Our Story of the Honda Quest 2017

[McSack]

Great write up Gerrit.  :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

Legends tyrebraaier en Johannes.

Not only can tyrebraaier put together a great story ... just check out this physique ... all natural brah ... no steroids 

 

[Scrat]

The start of a life changing journey ….. 8)

Getting to Windhoek…
Gerrit du Toit #19

(not many pics to show as most has been show already  :thumleft:  )

When I got the call from Hardy saying I’m in the top 20 to go on Quest I was super stoked!! 2 days before my 40th Bday!! What an awesome present this was!!

Shortly after I got myself (and my wife  ) into some late night work in the 2 weeks before the Quest would start. I wanted to manufacture some MX Jerseys for myself and in the end ended up making 46 shirts for the whole team and crew for this EPIC Quest! I was insane!! This had to be done in 2 weeks!!
My wife finishing up to get ready for her SA Fashion week roadshow in JHB the week before we head off for Namibia and me trying to get all the Jerseys cut and made up after hours by her machinist…Poor Lady!

During this time Little Mira was in my care O0 – so Daddy Day Care was on duty 24 hours all the way to the day before we left for Nam… so during the day I would juggle Work and Mira – when she goes to sleep in the evening it will be MX jerseys and trying to prep my stuff for the trip ot:… The Wednesday before we left I finally dropped off all the shirts at Garron, he would take it up to Windhoek for me with the rest of the convoy…. What a relief it was to get rid of those shirts!! ……. Next was the Buffs!

It all worked out perfectly, Wife got back late Saturday evening and we had a nice family Sunday … and 6am Monday morning

I was on a plane to meet the rest of the Adventurers at OR Thambo at 10am… :ricky:

It was all a rush from there – excitement / adrenaline …. The unkown … the Adventure …. Our Quest!
In Windhoek we all met up with the rest of the crew and we all felt a bit out of place… so bietjie soos n dronk hoenner.. I was still nervous as no one had seen their shirts they ordered.

Everyone got handed their shirts and buffs!! And even if I have to say it myself… we looked super Sexy !! 

We had our 1st meeting and it was accompanied by an ice cold draft!!! Thanks Hardy!!  :thumleft:
That is what we all needed – tensions gone and we all had a good time – shared some stories and expectations! Yoh… just wanted to get going now!

With my 3 team mates in the room – snoring fest!! (Andrew won that night  )  :eek7:

 

[KarooKid]

Brilliant write-up doc (Scalpel)

That was a most enjoyable super funny read with a lot of 'very lightheartedness' ala Minxy  :lol8:

Regarding me checking out her potential team mate - you damn right about that.  He needed to be a strong boy if my damsel was going to be in distress 

All jokes aside, it was quite a challenge for me as well.  We've almost always rode together and I was always there if she needed any assistance.  Although we always threw her into the deep end she always knew I would be there - this time it was different and I had to let go.  From the feedback I received she turned out to be such a champ and worthy competitor - I'm so chuffed with her.  I must say her team mate (KarooKid) was definitely a brilliant match and I have so much respect for him.  Tau & Hinksding - dankie dankie dankie!!

A huge thank you to all the guys who played a role in making this a fantastic event.  Hardy, you're a star and thank you once again in believing in Minxy.  I hope your event will grow and become huge.

Can't wait for the next installment.

So I have never met Kierie before that Monday morning when he dropped Minxy at the airport. I still do not to this day know what the "kierie" part in his forum name refers to. All I know is - he is a moerse ou and I felt sorry for the Quest participant who had to take care of his lady. I would have hated to be the one having to report back to him had something gone wrong.

Little did I know that I would be Minxy's teammate at that stage.

So when the teams was announced we had a brief discussion (which made her think I am a very serious guy - which I was for that discussion). I told her I have one mission and that is to see to her safety and us making it back to Windhoek safely.

I asked her how she would prefer for us to ride. She told me she always rides in front and that Johan sits close behind so that if there is a difficult section he can assist her, so that is what we did.

I do not usually ride close to people I do not know as you have to know and trust the other persons riding style/ability. For 2 weeks though I sat on Minxy's back wheel eating dust and stones. What a pleasure. She is such a capable rider that I did not once have to worry or wonder about her changing lines. She picks one and sticks to it.

As the days went on we did not even have to communicate when riding. It just became a constant flow, like birds flying in formation.

I have said it before and will say it again. Minxy was equal and even better than most competitors when riding a bike. A worthy competitor in every aspect of Quest.

Now I don't feel like working anymore. Bring on the weekend so we can ride bikes and work on this report.

 

[Scalpel]

Brilliant write-up doc (Scalpel)

That was a most enjoyable super funny read with a lot of 'very lightheartedness' ala Minxy  :lol8:

Regarding me checking out her potential team mate - you damn right about that.  He needed to be a strong boy if my damsel was going to be in distress 

All jokes aside, it was quite a challenge for me as well.  We've almost always rode together and I was always there if she needed any assistance.  Although we always threw her into the deep end she always knew I would be there - this time it was different and I had to let go.  From the feedback I received she turned out to be such a champ and worthy competitor - I'm so chuffed with her.  I must say her team mate (KarooKid) was definitely a brilliant match and I have so much respect for him.  Tau & Hinksding - dankie dankie dankie!!

A huge thank you to all the guys who played a role in making this a fantastic event.  Hardy, you're a star and thank you once again in believing in Minxy.  I hope your event will grow and become huge.

Can't wait for the next installment.

So I have never met Kierie before that Monday morning when he dropped Minxy at the airport. I still do not to this day know what the "kierie" part in his forum name refers to. All I know is - he is a moerse ou and I felt sorry for the Quest participant who had to take care of his lady. I would have hated to be the one having to report back to him had something gone wrong.

Little did I know that I would be Minxy's teammate at that stage.

So when the teams was announced we had a brief discussion (which made her think I am a very serious guy - which I was for that discussion). I told her I have one mission and that is to see to her safety and us making it back to Windhoek safely.

I asked her how she would prefer for us to ride. She told me she always rides in front and that Johan sits close behind so that if there is a difficult section he can assist her, so that is what we did.

I do not usually ride close to people I do not know as you have to know and trust the other persons riding style/ability. For 2 weeks though I sat on Minxy's back wheel eating dust and stones. What a pleasure. She is such a capable rider that I did not once have to worry or wonder about her changing lines. She picks one and sticks to it.

As the days went on we did not even have to communicate when riding. It just became a constant flow, like birds flying in formation.

I have said it before and will say it again. Minxy was equal and even better than most competitors when riding a bike. A worthy competitor in every aspect of Quest.

Now I don't feel like working anymore. Bring on the weekend so we can ride bikes and work on this report.

Wat?? Werk jy nog?? Seker te veel koffie gedrink die week.

 

[DjfLoYd]

The Road to Windhoek.

So before I throw my hat into the ring here, I feel it pertinent to
thank the following people (in no particular order):

Barend Fouche and Honda South Africa. Without their willingness to put
themselves out there and take the risk, none of this would've happened.
I believe they have set a benchmark in terms of brand marketing and they can
only grow from strength to strength.

Hardy de Kock and Specialized Adventures. Putting 20 strangers onto
big, expensive bikes and getting them through some of Namibia's most inhospitable terrain
is no small feat and they did it with the utmost care and professionalism.

My family deserves no less of a thanks. This trip has been the longest I've been away
from my wife and children. Even though she would never admit it, my wife hates it when
I leave. Every time though, she does not hesitate to say "Go! Have fun, stay safe and come
back in one piece." She did mention something about bringing home a bike or don't come home
at all but I think that was perhaps just my imagination. I love you guys as always.

Lastly, I want to thank all the other competitors. I'm really slow to form friendships with new
people, especially under artificial circumstances (at least initially artificial) and
I wish I could've spent more time with more of the contestants to get to know them better
but I am of the opinion that every single one was an absolute gent (and lady) whom I'd happily
ride with any day, any time. That we all got on as well as we did despite our enormous differences
is incredible and a testament to their character.

Anyway, back to the road.

When the call came in to say I made it to the final 20 contestants I was still at home on leave,
having decided to take a few extra days off after boot camp to spend with my wife (teaching her to ride
off-road no less).

My initial reaction was one of disbelief. I had little idea of what I had done at boot camp to
demonstrate my suitability as a finalist. None the less I was completely stoked at just making
the trip as that was already a big prize in itself.

My wife's reaction was a mixture of absolute joy and abject terror. I've never seen a human face pull
off both looks at the same time. Sort of a chameleon-on-a-smartie box look, very confused and hard
to read.

Once the elation settled, reality kicked in and I now had to face the prospect of 2 weeks in Namibia,
on a bike I've only ridden for 10 minutes in the tamest of conditions and having no big bike experience
to speak of. I started doing some research on Namibia and within the first ride report I read,
I was hit by the sand demon. This was gonna be interesting. Deep sand and a big bike, the thought gave me nightmares.

Reality soon took over though and that reality manifested itself in the form of packing. All my trips
up until now had started and ended on a bike. Wearing your gear makes packing a lot easier.
Having to shove body armour, riding clothes, boots and a helmet into bags is a pain in the ***.

This is not even all of it. I went with MX shirt over body armour and riding pants. Helmet was MX with goggles.

Having slain the packing monster with some defty rolls of clothing and some gratuitous application
of force and pressure, I loaded up and headed to the airport. Twister left his car at my
place and hitched a ride with to the airport (after having driven through from Bloemfontein).
It did occur to me that I could leave him on the side of the road somewhere and there would be
one less competitor to worry about, but he's such a nice guy I would've felt just a little bad.

We arrived at OR Thambo and the majority of competitors were already there.

It was really good to see the familiar faces from boot camp. A reunion-like atmosphere reigned in the airport
terminal and nervous laughter echoed around the group. The excitement was palpable and we were all keen
to just get on the plane and get going already.

So I didn't completely defeat the packing monster. I had to fly in my riding boots.

I imagine nobody has ever seen so many people walking around an airport wearing riding boots and stupid grins.
Leaving SA was a mostly painless affair with only one or two contestants being singled out for having
strange objects in their carry-on luggage. I won't mention names. Cough. Glenn. Cough.

On-board, locked and loaded and ready to go.

We landed at Hosea Kotako after an uneventful flight and a similarly uninteresting in flight meal.
I swear airline food is made by people, in a grey room with no windows, wearing white lab coats, hairnets and
listening to Creep by Radiohead on repeat over a scratchy PA system. Just depressing.

Hosea Kotako passport control agents not having an efficient day.

Anyhow, once processed through Namibian passport control, "processed" being a hugely complimentary term - more like
fell through it like golden syrup through a small funnel, in winter, in Canada, outside in the snow - we were
quickly whisked away by a young man identified only as JK. Arriving at Safari Hotel slash casino, slash other hotel, slash
seemingly central point of entertainment for the entire Windhoek, we gathered by the pool for some debriefing and dinner.

I don't remember much about what was said at that briefing but I recall words like "lions" and "elephants" and "tourists".
Apparently they collectively conspire to kill us bikers when travelling in Namibia.

I slept horribly that night. My dreams of killer-tourist-lions mowing down elephants on motorbikes being punctuated by
loud snoring, the likes of which I have never heard before in my life. (Honestly I'm sure Guinness has a new record waiting
to be discovered here). This from having to share a room with a Grand Master Snorer in the form of Grant,
a man, I was soon to learn, that had no quit in him. Lots of snore, but no damn quit at all.

 

[Kamanya]

For a first post on this forum, outfuckingstanding!

 

[McSack]

The Road to Windhoek.
.....


I don't remember much about what was said at that briefing but I recall words like "lions" and "elephants" and "tourists".
Apparently they collectively conspire to kill us bikers when travelling in Namibia.

I slept horribly that night. My dreams of killer-tourist-lions mowing down elephants on motorbikes being punctuated by
loud snoring, the likes of which I have never heard before in my life. (Honestly I'm sure Guinness has a new record waiting
to be discovered here). This from having to share a room with a Grand Master Snorer in the form of Grant,
a man, I was soon to learn, that had no quit in him. Lots of snore, but no damn quit at all.

I was just practicing my lion, elephant and psycho tourist scarer-offer bruh....seemed to work...not one came anywhere near our room

 

[hondsekierie]

Excellent read DjFloyd  :thumleft:

 

[Fransw]

The Road to Windhoek.
.....


I don't remember much about what was said at that briefing but I recall words like "lions" and "elephants" and "tourists".
Apparently they collectively conspire to kill us bikers when travelling in Namibia.

I slept horribly that night. My dreams of killer-tourist-lions mowing down elephants on motorbikes being punctuated by
loud snoring, the likes of which I have never heard before in my life. (Honestly I'm sure Guinness has a new record waiting
to be discovered here). This from having to share a room with a Grand Master Snorer in the form of Grant,
a man, I was soon to learn, that had no quit in him. Lots of snore, but no damn quit at all.

I was just practicing my lion, elephant and psycho tourist scarer-offer bruh....seemed to work...not one came anywhere near our room

Maybe its because of the smel of "elephant" dung in the room!? :lol8:

BTW how is the shoulder doing?..

 

[GRyPH]

Such a brilliant idea to do a write-up in this fashion.  Keep it coming guys and girl [emoji106].

@ GrypH - ek hoor jy is aan die diepkant ingegooi met die sandryery maar jy het darem vinnig geleer [emoji106]

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

janee,  ek het baie min sand gery voor quest,  ek was meer in my element die dag voor van zyls pas oor die klipperige tegniese terrein soos in die foto onder. Voor quest het ek en SP hier in George so bietjie sand gaan ry, maar niks wat my kon voorberei vir namibiese sand nie. Dit gese, ek het teen die einde van die dag wat ons 80km in die rivier bedding af gedoen het die slag begin kry en dit selfs geniet. En vandag het ek myself gevang waar ek wens ek kon daai sand roete gaan ry voor Brandberg.  ;D

Minxy het haar input ook gehad om my te leer van sand ry toe sy sien ek sukkel bietjie (dit was sommer vroeg in die trip gewees, nog lank voor ons die rivierbeddings gekry het).....  ek kan die gesprek mooi onthou  :biggrin:        Staan jy op in die sand?  ja,    sit jy jou gewig agtertoe?  ja ,  NOU WAT IS DIE PROBLEEM, RY HOM  :imaposer:

 

[GRyPH]

Ok... before I add my part of the story I think I need to quote this post from the other Quest thread.
As someone said allready, we made a whole lot of friends on this trip,but I know all of them by name and not a lot of them by forum name. ( Exept for the obvious forum names like "Hardy de Kock")

Please let me know if I missed someone that is on the forum and I will edit this post.

Teams updated as per the website.

Johannes Haasbroek -- Gerrit Visser ( Tyrebraaier )

Cornelis Nelson (NISMARK) -- Angus Welch

Clinton Pienaar -- Andries Haasbroek

Charl du Plessis (KarooKid) -- Barbara Muszynski (Minxy)

Grant Pentelow (McSack) -- Glenn Koch (THROTTLE JOCKEY)

Phillip Groenewald(GRyPH) -- Andrew Johnstone (Kamanya)

Marcel Vladar ( DjFloyd ) -- SP Dreyer ( skywalker )

Charl Potgieter ( Charliepappa ) -- Johannes van Heerden( Tyre)

Francois Ebersohn (Scalpel) -- Pieter Lourens (twister)

Gerrit du Toit (Scrat) -- Kobus Myburgh (ktmkobus)

 

[GRyPH]

It took me a while to catch up on all the work I missed while having the time of my life!

So here goes my part, up to the first day in Windhoek.



The first time I heard of Quest was from a friend of mine that told me I have to enter as he knows I am already biased towards the Africa twin, owning my second xrv750.  It took me a little less than an hour from hearing of quest until my entry form was completed and uploaded. And then the big wait started, waiting anxiously for the due date when the 40 finalists would be announced on the website. 

At first I was not one of the 40 names selected for boot camp and I was highly disappointed to say the very least. However it soon came to light that there might still be a chance as some of the 40 semi-finalists would not be able to make it after all, and low and behold, a few days later I received my call up to boot camp.
I was so happy I literally could not sit still while speaking to Hardy. I think scalpel mentioned above that he said yes a lot in his telephone call,  I imagine my call was about the same  :imaposer:

Immediately after the call I realised that a trip like this through Namibia would most definitely have a lot of sand riding. Luckily Skywalker from the forum who also made the cut proposed that we should tackle the 4x4 route at kleinkrantz to prepare a bit for bootcamp and quest.  Allthough you cannot compare the riding of a 4x4 track with what we did on Quest, I think that without these precious few hours spent in sand I would have been completely lost in the sand on quest. 

After boot-camp, I was left completely disappointed in my knowledge (or lack thereof) of the African continent.
You always look at a map and think, ja sure I know Africa, until you get THAT question...  " Name all 55 african countries with their capital cities , in order on the map supplied"   
Between trying to remember African countries in the news, as well as later trying to remember the countries the DAKAR rally visited there was some pretty interesting answers supplied :imaposer:    Sometime during the exam i decided to "shoot with a shotgun"  in other words I know Kenya is in this general area, but not sure exactly where so I will just answer all  in this area as Kenya  :imaposer:    that still didn't work for me though

If any of you are interested in testing your own knowledge of the continent, here is a online quiz that you can do: https://online.seterra.com/en/vgp/3163  bear in mind  its  a lot easier to just point at the country that is named, than to supply the names yourself..

I am however now happy to report that due to bootcamp, I have worked on my geographical knowledge a lot and if asked again I will happily supply the country, capital and currency.  (and most of the countries flags)

Other than the written tests, and a little bit of riding, bootcamp consisted of a small fitness test,  lectures on medical emergencies, tyre change and tube patching as well as lectures on the bike itself.


Myself and skywalker decided that we were in no rush to return home and to work after bootcamp, so we took a day extra to return, staying over at Veldbrand's place at koedoeskloof.

The next day while riding back to George, skywalker received his call from Hardy, and although he wasn't told at that time he was in, we both knew what the call would mean as well as the fact that I did not receive my call and what that meant for me.  So it seemed unfortunately I did not make the final 20 

Later I received a call from Hardy explaining that I missed the final cut by 1 point. only 1. So he made me the offer to come on-board as part of the crew and official replacement in case someone can not make it or has to withdraw. 

Now I never wish ill fortune on anyone,  but I did give scrat  a call and told him to lock his door because if something were to happen to , lets say his knee, he would have to withdraw and I would be in....  and I know where he lives  >    :imaposer:

Once again it so happened that someone had to withdraw ( and I had no hand in his withdrawal, no knees were harmed) and I was added as the 20th competitor for the 2017 Honda Quest.





Below is a couple of bootcamp photos

 

[GRyPH]

So after eventually calming down from the excitement of being one of the 20 finalists, all the preparation started.

Myself and skywalker decided to go for one last sand ride at Kleinkrantz, but we did not dare push ourselves too hard.  This was not the time to break a leg or arm. 

In my search for a suitable bag to use as a toolbag, I met Peter from Nomad Bike Bags who was so kind to sponsor the 2 George contestants each with a 80liter duffel bag. (photo below)
I also bought one of his toolbags as I need one for myself.
I can highly recommend Peter from Nomad if you need any bike bags, or soft luggage. pm me if you want me to send you his details.


The flights to and from George did not work out all to well with the flights to and from Windhoek, this meant that we had to fly a day earlier and return a day later than our Windhoek flight. Luckily Skywalker has family in Pretoria, so he invited me to stay over at their place for the weekend before the flight to Windhoek.

So off we went to Joburg,  luggage"check"  ;tools "check"  ;riding gear "check "          Passport "check"  good!  :thumleft:


A gautrain trip saw us safely to OR Tambo on the day of departure, this was a first for me, but I enjoyed it.  luggage "check"    passport " check"    good!  :thumleft:

As someone mentioned already we received some shirts, caps, and mirrors on the airport to take with. and we checked in our luggage.      Passport check.......    boarding pass check    good!  :thumleft:



Landing at Hosea Kutako  I thought I should remember this name as this would be a good trivia question.  I did NOT remember it when it was needed in the end.  atch:
I was also not prepared for the warm welcome of the Namibian customs agents  :dousing:    Getting through customs at Windhoek international was a trying experience and it took us 2 hours to get through to where we collected our luggage.

Luggage " check"    MTC sim " check"    passport " check"      good!  :thumleft:

so onto the busses to Safari hotel where we were greeted by Hardy and co and we were shown the way to our rooms.


luggage " check"    Passport......"ch......  passport.........      F*%#@!!!!!  noooooooooooooo!!!!       

    I left my folder and passport in the minibus that transported us from the airport to the hotel. :-[
This was also a first for me, as I always keep my passport safe.  At that stage however I felt that I am in Namibia, and I am ready to do Quest,  getting back into SA would be a worry for another day, besides, im sure I can swim the orange river  :
What did worry me immensely though was the fact that my presentation was also in the folder that I left in the bus.    Yes, when your on quest, your presentation is more important than your passport  :imaposer:

Luckily it was a transport minibus from Honda and Tau was  able to call them, so they kept my passport safe at Honda till the next morning when we would have a breakfast anyway.

I would like to say that is where the passport incident ended but no, it was a label I carried with me for the rest of the trip and I would be periodically reminded that I need to remember my passport among other things.  :imaposer:  It also cost me a round of beers (or atleast 18 beers , 1 coke and 1 savana) which I gladly bought    it was completely worth it (and a cheap round i will add) to know my presentation  would be safe.




Photos below:

me trying to figure out sand riding before quest  :imaposer:

I had a demo CRF1000 for a day before Quest and decided to ride sand. We recieved a lot of rain the previous day however, and the whole exercise was futile.  Wet sand is as difficult to ride on as tar.

Nomad bike bags

On our way to Hosea Kutako

 

[DirtyTeNeReLess]

sub!

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[KarooKid]

Nicely written Phil!!

Now for the start of chapter 2.

 

[McSack]

The Road to Windhoek.
.....


I don't remember much about what was said at that briefing but I recall words like "lions" and "elephants" and "tourists".
Apparently they collectively conspire to kill us bikers when travelling in Namibia.

I slept horribly that night. My dreams of killer-tourist-lions mowing down elephants on motorbikes being punctuated by
loud snoring, the likes of which I have never heard before in my life. (Honestly I'm sure Guinness has a new record waiting
to be discovered here). This from having to share a room with a Grand Master Snorer in the form of Grant,
a man, I was soon to learn, that had no quit in him. Lots of snore, but no damn quit at all.

I was just practicing my lion, elephant and psycho tourist scarer-offer bruh....seemed to work...not one came anywhere near our room

Maybe its because of the smel of "elephant" dung in the room!? [emoji38]8:

BTW how is the shoulder doing?..

Getting there slowly but surely mate. I just don't have patience with the doc telling me I can only ride again in like a month

 

[hondsekierie]

Very nice GrypH :thumleft:

Love all the different stories  :ricky:

 

[NIMMO]

Definitely SUB  :biggrin:

 

[charliepappa]

Teams updated as per the website.

Johannes Haasbroek -- Gerrit Visser ( Tyrebraaier )

Cornelis Nelson (NISMARK) -- Angus Welch

Clinton Pienaar -- Andries Haasbroek

Charl du Plessis (KarooKid) -- Barbara Muszynski (Minxy)

Grant Pentelow (McSack) -- Glenn Koch (THROTTLE JOCKEY)

Phillip Groenewald(Gryph -- Andrew Johnstone (Kamanya)

Marcel Vladar ( DjFloyd ) -- SP Dreyer ( skywalker )

Charl Potgieter  (charliepappa) -- Johannes van Heerden (Tyre) - UPDATED

Francois Ebersohn (Scalpel) -- Pieter Lourens (twister)

Gerrit du Toit (Scrat) -- Kobus Myburgh (ktmkobus)

 

[GRyPH]

Thanks CP. 

Het my post geupdate


Tyd vir n nuwe foto langs jou naam  :biggrin: