Putting the client first

For the past couple of weeks I have not seen my bike, I have not pedaled even a single revolution of a crank and I have not uttered one word of cycling jargon. I have put myself through this harrowing non-cycling experience in the interests of you, our future client. Confused? Read on-

• Instead of cruising through pristine new singletrack, I've been indoors, behind a desk learning about the latest clothing gear.
• Instead of trying to improve my technique on the local dirt jump track, I've been roaming around the mountains with a compass in my hand.
• Instead of truing some abused wheels after another fantastically hard ride, I've been taught about search and rescue techniques and first aid for snake bites (the real kind, not what we mtb'ers experience all too often)

You see, I have completed the first step in becoming a qualified adventure sports guide. More specifically an 'Advanced Mountain Leader' and boy, has it been fun!

In South Africa, all guides have to have this kind of qualification. When you book your holiday be sure to ask if your guide is qualified and ask to see his badge and card. This is the best way you can be assured of getting a legal, competent guide that knows what he is doing and how to go about doing it safely!

The last 3 days of our course were practical days and we were lucky enough to do an off-trail hike in the snow covered Hex river mountain range (very close to where we do a lot of our riding). Here, we put into practice all we had learned in the classroom- Night navigation, steep ground rope work, orienteering, camp craft, search and rescue, mountain weather and a whole lot more I can't possibly fit in here.

A fantastic time was had hiking, socialising, learning and enjoying this incredible country in all it's splendour.




With all this completed, we will be able to offer an even better cycling holiday with an emphasis (as it always has been) on quality, fun and safety!

See you on the trails
Daniel

Vier (bike number four)

The strange thing about going through the bikes I've owned is that I haven't the foggiest idea of how I got rid of them, which poor soul I sold them to, or even for how much. The Wheeler 5900 was no different but I definitely remember the feeling of absolute relief when I did!

After my spine crushing experience with a terrible alumnium frame, I cleverly went straight back to the real stuff- steel! For a bargain  price of R4000, I hooked up with the most classic steel framed bike I've ever owned. This bicycle was beautiful. Nothing fancy- triple butted chro-mo, clean welds full XT groupset (the most beautiful shimano groupo IMO), some of the first 'snake' stays to ever grace a bike. It was these features that made her (definitely a lady, this one) ride like a dream. It was a 1998  Diamond Back (Racing) Axis.

When it came to upgrade time, I stupidly stuck with the beefy looking Manitou's, this time wasting my hard earned money on the next model up. These still had elastomer's- but they were now split into 3 sections and the last section had been replaced by an inch long steel spring. A step in the right direction I suppose, but why did they have to take so long to get full steel spring forks right?!

The other two things that niggled me was the colour scheme- a full on American red, white and blue brash paint job and the fact that it had zero stand over clearance. Nada, zip, nought- this is the bike I learned to track stand on, solely because I had no other option! Proper old school frame geometry meant a very long non-sloping top tube . I remember gazing longingly at the 15&16 inch versions and their pretty sloping top tubes and sighing very loudly, wishing that I was short like Harry(sorry, couldn't resist!)

In trying to tell the story of any big falls I might have had on this bike, I've come to the realisation that I can't remember any. Maybe it was because it handled so well? I raced it all through my 'Intermediate Mens' years and even one year as 'Under23's' so I was definitely pushing it.

For the sake of this post though I'll mention one very big wipe that might have happened on this bike when I was up on holiday in Howick, Natal. I was riding with Tony Keytel and we had enjoyed a typical Howick ride through the Sappi Forests. All that remained was a steep, fast, flowing single track trail down Beacon Hill. I was really looking forward to this last bit as it had been a year or two since Tony had seen me riding last, and I was keen to show off what racing had done for my skills on a mtb.

I overtook Tony just before he entered the downhill trail and started picking up speed. The Savannah like landscape started rushing past me and everything started to blur. The dark line before me was perfect -smooth, shallow sweeping bends and no reason to pedal as gravity took care of that! The track started to get deeper as it sank into the ground from the combination of over-use and rain erosion.

Very quickly, the grass seemed to get higher around me and the trail dug it's way deeper into the ground. My speed was still climbing and a Windows™ warning 'BLA...DING!' sounded in my head, but I could still hear Tony's bike clattering behind me. So I kept off the brakes even when my pedals started skimming the sides of the clay earth that the singletrack was now embedded in.

My pedals only skimmed twice in fact- the first one was the warning and 2nd one was the lesson. As my pedal embedded itself into the side of the 'donga' the 2nd time, Mother Earth won the battle of momentum (p = mv) and flung me from my bike into the Cartwheel of Death (BTW, this was only a kilometer or two from Harry's Cartwheel of Death mentioned in post number 'Een'). According to Tony's scorecard, I executed a very graceful triple cartwheel and managed to follow the line of singletrack very accurately the whole way through the movement, resulting in a skeleton luge-like skid on my belly for the final few meters.

Lesson Learned!

Urban singletrack

Check out this perfect urban singletrack! Specially made for us, just meters from our home.

I'm getting side-tracked from my mumblings about previously owned bikes (stories below and above), but I couldn't resist taking this photo and putting it up here. Take note of how it's reserved for mountain bikers only- even the pedestrians don't use it!

Thanks to Neotel, for brightening up my commute and putting a big smile on my face yesterday. OK, so it's going to be tarred over soon, but hey! It's been fun while it's lasted...

We interrupt this monologue...

BIG news!

Our website is live
www.irideafrica.com

We are still working on on online credit card payment system- in the mean time we will continue using our usual EFT (electronic funds tansfer) system

Drie (continued from twee)...

In December 1995, fresh out of school, I found myself catching a 2500km lift from Howick to Cape Town so I could start my studies. The only fact worth mentioning, was the mode of transport-a massive, long haul 18 wheeler truck! By now, my bike went wherever I went, so it was loosely attached to the John Deere combine harvester on the back.

The first few months of biking in Cape Town introduced me to two new aspects of riding that I hadn't come across in Natal- the curse of the (amazingly well designed) devil thorn and hectic bone rattling trails. The constant punctures were fixed pretty easily-bigger tyres and sealant. The crazy technical, rocky trails however, convinced me that I needed a new bike. Replacing my bottom bracket/headset at the end of every ride was becoming tiresome!

Eventually the measly savings were starting to look good and I had found a bike that looked like it would do the job. The only problem was that if I bought it that month, I wouldn't have enough money to feed myself for the 2nd half of the month. The only solution was that I would have to just starve. That bike was mine! So I proudly went and bought the worst bike and fork I have ever had the misfortune of owning.

It was a Wheeler 5900 with Manitou Mach5 Comp forks. It was absolutely beautiful to behold- metallic midnight blue paint job, big beefy looking aluminium tubing, clean welds, industrial looking silver fork. I was the happiest student on the planet! That was until, I took it onto my favourite trail.

The straight gauge aluminium tubing (even the seat/chain stays!) made the ride so harsh that I might as well have been picking up the rocks on the trail and beating my spine with them. The Mach5 forks 'springs' were 6 inch pieces of rock hard elastomer that resulted in about 2cm of travel, if I was lucky (only on+ 35 degree Celcius days!). To make matters worse, I still had to face the fact that I was going to be starving for the rest of the month!

Well, starving is a bit of an exaggeration. I did manage to sustain myself just fine. During the 3rd week of the month I was eating Weetbix cereal with water and no sugar for breakfast, lunch and supper.MMMM!
Monday & Tuesday of the last week was spent eating spaghetti with tomato sauce for breakfast, lunch and supper and for the rest of the week I was forced to tantilise my taste buds with plain old spaghetti for breakfast and supper (not enough for lunches!)

Besides all this moaning about the Wheeler, I did grow to love it in some weird way. I won my first race on it and it taught me a few valuable life lessons along the way-

(a) Never buy something without trying it out first (no matter how much you've read about it and no matter what the reviews say)
(b) Food is important! Not so much for sustenance, as mental and physical well being
(c) Steel is real!

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!

Jennie is jamming!

iRide Africa's lead tour guide cleans up in Sweden

News just in! Jennie Stenerhag left us a few weeks ago to compete in the European road season. This weekend she took part in her first race in Sweden, taking top honours and getting being rewarded with a place in the Swedish National Team.

Well done Jennie! We miss you here but know that all your training on this side of the world will pay off big time as you cruise around Europe and continue to race at the top level.

Jennie has been snapped up into the Swedish National team and her next race will be in a few weeks in the Czech Republic.

If you would like to train and ride with Jennie, book a tour with us today- she'll be back in our summer  and ready to take you on the most beautiful rides you can imagine!

Too much riding?

We've been away riding so much I've had to neglect the blog for a while. Don't worry, I'll catch up with posts soon enough. In the mean time here are some photos from Ceres on a riding trip we did 3 weeks ago.

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!