As usual, the planning before the weekend meant that everything was ready for us when we arrived (some on Friday afternoon, and others on Saturday).

The Karkloof/Howick trail network has around 150km of trail in and around the forests in the area and so the routes were chosen to suit the group that assembled. 

Something you learn very quickly in the Karkloof is that every fun (downhill) run is preceded by a climb and so the plan was to cruise the climbs and ride the downs at your own pace or skill level.  As a result, everyone was able to ride every bit of the trails Wendy selected for us with maximum smiles (and a few drops of sweat).

Accommodation was again at The Retreat which is just a hop, skip and a jump from the Karkloof Country Club, where we enjoyed our hearty pub-grub after each ride.  One of the days we even hopped onto the trail just a kilometre from The Retreat and flew down some amazing trails (and then shuttled back ‘home’ after lunch).

Wendy is an amazing trial guide, always giving the group a verbal run down on what lies ahead, so there are no surprises.  (She goes up the week before, rides every possible route – even the day before we arrived, taking up a rake to clear a section or two of wind-dropped twigs – to make the trail more fun.)

The weather played ball and we were able to ride every morning of the 4 days we were there with a little drizzle overnight that gave the trail some good grip.

Karkloof remains one of the premier MTB destinations in SA and we are sure to return.