lightning1
Race Dog
This is an e-mail I received from a regular rider at De Wildt who actively campaigns for the right to use the riding areas, and regularly speaks to the chiefs and decision-makers about riding areas. It may be of interest to members, and is a timely reminder to all to use our riding areas wisely.
"Almost everyone that takes the time to write something about social and recreational dirt biking usually starts off with something about environmental respect, riding etiquette and the like. Driving to the Morula Sun for a De Wildt ride yesterday I saw something which triggered the writing of this piece (I’ll get to the specific incident later). It dawned on me that the growth of the popularity of our favourite pastime has not stopped growing and there are more and more folk getting into it every week, a lot of whom have not seen the various pieces written and published regarding this topic which spurred me on to quickly penning this refresher
There are three primary elements to consider when embarking on recreational outrides in the little space we have left to do so, specially the more popular areas made so purely by their convenience in their location to our homes and the required travel time to get to or from them for a day’s fun in the bush on your bike. These are:
The environment
The inhabitants
The other riders
The environment is not a big deal to look after and boils down to two really easy things.
Don’t litter.
Don’t ride where you have been requested not to or where you see doing so will cause unnecessary damage, especially when there is an alternate route.
The inhabitants are the people that live where we ride and their livestock and pets. It is actually a privilege that South African dirt bikers have to be able to ride in the places we do. But understand that there is no such thing as free, un-owned land. These places are owned by tribal trusts, the government, or privately. Cause enough trouble and we will have these spaces closed down!!! Most of these spaces that we ride in are extremely vast, vast enough to not have a detrimental impact on your ride to just slow down in the villages, keep the noise levels at a minimum, keep the dust down, and give pedestrians the right of way. Livestock and pets get the same rights as the villagers. Slapping the kids’ hands on the way past them is cool when they line up with their hands out and it breeds good relations (the nonsense about them holding HIV infected pieces of glass is exactly that – nonsense), but please don’t give them rides on your bike. One MLOT (Momentary Lapse Of Talent) and a hurt kid has the potential for devastating impact on our ability to ride those areas. If you come across cattle grazing (or any other animal for that matter), slow down!!!! Its peoples’ farmland and these cattle are their livelihood. Besides, it’s no fun for the poor herdsmen to go chasing their scattered herd through the bush because a couple of dirt bikers had no respect. Most important, where and/or when there have been areas that have been requested by the inhabitants to be no-ride areas…. OBSERVE THESE REQUESTS.
Finally we need to respect each other. I’m not going to go into a whole story about group riding etiquette but this is more about other groups you encounter. When you pass a group riding towards you, you always signal how many are still behind you. If you encounter somebody down, you stop and offer assistance ALWAYS. Guys riding in the bush without the appropriate safety equipment is not your business! If they want snap an ankle or crack a skull, it’s their business – they must be old enough and big enough to take responsibility for their own safety if they’ve already gone as far as taking ownership of an off-road vehicle and getting into the bush. Some just don’t have the finances for full kit. However, dirt bike / quad users doing stupid things in parking lots and community rest areas should be stopped. It’s no good putting a post on a forum or an e-mail list about the idiot wheeling in the parking lot or doing donuts at the shop. Go tell the person to go do his stunts in the bush. I’m really not looking forward to the riderless flipped bike coming to rest in the side of my car one day…. And by what I’ve seen of late, it’s inevitable.
De Wildt Specific
Obviously most of my concern centres around De Wildt, an area I have personally been riding since as early as 1982. The following are a list of items that folk should really consider in order to preserve the area remaining the riding haven it is and has been:
1) If you start your ride from the Morula Sun, whichever direction you choose will still mean approximately 2km of road work before you get into the bush. The SAPS and the local Metro Police know what we do every weekend and have no problem that we are on the road for this short distance between the hotel and the start of the ride. They have seen us numerous times. One person has been stopped by Metro once in the last 10 years that I can remember and was allowed to continue without much hassle and most other times we have just received a friendly wave. The point of this is that it is absolutely unnecessary and dangerous and irritating to ride on the pavement for this distance. You force residents to have to walk in the road, you kick up dust that annoys road users and residents on the side of the road, and you may hurt someone soon.
2) When you get off the road mentioned in point 1, whichever start point you choose, you will have to ride through ha village for between 1.5 or 3 km, depending on your choice of route. Respect the villages and the village. Slow. Minimal dust. Minimal noise. Give people and animals the right of way. It really is not a big ask considering the amount of space available to what you want in once you have left the village. Save your adrenalin for where you can truly let loose in nature instead of somebody’s driveway.
3) Out of bounds: There are four areas that are out of bounds in the greater De Wildt region and these areas need to be respected. They are:
· The property directly opposite and to the right of the Morula Sun hotel. This used to be a popular option for starting the ride but since the property has been developed the residents have politely asked us not to ride there.
· Temporary ban until the end of July 2009 of the “V”, Aloes, and the area between them. Traditional tribal initiation ceremonies have been in process since the beginning of June and are due for completion at the end of July. We have been asked by the area chief to respect this request and we should. You can still use Coconuts and Long Rocks to get up or down the Morula Koppie.
· The new tarred road that goes down from the KTM signs to the start of 3 Fences river bed.
· The Jericho Rock. The ride to Jericho up to Bafana Bafana is still open and we are welcomed there. The Rock itself falls in the Waterval municipal boundary and those folk are NOT bike friendly. To keep the peace, we stay off the Rock.
4) Direction. There has been an ongoing debate about which direction you should ride certain routes at De Wildt. I sit in the camp that is anti a defined direction ruling. My reason is that De Wildt is one of the last free open areas in the Gauteng region and I’d like to be able to always ride in a “free” environment devoid of policing and direction rules. A route ridden one way on one weekend and the other way on another weekend creates two totally different rides at De Wildt. I subscribe to common sense and mutual respect. Keep your eyes open. If you see someone coming towards you bear left. If one or both of your speeds is too fast or you saw each other too late, turn left into the bush immediately. A tree or bush at your speed is going to be far less painful than another bike at the same speed! The Twisties are dangerous if you are riding back to the hotel or police station before 12:00 or if you riding to the 3-Fences shop after 12:00. You will encounter more oncoming traffic than is safe!
Regards
Steve “Tombstone” Lauter"
"Almost everyone that takes the time to write something about social and recreational dirt biking usually starts off with something about environmental respect, riding etiquette and the like. Driving to the Morula Sun for a De Wildt ride yesterday I saw something which triggered the writing of this piece (I’ll get to the specific incident later). It dawned on me that the growth of the popularity of our favourite pastime has not stopped growing and there are more and more folk getting into it every week, a lot of whom have not seen the various pieces written and published regarding this topic which spurred me on to quickly penning this refresher
There are three primary elements to consider when embarking on recreational outrides in the little space we have left to do so, specially the more popular areas made so purely by their convenience in their location to our homes and the required travel time to get to or from them for a day’s fun in the bush on your bike. These are:
The environment
The inhabitants
The other riders
The environment is not a big deal to look after and boils down to two really easy things.
Don’t litter.
Don’t ride where you have been requested not to or where you see doing so will cause unnecessary damage, especially when there is an alternate route.
The inhabitants are the people that live where we ride and their livestock and pets. It is actually a privilege that South African dirt bikers have to be able to ride in the places we do. But understand that there is no such thing as free, un-owned land. These places are owned by tribal trusts, the government, or privately. Cause enough trouble and we will have these spaces closed down!!! Most of these spaces that we ride in are extremely vast, vast enough to not have a detrimental impact on your ride to just slow down in the villages, keep the noise levels at a minimum, keep the dust down, and give pedestrians the right of way. Livestock and pets get the same rights as the villagers. Slapping the kids’ hands on the way past them is cool when they line up with their hands out and it breeds good relations (the nonsense about them holding HIV infected pieces of glass is exactly that – nonsense), but please don’t give them rides on your bike. One MLOT (Momentary Lapse Of Talent) and a hurt kid has the potential for devastating impact on our ability to ride those areas. If you come across cattle grazing (or any other animal for that matter), slow down!!!! Its peoples’ farmland and these cattle are their livelihood. Besides, it’s no fun for the poor herdsmen to go chasing their scattered herd through the bush because a couple of dirt bikers had no respect. Most important, where and/or when there have been areas that have been requested by the inhabitants to be no-ride areas…. OBSERVE THESE REQUESTS.
Finally we need to respect each other. I’m not going to go into a whole story about group riding etiquette but this is more about other groups you encounter. When you pass a group riding towards you, you always signal how many are still behind you. If you encounter somebody down, you stop and offer assistance ALWAYS. Guys riding in the bush without the appropriate safety equipment is not your business! If they want snap an ankle or crack a skull, it’s their business – they must be old enough and big enough to take responsibility for their own safety if they’ve already gone as far as taking ownership of an off-road vehicle and getting into the bush. Some just don’t have the finances for full kit. However, dirt bike / quad users doing stupid things in parking lots and community rest areas should be stopped. It’s no good putting a post on a forum or an e-mail list about the idiot wheeling in the parking lot or doing donuts at the shop. Go tell the person to go do his stunts in the bush. I’m really not looking forward to the riderless flipped bike coming to rest in the side of my car one day…. And by what I’ve seen of late, it’s inevitable.
De Wildt Specific
Obviously most of my concern centres around De Wildt, an area I have personally been riding since as early as 1982. The following are a list of items that folk should really consider in order to preserve the area remaining the riding haven it is and has been:
1) If you start your ride from the Morula Sun, whichever direction you choose will still mean approximately 2km of road work before you get into the bush. The SAPS and the local Metro Police know what we do every weekend and have no problem that we are on the road for this short distance between the hotel and the start of the ride. They have seen us numerous times. One person has been stopped by Metro once in the last 10 years that I can remember and was allowed to continue without much hassle and most other times we have just received a friendly wave. The point of this is that it is absolutely unnecessary and dangerous and irritating to ride on the pavement for this distance. You force residents to have to walk in the road, you kick up dust that annoys road users and residents on the side of the road, and you may hurt someone soon.
2) When you get off the road mentioned in point 1, whichever start point you choose, you will have to ride through ha village for between 1.5 or 3 km, depending on your choice of route. Respect the villages and the village. Slow. Minimal dust. Minimal noise. Give people and animals the right of way. It really is not a big ask considering the amount of space available to what you want in once you have left the village. Save your adrenalin for where you can truly let loose in nature instead of somebody’s driveway.
3) Out of bounds: There are four areas that are out of bounds in the greater De Wildt region and these areas need to be respected. They are:
· The property directly opposite and to the right of the Morula Sun hotel. This used to be a popular option for starting the ride but since the property has been developed the residents have politely asked us not to ride there.
· Temporary ban until the end of July 2009 of the “V”, Aloes, and the area between them. Traditional tribal initiation ceremonies have been in process since the beginning of June and are due for completion at the end of July. We have been asked by the area chief to respect this request and we should. You can still use Coconuts and Long Rocks to get up or down the Morula Koppie.
· The new tarred road that goes down from the KTM signs to the start of 3 Fences river bed.
· The Jericho Rock. The ride to Jericho up to Bafana Bafana is still open and we are welcomed there. The Rock itself falls in the Waterval municipal boundary and those folk are NOT bike friendly. To keep the peace, we stay off the Rock.
4) Direction. There has been an ongoing debate about which direction you should ride certain routes at De Wildt. I sit in the camp that is anti a defined direction ruling. My reason is that De Wildt is one of the last free open areas in the Gauteng region and I’d like to be able to always ride in a “free” environment devoid of policing and direction rules. A route ridden one way on one weekend and the other way on another weekend creates two totally different rides at De Wildt. I subscribe to common sense and mutual respect. Keep your eyes open. If you see someone coming towards you bear left. If one or both of your speeds is too fast or you saw each other too late, turn left into the bush immediately. A tree or bush at your speed is going to be far less painful than another bike at the same speed! The Twisties are dangerous if you are riding back to the hotel or police station before 12:00 or if you riding to the 3-Fences shop after 12:00. You will encounter more oncoming traffic than is safe!
Regards
Steve “Tombstone” Lauter"
