Splash
Race Dog
I thought that I would be letting myself in for some extreme riding, well I was not disappointed. With a lot of luck and a little bit of skill I ended up having a fantastic rally. What more could one ask for but for ones expectations to be met and then even exceeded. I knew that some of the routes would be â??offâ? road, but how off-road was rather a little more extreme. In hindsight, I have great sympathy for my bike which has a scratch or two more and little more wear, but, wow, what a ride and what a bike. I ended up treating it like a plastic bike, and does it perform. The heritage of the bike was evident. It seems that I have been much too gentle and way under estimated its capabilities. This was even more evident with the bigger twin cylinder bikes. They are awesome. I am not sure what the other manufacturers routes looked like but I would like to think that we went beyond their â??redâ? route and our route one had even more technical sections than what I did.
The weather did not play along and for the first time I had to put on everything I possessed at night to try and stay warm. I cannot explain how cold it was. Even during the day I was riding with two sweaters. It did make for an early evening for me as I could not bare sitting around dressed like an Eskimo â?? all I could think of was going to sleep. The riding may also have played a part. I can now say that I have had a real winter this year.
On a more mundane note, the food was excellent and entertainment entertaining. On the first night we had one of the local farmers in a drunken slur explain how the â??colonialistsâ? ended up inhabiting Thomas River and why they have now created a conservancy. I think it has something to do with access control which was demolished that day by some rider taking the boom gate out. No more hassles for the rest of us. Being a small community, one of our riders â??accidentallyâ? forgot to pay for his fuel at the local filling station. Was a little obvious and was asked to make amends. This was also a warning that fuel would become an issue. We had a stand-up comedian the second night and prize giving on the last. Some poor soul is not going to Austria to watch the Erzberg Rodeo when his name was drawn and he was sitting in the pub. I hope his friends where with him too. A prize I would have just about died for. The final nights party was off to a good start with a now apparent traditional burnout on the bar top - boys and toys. For one of the lunches a local farmer made lamb in a drum which was dug in the ground â?? it was just so soft and juicy.
The routes where divided into basically two groups, a road based track and an off-road track. I did route two which was spectacular. It consisted mostly of farm tracks and forestry roads â?? places one normally cannot get access too. We crossed the Amatola mountains through just about every pass in the area making for a loop of approximately 350kms and more or less keeping me busy from 8:00am to 5:00pm. The second day was a little shorter and I got back at 3:00pm, just in time for the Garmin Rodeo. This involved a little obstacle course of a bank, tyres and other sundry obstacles. For the skilled, they could try the slow race, an exercise in balance or for the adventurous the long jump, for a silver medal of course. For some adrenaline, they put on a barrel race. Finally, a little cross-country loop against the clock. The bikes provided where 690 Enduroâ??s and a 450 exc with the two bikes times aggregated. Somehow they could not find a 990 to race, how strange.
It seems that the twins have a rather heavy dependency on a plentiful supply of fuel, and the 690â??s are somewhat under-endowed. It so happened that after lunch on the first day, the refuel point did not have any fuel, leaving an awful lot of bikes stranded. Fuel had to be driven in for these poor souls which wasted a bit of time unfortunately. The following day we had a compulsory fuel stop â?? me thinks they may have learned something about people and forethought, or the lack there off.
A fantastic rallye raid and I am already trying to think of some good reasons why I have to go again next year â?? it was just so much fun. It will live on for me as something very special.
The weather did not play along and for the first time I had to put on everything I possessed at night to try and stay warm. I cannot explain how cold it was. Even during the day I was riding with two sweaters. It did make for an early evening for me as I could not bare sitting around dressed like an Eskimo â?? all I could think of was going to sleep. The riding may also have played a part. I can now say that I have had a real winter this year.
On a more mundane note, the food was excellent and entertainment entertaining. On the first night we had one of the local farmers in a drunken slur explain how the â??colonialistsâ? ended up inhabiting Thomas River and why they have now created a conservancy. I think it has something to do with access control which was demolished that day by some rider taking the boom gate out. No more hassles for the rest of us. Being a small community, one of our riders â??accidentallyâ? forgot to pay for his fuel at the local filling station. Was a little obvious and was asked to make amends. This was also a warning that fuel would become an issue. We had a stand-up comedian the second night and prize giving on the last. Some poor soul is not going to Austria to watch the Erzberg Rodeo when his name was drawn and he was sitting in the pub. I hope his friends where with him too. A prize I would have just about died for. The final nights party was off to a good start with a now apparent traditional burnout on the bar top - boys and toys. For one of the lunches a local farmer made lamb in a drum which was dug in the ground â?? it was just so soft and juicy.
The routes where divided into basically two groups, a road based track and an off-road track. I did route two which was spectacular. It consisted mostly of farm tracks and forestry roads â?? places one normally cannot get access too. We crossed the Amatola mountains through just about every pass in the area making for a loop of approximately 350kms and more or less keeping me busy from 8:00am to 5:00pm. The second day was a little shorter and I got back at 3:00pm, just in time for the Garmin Rodeo. This involved a little obstacle course of a bank, tyres and other sundry obstacles. For the skilled, they could try the slow race, an exercise in balance or for the adventurous the long jump, for a silver medal of course. For some adrenaline, they put on a barrel race. Finally, a little cross-country loop against the clock. The bikes provided where 690 Enduroâ??s and a 450 exc with the two bikes times aggregated. Somehow they could not find a 990 to race, how strange.
It seems that the twins have a rather heavy dependency on a plentiful supply of fuel, and the 690â??s are somewhat under-endowed. It so happened that after lunch on the first day, the refuel point did not have any fuel, leaving an awful lot of bikes stranded. Fuel had to be driven in for these poor souls which wasted a bit of time unfortunately. The following day we had a compulsory fuel stop â?? me thinks they may have learned something about people and forethought, or the lack there off.
A fantastic rallye raid and I am already trying to think of some good reasons why I have to go again next year â?? it was just so much fun. It will live on for me as something very special.
