...of Wet Dogs and Wild Waters

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Stevie

Race Dog
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Messages
1,135
Reaction score
48
Location
Fourways - Gauteng
Bike
Suzuki DR350
So the Maraisburg dogs all chose to turn tail and head back into their kennels....
Not so the mad Suzuki DR 350 riders of  Wet Dog Adventure seekers  – they’re almost as hardcore as their  steeds.
When confirmation that the Maraisburg ride was cancelled came through, the wet dogs ride commenced – a touch of humidity was not going to stop us enjoying  the enjoyment of riding a DR.
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The rain was pelting down as we left Fourways heading toward Diepsloot, the cage drivers shaking their heads in disbelief at the two wet dogs already soaked as they passed The Indaba. We took a midpaced run along the Mnandi road, Magaliesberg  mountains the misty objective. 
We hit the dirt and although very wet, not too slippery. We took the tweespoor under the power lines and these were both flowing rivers. Boots were soaked in no time.

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Standing up we hit the rocks hidden under the water resulting in some classic manoeuvers.
We were fortunate to see a couple of giant bullfrogs, bright green and indignant at the wet dogs venturing into their  sloshy turf .
The rocky decent proved to be a test for my noob skill level, Jimbo handling it with aplomb. After bypassing Erasmia we clipped along the dirt highway towards Vlakplaats. Veering off the road we meandered the many tracks, resorted to some rough tracking and making our own paths when neccessary. The slippery pelindaba rocks lurking in the grass waiting to ambush the unwary rider with nomercy.
Gloves soaked through, misty goggles  and creaky knees edged us towards one of the old Vlakplaats bunkers for a break out of the unrelenting precipitation.
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A parking lot in the middle of the veld had my curiosity prickled. The ground was soaked and patches of marshy swamp got the adreneline pumping as we tried our best to avoid the lurking rocks – growing bigger and getting sharper as we ventured deeper into this historically dark place.
The silence was soothing and the misty kopjes alluring.
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As the mist lifted the trees peeped at the crazy wet dogs grinning at the exertion and  thrill of staying upright in this hostile rocky enviroment.
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Jimbo led a route going up one of the kopjes, but the water flow had washed away all the soil leaving lots of loose slippery rocks – we beat a hasty retreat, agreeing to try again when it was drier.
Jimbo has a whole lot mountain goat in him and likes to climb things with his “dee aar”. We slip slid up onto the shooting range backstop, going up was fun – coming down called for another set of skills altogether.  Jimbo hit the slosh and gave a good display of how to spray mud. I took the easy route down leaving the bike to do all the hard work.
We followed a vague track up the side of on of the kopje, scouting for routes to to return to in drier, friendly conditions.
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Edging down to the Hennops we went in search of wild water, we weren’t dissapointed. They docile little stream had turned into a raging torrent, the murky brown liquid heaving and swelling carrying allsorts of debris. A pungent odour accompanied the massive flow.
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As the rain eased up we chuckled at all the poor dogs stuck in their kennels, tugging at their leashes to go riding – we were there already.
We took an exhilarating scramble to the top of one of the countless kopjes for lunch, bacon and tomato sarmies – enjoying the view of the fancy test track on the opposite  hill.
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The clouds parted and blue skies – man I’m glad we decided to ride. Shedding raingear and jackets we hit the dirt highway again to check the water flowing over one of the drifts – WILD WATER!!!
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We reversed our route and headed back home, enjoying the  hardpacked surface – no dust, just the odd puddle and squelchy patch.
We passed some plastics heading in the opposite direction on the tweespoor – they seemed to be in a hurry to get their riding done, probably started a bit late!!
Got back to Jimbo’s and had a brilliant lunch. Great bikes, great ride, and hey we were dry before we had time to be uncomfortable.
Respect to Jimbo – one tough guy.

 
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