krazy-eyes
Race Dog
hey,
Three of us decided to paddle down the crocodile river on Saturday. With all the rain this week the level was lekker.
As we got to the Lanseria bridge put-in point, there was a dude on a Yamaha YZ250 scrambler contemplating a crossing.
I said "donâ??t!â? but my mate Chris said "go for it!"
The dude was keen, but i could see the hesitation in his eyes. Both myself and Chris ride, but i had my reasons for this guy not to cross, as i had crossed the causeway many times before on both a bike and in landy.
For starters, the slime covered concrete is slippery as hell, and at that level i was not convinced about the safety aspect. Being an experienced kayaker, i know very well to respect the force of swift moving water.
To help him with his decision not to cross, i walked one third across and the water was just below knee-height, to demonstrate just how strong the river was pulling. Again i advised this poor schmo not to go.
Well, you can guess what happened; otherwise i would not be writing this.
He went.
My mate mike and i were sitting in our boats in an eddy half way across when he decided to go, and at first it looked like he was going to make it.
I had warned him about the hole in the concrete causeway which is located about two thirds to the other side, and told him not to panic and keep up the power, this should get him through the hole no problem.
He panicked....
....slowed down, lost his balance, and put his feet out.
But the fast moving water coupled with the limited grip of his riding boots gave him a snowballs' chance in hell of stopping what was about to happen.
As he stopped the bike stayed upright for about a tenth of a second before the force of the water ripped it from his hands and over the edge of the causeway. To my amazement the bike completely disappeared!
It was gone.
It had sunk below the muddy water which is one part fresh to two parts effluent from the many squatter camps up stream.
Then completely by chance the handlebar popped up right next to my boat. I grabbed it, determined not to let go of it, as it was now already halfway to the next rapid. The bike moved another couple of meters and got stuck on a rock, and luckily it held. The poor rider, in a state of shock and not knowing what to do, was still standing where the bike had left his hands.
The salvage operation.
It became very apparent very quickly that we had to put a plan into action, before the bike dislodged and disappeared again. It would be impossible to move the bike upstream or even across to the side. The current was too strong.
The three of us then left the bike with its owner who had now come to where we were.
We paddled back to the bank and got out of our boats. We took out a 40m length of rope, and mike tied into it.
While Chris and I stood directly upstream of the bike on the causeway, we would carefully let out rope as Mike floated downstream towards the stranded bike. He then tied the rope to the forks of the bike.
While the rider and Mike pushed on the handlebars, Chris and I hauled in the rope. It was hard work, but we managed to get the bike back up onto the causeway and to the side or the river.
I have no idea what the rider would have done if this happened after we had disappeared around the 1st corner down stream. How he got it started I donâ??t know, he had no tools to take the plug out , but our work was done and we had a river to paddle.
Three of us decided to paddle down the crocodile river on Saturday. With all the rain this week the level was lekker.
As we got to the Lanseria bridge put-in point, there was a dude on a Yamaha YZ250 scrambler contemplating a crossing.
I said "donâ??t!â? but my mate Chris said "go for it!"
The dude was keen, but i could see the hesitation in his eyes. Both myself and Chris ride, but i had my reasons for this guy not to cross, as i had crossed the causeway many times before on both a bike and in landy.
For starters, the slime covered concrete is slippery as hell, and at that level i was not convinced about the safety aspect. Being an experienced kayaker, i know very well to respect the force of swift moving water.
To help him with his decision not to cross, i walked one third across and the water was just below knee-height, to demonstrate just how strong the river was pulling. Again i advised this poor schmo not to go.
Well, you can guess what happened; otherwise i would not be writing this.
He went.
My mate mike and i were sitting in our boats in an eddy half way across when he decided to go, and at first it looked like he was going to make it.
I had warned him about the hole in the concrete causeway which is located about two thirds to the other side, and told him not to panic and keep up the power, this should get him through the hole no problem.
He panicked....
....slowed down, lost his balance, and put his feet out.
But the fast moving water coupled with the limited grip of his riding boots gave him a snowballs' chance in hell of stopping what was about to happen.
As he stopped the bike stayed upright for about a tenth of a second before the force of the water ripped it from his hands and over the edge of the causeway. To my amazement the bike completely disappeared!
It was gone.
It had sunk below the muddy water which is one part fresh to two parts effluent from the many squatter camps up stream.
Then completely by chance the handlebar popped up right next to my boat. I grabbed it, determined not to let go of it, as it was now already halfway to the next rapid. The bike moved another couple of meters and got stuck on a rock, and luckily it held. The poor rider, in a state of shock and not knowing what to do, was still standing where the bike had left his hands.
The salvage operation.
It became very apparent very quickly that we had to put a plan into action, before the bike dislodged and disappeared again. It would be impossible to move the bike upstream or even across to the side. The current was too strong.
The three of us then left the bike with its owner who had now come to where we were.
We paddled back to the bank and got out of our boats. We took out a 40m length of rope, and mike tied into it.
While Chris and I stood directly upstream of the bike on the causeway, we would carefully let out rope as Mike floated downstream towards the stranded bike. He then tied the rope to the forks of the bike.
While the rider and Mike pushed on the handlebars, Chris and I hauled in the rope. It was hard work, but we managed to get the bike back up onto the causeway and to the side or the river.
I have no idea what the rider would have done if this happened after we had disappeared around the 1st corner down stream. How he got it started I donâ??t know, he had no tools to take the plug out , but our work was done and we had a river to paddle.
