Mountain biking in Cape Town
The cold months are slowly getting out of the way and Capetonians are venturing out into the mountains again. Are you part of Cape Town’s thriving mountain biking community, or eagerly watching from the side-lines and wanting to get involved yourself one day?
If the former, awesome. If the latter, now is a great time to start. It’s fun, family-friendly and a great way to get in shape. Here’s what you need know to get started mountain biking in Cape Town.
Join a group
What stops many people from initially joining the sport, and indeed many sports, is not having someone to begin with. Often people feel that if they don’t have friends and family to initiate them into something, then the activity is out of reach to them. But there’s no need to think that way. There are many cycling communities in Cape Town happy to accept beginners into the fold and show them the ropes. For a complete list of cycling clubs in the Western Cape, check out cyclersguide.co.za.
For mountain biking particularly, the Tygerberg MTB Club is a well-organised group situated in Tygerberg hills whose trail network converges over multiple farms and pieces of public land. They will take fledgling cyclists under their wing and take them of easy, scenic rides. And the Paarl MTB Club caters for the Paarl area, and rides out every day of the week except Monday.
Choose your route
If you’re joining a club, that makes your choice of route very simple, as your new biking buddies will give you the where and when and you simply show up.
But maybe you’re the type of person who wants to try out things on your own first. Or perhaps you are just visiting the city, and wondering which trails are closest to your hotel in Greenpoint. In that case you’re spoiled for choice when it comes to choosing a trail in and around Cape Town. You have routes along the coast, the mountains and the farmlands. There’s something for every level of fitness, whether you want a grueling workout or a scenic ride.
Some routes are simple, while others are more technically advanced. If you’re still getting your toes wet in the MTB world, make sure you research trails first to make sure you’re not biting off more than you can chew. Here is a list of trails in Cape Town that gives you a heads up as to the level of difficulty you can expect to encounter on each route.
Just get out there and try it
If you’re not a 100% sure on where to begin or even if the sport is for you, try renting a bike and going on a cycling tour with guides. Once you’ve made up your mind that this is the most fun you can have being active and healthy, you can get your own gear.
Whether you join a group, take a tour or try out by yourself, it doesn’t matter so long as you get started. Once you do, it’s downhill from there.