S
shark_za
Guest
There is a reason I love taking the trek out to De Wildt every weekend, just as soon as you get cocky you discover something else to give you a long sip of settle the fark down.
I was originally going to ride with a few mates on Sunday but then the plans fell apart.
SMS's from dudes saying they cant make it and in the end it was me and Don and that was it.
We met at the Total garage, offroad bikes on the bakkies, and headed to the police station. Somewhere along the route I see him flashing his lights and then the cell phone rings...
He just got a call from his wife and she informs him that his boots are still there at the house! Doh!
We make a plan, head back to JHB, goto Daytona and meet his wife there. Any ride is better than no ride.
As we are leaving I see another dude I know (check the latest enduroworld for a demo of how to throw your bike up a mountain) and we stop to say howzit.
Turns out his other mate also just cancelled and he informs us they are racing at Daytona. Doh, there goes that plan too.
So in the end me and Darryl goto De Wildt, kit up and head out. Sorry Don, 4th time lucky. See Don has tried to ride with me and others there 3 times now. The first time it rained so much people could not get out the parking lot of the police station, 2nd time he was late and I forgot my cell phone! By the time I got his number and called he had headed home. And now this.
I got kind of lost at the bottom of white rocks trying to find the right approach there and turn onto school trail for a bit thinking I was too far over to the right.
School trail is an awesome ride, it follows the side of mountains on the police station side of De Wildt and its quite technical in places. Riding along the side of a mountain brings on its own problems, be carefull about that high side!
On school hill/trail
We meet a few local boys playing in the hills and we ask them where "butches" rocks are. Turns out just about every climb in this place that hectic is called butches rocks. They lead us to this one and we start what turns out to be a big test of endurance and riding ability.
Heading up the mountain.
We were heading east along school trail and then the boys said "turn here"
Well , seeing these kids could keep up with us gives you and idea of the technical nature of the trail.
Darryl was in front and he attacks the climb with vigour! You NEED a hyde guard of other bashplate as the stepups and rocks are big and you need to hit them with a lot of momentum to have any chance of getting up.
If you dont, you get your front wheel over and your back doesnt get up, stopping you dead in your tracks.
Here you are stuffed, you spin and cant get over , if you are lucky you dont fall and can either try reverse for another shot or carry the rear wheel over. Lets just say I think my 100kg KDX needs to loose at least 20 more kg!
Here is Darryl just ahead of me, about 10m? Or should we say about 20 minutes.
The first bit is the worst, some guys came down the other way and I noticed nobody else was riding this beast the way we were!
Looking back down after the worst bit, other riders had just ridden down there.
The little guys followed us up the whole way, good thing as we were running low on water and when Darryls KX boiled they ran down and fetched us some water to top up the radiator.
That break while the water was being fetched was a lifesaver, I was dead tired from bouncing all around, hitting a rock and almost falling off every time. Then look for a better line, lift the back wheel to some traction , align the front and then flat out at it again.
At the top you get to a crossroads that the kids say leads to "TDK" and something that sounds like "purple"
Luckily there is also a dirt road of sorts through the quarry and down to the enduro section, I didnt want something like white rocks at that stage. I am not embarrassed to say but I was fooked!
To end the ride (running out of time) we headed to the MX section, into the main river for a bit and then did a U-turn and went back over the water tower.
If anybody knows the real name of that bastard climb, please let me know, I have it as Butches from the kids but would like to be sure.
I was originally going to ride with a few mates on Sunday but then the plans fell apart.
SMS's from dudes saying they cant make it and in the end it was me and Don and that was it.
We met at the Total garage, offroad bikes on the bakkies, and headed to the police station. Somewhere along the route I see him flashing his lights and then the cell phone rings...
He just got a call from his wife and she informs him that his boots are still there at the house! Doh!
We make a plan, head back to JHB, goto Daytona and meet his wife there. Any ride is better than no ride.
As we are leaving I see another dude I know (check the latest enduroworld for a demo of how to throw your bike up a mountain) and we stop to say howzit.
Turns out his other mate also just cancelled and he informs us they are racing at Daytona. Doh, there goes that plan too.
So in the end me and Darryl goto De Wildt, kit up and head out. Sorry Don, 4th time lucky. See Don has tried to ride with me and others there 3 times now. The first time it rained so much people could not get out the parking lot of the police station, 2nd time he was late and I forgot my cell phone! By the time I got his number and called he had headed home. And now this.
I got kind of lost at the bottom of white rocks trying to find the right approach there and turn onto school trail for a bit thinking I was too far over to the right.
School trail is an awesome ride, it follows the side of mountains on the police station side of De Wildt and its quite technical in places. Riding along the side of a mountain brings on its own problems, be carefull about that high side!
On school hill/trail
We meet a few local boys playing in the hills and we ask them where "butches" rocks are. Turns out just about every climb in this place that hectic is called butches rocks. They lead us to this one and we start what turns out to be a big test of endurance and riding ability.
Heading up the mountain.
We were heading east along school trail and then the boys said "turn here"
Well , seeing these kids could keep up with us gives you and idea of the technical nature of the trail.
Darryl was in front and he attacks the climb with vigour! You NEED a hyde guard of other bashplate as the stepups and rocks are big and you need to hit them with a lot of momentum to have any chance of getting up.
If you dont, you get your front wheel over and your back doesnt get up, stopping you dead in your tracks.
Here you are stuffed, you spin and cant get over , if you are lucky you dont fall and can either try reverse for another shot or carry the rear wheel over. Lets just say I think my 100kg KDX needs to loose at least 20 more kg!
Here is Darryl just ahead of me, about 10m? Or should we say about 20 minutes.
The first bit is the worst, some guys came down the other way and I noticed nobody else was riding this beast the way we were!
Looking back down after the worst bit, other riders had just ridden down there.
The little guys followed us up the whole way, good thing as we were running low on water and when Darryls KX boiled they ran down and fetched us some water to top up the radiator.
That break while the water was being fetched was a lifesaver, I was dead tired from bouncing all around, hitting a rock and almost falling off every time. Then look for a better line, lift the back wheel to some traction , align the front and then flat out at it again.
At the top you get to a crossroads that the kids say leads to "TDK" and something that sounds like "purple"
Luckily there is also a dirt road of sorts through the quarry and down to the enduro section, I didnt want something like white rocks at that stage. I am not embarrassed to say but I was fooked!
To end the ride (running out of time) we headed to the MX section, into the main river for a bit and then did a U-turn and went back over the water tower.
If anybody knows the real name of that bastard climb, please let me know, I have it as Butches from the kids but would like to be sure.
;D
