Spot Check: Giba Gorge Park
Located on the outskirts of Pinetown and Kloof in KZN, Giba Gorge has a lot to ride…
The DH course starts off with some rock sections before dropping into a quarry. From there until the finish its fast winding sections. If you are going to ride the course a harder compound tire would be a good idea since you will sliding around on hard packed soil. Giba drains water really fast so dries up quickly after rainfall. Even after heavy rains the place is still rideable. The DH course takes on average about 2:15 to get down so its quite short but feels intense since there is only one place to rest on the way down. Some landmark obstacles on the course is the decent sized step up jump in the quarry, the fast steep section where you can rest for a bit, a palate jump into a slight off camber corner, the rock drop near the top of the hill and the final 2 slick off camber corners at the finish.
The Super D course starts on the opposite side of the hill to the DH. There is some pedaling required at first but once it starts going downhill is when it starts getting really fun. Roots, tight turns,kicker jumps, bridges. After you reach the bottom (which should take around 8 minutes) you will want to go right back up again. The Giba Super D is a good place for novice riders to build up confidence and is fast without having any overly technical sections.
On the other side of these 2 course is the freeride section. If you start from the trail centre just follow the signs up the hill. Once up there its downhill all the way with marked alternate routes if you don’t want to try your luck on the bull runs. The freeride is not a sprint but more of a gradual descent back to the trail centre. There is a large drop off near the ruins of a house which is the landmark obstacle. From there you can find some narrow bridges, rocks, a tree ride and even a see-saw. Challenging and fun at the same time. If the tech stuff is freaking you out there is always the “chicken” runs which can be just as fun.
Other than the stuff we all obviously want to ride there is a very decent BMX track at the trail centre. Just below that is a section scattered with various small obstacles. On the other side of that are the trails for the dudes who like air.
Rides are available to the top of the DH and Super D courses for R15 per car load and will cost ad adult R30 to ride for the day. Kids get in for R20. After you are done riding food is available at the restaurant or grill. They cater for vegetarians and have free ice water on the bar counter if you cant wait to get back to your car for a drink. If you plan to go ride the park do not forget that it is closed on Mondays. For more information on the park hit up their official site at www.gibagorge.co.za
