Weekend getaway: Ride a bike trail

By Leon-Ben Lamprecht

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Beginners might feel safer on Esefontain's more level route through the woods.

The gravel crunches under the red Giant mountain bike’s wheels. Mud splatters my legs. Trees and shrubs glide by in a greygreen haze. Snow blankets the Matroosberg in the distance, and the cold nips at my knees, but a more immediate problem is the huge pool of water right in my path. There’s no other way but through it, and I haven’t been on a bicycle in five years!

The wheels create a big wake and my feet get drenched – it’s deeper than I thought. The front wheel threatens to skid on the muddy bottom of the pool but I pedal with a vengeance. And then I’m through… only to get stuck in the mud beyond the pool.
After two days’ cycling my muscles are complaining, but I’m not – it’s great fun. These trails are well worth exploring, at your own pace, of course.

The Breede River has its source here on the farm Eselfontein, about 10 km from Ceres.
Deon Malherbe tells me that six generations of his family have farmed here, since the 1800s. They farm with fruit, wheat and dairy these days.
Deon is an avid kite-surfer, snowboarder (he snowboards nearby on Matroosberg), biker and mountain biker. “I designed the trails myself, and they took me 20 years to build. I want them to be here for future generations.”

There is a total of 70 km of bicycle paths on the farm, and there are trails for beginners as well as experienced cyclists.

Go! says: The farm is on the shortlist to become part of next year’s Cape Epic mountain bike race, so you can be sure it offers plenty for serious cyclists.
 

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Published 1 October 2009

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