We were all a little nervous as we started engines and started rolling, the variable factors on any of these off-road rides providing some early signs of apprehension.
It was immediately apparent how dry everything was, fortunately the wind was quite strong, clearing the dust rather quickly.
It was unanimously agreed (by Chris and myself) that the Kwat stayed behind us and did not spew it"s dust on our clean bikes.
I was leading and tried to maintain a fairly brisk pace, the dry conditions allowing for some
frisky power-slides in the corners. The lack of moisture however made the sand trickier than normal - zero cohesion.
The first section to Pitsane went off without glitch and the guys all got into their own rhythm. We stopped for a brief re-fuel and straps check - all was good.
The next section +- 80km was to have everything gnarly - sand, rocks and thorns.
Our pace was good and the quad was keeping up very well, managing to maintain speed and power slides through the sandy corners better than the bikes could.
At one particularly rocky section we belted up a little quicker than is safe to do, the front wheels threatening to wash away at the slightest lack of concentration.
The ground clearance of the quad a little concerning but Rob expertly negotiated his way up without any damage - or so we thought.
We hugged the fence line moving relaxed and enjoying the terrain, riding and just the "lekkerness" of being out on our bikes instead of stuck in the office.
We pulled up to our lunch/re-fuel point only to notice that the left front on the quad was deflated and was causing Rob some steering issues.
All the tyres on bikes and quad were covered in thorns, the quad obviously collecting more than it's fair share.
We rolled the offending wheel and noticed a slight leak from one thorn embedded in the tyre - out comes the tyre plug kit, brand new and shiny, little CO2 cylinders and all.
Unbeknown to us the sidewall had taken two nicks in the rocky section and the tyre was losing air at a constant rate necessitating a stop every 20km for us each to have a pomp in the heat and the sand and the wind.
WHERE IS THAT PUNCTURE KIT???!!!
IT'S IN THERE SOMEWHERE ROB....
HAPPY FACES AFTER THE FIRST OF MANY POMPS FOR THE DAY...
OUR VERY DELICIOUS HEAD COVERINGS - necessary for the sand being blown all over. I had bent down to check the offending flat when a gust of wind had half-filled my ear with sand - gritty :lol8:
Next stop - Bray 100km
ot: we didn't need to take much at all - and anyway he had far more packing space than we did.
