With the increased interest in cross-over disciplines in mountainbiking, trail riding has become a a staple for your everyday mountain biker. Flowing singletrack, fast descents and the inevitable climb all make for a good trail. The esphotograpy crew had this to say about the local Jonkershoek trails…

Just a few kilometers outside picturesque Stellenbosch lies the Jonkershoek nature reserve. The complete playground for all forms of mountain biking and hiking, accessible all year long. Playing host to various downhill and cross country races, the area also has a large network of all-mountain trails for those who like to pedal uphill as well as the thrill of a fast open downhill.

Jonkershoek offers a trail for all levels of riding, and for a couple of bucks, you get access for the whole day (year passes also available). Winter months usually brings a fair bit of rain, turning some trails a bit muddy and the tree roots a bit slippery, making riding slightly more interesting. It’s also a good time for fixing and building new trails – thanks to Bennet Nel for the great effort he puts in. During summer, the mercury pushes up into the mid 30’s celsius, but luckily the nearest section of pine forest is never far away.

Part 1 features an unnamed trail close to the entrance of the reserve.

This past weekend saw the 1st birthday celebration of Contermanskloof base bikeshop, The Bike Shed.
Approximately 50 riders pulled through for the shuttle day, followed by the long anticipated lake jump…

tbs

quad copter filming the event from above on a gopro

Although the dry and dusty conditions have returned, the track delivered a good combination of speed, flow, roadgaps and rocky sections. After a solid 4 hours of DH runs, everybody retired to the grassy green banks of the lake to watch the 15 or so jumpers take on the kicker. Body varials, frontflips, crazy inverted twisted backflips and a bunch of ejectors provided plenty of entertainment, with the highest jump award going to Darren Stow.
Good vibes, good weather, Redbulls, boeries and everybody present, added to a very successful and fun day.

dialed frontflip

a bike, a rider and a grip

Jaco Veldsman

Andrew Neethling

Chris Nixon

Adi van der Merwe

The setting

Pictures and story by Ewald Sadie

When the NSRMTB team was approached by a private individual to design, plan and build a pumptrack for a new weekend adventure venue we were both honored and nervous at the same time. Here is the progress report after day 1…

As we arrived on site yesterday we were greeted by the familiar sight of an open field on a small holding on the eastern outskirts of Pretoria, but there was one small difference. The grader and TLB were already on site and their operators were eagerly waiting for our instructions to get this project off the ground, a clear sign that Adriaan (owner of the plot) was in deed very serious about the project. So naturally there was a bit of nervousness amongst the build team as to whether or not we will be able to successfully replicate the design on paper to and actual track.

We made satisfactory progress on the first build day and today we will aim to get all the jumps laid out and doing a small test run to make sure the track flows as intended. At this stage the location will still be kept under wraps as the other amenities at the venue has not been set up yet. As soon as the information filters through i will be sure to pass it along to enable riders to visit this new and exiting track.

I will also continue to do daily progress updates over the course of the weekend as the project develop.