EE
fullsus
FR
WIN!
one of two pairs of Ocean Eyewear SJ 840’s.
July 2013
MOUNTAIN BIKE MONTHLY
Tuli
pg6
Gear
pg20
joBurg & Sani 2c
pg8
Nutrition
pg17
Trails
pg10
Busting out of the City on your MTB
T
o the West of the twin cities, the Southern our nation’s economic capital and the Northern the political, lies the Hartbeespoort Dam. It’s about 45 minutes – traffic dependent, like everything in Gauteng – from both Jozi and Pretoria and offers enough riding potential to keep you busy for weeks, let alone a weekend. The heart of mountain biking in the area is undoubtedly the Van Gaalen Cheese Farm, where trail builder and co-owner, Erik Schipper has worked his magic. The network of trails crosses 30 private properties, with styles typically traversing the fences, so you don’t have to dismount, and measure an impressive 120km or so in total. Most of which is mouth-watering single track. Full Sus’s local contact Sharlene Vallance did issue a warning though, the riding is very technical at times, so make sure you’re skills are up to the test or you might lose a couple of teeth. Not at the hand of a local though, Sharlene says they’re an extremely friendly bunch and they’ve jumped into action to help many a rider who came short. With the warnings aside let’s get into the nittygritty of riding around the Dam. Located at the intersection of the R560 and the R512, on the southern banks of the Dam, is the village of
Skeerpoort and in the village – is the Van Gaalen Cheese Farm. Nestled in the Magaliesriver Valley, the trails through the farms feature the majestic Magalies mountain range to the North and the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site to the South (but more about both of these later). The trails are accessed off the Cheese Farm, where there is safe parking, through the purchase of a day pass for R 40. And these trails play host to events like the Tracker Corporate MTB Challenge, the TLC Ladies MTB Day, the Route 66 MTB Experience and the Impi Challenge events every year, so should your competitive nature strike you can sign up for a race too. The Cheese Farm, Sharlene says, is also a great place to start should you be training for a big race. South of the Hartbeespoort Dam you’ll find a maze of gravel roads, which follow the irrigation canals, and if you know your way around you’ll be able to navigate all the way to Sun City on gravel with just a few tar road crossings. If you’re new to the area though, you’d better take a GPS along when you go on your long training ride over the weekend. If you’re just looking to put in serious kays for distance, she suggests that
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CHERIE VALE/NEWSPORT MEDIA
The Hartbeespoort Dam isn’t just a hangout for local shamans as Seamus Allardice found out, there is a myriad of jeep track and great single track to keep you MTB enthusiasts in a trance too. And that’s only the start of mountain biking west of the big Gauteng cities.
“NORTHERN FARMS IS BILLED AS ONE OF JOBURG’S BEST KEPT SECRETS.”