On your bike

When the singletrack is designed and built by Meurant Botha, you know you are in for a treat. Contermanskloof is no exception, with the very well-marked trail starting around a beautiful farm dam, before heading up the steps of ‘Bushvine climb’ and the easy switch­backs of the meadow above. This first climb is rewarded with some classic banked and graded singletrack, before the trail swoops down into the farmyard.

Follow the signs and turn left onto the gravel road, riding through the farmyard and out again on a very gradual climb. Two well-signposted right-hand turns take you to the base of the main 106m climb, where you can also turn right onto the Green route. We are follow­ing the Blue route, however, so we turn left and find there are two choices await­ing us. Choice one is to go straight up the hill. Choice two is to follow specially made singletrack contours that wind back and forth at a more gradual ascent – and heart rate.

At the top of this section of single­track the route once again reverts to a wide gravel road as it makes its last slight climb to the right-turn arrow that marks the start of the fun. You are now exactly 8km into your ride and it is payback time, with some of the sweetest trail you can find in Cape Town. Turn after turn of quality, well-maintained singletrack sweeps across the slopes of the kloof, gradually leading to the bottom of the valley.

After endless turns, jumps and berms, you will find yourself at the bottom of the trail where you are met by another singletrack climb up to some more jeep track that takes you to yet more single­track. This trail takes you past a dam on your left-hand side where you have the option to detour over Kliprug farm to Hillcrest. Keep riding the singletrack straight down until you have to go under the road via the concrete subway, and the end of the trail will be right in front of you.