A Mission to a Place Less Ridden
After a very successful shoot at a secret location somewhere in Cape Town, Matthieu Hamel and I decided to make another mission to some place that hasn't been riddin before. Or at least not many times before... We wanted to find something big, different and generally epic - so we headed off to the greater Cederberg area - a place filled with barren, rocky, unforgiving but spectacularly beautiful landscapes. Wide open plateaus, tall peaks, colorful rock faces, blue skies and a peaceful silence. A blank canvas to explore and create some epic mountain biking imagery.
The drive took about 3 hours, with a fair amount of gravel road, before we reached our camp site. From here we could make daily missions into the hills, without really driving anywhere. Daytime temperatures soared as soon as the sun peaked over the cliff tops, so we had to get going at first light to make sure we made some good ground before things got ridiculous. With most of the terrain unrideable, Matthieu had to carry the bike on his shoulders, something the Frenchman seemed comfortable with as he ascended at a remarkable pace all day. I lugged around a fully packed camera bag, including food and drinks - everything I could need for a day of shooting as there was no going back to the campsite before the end of the day.
With no guarantee that you'll find anything worth while, and the scorching sun baking down, you always wonder if this particular path was a good choice. As you stop and look around, you see so many other 'gems' that seems a more obvious choice to hike up, but then, so did the one you are currently on a few hours ago. The gamble usually pays off if you keep at it though, and as the saying goes, persistence pays. We stumbled upon some truly amazing spots, good for riding and shooting, and the stoke-o-meter was full.
Words & photos: Ewald Sadie
Rider: Matthieu Hamel
The drive took about 3 hours, with a fair amount of gravel road, before we reached our camp site. From here we could make daily missions into the hills, without really driving anywhere. Daytime temperatures soared as soon as the sun peaked over the cliff tops, so we had to get going at first light to make sure we made some good ground before things got ridiculous. With most of the terrain unrideable, Matthieu had to carry the bike on his shoulders, something the Frenchman seemed comfortable with as he ascended at a remarkable pace all day. I lugged around a fully packed camera bag, including food and drinks - everything I could need for a day of shooting as there was no going back to the campsite before the end of the day.
With no guarantee that you'll find anything worth while, and the scorching sun baking down, you always wonder if this particular path was a good choice. As you stop and look around, you see so many other 'gems' that seems a more obvious choice to hike up, but then, so did the one you are currently on a few hours ago. The gamble usually pays off if you keep at it though, and as the saying goes, persistence pays. We stumbled upon some truly amazing spots, good for riding and shooting, and the stoke-o-meter was full.
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 Starting the hike at first light meant we could bust out some shots with the sun still sitting low, with the streaky clouds providing some nice diffusion. |
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| The raw path cutting through the boulder scattered landscape caters for some extremely technical but fun riding. |
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| Natural sandstone rock formations, sculpted by centuries of wind and water erosion. |
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| At a certain height, all the hills and mountains taper off, and form vast open plateaus. |
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| Playground. |
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| Looking for new and epic locations to ride in summer can be pretty difficult as you never know what you're going to find after riding and hiking for hours. But if you stay on it, you bump into gems like these - a trail leading into a boulder filled cave, with the most amazing red and yellow textures and a shallow stream running through it. The perfect end to a very hot afternoon. |
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| Up there is where we were headed. |
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| Matthieu charging down the super steep natural cracks, with the clouds providing the perfect diffused light to expose the red rock face. |
Words & photos: Ewald Sadie
Rider: Matthieu Hamel
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why ascending with a backpack and descending without? why changing your helmet?
if it's not enduro, it can't be good
:-)
Btw, it really is *enduro*: most enduro races rules mandate you keep an helmet always on your head, both on the liaisons and on timed stages. You can still climb with your full face on, of course.
the landscape is great and trails would be too hard for an enduro race