Mark Hardy
Grey Hound
coming soon to a screen near you
the_wes
Grey Hound
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
- Messages
- 8,751
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Brackenfell, Cape Town
- Bike
- Harley Davidson (all models)
I didn't take many "action" shots, but I think I can be forgiven, since I did manage to capture Mr Hardy's spectacular connection with the mud ;D
Here's some of my photos, I'll try label who's who here and there as much as possible, so we can all get to know each other better, but I'm terrible with names, and I've got a lot of big group photos so it's hard to make people out!
Gathering at the Total. On the left, standing next to the Blue Transalp, is KeithK. In the middle, the chick in the pink vest and light jeans is my better half, the_wife. Immediately to her right, the 2 chicks with their arms around each other are Leandri (on the right) my friend who just bought her black F650 recently, and her girlfriend Bonita. It was Leandri's first time on dirt and she did great, with a pillion as well!! She also managed to stand and make it through the mud puddle that claimed Mark, another KTM, mountainboy AND keithk, so we are very proud of her! To the right of them, with the BMW kit and the coffee is the infamous and always well-dressed Hermantor, next to his brand spankers Dakar (which was at this point still very clean). To the right of him are topbox (I think) on the left and newguy on the right, admiring newguy's samurai looking DRZ400. I hate guys with small bikes, because DRZs are so awesome they run the risk of making me look bad!
Stopping after Occultdale road. Just left of the middle, in the red/black/white stripe jacket and blue jeans, is Meerkat (I think). Just to the left of him with the silver helmet is topbox getting ready to kick start his awesome jealousy-inspiring Honda XR650, with newguy looking on. Over on the right you'll see hermantor in his blue and grey BM suit chatting to Leandri on her bike, giving her tips. Thanks to herm and everyone else for their patience, concern and tips in helping her out and with the rest of the noobs! It's always great riding with such easy-going and helpful people!
Front right, BMW suit = hermantor. Chatting to him and admiring his new Dakkie is mountainboy.
the_wife in pink and Leandri on the bike. Between/behind them is a guy that rides a orange KTM 950 (I think) who's name I can't remember! In the far back, on the left, silver 9-fiddy, is the infamous Mark Hardy!
This was just after the awesome but slightly tricky tweespoor that ran along the railway line. KeithK in the foreground, Mark Hardy hiding behind him.
Gathering and getting ready for the next section.
Mountainboy taking a breather. This was where the fun started and was really the only challenging section of the ride (it was, after all, a noob ride). This mud/water stretch claimed 2 KTMS, 1 Beemer and a Transalp, and was the scene of Mark's spectacular shenanigans.
Go Girl!!! paddling through the puddle while topbox looks on. She was impressive all day on that 950!
Those that have made it, waiting for the rest.
The same ktm 950 rider who's name I can't remember making it count.
The beasts...
The riders... pink = the_wife (if you haven't caught on by now), to her right, leandri, looking very chuffed with herself for making through the puddle (both her and I erred on the side of wisdom and made the pillions walk). Out of picture on the right in the MX gear is the black KTM 950 rider that went down (I think) - can't remember his name but we hung out lekker, ditto with the dude in the orange, we chatted lekker but can't remember his name, he has a KTM 640 adventure which makes him my hero. Herm is hiding behind him.
topbox (foreground) and mark (orange) having a good laugh at my video clip of mark's crash ;D
ktm 640 rider in the background. mountainboy (left) and xt660r (right)
After a great breakfast and much kak-praat in Riebeeck, myself, herm, leandri, go girl and the black 950 rider headed home with other commitments, so I'm sorry I missed the rest of the ride. Here we are at the petrol station, hermanator's brand new Dakar not looking so brand new anymore!
All in all it was a fantastic day and awesome ride. Thanks to Mark and Andy for an AWESOME route and for leading/sweeping and making it all happen. It was truly a good noob ride, in that the routes were easy with just enough mild tricky stuff thrown in to make it fun, and with the experienced guys being patient and helpful to those still learning. Often a noob would come out of a tricky section with much applause and cheering from the crowd. Myself and the_wife had tons of fun, and I even took on andy's "special stage", which consisted of roughly 400m of long wet grass and mud hidden under long wet grass ;D there was lot's of squirming going on, but it was awesome. I did come off, I admit it (on the special stage) but no-one was around to take a pic, despite me chilling on my back, hands behind my head and legs folder up on the bike, lying on it's side ;D no photo = you can't prove a thing!
I saw a lot of cameras out, so c'mon guys POST YOUR PICS!!
Here's some of my photos, I'll try label who's who here and there as much as possible, so we can all get to know each other better, but I'm terrible with names, and I've got a lot of big group photos so it's hard to make people out!
Gathering at the Total. On the left, standing next to the Blue Transalp, is KeithK. In the middle, the chick in the pink vest and light jeans is my better half, the_wife. Immediately to her right, the 2 chicks with their arms around each other are Leandri (on the right) my friend who just bought her black F650 recently, and her girlfriend Bonita. It was Leandri's first time on dirt and she did great, with a pillion as well!! She also managed to stand and make it through the mud puddle that claimed Mark, another KTM, mountainboy AND keithk, so we are very proud of her! To the right of them, with the BMW kit and the coffee is the infamous and always well-dressed Hermantor, next to his brand spankers Dakar (which was at this point still very clean). To the right of him are topbox (I think) on the left and newguy on the right, admiring newguy's samurai looking DRZ400. I hate guys with small bikes, because DRZs are so awesome they run the risk of making me look bad!
Stopping after Occultdale road. Just left of the middle, in the red/black/white stripe jacket and blue jeans, is Meerkat (I think). Just to the left of him with the silver helmet is topbox getting ready to kick start his awesome jealousy-inspiring Honda XR650, with newguy looking on. Over on the right you'll see hermantor in his blue and grey BM suit chatting to Leandri on her bike, giving her tips. Thanks to herm and everyone else for their patience, concern and tips in helping her out and with the rest of the noobs! It's always great riding with such easy-going and helpful people!
Front right, BMW suit = hermantor. Chatting to him and admiring his new Dakkie is mountainboy.
the_wife in pink and Leandri on the bike. Between/behind them is a guy that rides a orange KTM 950 (I think) who's name I can't remember! In the far back, on the left, silver 9-fiddy, is the infamous Mark Hardy!
This was just after the awesome but slightly tricky tweespoor that ran along the railway line. KeithK in the foreground, Mark Hardy hiding behind him.
Gathering and getting ready for the next section.
Mountainboy taking a breather. This was where the fun started and was really the only challenging section of the ride (it was, after all, a noob ride). This mud/water stretch claimed 2 KTMS, 1 Beemer and a Transalp, and was the scene of Mark's spectacular shenanigans.
Go Girl!!! paddling through the puddle while topbox looks on. She was impressive all day on that 950!
Those that have made it, waiting for the rest.
The same ktm 950 rider who's name I can't remember making it count.
The beasts...
The riders... pink = the_wife (if you haven't caught on by now), to her right, leandri, looking very chuffed with herself for making through the puddle (both her and I erred on the side of wisdom and made the pillions walk). Out of picture on the right in the MX gear is the black KTM 950 rider that went down (I think) - can't remember his name but we hung out lekker, ditto with the dude in the orange, we chatted lekker but can't remember his name, he has a KTM 640 adventure which makes him my hero. Herm is hiding behind him.
topbox (foreground) and mark (orange) having a good laugh at my video clip of mark's crash ;D
ktm 640 rider in the background. mountainboy (left) and xt660r (right)
After a great breakfast and much kak-praat in Riebeeck, myself, herm, leandri, go girl and the black 950 rider headed home with other commitments, so I'm sorry I missed the rest of the ride. Here we are at the petrol station, hermanator's brand new Dakar not looking so brand new anymore!
All in all it was a fantastic day and awesome ride. Thanks to Mark and Andy for an AWESOME route and for leading/sweeping and making it all happen. It was truly a good noob ride, in that the routes were easy with just enough mild tricky stuff thrown in to make it fun, and with the experienced guys being patient and helpful to those still learning. Often a noob would come out of a tricky section with much applause and cheering from the crowd. Myself and the_wife had tons of fun, and I even took on andy's "special stage", which consisted of roughly 400m of long wet grass and mud hidden under long wet grass ;D there was lot's of squirming going on, but it was awesome. I did come off, I admit it (on the special stage) but no-one was around to take a pic, despite me chilling on my back, hands behind my head and legs folder up on the bike, lying on it's side ;D no photo = you can't prove a thing!
I saw a lot of cameras out, so c'mon guys POST YOUR PICS!!
topbox
Race Dog
some more pics
Keith in 2nd getting ready on the Transalp
Wes , one handed salute
. Damn i waited there just for him ;D
Keith in 2nd getting ready on the Transalp
Wes , one handed salute
. Damn i waited there just for him ;D
topbox
Race Dog
breakfast, sure make them different in the country
K
Kev
Guest
Superb!! :thumleft: I love Marks dismount... legts in the air and all! Too good! :thumleft: To me it looked like the classic "one wheel on one side of the middle mannetjie, the other on the other side". And wet grass is worse than the mud monster. Slippery as hell!
Briekmerk
Race Dog
mountainboy
Race Dog
what a great ride
that single track along the railway was brilliant. Not to mention the water and mud. BIG respect to all the noobs who did this trip. I found the trip to slightly tricky in alot of places tho -lotsa loose sand everwhere
guys, thanks again for a awesome route.
Mark -when you changing ur avatar pic - that old falling pic is just soooooo last year ;D ;D
that single track along the railway was brilliant. Not to mention the water and mud. BIG respect to all the noobs who did this trip. I found the trip to slightly tricky in alot of places tho -lotsa loose sand everwhere
guys, thanks again for a awesome route.
Mark -when you changing ur avatar pic - that old falling pic is just soooooo last year ;D ;D
briv
Race Dog
- Joined
- May 3, 2006
- Messages
- 2,859
- Reaction score
- 153
- Location
- Bel-in-die-wil Cape Town
- Bike
- KTM 990 Adventure
Couple of pics, seeing that Mark is the noob entertainer as far as swimming in mud's concerned, I will only post his upright pics ;D
Heheeehee what's this a leopard-crawling upright KAATIE
A klompie stofmakers met die berg in the rear
And then this transpired
First the rider is down....
Then maatjie see's it....
Maatjies runs in true dawg spirit to take a photo .....
But the faller has the bike upright and ready ....
To chase the offending photographer, ala rodeo style ....
He makes it and the race is on ....
The next wheelie king ;D
The current wheelie king ;D
This sums it up.... throttles and throttles... dust and dust..
Thanks to all it was a nice ride, and I had a couple slipy moments
Heheeehee what's this a leopard-crawling upright KAATIE
A klompie stofmakers met die berg in the rear
And then this transpired
First the rider is down....
Then maatjie see's it....
Maatjies runs in true dawg spirit to take a photo .....
But the faller has the bike upright and ready ....
To chase the offending photographer, ala rodeo style ....
He makes it and the race is on ....
The next wheelie king ;D
The current wheelie king ;D
This sums it up.... throttles and throttles... dust and dust..
Thanks to all it was a nice ride, and I had a couple slipy moments
JourneyMan
Bachelor Dog
Lekker pics there everyone!
Good turnup and looks like everyone had a ball! Some with some dirt/mud added to the mix! :mrgreen:
Mark. You can stop falling over all the time now. Second time in a row we see this in ride reports where you were involved. :mrgreen:
Good turnup and looks like everyone had a ball! Some with some dirt/mud added to the mix! :mrgreen:
Mark. You can stop falling over all the time now. Second time in a row we see this in ride reports where you were involved.
:mrgreen:keithk
Race Dog
Guys what a great ride and I am (proud) to say that yes I had my first "off" in THAT little puddle, man I have to get knoblies ;D
Yip to all the newbies well done some of the roads were a little bit on the loose side and tricky to say the least. After that spectacular fall of Mark, Mountain Boy, XT660 and myself had a little chat amongst ourselves and decided we should see Mark safely back to EV at the Lanzerac which was a great venue. thanks to Wes for arranging and all those that joined us. Maybe to start the New Year off we should organise a similar ride and end off with a lekker braai in a forest or something and skip breakfast??
Topbox I will drop your screen off with XT 660 at his garage ??
Yip to all the newbies well done some of the roads were a little bit on the loose side and tricky to say the least. After that spectacular fall of Mark, Mountain Boy, XT660 and myself had a little chat amongst ourselves and decided we should see Mark safely back to EV at the Lanzerac which was a great venue. thanks to Wes for arranging and all those that joined us. Maybe to start the New Year off we should organise a similar ride and end off with a lekker braai in a forest or something and skip breakfast??
Topbox I will drop your screen off with XT 660 at his garage ??
mountainboy
Race Dog
braai? sounds real good keith. suppose any reason to down some beers always wins on this forum!
Buzzlightyear
Grey Hound
Nice going guys, seems like it was a nice ride.
Just a Q, do you okes really like to ride in each other's dust? I love my airfilter man, and I don't like to clean it. ;D
Just a Q, do you okes really like to ride in each other's dust? I love my airfilter man, and I don't like to clean it. ;D
topbox
Race Dog
Keith, your first off. Quite the showman.
just to refresh your memory ;D
Showtime, lining up and getting ready
oops
showstopper with some fancy footwork
and the recovery
nice one Keith.
just to refresh your memory ;D
Showtime, lining up and getting ready
oops
showstopper with some fancy footwork
and the recovery
nice one Keith.
Buzzlightyear
Grey Hound
shame.
Looks like lot of guys succumbed to the paparazzi pressure, stage fright with all the cameras. Like a bunch of freaking vultures or what? ;D ;D ;D
Looks like lot of guys succumbed to the paparazzi pressure, stage fright with all the cameras. Like a bunch of freaking vultures or what? ;D ;D ;D
C
Camelman
Guest
:toothy10:
topbox
Race Dog
Sorry Keith,
i was just about to help pick up your bike ;D ;D
i was just about to help pick up your bike ;D ;D
GO GIRL
Race Dog
Well guys what a GREAT ride a lot of fun had by all and MH and KK we will have to go back there so that we too can learn how to do your fancy footwork and swimming episodes it really was a great morning's ride :blob7: :blob7: :blob7: :blob7:
