MTB Back-Garden Ride - Johannesburg
Now did I ever say we are very lucky in South Africa to have the biggest crowds in races, the best landscapes and the best trails for MTB? I think I did, but at least - there you go, I said it again. We have trails and trail parks everywhere and are spoilt for choice in regard to races.
We happen to live in a fairly new secured estate in Johannesburg (nicknames: Jo'burg, Jozi, or 'city of gold') in South Africa. The last houses are being build, and it's looking pretty nice, with a river flowing through the estate. Can you guess what they have recently completed inside our estate? I'm sure you guessed it, an MTB trail!
The trail being built:
One loop of the trail is 20 kilometer long, with 240 m of climbing, and some very cool downhills with great berms. There are a few rocky sections that are quite 'hectic', but have a 'chicken run' - if you want to chicken out -, and there is a river crossing to get your feet wet. Here is the Strava pic and the profile:
Some photos of sections of the trail:
Who else can say they have an MTB trail in their backyard?
Next month there will be the grand opening, with a race, kids event and some other events. Looking forward to it!
photos: myself-ie-ish
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Great paths. I wonder have some of these here in my city
yes, these trails are good! It is now a real profession here "trail builder" and there are several trail builders that make their living from building trails.
Best mtb trails? Hmm, I think you mentioned that you have been to Oregon before, Tahoe is not bad at all. (As you have seen) Colorado and Utah have some really good bike parks and trails. Sedona Arizona and there are quite a few places back east.
Ok, granted, I have not been to Colorado and Utah, and I'm sure there are great trails in many places in the world. Perhaps this was a little exaggerated, but we certainly have very good trails!!! 😉
I really do miss mountain bike riding, I used to do downhill until I broke my collarbone, a few ribs and stuffed my knee up.
Maybe I could do something a little less extreme next time :)
Eish, sorry...! There are alternatives, you know, there's flat and uphill as well ;-). I tend to crash once in a while, but always have just bruises and skin-loss, so far, let's keep fingers crossed!
Haha yeah downhill can get pretty nasty, especially when you come off the track and fall 15 feet down the side of the hill into a tree. That wasn't fun lol