Article & Photos: Werner Rall
So here we are well into 2019 and I am pretty sure many of you have already given up on your new year’s fitness and weight loss resolutions. It’s not easy and there are many factors that can be contributing to giving up, but let boredom not be one of them.
Nature is calling and George is the most diverse natural playground you will ever find anywhere in SA based on trails and routes on offer. There are no more excuses for the thousands of couch potatoes in George because a healthy lifestyle packed with adventure, awaits. We have plenty of free trails and routes right on our doorstep. So much so that George Trails is the biggest route network for mountain biking in the country based on accumulated kilometres.
Nowhere else in the country will you find mountains, oceans, rivers, dams, indigenous forests, fynbos, pine plantations, farmlands and semi-desert (Karoo) all within 20km of a town or city centre. George’s trails offer incredible diversity and it was there for dubbed the ‘Trail Republic’. Currently there are 22 routes through 5 routes systems, totalling 800km. Route mapping is an ongoing process and when the project is complete there will be close to 2000km of total routes around George that can be explored.
As an eco-tourism project our goals are two-fold namely to attract the fast growing trail tourism market to George to the benefit of local businesses and job creation and secondly to offer locals with information on where to run, ride and hike, in order to create a healthier community.
The project have had its challenges with thousands of rands worth of vandalism to route markers and trail signage a year ago. This prompted Green Sport to take the project mostly online so the George Trails website (www.georgetrails.org.za) is a hub of information of where you can run, ride or hike and how to do it safely and responsibly. The great thing is that you can download all the routes easily on you GPS devise or smartphone to navigate with. The Facebook page keeps you up to date with news and events so give it a like.
The website furthermore give information of where to shop for your gear, what clubs you can join, where permits are needed, trail safety, etiquette and you can even book accommodation or a tour through it.
Trail sports are growing at a rapid rate and George Trails will be exhibiting with George Tourism at the UCI Mountain Bike Work Cup Expo in Stellenbosch in early March and are inviting all cycle related businesses around George to join us. Our aim is promote George as a top trail tourism destination with world class infrastructure and various events.
Because of the not for profit nature of the project assistance is always needed so if you wish to donate or volunteer it will be much appreciated. There are also a variety of cost effective advertising and sponsorship opportunities available.
www.georgetrails.org.za
*For more information please contact Werner on 083 444 3738 or info@greensport.org.za.
Oorspronklike artikel was in Ultimate Lifesyle Ed.4
