Riding in Cape Town

pottssteve

Hi,

I've just booked to visit relatives next week in Cape Town. I would like to do a bit of riding there and am interested in any advice regarding where to rent a bike and some good routes to ride. I will be staying in the Blouberg area. Any tips appreciated.

Cheers,
Steve

arran77

Really?

Not sure I'd want to drive a car there let alone ride a bike :shock:

pottssteve

arran77 wrote:

Really?

Not sure I'd want to drive a car there let alone ride a bike :shock:

I know what you mean. Just been looking at it on Streetview and there are cycle lanes, though it looks a bit sketchy in places. I used to ride in Hong Kong so I'm reasonably used to pisspoor drivers (though i drew the line at riding in Malaysia....)

Steve

antikythera

Not sure about about hiring a bike, but...

Sure it's a difficult place to ride and there are some areas where it's not recommend, in particular Constantia, (The mountain "short cut" between the city and the Hout bay area). Its a beautiful area and really appealing to ride. But this is probably the least safe area IMO.

But there are some really clear and open roads with great views and some challenges that are accessible and "safer". The coastal road from Camps bay through to Hout bay, would include the Suikerbossie and Chapmans Peak. The roads "behind" Chapmans peak are really good. This is essentially the roads used for the Cape Argus. Similarly riding up to the start of the cable car for Table mountain is great for climbing training

schlepcycling

antikythera wrote:

Not sure about about hiring a bike, but...

Sure it's a difficult place to ride and there are some areas where it's not recommend, in particular Constantia, (The mountain "short cut" between the city and the Hout bay area). Its a beautiful area and really appealing to ride. But this is probably the least safe area IMO.

But there are some really clear and open roads with great views and some challenges that are accessible and "safer". The coastal road from Camps bay through to Hout bay, would include the Suikerbossie and Chapmans Peak. The roads "behind" Chapmans peak are really good. This is essentially the roads used for the Cape Argus. Similarly riding up to the start of the cable car for Table mountain is great for climbing training

I agree, having done the Cape Argus a number of times there are quite a few nice rides. As already said the Atlantic coast road from Hout Bay to Camps Bay is a great ride as is the ride from Fish Hoek round the point to Hout Bay. You can even ride into the Cape National Park and ride right through to the Cape Point. I would avoid the Southern Suburbs as they are very busy with traffic but there's definitely lots of good riding to be had on the Atlantic coast side and down towards the National Park.

pottssteve

Thanks for the replies. I'm off to look at the map....

Steve

grizedaleforest

Here you go...
http://capetowncyclehire.weebly.com/index.html
I'm there last week of August and similarly contemplating riding options. If you're on Strava have a look there as a guide for what locals are riding.

You could also consider a move to the dark side: http://www.tablemountainbikers.co.za/ there look to be some fantastic circuits to be done.

VTech

I had asked the same thing as im in Pretoria in 2 weeks and have been told to forget driving yet alone cycling.
100% not a good place for tourists to be out in the open by all accounts.
I was going to be taking my family but am going it alone now.

Stevo_666

Commuters should love it, SA is one of the few places where jumping red lights is actually encouraged, and in some places necessary

bontie

Post your question on www.thehubsa.co.za

If you still struggle, drop me a PM.

mrushton

Didn't ride there when I went but it's a pretty heavy place security wise - SA is a v.gun orientated culture. Lots of money there and a lot of inequality. Look at the township when you step out of the airport. Camps Bay was lovely but I didn't wear an expensive watch or carry a lot of money/cards when I went out

bernithebiker

We did a house swap in Capetown last year and I hired quite a nice carbon Giant TCR. There's some great riding, but here's the snag - all the local riders carry Mace with them in case of attack. In the week I was there, there were 3 separate incidents in the Ctown area of riders being attacked and their wallets/phones/bikes nicked. Injuries were sustained.........

...my theory was, the faster I rode, the less likely I was to get attacked, so it was great training......

VTech

bernithebiker wrote:

We did a house swap in Capetown last year and I hired quite a nice carbon Giant TCR. There's some great riding, but here's the snag - all the local riders carry Mace with them in case of attack. In the week I was there, there were 3 separate incidents in the Ctown area of riders being attacked and their wallets/phones/bikes nicked. Injuries were sustained.........

...my theory was, the faster I rode, the less likely I was to get attacked, so it was great training......

Ive definitely decided not to cycle out there.

pottssteve

Hi All,

Many thanks for all the replies and advice. I've just got back so I thought I would update the thread.
In the end I didn't ride out in Cape Town. However, I stayed in the Blouberg area North of the city and there were lots of people riding from Milnerton area along Bloubergstrand and on up the coast. There is a new bike lane there which separates riders from traffic for much of the way. Saw a lot of people on road and mountain bikes.
The Cape Argus roads did look very nice, as did the roads out towards Simon's Town. As mentioned, traffic was somewhat hazardous and not rider friendly, especially down town. We had no problems with safety and security but it is certainly an issue for people living there. Having said that, it was a very enjoyable 2 weeks - thanks once again to those of you who posted advice.

Cheers,
Steve