MaxThePanda
Race Dog
This isn't a ride report as such, more a little review of the Hex River 4x4 trail, which you can do on your adventure bike. Tom and I were screwing around on the web looking for an interesting place to go for a long-weekend's riding within reach of Cape Town, and decided to check out the 4x4 trail options.
Figuring anything a car can do a bike can do better, we put in "worst 4x4 trail" or "most hectic 4x4 trail on the planet" or something silly like that into our friend Google and he spat out the Hex River 4x4 trail, which is apparently the Rubicon of 4x4 trails or some other nonsense. But it's less than two hours from Cape Town, has 70km of trails and a friendly farmer who looks after you.
OK, that turned out not to be quite the truth. Actually, since some floods in the area parts of the trail have been closed and it's now 3 or 4 loops up and down a mountain. But it's still a jol. It's steep, slippery with shale, involves some serious hacking through the bush alongside a washed away river bed, and the scenery is gorgeous. And it was farking hot. The farmer seems keen to have adventure bikers (note, not plastics tearing up the trail and creating havoc - this is an 'eco' trail afterall) who can show a bit of respect, but if you enjoy technical riding it's quite a blast. I'd say on average about the same difficulty as Matroosberg - on average it's easier, but there's some hectic bundu bashing in parts, some river beds, some climbing over rocks, some very steep descents... you get the picture.
Arnold is the man to call on 079-7704372 if you wanna go. There's a nice rustic camping area and some really great thatched chalets in a separate spot so all kinds of options for heavy bikers or the family.
Like a real tit I forgot my helmet cam, so here's a few little hacked together video bits... sadly missing the fighter-pilot-eye-view of the more hectic sections.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2fIw4B-N1M
Figuring anything a car can do a bike can do better, we put in "worst 4x4 trail" or "most hectic 4x4 trail on the planet" or something silly like that into our friend Google and he spat out the Hex River 4x4 trail, which is apparently the Rubicon of 4x4 trails or some other nonsense. But it's less than two hours from Cape Town, has 70km of trails and a friendly farmer who looks after you.
OK, that turned out not to be quite the truth. Actually, since some floods in the area parts of the trail have been closed and it's now 3 or 4 loops up and down a mountain. But it's still a jol. It's steep, slippery with shale, involves some serious hacking through the bush alongside a washed away river bed, and the scenery is gorgeous. And it was farking hot. The farmer seems keen to have adventure bikers (note, not plastics tearing up the trail and creating havoc - this is an 'eco' trail afterall) who can show a bit of respect, but if you enjoy technical riding it's quite a blast. I'd say on average about the same difficulty as Matroosberg - on average it's easier, but there's some hectic bundu bashing in parts, some river beds, some climbing over rocks, some very steep descents... you get the picture.
Arnold is the man to call on 079-7704372 if you wanna go. There's a nice rustic camping area and some really great thatched chalets in a separate spot so all kinds of options for heavy bikers or the family.
Like a real tit I forgot my helmet cam, so here's a few little hacked together video bits... sadly missing the fighter-pilot-eye-view of the more hectic sections.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2fIw4B-N1M
