Closest Town: Roodepoort
Grading: Easy to Difficult
Duration: Various
Location (Area/Province): Central Gauteng and Gauteng
Configuration: Various
Start Point: Either at The Walter Sisulu National Botanic Gardens or at Roodepoort Athletics Stadium
Access: Public access on all roads except for the Witwatersrand (Walter Sisulu) National Botanical Garden
Beware of: Ride only in a large group. Lone or paired cyclists are exposing themselves to major risk where there is public access to any tracts of 'remote' undeveloped land, such as Wilgespruit behind Monash University.
Facilities: Ablutions and water available at the Roodepoort Athletics Stadium
Cell Reception: Yes
OVERVIEW
Ruimsig, roughly translated means, ‘View of Space’. But ‘space’ here has become prime real estate almost overnight, and high-density complexes have created an overwhelming sea of roofing and nightmare traffic. However, the Ruimsig area is still central to linking up with quite a few good on/off-road rides. It has acquired a proliferation of excellent singletracks running next to all major roads, thanks to the abundant migrant population of builders in the area. Circuits are mainly on singletracks and road shoulders with sections of tarred road, dirt road and jeep track.
On your bike
Roodepoort Athletics Stadium (6 km lap): This is a popular venue for organized road and off-road racing events. Situated on a small lake next to a quarry, this is a super venue to cycle with children, or perhaps take your dogs on an MTB ride. There are two small undeveloped pieces of land where jeep track and footpaths can be ridden but please be vigilant as vacant land next to the quarry has become a popular thorough fare from Zandspruit informal settlement on Beyers Naudé Drive. The lovely rolling green lawns framing the stadium are great for picnics. A respectable little 6 km cross-country circuit can be put together here.
Busy roads with brilliant singletracks, Hendrik Potgieter (M47) has singletracks on both sides. Doreen Road (M67) features a very steep, rocky, road-shoulder path for a lung-busting technical training ride. Peter Road has superb singletrack cruising from Hendrik Potgieter all the way up to Beyers Naudé.
Skylark Road: Access Kromdraai, Logwood Ranch and Muldersdrift by turning off Hole-in-One Avenue and bombing down Skylark Road, a wide, often corrugated sandy road used by trucks to access several quarries and Muldersdrift village. For a circuit, just before the Muldersdrift Police Station you turn left onto the dirt track at the ‘Novelda Farms’ sign. After the sharp left and right corners past the shebeen, follow the tarred road which spits you out onto the extension of Hole-in-One Avenue, parallel to Hendrick Potgieter.
Off the bike
You can’t cycle in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden but it’s a real treat to ride to the gardens and meet friends and family. Go walking in the gardens, view the Black Eagles, listen to the Witpoortjie Waterfall or a symphony concert and then flop down and have a picnic. Gates open from 08h00.
Visit the Fanel glass factory shop to fill up water bottles or purchase glass drops and other products for half the price a retail outlet would charge. This area falls under the Crocodile Arts and Crafts Ramble. Their offices are situated next to the Crocodile River at Drift Boulevard, the Muldersdrift Village.
GPS: 26°05′12.8″South / 027°50′23.8″East
