As mentioned in earlier blog posts, we had a week up in KwaZulu Natal and managed to squeeze in some mountain biking. Here is an account of our rides in the Karkloof area of which one was a proper epic ride From Howick to Karkloof and up to the source of the Karkloof river before bombing down the new singletrack from the top of Khyber Pass.

So much has been said about the Karkloof Classic that it’d be foolish for me to add anything to it, besides telling you to go there and ride the race or even better, go and ride the trails some other time so you can have all the trails to yourself!

We drove out to the Karkloof Country Club where you pay R20 and sign an indemnity form before riding. A very helpful Derick Turvey greeted us upon arrival and drew us a map on a napkin saying that we were in for a treat and some new singletrack if we followed his directions.

Unfortunately there are no maps of either Howick or Karkloof trails at this point in time (We might make a few of our own just so people can get an idea of what is out there!).

The trails are marked well though and it becomes obvious that most of them are made by Hylton Turvey, the local trail builder, who is doing a phenomenal job. Check out this neat video featuring him and his trails.

The only downside (in my opinion) is that from the Karkloof Country Club to the first singletrack, there is about 8km of mind numbingly boring (and strenuous) district road. Hopefully the crew will be able to build some trails leading through the connecting farmlands some day because 16km of district road detracts from the overall experience after speeding through the incredible singletrack that is there.

We climbed for a good hour and a bit before being rewarded with the really fun, flowing singletrack of ‘Jewitts jive’, leading into the infamous ‘Gauntlet’ and then on to the meandering ‘Sahara’ trail. Then came the best bit of ‘Vudu lounge’-this trail has it all!

It’s fast but narrow and the nearby trees whizz by you, as the trail gets a bit steeper there is woodwork, jumps and pumps to keep the trail riders happy but people on hardtails will have just as much fun keeping the wheels on the ground. This trail is just soooo good. It reminded me of the Glentress trails in Scotland but without the ‘dumbed down’ factor. ie. Still a little bit dangerous at speed :) Vudu Lounge ends with high fives, grins and shaking calves but no photographic evidence-it’s just too fun to stop for photos!

Sams trail followed on from there and heads to the base of Khyber pass after crossing the Karkloof river, where we had to have a quick dip and soak ourselves before the climb.

Kyhber pass is a mean, switch-backed climb of about 4km, leading up to the top of Lebanon, where the views are worth the sweat.

Derick’s advice was to look out for a new trail towards the top and we found the sweetest looking benchcut singletrack, just waiting to be ridden! After a quick bite to eat in the shade we looked down the snaking trail, disappearing into the shadows of the forest and chased each other down the berms whooping with delight and all having a few ‘moments’ along the way.

I think the downhill is about 2km long or so but it’s steep, direct and fun, fun fun! Here’s a phone photo from the bottom of the track.

From here it’s a bit of a slog up to the rest of the trails, the climb out to the Karkloof river is tough and you still have to contend with the ridiculously steep road of the Mineshaft. Once up though, you can enjoy the bliss that is the Snake Pit and then endure the 8km slog to the Karkloof country club once again on district roads.

The district roads home proved a bit too much for Chris and he displayed one of the most spectacular blows I’ve had the pleasure of viewing. This is him at the Country club :) Thank goodness for his sister who had arrived with Easter Eggs, doughnuts and Steri Stumpies!

We did ride the new XC course in Karkloof as well and while I have no photos of it, I can say that it is a brilliant, tough course that seems to be of international standard. The guys racing here better start practising their technical skills because they’ll need them(especially in the mud!).

We also spied a short section of the Karkloof downhill course that is being built as well. It looks fantastic and is being built using proper, sustainable techniques and we can’t wait to ride it! Our only concern is that it might not be steep or long enough but we’re sure Hylton will add in some interesting bits that make up for that. We didn’t find the NorthShore section and we’ll be amped to find it and ride it when we’re next up there (if we’re allowed)

All in all the Karkloof trails are like nothing else in South Africa. Well built, well maintained and well ridden. A huge thank you to all involved in making them a reality and allowing us to use them. We’ll be hitting them again when we road trip from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg for the Mountain Bike World Cup in April. Anyone care to join us?