Home of Dirtopia
Delvera is the home of Dirtopia and therefore the stomping grounds of Meurant Botha, the ‘Old Man Trail’ of South African mountain biking, and what you get on this Stellenbosch wine estate is an all round MTB experience.
This is as close as you’ll get to a proper Trail Centre in the Western Cape, you can walk into the shop and purchase your ride permit, stock up on energy drinks and food, buy a new helmet or even hire a mountain bike if you have left yours at home.
Crank off from the Trail Centre along a steep gravel road downhill towards the dam and turn left at the bottom to follow the Blue directional signs. Cross the earth dam wall and start crisscrossing the vineyards as you make your way up the climb. At 3km, you will get to the legendary pepper tree where, on a hot day, you can sit in the shade and enjoy some refreshment before heading off once more up the slopes of Klapmuts Hill for a further 2.5km.
Sublime Track
This is in effect the highest point along the trail, so most of your climbing is done and you can begin to relish the downhill. The ride back down is sheer delight. The trail itself is not particularly wide and the surface is pretty rocky in places, so it requires lots of concentration.
The reward, however, is a piece of single track so sublime that you will wonder why you don’t ride the Delvera Route every weekend. Bomb the switchbacks all the way down through the Renosterveld Conservancy, across the face of the hill and finally down to the jeep track at the bottom.
There’s a wooden bridge across a donga as you slash into the valley, so keep a beady eye out for that. And the good news is that there is even more single-track coming. It is around the corner, and all you have to do is climb a meager 60m before you can crank it up yet again.
Once you’ve slammed the final stretch of single-track through the poplar forests, a quick downhill past the farm dam awaits, but take care as it is steep and rough. Finish the experience off with a spot of good farm cooking at the on-site restaurant - you’ve deserved it. Expect a further 4km of single-track, pushing the Black Loop to 20km with 550m of elevation.
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