On your bike

Majik was one of the first trails to be built in the Northern Suburbs, and for years it was the only alternative to Tokai in the area. Some may say it’s Tokai’s ‘poor cousin’, but it is nonetheless an amazing ride in its own right.

Built on public open space, Majik is a long, narrow green belt between the wine farms of Durbanville and the residential areas of Bellville and Parow. The trails are shared by cyclists and hikers, and riders should therefore be aware of other trail users (and especially their dogs).

Entry to the trails can be made via D’Aria wine farm, the Spar shopping centre in Van Riebeeckshof Road, or – as for the purpose of this guide – the park­ing on the northern corner of Jip de Jager Drive and Van Riebeeckshof Road. Enter the trail and head upwards along jeep track to the right, past office buildings on your right and continue to the next left-hand corner. It goes uphill here and is reasonably steep, but don’t despair.
After 1.5km, the trail heads right again after a gate, with a bit more uphill. Continue straight on the jeep track or, at around 2km, turn left onto some single­track meandering up the hill. At 3km, the paths merge again, and you should ride to the left and around the electrical substation. At 3.8km there’s more single­track to the left; follow this flat route around the hill for 500m to where it goes up a steep bit of track. Ride (or push) up along the right of the electric fence.

Turn right at this point and follow the amazing singletrack down. At the large drop-off you have a chicken run to the right. Continue along the trail, enjoying the numerous little jumps every 10m or so, back to the power station where you ride around it to the right and then straight onto the singletrack again.

All that remains is 4km of singletrack back to the finish ... but what singletrack it is! Curving, whooping, berming, railing ... down, down, down you go. There are lots of cross paths and routes, but all roads lead to the bottom, so experiment at leisure. Turn right at 9km over the little wooden bridge and the trail rushes down a ‘jungle’ path along the reservoir. Slow down a little as there’s bound to be a hiker or two – remember to smile and wave as you bomb out of the trees and into the finish.