Greetings All

Would you believe that this is our 10th Gabba! Time has flown & we are trying hard to keep up! Every time we drive into the park area, we are amazed at the number of cars & riders. We would really like to thank everyone for their continued support of GIBA GORGE! The support has been phenomenal!

It’s time to take stock of where we are at! We are only as good as your last impression! We do appreciate all the comments/ criticisms that we receive and hopefully we try and sort them out if we can! Please email all comments, criticisms, etc to info@gibagorge.co.za.

You must remember that Giba Gorge is there for you the customers to come and enjoy yourself! We will continue to try & make your experience as enjoyable as possible!

Ian Wilson is leaving the business. His company “Single Track Minded” will continue to be involved with the training through the Giba Gals, Giba Groms, holiday clinics, etc. We wish Ian all the best & thank him for all the work & effort that he has put into Giba Gorge in the past 8 months. You can reach him on ian@singletrackminded.co.za.

With the increase in numbers, we realise that the service in the bar, restaurant area is not up to the level that we have set ourselves! After much deliberation & planning we are going ahead with a fancy new kitchen area? The construction work should start early in September, so please bear with us while this is in progress? We are sure you will be happy with the end result! We should be ready for all your Christmas functions in the new conference facility “Giba Indaba”!

The web site is still not complete yet but it is live & we are continually adding to it! Please check out www.gibagorge.co.za.

We have revised the pricing structure slightly in that Non-Riders will be free during week days only! On weekends & public holidays only, Non-Riders will pay ten rand (R10) for each person.

To clear up any confusion with regards entrance fees, let me try & explain how the system works?

• When you arrive at the Park, you will be given a slip at the boom gate (or in the parking area, during the week). This will reflect how many people & bikes you have in your vehicle. This is your parking ticket which you need to pay before you leave the park after your fun!
• Any time during your stay, you need to go to the trail centre, pay your fees & have your parking ticket stamped.
• When you leave, hand the stamped ticket to the ranger at the gate & he will let you out! No stamped ticket, no exit!

Please remember the top road from St Hellier’s is closed to vehicles (Except land owners in the valley), but is wide open to cyclists, hikers, runners, etc. You will also receive a “parking ticket” which you need to get stamped at the Trail Centre, when you pay. Keep this on you & only present it to the ranger at the gate & he will let you out! No stamped ticket, no exit! It’s a long way back to the Trail Centre from the St Hellier’s Boom gate!!!

Please don’t use this route for your vehicles! Our rangers have strict instructions not to let any vehicles through & it is not very pleasant riding the road & a vehicle comes around the corner!

We hope this clears up any confusion: It is “Just like any parking garage except that our system is not computerised?” All the money goes to keep improving your facility!! It doesn’t pay to abuse the system?

We are finding that our hire bikes are out by 9h00 on the weekends! To simplify the system, we are going to take a deposit for these bikes. The new rates are as follows:

Some exciting news from Tim Keep, designer & builder of the fantastic new “PURE ADVENTURE WEAR Free ride Trail”:

“With a week to go in the 'Name the Drop' competition (entries close on Wednesday pm the 28 August 2007) it has been great to see the interest in naming the obstacle. Thirty eight names have been received so far, with an underlying thread of 'madness + doom & gloom' in the names. It is interesting to note that only about 3 people that submitted names have actually ridden the drop. Which leads me to suggesting a demo & instruction time on how to ride the Drop? I am looking @ either Saturday afternoon the 1st September or Sunday the 2nd September. If anybody is interested in learning how to ride the drop or just want to see somebody ride it, please mail info@pureadventurewear.co.za and I will finalize the day and time for those interested. 

Please note that we will be doing some trail maintenance and adding another option to the 'Big Drop', so certain sections on the Free ride Trail before the house may be closed for riding for short periods on Sunday 26 August 2007. So walk it first to check if it is open or not, I will block it off before Eiisshhh when we are working on the 'Big Drop'. C you on the trail.”

We are adding a new “Mountain Boarding Trail” to the park just below the BMX track! To find out more about this exciting new addition to Giba Gorge, check out the web site www.mountainboards.co.za or you can contact Kirk on 0836509288!

You will have noticed that we are still upgrading the signage & directions on the trails. If you have any suggestions for names of certain routes, features, drop-offs, etc please forward them to info@gibagorge.co.za?  The trails are very dry & dusty! We are looking forward to the summer rains & will be continually working on maintenance as well as new routes!

We are also looking at designing a fold up map of the routes that you can carry with you while you ride! This should help tremendously as even we sometimes find the route map on the wall at the Trail Centre confusing?

Well done to all the Giba Groms who raced the Mongoose Schools Series race at Giba 2 weeks ago! The results will be placed on the website shortly? We also have the overall positions after the 5 rounds! They make for interesting reading with lots of Groms occupying top positions.

Well done to Savannah McKenzie, Julia & Jeremy Foord, James McVeigh, Chris Sinclair, Sarah Grinyer, Luca Van Greunen to name a few Groms who really did well! Anyone who wants the results before they get posted on the website, please email info@gibagorge.co.za & we’ll forward them to you!

Keep training as the final race in the series is at the “Lynford Classic” Weekend at Ixopo on the 8th of September! Keep it up!

These group rides are proving to be very popular. Ian has been injured but promises to be back on Tuesday 28th August to help with the ladies rides! In the meantime Sphamandla has been running the outrides. Just a reminder:

            Tuesday           8h30
            Wednesday      8h30                           
            Wednesday      16h30
            Thursday          8h30

Keep it up Gals!!

Our buyers are currently at SARCDA sourcing some more special goodies for your homes. There are lots of new items to check out including some more Nguni hides! Feel free to browse around the Gallery while waiting for your food order to arrive!! The Gallery has proven to be very popular & the future is looking very exciting!!

This weekend’s race is “The Howick Highlander” in the Natal Midlands on Sunday 26th August. A very popular race with lots of awesome single track!

Landrover Durban MTB Series:
            1st Race            2nd September 2007    Highbury School
            2nd Race           7th October 2007         Giba Gorge
            3rd Race           4th November 2007      Inanda Valley

For more details on this exciting new series, please check out our website or contact Sharon Sinclair on csnsuppliers@hotmail.com.

The Asishove MTB Race (part of the Amashove) is at Giba on the 20th October 2007. This is going to be one awesome weekend! Watch this space for details! Please check out www.shova.co.za for more details & to pre-enter online!

We are looking forward to another great weekend! Any queries, whatsoever, please email info@gibagorge.co.za or phone the Trail Centre on 031 7691527.
Good Luck to those riding the “Howick Highlander”!

See you all in the saddle!