herald VW Cycle tour as well as a few podiums and wins in the Alpha Pharm Seeding Series.

We are hosting a Cape Argus Cycle specific tour in 2010, so if you would like to join us then contact us ASAP and we will reserve your place!
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Cycle of life

Check this photo out. An amazing composition of the fires in Stellenbosch 2 weeks ago. It's taken by a young local photographer with a lot of talent. Check his website out here- www.hougaardmalan.com. Beauty and horror in one package. Unfortunately a new fire is burning in Jonkershoek this week. We're holding thumbs that the plantations are not too badly damaged but from experience we know that trails come and trails go. It's a life-cycle we should all know well considering we spend so much time on round wheels, with round chainrings and round bearings. So some singletrack and a lot of hard work might be gone forever but new trails (with new stories) will always pop up in time and maybe they'll be even better than before. I'm looking forward to it!