Twiggy
Pack Dog
I was planning a newbie ride on the 8th of November, at mariasburg, cos I have a few mates who have just started riding. Mariasburg judging by all the rain would be wondeful that weekend. On Sat I had 7 confirmed riders, by sunday 4 had chickened out (am I that scary) and I only had three, and of those three only one actually came, Marnus on his BMW 450. But I couldn't have asked for a better and nicer rider to ride with, I had not met him prior, he picked up on my thread on wd. He has just got back into riding after he broke his colar bone. And he is a really good rider, i'd hate to try keep up with him in top form, time and time again I would look back to check he was okay and he would be going over obstacles that most people would freak at, and he doesn't have a colar bone left, madness.
So after meeting Marnus and setting off on the beautiful Sunday, seeing that he was very capable in the saddle, I adjusted the route slightly. Having taken the easier route to the pans, but setting a quiet a fast pace, with Marnus not even breaking a sweat, I choose to go through the windy quiet technical section on the right of the dunes, with the low slung trees looking to take out your helmet. Marnus was hot on my heels. We made it to the Whoops in record time. I love the whoops. Marnus did struggle over them with his injury, but I even do most times and I'm intact. The whoops were pretty muddy so through the little river crossing, I dragged my feet getting horribly wet but cleaner in the process, if I had know what was coming I wouldn't have bothered.
We had a little chat at Widow maker, watching some guys attempt it, but not succeed. To which we carried on to the bowl. I was planning on skipping it, but we were making such good time and I had to show Marnus the madness that is Mariasburg. We went the fast open dirt road, through the second whooped section and through the mud, where I got horribly stuck (oops wrong line) and Marnus had to come and rescue me. :imaposer: We made it to the bowl, where as we watched the guys attempt and either make the almost vertical climbs, we had a smoke and chatted. One of the guys riding the bowl warned us that the Dune which was our end point was getting windy and we should get there quickly, so we got back on our horses and rode outta there. We blew through to the Dune, Marnus proving he is a really good rider when I was going as fast as I dared and he went past me like I was looking for parking
We did my usual fast road down the edge of the dune, and when we got to he dune I realised what the guy had said was true, the dune was windy and super dusty, my maid would have had a heart attack. I attacked the dune with relish, love the feeling of accomplishment when you reach the top. Marnus was wise enough not to try it, because it can eat even experienced riders and I didn't want to have to return him broken. We decided not to have a break on the dune because it was terrible, like having a dust burger and so we made our way to the side so I could nicotine again. Two riders pulled up on BMW 450’s and turned out to be mates of Marnus, Allan and Roger. They asked us to ride with them to uncle harry’s. As I had never been there before I was keen, and with a few false starts and them asking for directions (yes it does happen) we were off. It was a really nice ride with some fast stuff and some technical stuff. We tried one hill climb and I bailed, but didn’t feel to bad when Allan one of the guys who had gone up on his 450 like it was childs play tried twice to get my little KDX up but couldn’t. Marnus was apprehensive, with good reason to be. But he bit the bullet and made a very stylish ride up, and a brilliant finish by flipping his bike at the top. Luckily he let go and didn’t hurt himself. We passed lightening on his way back from Uncle Harrys. He had traded in his 990 for KTM enduro, sacriledge! We made it to Uncle Harry’s where we had some chow, some refreshments and a discussion about Rossi being gay, and refuelled our bikes. We set off again and Allan and Roger took us to the narliest climb I’ve ever seen. Marnus and I played the hell no card and watched while the guys tried it. Insanity I tell you. I had a couple of moments of talent failure on this route, dropping my bike trying to get over a pipe line that came to my knee and slidding down a rocky hill, the guys were nice enough to help me although I think I scared the crap outta Marnus who had to go after me.
We had a very fast trip back, running in the middle of another pack or riders at one stage, and all of us getting horribly dirty going through the mud. Note to self, never ride NEXT to a guy riding through a watery mud patch, you get a free full body mud bath. At this point I think a mention should be made of the fact that Marnus, post op, and injury and having not ridden for a month was still going strong and riding phenomenally, on a bloody hard not so newbie ride. This man is made of strong stuff! We took the same route home and made it back to the garage, muddy, tired (exhausted) but in good spirits and all in one piece. Marnus was then nice enough to help me load my little baby.
Thanks guys for an AWESOME ride, I will ride with you guys any day of the week, Marnus go buy yourself rockstar kit cos you are one. There will be more, hopefully actual newbie rides this time if not hey it still rocked!
So after meeting Marnus and setting off on the beautiful Sunday, seeing that he was very capable in the saddle, I adjusted the route slightly. Having taken the easier route to the pans, but setting a quiet a fast pace, with Marnus not even breaking a sweat, I choose to go through the windy quiet technical section on the right of the dunes, with the low slung trees looking to take out your helmet. Marnus was hot on my heels. We made it to the Whoops in record time. I love the whoops. Marnus did struggle over them with his injury, but I even do most times and I'm intact. The whoops were pretty muddy so through the little river crossing, I dragged my feet getting horribly wet but cleaner in the process, if I had know what was coming I wouldn't have bothered.
We had a little chat at Widow maker, watching some guys attempt it, but not succeed. To which we carried on to the bowl. I was planning on skipping it, but we were making such good time and I had to show Marnus the madness that is Mariasburg. We went the fast open dirt road, through the second whooped section and through the mud, where I got horribly stuck (oops wrong line) and Marnus had to come and rescue me. :imaposer: We made it to the bowl, where as we watched the guys attempt and either make the almost vertical climbs, we had a smoke and chatted. One of the guys riding the bowl warned us that the Dune which was our end point was getting windy and we should get there quickly, so we got back on our horses and rode outta there. We blew through to the Dune, Marnus proving he is a really good rider when I was going as fast as I dared and he went past me like I was looking for parking
We did my usual fast road down the edge of the dune, and when we got to he dune I realised what the guy had said was true, the dune was windy and super dusty, my maid would have had a heart attack. I attacked the dune with relish, love the feeling of accomplishment when you reach the top. Marnus was wise enough not to try it, because it can eat even experienced riders and I didn't want to have to return him broken. We decided not to have a break on the dune because it was terrible, like having a dust burger and so we made our way to the side so I could nicotine again. Two riders pulled up on BMW 450’s and turned out to be mates of Marnus, Allan and Roger. They asked us to ride with them to uncle harry’s. As I had never been there before I was keen, and with a few false starts and them asking for directions (yes it does happen) we were off. It was a really nice ride with some fast stuff and some technical stuff. We tried one hill climb and I bailed, but didn’t feel to bad when Allan one of the guys who had gone up on his 450 like it was childs play tried twice to get my little KDX up but couldn’t. Marnus was apprehensive, with good reason to be. But he bit the bullet and made a very stylish ride up, and a brilliant finish by flipping his bike at the top. Luckily he let go and didn’t hurt himself. We passed lightening on his way back from Uncle Harrys. He had traded in his 990 for KTM enduro, sacriledge! We made it to Uncle Harry’s where we had some chow, some refreshments and a discussion about Rossi being gay, and refuelled our bikes. We set off again and Allan and Roger took us to the narliest climb I’ve ever seen. Marnus and I played the hell no card and watched while the guys tried it. Insanity I tell you. I had a couple of moments of talent failure on this route, dropping my bike trying to get over a pipe line that came to my knee and slidding down a rocky hill, the guys were nice enough to help me although I think I scared the crap outta Marnus who had to go after me.
We had a very fast trip back, running in the middle of another pack or riders at one stage, and all of us getting horribly dirty going through the mud. Note to self, never ride NEXT to a guy riding through a watery mud patch, you get a free full body mud bath. At this point I think a mention should be made of the fact that Marnus, post op, and injury and having not ridden for a month was still going strong and riding phenomenally, on a bloody hard not so newbie ride. This man is made of strong stuff! We took the same route home and made it back to the garage, muddy, tired (exhausted) but in good spirits and all in one piece. Marnus was then nice enough to help me load my little baby.
Thanks guys for an AWESOME ride, I will ride with you guys any day of the week, Marnus go buy yourself rockstar kit cos you are one. There will be more, hopefully actual newbie rides this time if not hey it still rocked!
