Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Things back on track again
Peace restored after fractious Battle of Constantiaberg
SLAIN: The surfing world has paid tribute to pro surfer Brazilian Ricardo dos Santos, who was shot dead outside his home in Florianopolis this week. Dos Santos was a fearless tube rider. organised by Trail and Tar in Tokai – that it was illegal to run on a DH route.
He posted on Facebook and the Hubsa.co.za, saying: “We start(ed) the final mission up DH1 when we encountered a massive troop (about 20, maybe more) of joggers descending the fastest line of the downhill run. I took it upon myself to put my bike and kit down and go stand in the trail and very politely tell them that they are not allowed to run there.”
According to witnesses, who claim Marqua’s choice of expletive was just as colourful, things got hotter when coowner of the cycling and trail running shop Noel Ernstzen arrived. A quickfire war of words erupted over rights to the mountain, and who was allowed where and when.
Of course, all hell broke loose on the Hubsa.co.za and Facebook as recriminations and counter-attacks flew, with the exception of some oases of humour in an angry blast of hot, desert air.
For 24 hours, there was no response from Trail and Tar. Murmurs of dissent grew. What do you do when you don’t have the other side of the story? You rewrite it.
That’s the problem with social media. Conjecture can take a vindictive path if not checked by voices of reason. Thankfully, that came from several people, notably from Tokai MTB.
South Africans are quick to assemble a kangaroo court where people are judged, tried and sentenced in absentia. We have an innate inability to understand other “cultures” and constantly fail to reach out to one another in the same tired old “us vs them” narrative.
Sure, the trail runners are often dangerously ignorant (and sometimes not so ignorant) of safety rules about running on MTB single track. Mountainbikers can be heavyhanded in their response. Several posts were wildly out of kilter with the issue at hand. However, there have been several close shaves between runners and downhillers speeding down track at speeds in excess of 40km/h.
A full frontal collision with an 80- 100kg parcel of spinning steel, rubber and plastic could hurt you ... badly. Regular mountain bikers kept repeating that they were concerned for safety and not trying to hog the mountain. How could they? Out of roughly 800km of trail at Tokai, they had exclusive use of only a fraction, and must pay R60 per entry. Runners are free.
Many runners said it was not clear what the rules were. To be clear visit http:// tokaimtb. co. za/ services/rules-of-the-trail
Many innocent, but scary, comments took the line of: “It’s fine. Let’s all just get along. Let’s all chill out wherever we want on the mountain. We’ll stay to one side of the track, and keep a lookout for you guys.”
Eina. That’ll result in a visit to the trauma unit. You can’t do that on narrow single track with sharp turns, rock drops and gap jumps. The rider may be unsighted at speed.
The bottom line in Tokai? Runners may ONLY run on green- graded singletrack. They are not allowed on the blue or black. Look for the signposts at the end and beginning of the trails. They are graded green, blue or black.
Thankfully, Marqua and Ernstzen met yesterday and both apologised for their role in the fracas. Agreement has been reached that the Wednesday runners will abide by the rules, while Marqua retracted various accusations about safety and other aspects.
There is an upside to this public spat. There is an opportunity to do some reaching out. Mountain bikers, visit the trail running websites. Get insights into what it’s all about.
General mountain users could attend a build day to see the hard work that goes into MTB trail maintenance, which according to the Tokai MTB Association “might foster some understanding as to why we react so badly when we think it is under threat”.
And in terms of safety, check this YouTube video depicting the entire downhill run from DH0 to My Roots. It took three minutes.
https:// www. youtube. com /watch?v=joWseBDyYBQ
Why can’t we all ... just get along? Weather Tip Good surf arrives today 4-5’ in light SW winds. Muizenberg 2’ and mildly fun. The surf drops tomorrow to 3' and it goes moderate NW, with fun 2' waves in offshore Muizenberg.