lightning1
Race Dog
Whilst I am not a particularly vociferous proponent of Stormer Country (or the rugby teams plying their trade under the shade of THE mountain), and do not see myself living amongst the mountain worshippers any time in the near future, I was grateful, during the course of last week, for Cape Town’s most recent export, the winter rain. 
ot:
After having told all and sundry that last weekend’s Maraisburg ride would be the final one for the foreseeable future (at least until the summer rains came back), primarily because of the dust, lo and behold, we had two days of inexplicable midweek rain. Plans, threats and promises had to be hastily changed, and as Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, the usual suspects (EATMYKTM, Twiggy, ThinkMike and I) gathered at CMR Golf Club for a quick cup of invigorating coffee, before attempting the varied terrain of Maraisburg. Of course, there was the usual smattering of newbies in the form of Double Diamond, Trailblazer and Briggsy.
After a brief stop at the Carpark Garage to reduce tyre pressures, watch EATMYKTM take an inordinate amount of time to get ready, and exchange words of encouragement, it was down to the sandy pans at pace, which were magically covered in mist. It was quite an interesting experience, and possibly unnerving for the newbies, to roar off into the mist, finely balancing enough twisting of the throttle, so as to avoid losing it in the sand, with only being able to see about 10 meters in front of you.
The mist soon dissipated, and lots of fun was had by all in the twisty and tight section through the trees, as can be seen by the photo of EATMYKTM cresting a little unsighted rise, before re-grouping at the bottom corner of the mine dump.
As can be seen by the photo, after only 10 minutes the hearts were beating faster, and temperatures were rising. After a quick break, the whoops were attacked with vigour.
I did my best to get ahead in this section, relying on home-ground advantage, so that I may get some photos at the little water crossing. Unfortunately I could not shake off Twiggy, as she was too quick for me, and was not letting my back wheel out of her sight, so unfortunately I could not get a photograph of her flying through the water on her mean green machine. I did however manage to get some photographs of the rest of the crew as can be seen below.
From there it was off to Tombstone Hill for a little roar around the motor cross track which somehow seems to always provide an interesting moment or two, particularly on exiting the section.
As proof of this here is a particularly interesting photograph of EATMYKTM, who was doing the little climb for about the 6th time, proving that even the best can have a momentary lapse of talent, and a photo of Twiggy, showing how it is done. >
From there it was straight over the rocky section, which apparently caused a couple of butterflies in the tummies, and down to the deeply rutted muddy section just before the road crossing. At this point ThinkMike clearly forgot about the boxer type engine of his Beemer and set about widening the ruts substantially. Unfortunately that 1200 engine was not quite enough to dig new furrows, and a bit of muscle power was required to lift it out of the ruts so that ThinkMike could continue on his fast and merry way.
From there straight to the Bowl, for a good laugh at the exploits of the plastics riders, and of course a congratulation to the Honda CRF 450 rider who managed to get his bike up an almost vertical wall, on the eighth attempt. At least he was not a quitter.
We all made it up the sandy climb out of the Bowl, although certain of the motorcycles, whose manufacturer will remain nameless, required a helping hand or two. Of course there is photographic evidence below, and I will leave the deductions as to the brand of motorcycle to you.
EATMYKTM decided to show us a new route towards the shooting range, and after having committed myself by being halfway down the rut, I had no option but to follow the route, which I will obviously never do again on an adventure bike, as right on the edge of a vertical drop of about 30 metres, I was required to change direction and head back up the hill on a slippery off camber climb. Thanks for that EATMYKTM, the adrenaline and butterflies were certainly competing for space in my stomach at that stage. To make it better of course was that there was a whole group of plastics riders who had struggled down the route, and were now staring at the two lunatics on KTM 990’s attempting to emulate them. I still do not think that there was sufficient applause when we reached the bottom, but hey, you cannot always choose your audience.
From there we headed straight to the big mine dump, and I finally got to try a route I had been eyeing for a while, which I knew would only be possible with a bit of dampness in the sand. This required a ride along the side of the mine dump along one of the elevations, a sharp and sudden 90° turn up the mine dump and a rather steep climb to the top. Fortunately, as I was leading, I managed to get to the top utilising the little bit of dampness that was on the surface of the sand, closely followed by Twiggy, but unfortunately for those following us, I think we had used up all the dampness by the time they got their opportunity. The only choice was to gently climb the mine dump at an off-camber angle, which brought about some nervousness and a lot of rear wheel slipping down the hill. No worries, we all made it up to the top and then attacked the mine dump from the top, with two rather interesting descents. Trailblazer did the right thing, stopping his bike and having a look down, to make sure that the route was ridable, but perhaps having a look first was not the best thing. Everybody made it down safely and with style, and of course then the fun started to get the bikes back to the top. EATMYKTM offered ThinkMike a ride on his 990, and after roaring relentlessly up and down the mine dump, as the photographs below prove, Mike was heard to mutter about swapping brands and leaping across to the dark side. I think that resolve was only strengthened when he again rode the bike on Sunday during Jules’ Potch ride, although I think the sight of him coming sideways around a corner may have been too much for poor ThinkPillion.
From there it was back home, with a quick stop to visit the Superhero, followed by some interesting little climbs and the little river crossing which claimed so many victims during the last two rides. This time round, everybody was a lot more relaxed, probably as a result of the inspiration provided by the Superhero (who should be named at some stage), and roared through the river crossing.
The route home was also interesting and lots of fun, and of course this was all followed by war stories in the car park and a rather uncharacteristic attempted burnout by someone who shall remain nameless, in order to save his reputation.
Thanks for all who took part in the ride, and whilst that should be our last ride at Maraisburg until we have some rains later in the year, stranger things have happened. All of the newbies did incredibly well, and a special mention should be made of Trailblazer who did his first off-road ride, at Maraisburg, and handled everything that was thrown at him.
ot:After having told all and sundry that last weekend’s Maraisburg ride would be the final one for the foreseeable future (at least until the summer rains came back), primarily because of the dust, lo and behold, we had two days of inexplicable midweek rain. Plans, threats and promises had to be hastily changed, and as Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny, the usual suspects (EATMYKTM, Twiggy, ThinkMike and I) gathered at CMR Golf Club for a quick cup of invigorating coffee, before attempting the varied terrain of Maraisburg. Of course, there was the usual smattering of newbies in the form of Double Diamond, Trailblazer and Briggsy.
After a brief stop at the Carpark Garage to reduce tyre pressures, watch EATMYKTM take an inordinate amount of time to get ready, and exchange words of encouragement, it was down to the sandy pans at pace, which were magically covered in mist. It was quite an interesting experience, and possibly unnerving for the newbies, to roar off into the mist, finely balancing enough twisting of the throttle, so as to avoid losing it in the sand, with only being able to see about 10 meters in front of you.
The mist soon dissipated, and lots of fun was had by all in the twisty and tight section through the trees, as can be seen by the photo of EATMYKTM cresting a little unsighted rise, before re-grouping at the bottom corner of the mine dump.
As can be seen by the photo, after only 10 minutes the hearts were beating faster, and temperatures were rising. After a quick break, the whoops were attacked with vigour.
I did my best to get ahead in this section, relying on home-ground advantage, so that I may get some photos at the little water crossing. Unfortunately I could not shake off Twiggy, as she was too quick for me, and was not letting my back wheel out of her sight, so unfortunately I could not get a photograph of her flying through the water on her mean green machine. I did however manage to get some photographs of the rest of the crew as can be seen below.
From there it was off to Tombstone Hill for a little roar around the motor cross track which somehow seems to always provide an interesting moment or two, particularly on exiting the section.
As proof of this here is a particularly interesting photograph of EATMYKTM, who was doing the little climb for about the 6th time, proving that even the best can have a momentary lapse of talent, and a photo of Twiggy, showing how it is done. >
From there it was straight over the rocky section, which apparently caused a couple of butterflies in the tummies, and down to the deeply rutted muddy section just before the road crossing. At this point ThinkMike clearly forgot about the boxer type engine of his Beemer and set about widening the ruts substantially. Unfortunately that 1200 engine was not quite enough to dig new furrows, and a bit of muscle power was required to lift it out of the ruts so that ThinkMike could continue on his fast and merry way.
From there straight to the Bowl, for a good laugh at the exploits of the plastics riders, and of course a congratulation to the Honda CRF 450 rider who managed to get his bike up an almost vertical wall, on the eighth attempt. At least he was not a quitter.
We all made it up the sandy climb out of the Bowl, although certain of the motorcycles, whose manufacturer will remain nameless, required a helping hand or two. Of course there is photographic evidence below, and I will leave the deductions as to the brand of motorcycle to you.
EATMYKTM decided to show us a new route towards the shooting range, and after having committed myself by being halfway down the rut, I had no option but to follow the route, which I will obviously never do again on an adventure bike, as right on the edge of a vertical drop of about 30 metres, I was required to change direction and head back up the hill on a slippery off camber climb. Thanks for that EATMYKTM, the adrenaline and butterflies were certainly competing for space in my stomach at that stage. To make it better of course was that there was a whole group of plastics riders who had struggled down the route, and were now staring at the two lunatics on KTM 990’s attempting to emulate them. I still do not think that there was sufficient applause when we reached the bottom, but hey, you cannot always choose your audience.
From there we headed straight to the big mine dump, and I finally got to try a route I had been eyeing for a while, which I knew would only be possible with a bit of dampness in the sand. This required a ride along the side of the mine dump along one of the elevations, a sharp and sudden 90° turn up the mine dump and a rather steep climb to the top. Fortunately, as I was leading, I managed to get to the top utilising the little bit of dampness that was on the surface of the sand, closely followed by Twiggy, but unfortunately for those following us, I think we had used up all the dampness by the time they got their opportunity. The only choice was to gently climb the mine dump at an off-camber angle, which brought about some nervousness and a lot of rear wheel slipping down the hill. No worries, we all made it up to the top and then attacked the mine dump from the top, with two rather interesting descents. Trailblazer did the right thing, stopping his bike and having a look down, to make sure that the route was ridable, but perhaps having a look first was not the best thing. Everybody made it down safely and with style, and of course then the fun started to get the bikes back to the top. EATMYKTM offered ThinkMike a ride on his 990, and after roaring relentlessly up and down the mine dump, as the photographs below prove, Mike was heard to mutter about swapping brands and leaping across to the dark side. I think that resolve was only strengthened when he again rode the bike on Sunday during Jules’ Potch ride, although I think the sight of him coming sideways around a corner may have been too much for poor ThinkPillion.
From there it was back home, with a quick stop to visit the Superhero, followed by some interesting little climbs and the little river crossing which claimed so many victims during the last two rides. This time round, everybody was a lot more relaxed, probably as a result of the inspiration provided by the Superhero (who should be named at some stage), and roared through the river crossing.
The route home was also interesting and lots of fun, and of course this was all followed by war stories in the car park and a rather uncharacteristic attempted burnout by someone who shall remain nameless, in order to save his reputation.
Thanks for all who took part in the ride, and whilst that should be our last ride at Maraisburg until we have some rains later in the year, stranger things have happened. All of the newbies did incredibly well, and a special mention should be made of Trailblazer who did his first off-road ride, at Maraisburg, and handled everything that was thrown at him.
