Pinetown trails, South Africa. By BdJ

Apr 20, 2011

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 9674 times

By lack of a better name, we call the dirt spot that is being build in Waterfall, South Africa, the "Waterfall Trails". Maybe a new name will pop up some day and if it does, please let us know. (Pinetown trails it is). It was a bit of a hike to get down to the bottom of the valley to see the progress of the trails that Colin Loudon and a couple locals are building. They've been working on it by hand for 7 months now and have not even ridden one single jump. It's getting the soil in place, packing it, and hopefully it will run smoothly once they've baked

in the SA sun. The line starts at the top with a small double to doller that goes into a left hander followed by a smaller take off but bigger landing that will set off the pace. The next set is of a decent size and will lead to another 90 degree left turn. A short but steep double will send you in the air before you'll hit the 170 degree right berm. After that a few rollers take you to another double followed by the big set at the bottom. The right hand turn after that will get you back up to where you started, or at least it will get you on your way.

Digging trails is hard work and it always sucks because you get little help. You can complain about that all you want, but it's not going to help. Just picture yourself being the only guy digging and the help you're getting from other riders is extra. It's just like that. You cannot expect a 15 man work crew to show up from 8-5 every day and put as much effort into digging as you do yourself. Life's hard sometimes but you've got to live with it. But being there every day digging gives you the opportunity to create the jumps that you want. Build them the right h

eight, build them the exact length, make that rollercoaster the way you want it to be. In the end you'll have your own BMX theme park to play on. And it never stops, because there is always room for extra lines, extra take-offs and some more berms. It's a never ending story.

But waiting for 7 months to ride takes some dedication. I'd say, pack it and try it. Pack it some more and make some adjustments. Combine the riding with the digging. But the South African

approach at the Waterfall Trails is different. The chill corner is already up, but no riding is done before the line has been completed. And the "No Dig, No Ride" sign is in the works as well. I know that feeling, makes a lot of sense.

Hopefully the SA scene gets to ride the spot in the next few days, before their winter kicks in. If there's a way for me to get to the UCi SX race in PMB in 2012, I hope to enjoy the spot too. I'll sweep up the line and help dig before rolling in. No worries.

BdJ