What a weekend: Jonkershoek

It is winter in South Africa and living in the Boland area, this means that our days are filled with wind, ice cold temperatures and the odd rain shower or continuous drizzle. When we looked at the weather forecast for last weekend, Saturday was no exception. Very out of character for us, we decided to stick the finger to the rain and still get on our bikes for an adventure in Jonkershoek.

We made our way up to the deck, probably one of the most extreme climbs in the reserve as the last few hundred meters are unrideable (for us mere mortals - I'm sure there are some guys with legs of steel who can power up there). Luckily, even in severely overcast weather, the view up there makes it all worth it. In typical Hanco and Arné fashion we enjoyed a cup of tea an cookies up top before starting our massive descend down again.

This descend was by far the longest continuing downhill ride that I have ever done and it was also extremely rough at sections. I cooked my brakes about halfway through and was happy to take a breather before dipping into the last downhill (the old downhill track dipping into flow trail). I have never really enjoyed the old downhill particularly because of some seriously off camber turns that put me a bit at unease. However with my super coach Hanco behind me, even that became rideable. After such a long descend I was feeling quite over it and gatvol by the time that I reached Flow trail or Slangpad that I just let go of my brakes so that it could end quicker!

Somewhere in our ride it had started to rain and we were  reconsidering our earlier bravery and plans for a mega ride. As a compromise, we decided to still do a few more trails (the new canaries and downhill) before going hunting for coffee.  I followed the same philosophy as earlier, just trying to get the descends over as quickly as possible.

We felt like wet chickens as we pedalled to the gate, trying not to get the car and everything we touched full of mud! We ended the day with a delicious braai in the rain and looked forward to the prospect of another trailride the next day!

Photo on the right by Madeleine and Reto

Sunday's weather was the complete opposite to Saturday and this is evident in our photos. Clear skies with little wind and a beautiful sun peeking through! We met up with Madeleine, Reto and Theresa at Jonkershoek. After enjoying the old DH track the previous day, I wanted to give that another go and we headed up in that direction. Madeleine, Reto and Theresa opted for another trail and we regrouped at the gate after our respective descends.

Thank you Reto and Madeleine for the awesome photos!

A group decision was made to head up to the groenhuisie next to do all the Firehut trails. Hanco and I spent some time practicing a few spots while the rest of the group headed down. I am really grateful that Hanco spends so much time with me on the trails building my confidence. It really helps to make my riding more enjoyable!

Photo bottom middle by Reto and Madeleine

At the bottom, we decided to call it a day and made a joint decision to head to Ride In for coffee and something sweet. A weekend well spent on the bikes! Next up: Downhill Nationals at Port Elizabeth next weekend!