The cliffs of Mosselbay - Riding the Wandelpad on my Mountainbike
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 9:54AM On Monday Megie, Courts, Liam and I drove out to Mosselbay to spend a few days with our great friends, Cois and Corne and their kids, in Mosselbay. For those who don't know where that is, Mosselbay is about 3 hours drive outside of Cape Town. Cois and Corne have a beautiful flat in an area called Diaz beach.
Yesterday was a cold, wet day. Late in the afternoon I decided to go for a ride. It wasn't very long, about 22km, but it was great! I rode from where we are staying to 'the point' and then went looking for the Methodist Church (tip of the hat to the good 'Methodist people'). I found the Church and added it on Gowalla and while I was there a neighbour of the Church told me about a place called 'Die Wandelpad'.
So, I went up Church street, past the golf course and onto the cliffs around the point. It was an awesome piece of single track! Some great technical riding over rocks with a sheer drop on the side. There were a few moments where I was laughing out loud as I rode! I loved it! Just take a look at this view towards the lighthouse. 
Here's a little piece of single track pointing out towards the sea. Here you can get some idea of the terrain - rocky and quite close to the edge! It is actually a walking trail, but one can ride most of it. There were a few places where I had to climb off my bike because the corners were too steep, or there were large (or sharp) rocks obstructing the walking path. Then of course there were the steps at the end. But on the whole most of it was rideable in a lower gear (both up and down). As long as I kept my weight back and my centre of gravity low I could climb and descend the paths. I will confess that riding single track is what makes mountainbiking so appealing!
This was the last picture I took below the lighthouse before hiking my bike down the stairs to the point. I had to pick up my bike and carry it down to the parking lot. I passed a few tourists along the way who clearly thought that i was crazy coming down the walkway with my bike on my back!
If you're interested in seeing the track and the change in altitude, here's the info from my Garmin Forerunner 305 watch. It is an older watch, but it works for me. It handles GPS coordinates, keeps track of my speed, distance, heart rate etc. And what is best is that I can connect it to my Apple Mac via USB and download both the tracks and the riding data using a piece of software I purchased called 'Ascent'. The little graphic below comes from a screen shot in Ascent. It helps me to keep track of my rides, the distances and also to know how my training is going - I am preparing for a three day stage race later in the year called Wines2Whales.
Reader Comments (2)
Wow, fantastic pics. I really need an outdoor hobby.
Sorry for this straight to the point answer, but you must be mad to ride that cliffs with a bike. Amazing photo's, but no no.