Late in 2022, Pieter Silberbauer, of Trail’s End, and Christopher Rawbone-Viljoen, of Oak Valley, sought to canvass landowners in Elgin to form a combined trail network that would stretch from Sir Lowry’s Pass to Houw Hoek. 

They have however faced significant challenges in the last two years, mainly due to flooding and erosion. Pieter Silberbauer, Christopher Rawbone-Viljoen and their teams are now working to build back better, to create exceptional riding for the 2024 FNB Wines2Whales and shape the singletracks which will continue to thrill mountain bikers throughout the years to come. 

Photos supplied, by Liesl Cluver Rust, Rhys Hickson and Pieter Silberbauer.

Late in 2022, Pieter Silberbauer, of Trail’s End, and Christopher Rawbone-Viljoen, of Oak Valley, sought to canvass landowners in Elgin to form a combined trail network that would stretch from Sir Lowry’s Pass to Houw Hoek. That goal is still a work in progress, but as of August 2024 the Elgin Valley Trails (EVT) combines an impressive 120 kilometres of marked mountain biking routes. This largely consists of singletracks; including the Grabouw Forest Trails, based around but greatly expanded upon the famous A2Z trails, and Oak Valley’s world class tracks. 

Riders pass through beautiful natural scenery, fynbos, forests of pines and ancient oaks, vineyards, fruit orchards, across wheat fields, all set against the stunning backdrop of the Groenlandberg. The trails themselves are among the best in the country, if not the world, providing a mix of challenges and thrills too. From hard-packed and smooth clay, to hero dirt in the forests, and technical rocky trails – the Elgin Valley Trails network has it all. 

Sadly, following the devasting floods in September 2023, many of the trails and the bridges which link them criss-crossing various rivers and streams were totally destroyed. In the year since the team, with the help of Cape Trails have been painstakingly rebuilding the singletracks and bridges to their former glory, or even better. 

This is the story behind these desperate moments of destruction and the determination it took to restore and rebuild…

Before the September flood the Elgin Valley Trails were saturated and damaged in June 2023, when the region received its heavies June rainfall in 30 years. With FNB W2W scheduled for November rapid repair efforts were made, but there was also significant reason for optimism. “We were pleased that the Cannondale Bridge had survived the highest levels of the Palmiet River since its construction,” Silberbauer noted. “And to see that the new drift on Eikenhof Farm, above the Eikenhof Dam, had passed its first major test.”

“The next floods arrived over Heritage Day weekend, on 25 September 2023,” the Trail’s End founder continued. “We had never seen anything like it! 250 millimetres of rain in 36 hours, and the worst floods in living memory. It was a few days before we could start assessing the damage. The farmers had taken a beating and so it seemed insensitive to ask for assistance, but we did anyway!”

“The Eikenhof Drift and our bridge alongside it were destroyed,” Silberbauer explained. “The Cannondale Bridge was gone. The Waterfall Bridge on Mara Farm just vanished. The bridge over the Keerom River ended up at the opposite side of Eikenhof Dam in three sections. And the road over the spillway below the Eikenhof Dam emergency overflow was completely washed away.”

“Oak Valley was even worse off with 18 bridges destroyed while the Paul Cluver trails seemed to have been hit the hardest. Liesl Cluver sent photos of broken bridges or where bridges had simply vanished. She also sent beautiful photos of spring flowers all over the farm and said, ‘don’t worry things will get better!’”

“Then we got a message from JK and Hendrico to say FNB Wines2Whales would go ahead!” Silberbauer recalled. “That was the positive message we needed. It meant we’d have to construct two large bridges over the Palmiet and the Keerom Rivers for this to be possible, and we had three weeks to get this done.”

“Rhys was under the same pressure on Oak Valley. On Paul Cluver some bridges had to be abandoned, but routes were worked out and everyone got busy. We were fortunate to be working with Elias and his team.”

When the Somerset Timbers truck arrived with two 12 metre poles on board, my heart was in my mouth! A few hours later they were in position as part of the main structure of the Trail’s End Crossing. Peregrine Farmstall entertained the trail builders to lunch after the successful restoration of the bridges. It’s hard to put the value of this kindness and recognition in words. Their hospitality and Somerset Timbers’ donation were real highlights after weeks in the trenches.

“After the 2023 FNB Wines2Whales event we surveyed the rest of the damage,” Silberbauer added. “We realised that it was far greater than ever imagined. We decided to apply to the Tourism Flood Relief Fund. All the while we were busy with the rebuilding of trails and bridges, first the Water Fall Bridge on Mara, then we found the Cannondale Bridge totally intact about 2km down the Palmiet. With the help of Elias and his team we rebuilt the Cannondale Bridge at a new site.”

“None of this would have been possible without our sponsors and contributors,” Silberbauer praised. “We would not have been able to repair these trails and bridges without the help of our trail building network: Brian and Anele, Conrad Stoltz, Elias and his team, Rhys and Faizel from Oak Valley, and the Cape Trail Builders. Everyone put in a superhuman effort, firstly to save the 2023 FNB W2W races and then to continue repairing the damage months after.” 

“This would also have been impossible without the financial and material contributions from Kaap Agri, Fruitways Farms, FNB Wine2Whales, JoKim, Omnico/Cannondale South Africa, Oak Valley, Rooftek and so many more!” 

“We spent months working on our Tourism Flood Relief Funding application, getting quotes, compiling figures, and answering questions each time we received feedback from the various departments concerned. “Finally, we were awarded funding only to be told a few days later that ‘the correct inter-departmental protocols had not been followed’ so there will be a delay.”

“The last communication, however, was very positive stating there will be a distribution at the end of this year which,” says Silberbauer, “will be a huge relief!”

While awaiting funding the Elgin Valley Trails teams have continued their normal trail maintenance work and continued regular repairs to bridges, which require fixing due to normal wear and tear as well as due to vandalism. The trail builders have had to work around the rapid deterioration of the forestry fire access roads. “This has become our biggest problem for the sustainability of adventure tourism in the valley,” Silberbauer stated, expressing his clear frustration. “After the September floods we contacted Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on a regular basis and wrote to the then Minister of the DFFE, all to no avail.” 

“When the fires did come in January this year, we were fortunate that one of the film scouting companies had repaired the main fire access road all the way from the Elgin Grabouw Sports Club to behind the Rock Garden trail. This road work was done a week before the fires and enabled the fire fighters to save the Rooidakke and Iraq informal settlements in Grabouw town.”

“When the fire re-ignited on the 30th of January, fanned by a gale-force north wester, nothing could prevent the fire from burning right through the town of Grabouw. Making matters worse, the Working on Fire teams were off duty after working their maximum hours the previous week. If it had not been for the farmers and their bakkie-sakkies there would have been many more houses lost and possibly loss of life too.”

“On 11 July 2024 we had further damage to the trails and the Trail’s End Crossing,” Silberbauer stated. “We seem to be getting better at our bridge building, but the weather over the past two years has been relentless. The fire access roads are now totally destroyed or eroded away after an unprecedented 500 millimetres of rain in the month of July.

But mountain bikers – especially those who have entered the 2024 FNB W2W will be pleased to know that our calls have finally been answered and we’ve recently formed a strong partnership with DFFE. The fire access roads have been identified as an urgent priority for repair, which will in turn help us maintain the Elgin Valley Trails.” 

“Despite the challenges we have faced in the last year or so, the overall message is one of hope,” Silberbauer smiled. “It’s the story of a cycling community determined to rebuild and carry on the dream of becoming the MTB playground of the Western Cape. We look forward to welcoming you all to the 2024 FNB Wines2Whales Chardonnay, Pinotage and Shiraz, hopefully with less last minute trail building drama this year.” 

Riders wishing to support the maintenance effort of Elgin Valley Trails are encouraged to kindly consider purchasing an Annual MTB permit for the 2025 season. The rates are as follows:

Permit enquiries please contact Pieter Silberbauer via email at pieter@trailsend.bike. To stay updated on the progress of the trail repairs and to see which trails are closed due to inclement weather over the rest of the winter months like theElgin Valley Trails Facebook page or follow @elginvalleytrails on Instagram.