Nungwane waterfall outing leaves MTB riders breathless

THERE was a large, enthusiastic group of Toti Cycling Club mountain bikers waiting on the grass patch on Saturday morning to do their long training ride for Hill2hill and Berg and Bush.

Two groups left for Nungwane waterfall, all packed with food and drink for the long haul.

The ride was in the region of 63kms and is one of the best training rides around as there is about 2,180ms of climbing, some hills measuring a 27% gradient in places. Then there is the spectacular ride down from the Nungwane waterfall, through an untainted valley.

The riders follow the cattle and foot paths, which include some challenging rock and soft sand riding. The beauty of the valley is well worth the ride.

The first group managed to do the ride in 4:30 and the second group took about an hour longer, which included Mr Papadopoulos having to have his sidewall puncture repaired. It’s nice to have good mechanics on the team. Well done to everyone who rode. The benefits will show in the next race.

There were three guys out doing the new C group ride. They managed to reduce their time out quite significantly. This means the fitness level is increasing, so anyone wanting to latch onto this group needs to do so soon, or they will be left behind.

There were a few club members who did the Isimangaliso ride. This unique four-day stage, 260km event allows mountain bikers access to areas within iSimangaliso Wetland Park, an UNESCO World Heritage site, far off the normal tourist routes. It allows riders to experience the values this park has to offer. Werner Pelser reported that it was very hard riding through kilometres of sand. The wind also played a big factor, making the ride quite tough.

Sunday’s ride went onto the trails at Renishaw. The wind made riding quite challenging as it howled up parts where riders normally fly down, necessitating major pedalling. Brad Pearsall bravely ventured out onto the track for the first time to give his new steed a bash, only to find himself bashed at the bottom of a new part of the track. Luckily he had the tuck and roll technique down to perfection and only went away with a bit of blood and a nice tattoo.

The Scottburgh mountain bike race is this Sunday. It starts on Scottburgh beach and promises the riders a fantastic route to ride. This includes some of the lovely Renishaw track. Enter on ROAG.

Virginia farm hosted a very successful multi-sport event on Sunday. This event was run by Max Cluer and looked like it was very well attended. Don’t forget to go and visit these wonderful trails that are available for the adrenaline junkies to use.

The Lynford MTB race is coming up at the beginning of September. This has always been a great event to spend the weekend at. The farmers are great hosts and always have something special up their sleeves. Riders can also score club points on this event.

On Saturday morning, there were three lone roadies out doing an easy ride around Mondi. It must be the weather putting the riders off the early mornings. Summer is almost here though, so dust off those bikes people.

Riders are to note that the track at Lords has been booked out to the SPCA on 28 September.

The SPCA is hosting an event at which they are asking people to go down and walk the SPCA dogs which are normally caged up every day, to have a day out being walked from Lords through to the old River Gardens site and back.

Light hands, heavy feet are the key to a fun ride.