Mud, Mud. glorious..... faaaaaaaaarrrrk.... ud

[Plothond]

This was the day I've been looking forward to all week, another dust dash around Bapsfontein and Donkerhoek.
I awoke at 06:10, noticed it's a bit overcast, but thought - what the heck, time for a lekker ride.
OX, Spyker - no worries, it looked horrible your side of the Jukskei
We met up at the Engen - Myself, Bla Bla, Red Rider, Digital Dan, Ryno & Chris as his Pillion.
We left the garage at about 07:15
I started raining before we even got to the end of Lynnwood road, and by the time we hit the dirt (sorry - mud), I knew that this may just get interesting
The first section was uneventful enough - just wet !!!!

Our first stop. Please, this is important take note how neat and tidy everyone is

Group Photo, minus Plothond (cameraman)

Aaaah this looks quite easy, mmmmm ya, - Lets go for it

First to go down was myself
En toe vat Bla Bla 'n l�ª

Bla Bla staan weer op

No, no says Chris, move over Plothond. Jy kan nie hierdie KayTeeEm ry nie. Ek wys jou hoe

En toe vat Chris ook 'n l�ª

Ryno !!!!! - Wat nou !! - That kit was BRAND new a week ago

Well after this little episode we decided to cut the route short a bit and basically followed the same route as last week, but with a bit more dirt thrown in.

At the Mooiplaats road, RR & DD decided to go on to the Riverside Mixer and look for some more mud.
Thanks chaps - I enjoyed riding with you, BB - thanks for the help in the mud - You make it look sooo easy

 

[GIDEON]

NOU IS EK JALOERS
Lyk bevange Sit daardie paaie op n file sodat ek dit ook kan gaan stoei man. Die KENDAS het nog nie MODDER getoets nie :roll:

 

[Plothond]

Ek dink my bike sou dit makliker op 'n ys- skats baan gemaak het. Daai modder was snot glad !!!

Too make things even worse, a beat up old BMW comes past (crab walking) and the 4 NSA's inside shout out at us - Hey -julle bikers f@k die pad op

 

[shark_za]

You have woken him!

The mud monster and his friend the skid demon.

Lekka.

 

[sidetrack]

Crappy pics from me since my sister took my dig camera on holiday :evil: Had a great ride and met some new members. I have never ridden these specific tracks before but they certainly were fun to ride ! Very nice combination of various terrain. The first stretch we were met with some rain but nothing too serious, actually it was perfect weather for riding, cool with almost no dust. Now Redrider is in his element when he mounts his big XR and who would not be it's an AWESOME bike 8) As we hit the first bit of dirt he put the XR on it's back wheel and followed it up with a powerslide that almost high sided him. Red don't know how you stayed on but well done, that was worthy of any bike vid ! We passed a farm with killer tracks running all over it but apparently the farmer is not bike friendly so we stayed on the railroad trail.

Then the mud monster reared it's head and the pigs decided it's time to wallow Don't know how many falls there were but that section of 150 m or so took around an hour :lol:

The XR and DRZ had no real probs besides the tyres caking up with mud, had so much fun I did it twice.

Checkout the backround as I snapped this pic, the Katoom goes down.

Redrider helping to get the bikes through.

A little river runs through it

After this stretch we headed over to Bronkies on tar and the DRZ did not like it, at 130 km/h the bike feels like it's surging. I don't know if it's a plugged jet or the clutch slipping ? Never happened before, oh well check it out later. From there it was via the railway road towards Rayton for a well deserved roll and coldrink. From Rayton to PTA the trail is really fun with ups and downs with some concrete crossings. Crossing the railway line is a pita though spinning rocks all over the place. Stuck on the rail I had flashbacks to old cowboy movies where people are tied to the tracks with a bigass train fast approaching :shock:

Near Boschkop we said our goodbyes and Redrider showed me Riverside Mixer, it looks like a great area to play with a riverbed and nice shady trails. Have to try it sometime.

Thanks again guys had fun !

 

[Ou Ryperd]

Thanks guys, it was an awesome morning, and I was sad to leave you so early. Nice organisation Plottie, and good tracks you selected.

That mud monster was a biatch!!!! Not deep mud, just snotty slippery mud. I went through the 1st time without dropping Ryperd, decided it was way too much fun and returned for a 2nd helping... too easy!!! But never think you've slain the mud monster :twisted: :twisted: On my 3rd return to meet DD and Red Rider the front slipped left and I went right... nice roll

We must do these tracks again, but we need time. The end must be the Riverside Mixer, it has a lekka fast sandy track in an old mielie field, and the guys with the smaller bikes (DD, Shark & Red Rider) can explore the river section. I was there yesterday on a 250 4-str TM (thanks Extreme) and it was a BLAST!

I can hear the canal roads calling......... Sharky, do you hear them too?? :twisted:

 

[sidetrack]

I can hear the canal roads calling......... Sharky, do you hear them too?? :twisted:

I hear not only the canals but the riverbed too ! We should have one serious day of bundu bashing !

 

[shark_za]

Woohoo, if I wasnt riding at De Wildt tomorrow I would be slip sliding around on the canals. That looked like fun.

But dead flat riverbeds, no dust and plenty traction on the twistys also have thier merits. Its going to be an awesome ride!

Would I want an XR or a DRZ... hmmm, make that a 625 SXC!

 

[Ou Ryperd]

I can hear the canal roads calling......... Sharky, do you hear them too?? :twisted:

I hear not only the canals but the riverbed too ! We should have one serious day of bundu bashing !

I agree.... Early in the New Year we must have 1 serious bundu bash!

 

[chrisB]

Hey guy's looks like gr8 fun and more rain to come!

 

[Plothond]

And whats the chances of getting knobblies now !!! - At least not for the next week or so...
aaah... wait !!!. I've got an angle grinder !!. Has anyone cut scorpions into knobblies before

 

[Ou Ryperd]

Plottie, looking at your Avatar it seems that you enjoy digging into mud :twisted: :twisted:

I must confess, riding mud with TKC's made it easy, although it did caked as well after the 2nd lap :roll:

 

[macduff]

whooopeee! looks like you okes had a lekker time....

ok, it was obviously snottie... but what speeds did you approach it with?

 

[Kev]

Nice one boys!!! :thumbright:

 

[Mark Hardy]

That certenly looked like great fun, thanks for the report and pics. No mud here in CT just plenty of dust and more dust.

 

[Plothond]

ok, it was obviously snottie... but what speeds did you approach it with?


I entered in second gear, slow speed, just off the gas.
However I can say that the following three factors caused me to go down much quicker than the others:
1. The scorpions are EXCELLENT tyres, but they are not designed for mud like this - just no way. :x They also has approx 6500k's on them, so that also does not help
2. The front mudguard that is so low/close to the wheel is a bad idea. It just caked up with mud between the front wheel and the mudguard and stop the wheel dead in it's tracks. :evil: :evil:
There's a kit that touratech sells (pricy) that raises the front mudguard so that it looks like a mx bike - this is a must have in conditions like this !!
3. I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE !!!

 

[Groenie]

Pity I missed it! Looks like you guys had fun. I was awake early enough to join, but decided to stay in Ma's good books.

 

[JourneyMan]

WhoooHooo! The mud gods are not only reserved for the Canals!

Awesome people!

What fun it must have been, despite the swearing and struggeling.
Everyone must experience something like this at least once, imo!

I have HUGE repsect for people doing these type of conditions and especially those on the big bikes. No matter what experience level. 8)


My saving grace during the canals was slow with feet down. Rescued me a lot BUT not always! :lol:

 

[Welsh]

WhoooHooo! The mud gods are not only reserved for the Canals!

Awesome people!

What fun it must have been, despite the swearing and struggeling.
Everyone must experience something like this at least once, imo!

I have HUGE repsect for people doing these type of conditions and especially those on the big bikes. No matter what experience level. 8)


My saving grace during the canals was slow with feet down. Rescued me a lot BUT not always! :lol:

I was clever on the canals, ran the grass strip on the edge!

Not so clever, the thorn bush trimmings were in the grass! By mid week, 2 rear wheel slowwies 4 in the front, and another 3 or 4 in each I dug out!

Welsh :evil: :evil:

 

[Inglsman]

Oh, I love this forum ... you guys make me feel much better.

Yesterday I submerged my bike and me in a puddle. It didn't look like such a big puddle but hindsight tells me that even tracker would find it hard to extract a a mazda 323 in there...

the bummer was ...

the fuel filler cap popped open when I fell, and the fuel came out and the water - red, brown, clay-filled suspension stuff went in...

I learnt some things -
(1) I can pick up my bike, even if I have to take a deep breath before plunging in to find the handle bar
(2) a dakar aint so heavy to push
(3) mud doesn't taste so bad, unless it has fuel in it
(4) petrol attendants are happy to help you turn your bike over to empty it out, fill it a bit (R20), splosh it about, empty it, and fill it again - they're just not happy for you to walk brown footprints in their clean shop
(5) people, passers-by, like to stare at recently-converted-to-brown-people.
(6) mudpacks aren't all they're made out to be

alas no photographs

sad, hey