Twee (continued from Een)

So we had discovered that mountain biking could be loads of fun as well as keep us fit -BONUS! This prompted me to start saving up for a decent bike that could actually go off road without killing me in the process. Before long I made the impulse buy and was the proud new owner of a shining red Nishiki (again?!) Altron. Compared to my first Nishiki this bike was a technological marvel - chrome molybdenum frame and forks (no more hi-tensile steel for me!), cantilever brakes, real Shimano parts and the deal maker, rapid fire shifters!!

Harry was so jealous of me back then. He still had his Invader and you could bend his u brakes with your pinky finger and thumb they were so thin! I'll never, ever, ever forget the first time we attempted 'Kamakazi' hill. We were standing up on top of Beacon hill, overlooking Howick and Midmar dam checking this crazy piece of singletrack that plummeted straight down the face of this hill and eded up hundreds of meters lower. It was uber-steep and carved into a convex shaped hill so you couldn't even see where the trail ended. We both stood up there in silence, both knowing that there was no way in hell that our brakes were up to the job of getting us down in one piece. I mean, even my superior cantilever brakes weren't going to cut it!

Suddenly Harry had mounted his bike and before he could even place his 2nd foot onto the pedal he was at terminal velocity, flying and bouncing down this grassy hill, hanging on for dear life. I could see his brake levers were pressed right against his handlebar -in fact, they were starting to bend and buckle past his bar he was clenching them so hard! Just before he was about to disappear from sight, that supremely crap bike just couldn't take it anymore and flung Harry into the cartwheel of death. As Harry bounded downwards on his head and then ass, then head , then knees and again on his head, I started to crack up with laughter. It was the most comical sight I had ever witnessed. This kind of mayhem is normally seen on some lame TV stunt show, not by your very own eyes!

Harry eventually ground to a halt, pretty dazed and confused with my cackling and howling in the background and it took while to gather himself before shouting up to me, "It's not that bad.... You could make it with your bike!"

I think we took separate rides home that day...

Een

Have you ever wondered how many s(miles) you've ridden? I was pondering this the other day and I got all nostalgic, thinking about all the different bikes that have carried me over rocks, grass,roots, mud and different countries. Here is my list of bikes I've owned over the years and a story that goes with it -go on start your own list, I highly recommend it!

Nishiki (can't remember model)- It was back in '93 or so and my best mates and I had started taking our commuting bikes into the Howick forests after school. We used to just follow our noses down the the dirt roads, taking in the peace and sunshine. We had noticed we were getting fitter but there wasn't too much excitement about it all-certainly not nearly as exciting as our main pastime of skateboarding!

These rides went on for a few months and we were invited to go on a ride in Hilton with a few old guys. This is the ride I'll never forget- the ride that inspired me to save up for my first 'real' mountain bike. We got a lift out to Garlick Forests with Chris's Dad and started out on a typical Natal Forest road. We were ambling along, messing about, trying to take each other out along this road when the ride leader suddenly turned off and disappeared down this narrow little path through the trees. "Eh? Whats this oke up to?", was the first thought and being young and reckless we just turned our bikes downwards and tried to keep up with the guy....Revelation time!

We hacked our way down this path, super sketchy, bikes rattling and totally out of control. Eventually all 3 of us careened into a massive pile of sawdust at the bottom of the trail, got off our bikes and noticed our legs were shaking, our side pull caliper brakes (remember them?) were melted and our headsets had lost all their ball bearings. First singletrack ever. Woah! Suffice to say, the smiles were BEEEEG!

Later on in the ride, we came to this humongous (well, it was back then),rutted firebreak dropping about 30m vertically down to another road level and the old guy assured us that it could be ridden. Well, peer pressure resulted in the three of us skidding, screeching (not much of that with no brake pads left) and finally, endo-ing our brains out down our first drop off. Revelation time again!

The whole trip home in the car, I remember repeating to myself, "Must find more singletrack, must get better brakes, must conquer that drop off next time". So much has changed since that first mtb ride, but I still find myself mouthing those same words, "Must find more singletrack, must get better brakes, must conquer that drop off next time".

So thats the story behind bike number one. Next up, the infamous Nishiki Altron...

Some good mtb-ing places in South Africa

well written in a cool website

Mayday, maday, we're experiencing perfect riding weather!

With the 1st of May having crept up on us, I have to report to the world that Cape Town in April and May is astounding. The wind (infernal wind, if you're not into wind sports) dies down, the midday temperatures are riding-perfect 25 degrees Celsius and the evenings are just chilled enough to really enjoy red wine by the fireside.

A few mild rain showers turns the flora from African tones of Sahara brown to English tones of vivid green, and of course the much needed moisture does wonders for the singletrack scattered around the mountains. Tokai's trails are in the best condition at this time of year -grippy and fast with nary a puddle to muck up your precious linkages and metallic moving bits.

We cram as much riding as we can during these 2 months so that we can never look back with regret during those rainy, muddy days at then end of winter. Why don't you join us?

PS:
Another interesting phenomenon is that dirt jumpers and bmx-ers put down their bikes and pick up their shovels- this is building weather! The intermittent rains means that the earth becomes softer and the jumps can be packed harder. As a result, the awesome little track in Rondebosch is growing daily as a bit of hard labour over a few months means playtime for the rest of the year!

Go!Go!Go!

Phew! It's been a fantastic few weeks of riding, trail reconnaissance and travelling and I am finally back, sleeping in my own bed. My spine has been moaning and it's got nothing to do with all the jump digging I've been doing (and nothing to do with my age!).

All this driving and riding is going to translate into more epic and wonderful trips for iRide Africa's customers. We look forward to opening more and more trails in this country which is perfectly primed for the sport.

We have found some beautiful, smooth, traffic free passes to ride on our road riding tours and have met wonderful people and awesome venues to stay at along the way.

Our back country tours are going to expand drastically with the new remote tracks we have found, which will take you into untouched areas of spectacular scenery and introduce you to some of the best bits of South Africa.

Over this last long weekend, we helped out a bit with Dirtopia mountain bike festival, rode some fantastic singletrack, fine tuned our jumping skills and watched South Africa's best riders battle it out between themselves in the marathon, dual, dirt jumps, downhill and Red Bull freestyle events. The event was awesome and chilled and the level of riding was truly entertaining. Check out some of the photos below if you don't believe me!