The XChallenge shake-down -- the_wes, the_dogs & the_gemsbok

[newguy]

Take care wes, BUT NOW WE NEED THE PICS

+100

 

[Bus]

Sorry. I did'nt mean to hurt your feelings.

I can see from your reponse your a honest and good citizen.

Looks like I owe you a beer.  I will be down in Capetown in 3 weeks time for 4 days.
So watch out. Thundermerwe is coming to town.

Hey Thunder

You clearly didnt read the whole thread...

You are flying blind here, cuzzie  :nono:

There are better ways of getting someone to have a dop with you... like simply asking...  :idea1:

Watch our drinks thread when you are in CT.

We will be more than happy to host a Jozi dog.

 

[the_wes]

Sorry. I did'nt mean to hurt your feelings.

I can see from your reponse your a honest and good citizen.

Looks like I owe you a beer.  I will be down in Capetown in 3 weeks time for 4 days.
So watch out. Thundermerwe is coming to town.

it's a deal  :thumleft:

 

[the_wes]

Ok, enough talk about farmers, back to the riding...

We met at the usual gathering place - Richwood Total - at about 8am, 10 dogs in "total". Ok, bad pun  :eek7:

My favourite part was everyone standing around looking at my new bike  :drif: (I know, I have ego problems, sue me), and then looking at me and saying "so let me get this straight, you got your wife pregnant, and instead of putting the riding on hold, you got a new bike"???.

Yup.

Nothing but blank stares and looks of awe and admiration.  :deal:

We set of in the usual direction of Vissershok. Soon we hit the first couple of dirt sections, and then, the first tweespoor. It was Karl's very first time on dirt (plus he's only been riding a month or 2) and, though rather catious, he never backed down, even after his first spill...

...helped up by mountainboy, demonstrating the correct method for lifting a bike (he's obviously had practice)...  :

...and in no time Karl was up and riding again  :ricky:. That was his only spill for the day - well done bud!

Dr Z I presume?

Little mountainboy on the little (totally kick-ass) XR

MrBig on the big (totally kick-start) XL

(No ladies and gentlemen, he did not, in fact, come off in that shot!!)

Both of those bikes were shredding it all day - nice work guys! Oo don't feel left out newguy, your bike is cool too, see... (it's there I promise, somewhere in the water)

Yeah baby, poser shot of the day!

That's all for now, I have to get some work done... will post the rest later, this is only 1/3rd of the photos I have

 

[Karl]

Nice post Wes, and thanks for the encouragement  :biggrin:

 

[tok-tokkie]

These are some of the shots I got with my wife's camera which I am unfamiliar with (zoom button on my Canon is where the on/off is on her Nikon so I kept switching off and gave up trying to zoom; hence the wide angle shots).

Karl on his oldish Funduro

Cloudgazer being cautious on his Dakar

Groweblaar also being cautious on his Dakar

Mountainboy saving the XR250

Newguy on his DRZ400 lured into the deep side by the_Wes

Mr Big on the XL500(?) also lured into the deep side.

Dirtseeker losing his TransAlp

.

.

The_Wes goes back for another go as Newguy comes through

.

Then he comes charging back

But it ends in giggles when he bumps into Newguy's DRZ knocking it over and dropping the X-Challenge

Thanks guys and The_Wes in particular.

 

[Eisbein]

Awesome photo of the TA going down.

Nice frozen splash and all...


;D ;D

 

[the_wes]

Ok, here's the rest of my contribution  :3some:...

Growweblaar having his oops of the day...

MrBig acting like a hooligan. Nice one brother.

The lay up...

..and the dunk! Spectacular! 10/10

And the landing gear is out, just in case...

I have no idea what's going on here though...

I was getting fed up leading the ride. Why? Because I get to the puddle first, go through, then take photos of everyone else. Here Karl, take the camera, I'm going back for another run. I need a new avatar, dammit! And in true poser style I go back through the same puddle, and give it horns again for the camera.

Man I love this bike. I would have been a little hesitant to to do that on my Dakar (go back without good reason) but on the X I'd ride those muddy patches all day!

Regrouping before heading out on the gravel en-route to the boring tar haul before the next section. And Karl asks me "what's the rest of the day's riding like". "Like we just did Karl, except trickier in places". I'm a terrible friend!!

And what a ton of fun the next section was! At this one I got up near the tracks to get a lekker angle. It gives you an idea of how deep the water was...

Tok-tokkie going into submarine mode on that awesome little t-dub...

Dirtseeker looking as confident as before his mishap...

And now a word from our sponsors... aaah, ain't she purdy...

Back to the action... go cloudgazer!

Did you see that?

Karl looking ever more confident on that trusty Funduro of his, though you can still see the caution in his eyes  eepwall:

MrBig...

newguy...

And, after our run in with the drama-farma and some good bonding over a breakfast in Darling, it was home time. On tar. Only drawback of the X? Well, let's just say I had to have the seat surgically removed from my ass when I got home  atch:.

My new bike, looking a little more like it should (i.e. dirty, but not dirty enough  :deal.

*sigh* I love you.  :3some:

Thanks to everyone who came along and had a good time! It was tons of fun riding with you guys!

And a bit thumbs up to my buddy Karl for taking on what I'm sure (in the back of his mind) he knew wouldn't exactly be a "noob" ride as such.  :thumleft: you did good bro, and I know you felt like you were holding us up but hey dude, you rode at your pace which is good, and I can see your confidence is growing!

Adios amigos!

 

[JourneyMan]

Good shite Wes!  :biggrin:

Congrats once again! 

 

[MrBig]

Leka Wes - thanks man - I'll ride with you any day

ahem - what's going on in the background there?

 

[chrisB]

hey wes, lekker bike dude! I hope you enjoy it I sure as hell enjoy mine don't want anythinge else  O0

 

[the_wes]

Leka Wes - thanks man - I'll ride with you any day

ahem - what's going on in the background there?

shhhhh  :imaposer:

 

[Stofstreep]

I like this shot of Cloudgazer!!!!
Check how the boot divert the spray! :thumleft:

 

[cloudgazer]

I like this shot of Cloudgazer!!!!
Check how the boot divert the spray! :thumleft:

Funny.
I noticed the spray earlier, but didn't notice that it was my boot causing it.

Thought I was going faster than the speed of water.
;D

 

[Andy660]

That puddle has decieved many a good DS rider.

 

[wayneh]

Ja nee... That puddle has suckered at least 7 Dawgs I know (myself included  :-[ ).
Expert excuse: There seems to be a moere hole in the righthand track... Which, since it looks the smaller of the two, entices the rider in.  atch:    ;D  ;D  ;D

 

[wayneh]

Oh yes... And RE the farmer story... Not to scary the shit out of anyone, but (like KTM Bigger said) some farmers boardering the Parklands area strung up some wires late last year. The Enduro weekend riders pissed someone off.
As far as I know, it was done with branches attached to the wires and their intention was not to cause physical harm... Just keep riders out (unlike the Doos you guys met, Wes). And it wasn't the road along the railway tracks ether - More like very narrow trails running in & out of farm land.

Anyways... No easy way to handle it. But if you do see a farmer (or farm house) near the trail, I've found it works wonders stopping and doing introductions. 9 out of 10 will then take a friendly tune. 

If anyone runs into this Darling Railway Tracks Aggro-farmer, please try and get a name or location of the farm. This way we can be considerate and let him know, we (over 5 hundred in the Cape) will be aware of what door to come knock on if anything slightly underhand happens to a Dawg along that railway line.  atch:

 

[stevgh0]

I think this oomie just had a rough morning, threatening to to tie up the road with wire or gut, can cause serious injuries. I highly doubt it will go that far. but since it is a public road, should anything happen of the sorts we now have a culprit.

Maybe just take it easy around the okes gemsbokke, cos if he does tie up that wire and hurts any dog, i will personally make gemsbok biltong available.


ride safe guys!