The Winter rains finally arrived here in Cape Town after about 7 months without any, and we were happy to break out our long forgotten wet weather gear and long sleeves. We headed off to Eselfontein, a very popular piece of MTB heaven, featuring more than 100km of single track, just outside Ceres. Farm owner, trail builder, mountain biker, Enduro rider and all round legend Deon, transformed almost 2500ha of land into a must-do mountain biking experience. From tight single track in the Poplar woods, to river crossings, to elevations higher than the top of Table Mountain with amazing panoramic views, its got everything.
Eselfontein is a guaranteed highlight on iRide Africa’s 10 day singletrack tours. The farm owner is the perfect example of the generous Afrikaans culture, often popping in for a ‘kuier’ (a visit with beer in hand!) and pointing us in the direction of new trails that he has built. The fact that there are no plug points, means that phones and modern life distractions quickly get left behind and are replaced with the simplicity of riding, eating and laughing around the dinner table.
Daniel Dobinson
No electricity, just a couple of solar panels and some gas cylinders. The simple life.
Over a 100km of single track among those hills.
Heading out towards the cold and rainy hills. Something we haven’t done in a long time. It was a good feeling for a change.
Tight and slippery single track in the moody Poplar forests. The floor is littered with ultra slippery tree roots, camouflaged by a continues layer of leaves. Hit one slightly off-camber and you hit the deck, hard.
Before leaving, I was warned that this next mission was going to be more suited to XC riding and any thoughts of proper Enduro trail should be banished from my prayers. Apart from a couple of long, winding descents, that would be it. Oh ye of little faith. Behold. There are trails in this valley that will make you thank your maker. Epic valley views from 2500m high mountains that stare down upon newly forged descending Enduro MTB trails, became the truth. The mix of fun flowing single track over a variety of different terrain and gradients, made this farm one sizable trail offering. This farm is my new religion.
Rupert von Tutschek
Fossils of sea shells at the highest point of the climb? Apparently it means this was once part of ocean floor a few million years ago.
Peanut butter FTW!
No one likes to ride with wet shoes and pads on day 2.
Our digs.
Day 2. More rain. But the clouds did lift and we were treated to some stunning views.
After 6 months without rain, it was nice to ride in wet conditions. Trails are really interesting in Eselfontein: slippery woods at the bottom, soft ground singletracks at the foot of the mountain and gnarly rock gardens on top! We all enjoyed that diversity, and one more time that was the opportunity to measure the incredible abilities of our bikes!
Matthieu Hamel
Riding the trails at Eselfontein was an awesome experience. Despite the dodgy weather we still managed to get in a fantastic couple of rides and the trails held up fantastically. There are some truly epic trails there if you know what to look for. Luckily for us Deon was more than happy to show us around and went as far as taking us to a trail he made with his MX bike, that has never had mountainbikes ridden on it before. It was rocky as you like and well worth the hour long, intense hike-a-bike to the trail head.
Cliff Beckett
Riders: Matthieu Hamel, Daniel Dobinson, Rupert von Tutschek, Cliff Beckett.
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I think I'll be in for that. Could definitely benefit from one of your skills sessions, Dan.