During the Heritage Day floods of 25th September 2023, many of the mountain bike trails and bridges in the Elgin Valley, were totally destroyed.
The good news is that these trails and bridges have been totally rebuilt and restored to their former glory – or even better!
More good news is that if you are members of the Wine Lands Cycling Club (Regional) your permit allows you to ride on these trails. Likewise, if you are members of the Tygerberg Mtb Club, there is a minimal top-up option that gets you an annual Elgin Valley Trail permit. The Elgin Valley Trails include all of the Grabouw Forest Trails (so much more than A2Z) as well as all of the famous Oak Valley Trails.
We encourage these permit options as we cannot maintain these trails without permit contributions to the Trail Fund. We have also been fortunate in having great assistance from Wines2Whales, Epic, Ride the Cape, KaapAgri, Cannondale, the farms on which we ride, as well as some really generous individuals.
Something that all trail builders have in common, is they want riders, runners and hikers to have an amazing experience. The people involved in the Grabouw Forest Trails and the Oak Valley Trails are no different. Smiling social media posts and the recording of adrenaline filled excitement down a favourite trail is what makes it all worthwhile!
Some of the original mountain biking trails in the Western Cape – before mountain biking was even a ‘thing’ – were to be found in the mountains surrounding the Elgin Valley in the late 1980’s. One of the first mountain biking events in South Africa was the Apple Blossom race, started in the Elgin Valley and Grabouw Forests in the early 1990’s.
Since then many iconic events have taken place in the Elgin Valley: the Xterra, the Wines2Whales stage race, the Weekend Warrior, and of course, the Cape Epic (every other year or so), to name a few.
On the 27th January, Trail’s End and Peregrine Farmstall will be hosting the (flood delayed) Bikes2Blossoms event (a rebirth of the Apple Blossom event). This is a must for anyone who is not familiar with the Elgin Valley Trails. And for those who know the trails, there will be some wonderful new additions that will be included in a mountain bike event for the first time.
We look forward to seeing you on our iconic trails at the Bikes2Blossoms or in the near future. If you are unable to make this event, you can always bring a group of friends to Trail’s End Bike Hotel for a weekend of trail fun. This is truly mountain biking heaven!
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Great news and a big thank you to the trail builders and landowners!
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Great news and a big thank you to the trail builders and landowners!