About Us
Tygerberg MTB Club - a potted history
The Club was officially constituted in 1997 and has been run by various enthusiasts over the years. It reached it's previous largest size around 2005/6, when it had nearly 200 members and was given use of the Majik Forest trails for as long as it remained active. It is obligated through an old agreement with the De-Grendel Sub-Council to maintain these trails (This 'contract' is under review at present (Dec 2010) and to make it more official, an MOU has been drawn up with responsibilities allocated to The Club and The Council, and a plan introduced to ease congestion and reduce possible conflict between user groups in and around the area).
By Dec 2007, membership had dropped to 35, and at the AGM on December 16th, the entire committee resigned. At the last minute, faced with the club folding, James Thornhill-Fisher volunteered his services as Chairman, and Adrian Winsor as Secretary.
Problems faced in 2007
The Majik Forest is an area of woodland and derelict vineland situated above the Van Riebeeckshof Shopping Centre, bordered now by the Oude Westhof estate on one side and D'Aria/Altydgedacht vineyards on the other. Access is from an entrance off the Jip de Jager extension road that leads to the Vineyard Development, or from Oude Westhof. The whole area is less than 12 hectares, and it is the ONLY trail in the Northern Suburbs, an area that is home to perhaps 300,000 people or more. Mountainbikers have been using the trails there for the last 17 years, but as housing has grown up around it, more and more walkers and runners use them too.
With the growth of the sport and the local population, the area came under increasing pressure for space. Not only that, but the trails themselves are hammered under the intense use they receive 365 day a year.
Solution
Although the Majik Forest trails received an upgrade in 2007, the local riding community began to desert the area through boredom and unhappiness with the state of the forest; The Club realised something had to change.
There is not a great deal of choice in terms of trails available to the general public in the Cape town area, Jonkershoek (Stellenbosch) 2,000 visitors a month, Tokai 4,000 per month and Delvera (Stellenbosch), 1,000 per month are the three most popular trails close by before you have to go further afield, to Wellington, Oak Valley, or Elgin/Grabouw.
There are some smaller trails (Table Mountain, Silvermine, etc, but these do not support large numbers.
The idea for a Durbanville Hills trail network germinated after TmtbC was invited to present ideas to the Tygerberg Renosterveld Conservancy (TRC) at it's AGM in Mar 2008.The TRC was looking for ways to raise funds to preserve, maintain and grow the preciously small (only 4% remains of the original) areas of Renosterveld remaining in the Southern end of the Western Cape. The idea that mountainbikers would 'pay to play' was seen as a key factor in opening up areas of unused farmland for the benefit of all;-
It would promote increased awareness of the flora and fauna aroundRiders would be the eyes and ears of the community on the farms, reducing stock and crop theftA controlled user group was accountable and therefore more desirable than the various groups using the land illegally and unaccountablyMoney would become available for the regeneration of Renosterveld
Meurant Botha, the country's foremost authority on trail advocacy and trailbuilding was invited to a meeting to establish if he could carry out a feasibility study on the Durbanville Hills. He accepted, and TmtbC procured funding from the Pedal Power Association to pay for the 50 page document.
The focus of the initiative was;-
To promote mtb participation identify 'bike-friendly' farms and estates increase access to farmland through trails built with monies raised from subscriptions.To raise awareness of conservation issues
Over the following months, Meurant and Adrian toured the winelands and farmlands interviewing farmers to ascertain their willingness (or not) to join up to the scheme. Meurant then used his extensive knowledge to draw up a design for the whole of the Durbanville Hills, with the various riding areas joined by 'green corridors'.
The Hillcrest Wine Estate emerged as the initial start point, owing to it's compact size and the willingness of the owners to embrace the scheme as quickly as possible. As a farm with an existing infrastructure (Wine, Olives, Olive oil and food sales, conference facilities, fishing and hiking already available), it was a natural progression to add value to the services provided.
Others followed, and now the trail network criss-crosses at least 12 farms. All but one of the trails (Contermanskloof) has been developed by TmtbC.
Synopsis
After the first build, overseen by Meurant, Adrian and Braam Louw learned how to do it themselves, and have since built many kilometres of trails on successive farms identified in the Durbanville Hills document, and some more in between.
The project has been an overwhelming success;- total trail kilometres have reached 80 (and more in the pipeline), 1,500 subscribe to the club newsletter and there is a paying membership of 1072 (Dec 2010) which shows no signs of slowing down and with the potential to reach 3,000. The catalyst for the growth of The Club has been the dissemination of comprehensive information on a regular basis through the newsletter, and the building of the trail system, offered to members free of charge.
Managing the growth of The Club is now the main priority, and new technology can help..
Mission
To Create 120 kms of trails in the Durbanville Hills
Objectives
To increase participation in the healthy sport of mountainbiking.
· To enable youth access to healthy development
To foster youth talent and enable progress to National levelTo open up the area to Eco-TourismTo increase awareness of The Renosterveld Conservancy
