E
esterne
Guest
Right, first things first...... this is ..... well my first time ...... posting a ride report, so let all be warned, any laughing or sniggering will be dealt with SEVERLY !!! :lamer:
This report is a little late, as my adsl was capped and the rest of the week resembled something out of a Steven King novel. So finally Iâ??ve had a chance to spend some quality time with my pc, and worked out how create this report, complete with photoâ??s, lest I be flamed for not including any.
atch:
Iâ??ve been riding off-road bikes for many years now, but a recent knee injury has put an end to any further â??hardcoreâ? riding or racing for that matter. As a result I sold all my toys and bought a KTM 990. The second I rode this bike I knew it had to be mine. Itâ??s taken a while to get to grips with this machine, as it weights more than double my previous beast ( full race prepped YZF450 ), and the power isnâ??t as explosive as before, but rather a constant and rapid acceleration. Also, my road riding experience has been somewhat limited. But unlike a lot of WD members I actually enjoy blazing a trail on the tar as much as I do on the dirt. :ricky:
Enough about me, the report follows:
A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine ( Ross ) asked me to join him on a trip organized by his church ( 3CI ) to the Sabie area. The trip was overseen by Tomas from Ultimate Performance in Centurion. I have to say Iâ??m a bit of a hooligan, and was rather nervous about joining in on a group of well mannered church folk, who may not agree with a lot of my own views, beliefs and generally the way I run my own life. BUT.... I was dead wrong. These guys ( and girls ) where great.
Right, so we were all instructed (by Tomas, who from now on will be referred to as â??Our fearless Leaderâ? ) to meet at the Wimpy on Garsfontein road early on Friday morning.
The meet and greet went well, and I was introduced to a number of people. Unfortunately (as any of my friends can tell you) Iâ??m terrible with names, especially when Iâ??m meeting a bunch of peeps at the same time. :redface: As you can see the choice of steed was really varied.
Even a camo bike ....
Its there in the middle of the picture. Concentrate on the center of the image and youâ??ll see it. :biggrin:
After a typically hearty Wimpy breakfast we had a quick riders briefing, which set the tone for the whole trip. Before we approached anything new, Our Fearless Leader would give us a quick briefing on what to expect. It was fantastic. It really boosted the confidence of some of us that had not ridden in the area before, and kept the group together.
This is Ross with his wife Lynn ( Its their fault I was invited ) ;D
We stopped regularly, but without it feeling like we were stopping all the time, and we clocked the kiloâ??s quite rapidly.
Got to Dullstroom , and stopped at the world famous ...
Food was good, especially if you consider that almost 50 of us walked in at once. But we just couldn't wait to get back onto the bikes. From here on the riding really starts to get fun.
Our Fearless Leader gives a quick breakdown of what is to follow, and departure time. Ross spotted his pancakes comming through the door.
From there we pressed on. Our destination was Misty Mountain right in the middle of Long Tom Pass. Really close to the Cannon actually.
This is the view that awaited us after a long dayâ??s rinding. :drif:
It was a pitty the water was Sub-Zero !!!
Dinner at Misty Mountain was a real affair. The food was great ( if a little slow ... ). But again my mislaid preconception of these nice well mannered church folk was completely wrong. They are a rowdy bunch, especially when in a large group. :headbang:
Our cabins where great, and we where all dreaming of the following day's riding.
Next morning bright and early we set off to do some riding around in the area. Looking back I didnâ??t actually take a lot of photos. I was too busy enjoying blasting through the winding mountain roads on my "Orange Thunder".
Lunch at Sabie, and then back home. Short and sweet.
I could have sworn I took more photo's but they don't seem to be on my camera. Anywho... Many thanks again to Ross and Tomas. Great riding, and perfect organizing a short blast to the Sabie area. We had no injuries and not a single puncture, but its really good to know on a trip like this that if there is a problem of some kind, backup isn't far away. A thank you must go to the backup crew in the Vito that accompanied us.
Ps. before I forget........ I gotta give a big thank you to Uncle Gerry from Air-Age. He finally convinced me to attach a "audible proximity warning system" to my bike, which where a breeze to fit and sound great. They really have released the beast within my bike. They work better than expected, and many a time I find myself laughing at the creatures scurrying off the road long before I get there. Especially birds, ape-like creatures and even taxi drivers are forewarned of my pending arrival.
I read a sticker a while a ago which is appropriate now : " Loud pipes save lives !!! "
This report is a little late, as my adsl was capped and the rest of the week resembled something out of a Steven King novel. So finally Iâ??ve had a chance to spend some quality time with my pc, and worked out how create this report, complete with photoâ??s, lest I be flamed for not including any.
atch:Iâ??ve been riding off-road bikes for many years now, but a recent knee injury has put an end to any further â??hardcoreâ? riding or racing for that matter. As a result I sold all my toys and bought a KTM 990. The second I rode this bike I knew it had to be mine. Itâ??s taken a while to get to grips with this machine, as it weights more than double my previous beast ( full race prepped YZF450 ), and the power isnâ??t as explosive as before, but rather a constant and rapid acceleration. Also, my road riding experience has been somewhat limited. But unlike a lot of WD members I actually enjoy blazing a trail on the tar as much as I do on the dirt. :ricky:
Enough about me, the report follows:
A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine ( Ross ) asked me to join him on a trip organized by his church ( 3CI ) to the Sabie area. The trip was overseen by Tomas from Ultimate Performance in Centurion. I have to say Iâ??m a bit of a hooligan, and was rather nervous about joining in on a group of well mannered church folk, who may not agree with a lot of my own views, beliefs and generally the way I run my own life. BUT.... I was dead wrong. These guys ( and girls ) where great.
Right, so we were all instructed (by Tomas, who from now on will be referred to as â??Our fearless Leaderâ? ) to meet at the Wimpy on Garsfontein road early on Friday morning.
The meet and greet went well, and I was introduced to a number of people. Unfortunately (as any of my friends can tell you) Iâ??m terrible with names, especially when Iâ??m meeting a bunch of peeps at the same time. :redface: As you can see the choice of steed was really varied.
Even a camo bike ....
Its there in the middle of the picture. Concentrate on the center of the image and youâ??ll see it. :biggrin:
After a typically hearty Wimpy breakfast we had a quick riders briefing, which set the tone for the whole trip. Before we approached anything new, Our Fearless Leader would give us a quick briefing on what to expect. It was fantastic. It really boosted the confidence of some of us that had not ridden in the area before, and kept the group together.
This is Ross with his wife Lynn ( Its their fault I was invited ) ;D
We stopped regularly, but without it feeling like we were stopping all the time, and we clocked the kiloâ??s quite rapidly.
Got to Dullstroom , and stopped at the world famous ...
Food was good, especially if you consider that almost 50 of us walked in at once. But we just couldn't wait to get back onto the bikes. From here on the riding really starts to get fun.
Our Fearless Leader gives a quick breakdown of what is to follow, and departure time. Ross spotted his pancakes comming through the door.
From there we pressed on. Our destination was Misty Mountain right in the middle of Long Tom Pass. Really close to the Cannon actually.
This is the view that awaited us after a long dayâ??s rinding. :drif:
It was a pitty the water was Sub-Zero !!!
Dinner at Misty Mountain was a real affair. The food was great ( if a little slow ...
). But again my mislaid preconception of these nice well mannered church folk was completely wrong. They are a rowdy bunch, especially when in a large group. :headbang:Our cabins where great, and we where all dreaming of the following day's riding.
Next morning bright and early we set off to do some riding around in the area. Looking back I didnâ??t actually take a lot of photos. I was too busy enjoying blasting through the winding mountain roads on my "Orange Thunder".
Lunch at Sabie, and then back home. Short and sweet.
I could have sworn I took more photo's but they don't seem to be on my camera. Anywho... Many thanks again to Ross and Tomas. Great riding, and perfect organizing a short blast to the Sabie area. We had no injuries and not a single puncture, but its really good to know on a trip like this that if there is a problem of some kind, backup isn't far away. A thank you must go to the backup crew in the Vito that accompanied us.
Ps. before I forget........ I gotta give a big thank you to Uncle Gerry from Air-Age. He finally convinced me to attach a "audible proximity warning system" to my bike, which where a breeze to fit and sound great. They really have released the beast within my bike. They work better than expected, and many a time I find myself laughing at the creatures scurrying off the road long before I get there. Especially birds, ape-like creatures and even taxi drivers are forewarned of my pending arrival.
I read a sticker a while a ago which is appropriate now : " Loud pipes save lives !!! "
