The weekend of 26 and 27 June 2010 sees the Gauteng  DH provincial season draw to a close with a slight change to the venue…

The idea for the champs race this year was to hold it on the course to be built for SA Champs in July. But due to the negotiation process between the different government bodies being a lot slower than anticipated and last minute changes being made, the track will unfortunately not be ready for the provincial champs.

Instead we decided to have the race at Helderkruin DH track. In a way i think it is poetic justice to a certain degree, seeing as last year’s race was the plagued by unforeseen dilemmas. Who would forget the pouring afternoon showers that flooded the finish line, or the roaring crowds cheers as Ryno flew down the finish gauntlet, only to find out that the timing system decided to pack up. So fittingly, this year will see the return of the provincial champs at Helderkruin with an all new electronic timing system and a few new changes to the track. There are some other ideas for further changes to the track and anyone willing to lend a hand and spare an hour or two are welcome to help with some track maintenance on Saturday 19 June.

The race setup and program are as usual:

Practice on Saturday 26 June from 10:00 – 16:00 with pre-entries from 12:00 – 15:00

Race day on Sunday with last minute practice and line entries from 8:00 – 9:30 and race runs from 10:00.

Tim Keep from Pure Adventure Wear has been reworking the Freeride course at Giba Gorge…

From Tim:

With summer rolling in, the Pure Adventure Wear Freeride Trail at Giba Gorge is receiving a bit of a make over: with upgrades to the existing trail and a couple of new lines being worked on.

The see-saw at the end of the north-shore laddering has been replaced with a launch.  The see-saw is being moved to run as an alternative line off the laddering for those who  are not quite ready to launch themselves into mid-air.
There will also be a new line that will run off the existing trail. This new line will incorporate a couple of rock-drops with more laddering and a new exit back onto the 3 Bridges Trail.
A whole new run in to the trail has already been built, with a narrow ladder bridge over a sink-hole to get you into the ‘zone’. The new entrance starts 50 metres earlier and still runs off the existing ‘Main Line’ trail.  Just look out for the big Pure Adventure Wear board at the new entrance.

]]> http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/giba-freeride-course-being-revamped/feed/ 1 http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/mikes-bikes-pump-track-race-report/ http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/mikes-bikes-pump-track-race-report/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:34:50 +0000 Jon http://www.nsrmtb.co.za/?p=3203

This past friday was the introductory event for the Mikes Bikes pump track series, and what an awesome event it was!

Let me start by saying that this series is going to be HUGE! After this first test run it is clear that when it kicks off in December there is going to be a lot of people talking about it. The track was primed and ready on Friday evening and a large crowd of people rocked up for the racing. It was also good to see a good mix of riders rocking up with BMX racers, BMX freestylers, MTB riders, DH racers, and even trials riders rocking up to compete. Racers were split into classes based on their wheel size, and racing kicked off around 7:30. Each rider was given two runs to post their quickest run, with the fastest of the two counting as your official time.

The Illingworth brothers were looking incredibly quick but unfortunately crashes in the 20 inch class put them both out of the running. Brad also competed in the 26 inch class and managed to take home a comfortable win in that category. The 20 inch class was dominated by the BMX racers and the top 3 positions all went to local BMX guys.

A big thanks to Mikes Bikes for for taking the initiative and starting what is sure to be one of the best things to happen in local bike riding in a long time! And thanks to Sean Shepherd for supplying us with the kick ass pics. Stay tuned for more news on this series which kicks off next month. its going to be BIG!

For now here are some pics from the evening, with full race results going up alter today.

Mikes Bikes is going to be holding a summer pump track series at their shop.

The series will kick off in December but they are having a braai / fun race at the track tomorrow (Friday 13th). Everybody and anybody is welcome to come through and ride the track. There will be floodlights so the event will go on late into the night. People are also welcome to bring food for the braai as well as your favorite beverages so make sure you come prepared.

The track is open to anyone with a bike so it doesn’t matter if you have a MTB, Cruiser, or BMX. Everyone is welcome to participate. Mikes Bikes is located on Gleneagles Road in Greenside (JHB), and the event will kick off at 6:00 PM. We hope to see all of you there!

Our buddy Harold sent us some pics from his home trails in California. Harold used to live in SA but moved to the USA some time ago. He sent us these snaps to give us an idea of the type of stuff he rides every day. To say I am jealous is an understatement!

This past weekend a lot of action went down at Mikes Bikes with them starting work on their new pump track.

The new track is right behind their shop and the bulk of the work has been completed on the main line. There are still a number of interlinking lines that need to be completed, but for now the main line is rideable.

Once the track is complete Mike plans to run a pump track series which will be held once a month in the evening over the summer. The series is set to be a lot of fun so check back for more details on that. Here are a few snaps of the guys testing the lines.

We will keep you updated on this track as it develops!

We received a few rather cryptic emails from Brent Carpenter containing pics from a recent trip to Saalbach in Austria. There was no words filling us in on exactly what happened, but from what we understand a bunch of local riders recently went to Austria to ride the bike parks there. Judging from the pics the trip looked amazing! And by the sounds of it the guys are going back next year as well. Thanks to Brent for the photos, and hopefully we can join you next year for the trip!

Here are some of the photos he sent through.

The trails on the Braamfontein spruit have been there for ages, but recently a few guys have started trying to clean them up and get them running smooth again. The trail scene in JHB is pretty dismal right now so getting these jumps back up and running should be good news for any folks who want to ride trails in the Randburg area.

Over the last three weeks the existing jumps have been tidied up and are now running once again. There is still a fair bit of work to do to get them in good shape but they are ridable at the moment.

This coming Saturday there is going to be a building / riding get together at the jumps to try finish all the existing lines off. If any of you are and are able to lend a hand Im sure they guys would really appreciate the help. Bring your bike, spades, buckets, rakes, brooms, etc and if enough people come through the trails should be completed by the end of the day.

If you dont know how to get to the jumps shoot us a mail and we will send you directions.

This past weekend Alex, Brad, and Jon did a little building at the Heldekruin track…

Now that the Galooleys track is shut down due to road works / Gautrain development the Heldekruin hill is pretty much the only place the JHB riders have to ride at the moment. The hill isnt very big and is pretty rocky but despite this is actually a lot of fun to ride. Because its the only spot availble quite a lot of building has been going on in an effort to make the track more challenging and fun.

The middle section of the track has a flat off camber corner that is really slow, and also leads into a short uphill pedal. Its very hard to carry speed through here so Brad and Alex decided to turn it into a berm. In doing so riders will be able to carry all of their speed from the top section through into the bottom of the track, and make the two sections flow a lot better.

After an hour or so of moving rocks and digging the finished berm turned out pretty good, and although we didn’t do any high speed runs through it it definitely carries your momentum a lot better. No doubt once it has settled in it will really make the track a lot faster.

There are a few more ideas for the track in the pipeline and we will keep you updated with them as the track develops.

They are finally finished and have to be seen! Just piles of dirt in the eyes of the unknowing but art in ours…

Trails are not easy to build so credit is going first. Colin Loudon designed and oversaw the whole construction of the jumps along with help from the Giba Gorge staff. Thanks go out to Jason Nichol from Giba Gorge who put the whole idea together wanting to give folks something new and awesome to ride. If it was not for people with dedication like this we would have a lot less to ride.

Some adjustments are still needed but the trails are up and running. Once Giba gets a hold of some much needed wood for some wallrides the new setup can be 100% completed. Don’t forget that the park is closed on Mondays but you can go wild on the jumps any other day of the week. In case you did not know, please do not skid on the jumps, ride them without wetting them first or randomly wander through them on foot. You will get hit by a bike, it will hurt and you will look like an idiot. Trails are hard work but a lot of fun if we all respect them. One day to ride at Whistler costs $40 (R400) so a meagre R30 or R20 is a pretty good deal to ride a smaller scale park like Giba. There are now jumps for all levels of riders ranging from first day on a bike all the way to trail bosses. Check back on the site soon where Giba Gorge are giving away a free years pass to come and ride these sick jumps.