Slightly technical ride - sand, mud and rocks galore

[Kykdaar]

Standing on top of Baboons I just had to ask - "So is this ride slightly technical or technical?"

Concensus was that it was "slightly technical as promised" leaving me ever so slightly worried about my companions  atch: because, personally, I barely just managed to wrestle my bike up that hill with every ounce of skill and strenght that I possessed

Earlier that morning 11 of us met in Faerie Glen - Blazes (XR 650), Kykdaar (DR 650), Sillystunt (Dakar), Cracker (KLR 650), Nomad (KLR 650), HP2 (HP 1200), Pistanslapped (Transalp 600), his friend who'se name escapes me at the moment (Transalp 650), JacquesM (TW200), his son (DRZ 400) and Pieter? (ADV 640).

A varied bunch of bikes.

Knowing that Blazes would lay out a reasonably tough route, I was a bit worried about the bigger bikes making it. Turns out that I need not have worried - these guys all knew how to ride and I coud not help but admire the way they took those big bikes up and through places I would not have thought possible demonstrating yet again the truth of the saying that states that "it is not the ability of the bike but the skill of the rider that counts".

This is one of those rides where the pictures will tell the story best, so come on Blazes and the rest who took photo's - post away so that we can share this great ride with the other dogs.

Thanks to you all - it was a blast :thumleft:

 

[Tonteldoos]

A picture says a thousand words.., but then there is no picture....

 

[stevgh0]

ja .. waar is die picture.. hoe technical kan dit nou wees?

 

[hondsekierie]

Ja-nee, assefokkenblief >

 

[LeonDude]

Ai tog, no piccies. Maybe they just sat in the pub?

 

[blazes]

Hang onto your Panties all : Took over 100 pics today--Image shack is sooooooo slow today--Going to watch a DVD and maybe some of the pics will be uploaded. Go and have a beer or two---Or three eepwall:

 

[sillystunt]

slightly technical my arse! that rock climb was very tough indeed.i still cant believe that we took our 200kg plus bikes up that mountainside!
i would have to say it was Red Route stuff,i take my hat off to everyone who perservered [cant seem to spell right]and got up to the top only to discover that we had to turn around and go back down,which was mission difficult all on its own.
the water crossings that i hit at speed were another story,this is what blazes said before we set off....
    "the concrete culverts at the side of the railway lines MAY be full of water and these puddles CAN sometimes get deep,no shit! proceed with caution,he then set off like a scared rabbit with us in hot pursuit.
i hit one at speed and thought i was going to drown,my front fender went UNDER the water,this is on a dakar!
The following wave broke on my screen and instrument cluster,what seemed like a ton of brown muddy water then covered me from head to toe,this resulted in me torpedoing out the other side of the "puddle totally blind and with my throttle wide open.
The huge ruts were also lots of fun,as the mud got thicker the bike sank more,things really started to liven up when we were doing about 90 or 100 km and both boots were scraping the inside of the ruts!
to sum up,yes i would say it was technical,anyone watching would have said insane!
what a great ride,makes you feel alive.
pity that most places were far to "technical" to stop and take pix,i took a few will post them now.
thanks everyone for the ride.

 

[sillystunt]

a few more pix

 

[Plothond]

I know that hill

Is that not NOOB hill - been up there a few times with the katoom - a spot of hard work involved  ;D

 

[sillystunt]

o.k. a few more pix

 

[JacquesM]

Kykdaar does not know where one should use abbreviated commas - like in "Slightly"!!!

 

[sillystunt]

last pix

 

[LeonDude]

Oh how glad I am now that I didn't attend!  :biggrin: 

Nice riding!

 

[Ou Ryperd]

Kykdaar, hoe's die nuwe bike? Lyk of jy dit geniet het!!

 

[JacquesM]

The motor-mechanical dogs nearly fixed Mrs Mkhonza's drowned Folla....

 

[JacquesM]

At the top. No Gunda, no tea.

 

[shark_za]

So going up the back end of the mountain, did you chance going down the railway side?

 

[hondsekierie]

Did you go all the way up or just played downstairs? 

Respect for the oke on that road going bike :thumleft:

 

[ngj874]

simply put it was a bloody good day out  :thumleft:! Brought me back down to earth (literally) in terms of my capability. Had my first spill when me and the bike had a difference of opinion on which direction to go through the snotty mud. The riding skill of the group was very impressive. I also gained new respect for the ruggedness of the dual purpose bike. Especially the suspension when we were riding on the railway lines. Sorry but i got no pics. Brought the camera with but I forget totally about it. Thanks for a wicked ride!

 

[Cracker]

Double thumbs up to the yougster who rode his DRZ400 up the front of the hill.

I got about half way up before running out of puff. Started having flashbacks to baboons and thought, 'fark this shit', and went back down the hill.