We either insist on the newspaper being delivered to our homes before
we leave for work or we buy it on the way to work and scan through the
headlines whilst in traffic. There is something about news, the latest
news, smell of printer's ink, a have-to-have, an ASAP. It’s the same
with fresh bread or donuts, we insist on it. No one likes old bread,
no one buys old bread, no one pays for yesterday’s paper either. And
the coffee has to be fresh too, and the 2 go together. Paper and
coffee… and donut if you’re lucky. We want the latest stuff and we
want it first thing in the morning… so we know what others are talking
about or be the first to talk about it and send everyone else to
scurrying to their computers for a News24 update.
In the same way I trust last night’s race report is met by your fresh
coffee. Both fresh, ready for you, first thing Friday morning.
It didn’t rain in Joburg all week. Things were pretty dry and dusty
everywhere. Come Wednesday morning, early clouds confused a few
people’s dress code as the familiar scorching sun was with us by
lunchtime again. Thursday morning the clouds were no longer
threatening and the first drizzle started around 6am. The drizzle
developed into a decent downpour by 10am and a steady drizzle
contributed to a steady appetite for most of the day. Its good its
raining now I thought, coz then the DarknDirty ride tonight will be
fresh, dry, dust-free, dark and dirty. How we like it. A quick email
to Donald on the other side of the boerewors-gordyn to confirm the
weather and his reply: “blue skies” set an expectation for a good
evening.
Arriving early at the Moo-Mall, I paid a regular visit to Mugg & Bean,
this time a chai latte to set the stomach for a good dose of Synap
Forte to silence the 2-week old coccyx injury. I bought the new March
issue of RIDE magazine and read the articles on pain killers &
exercise and the one Milk. Read it, and you’ll understand that my
milky-painkiller cocktail is a nice summary of what I fed my mind
earlier in the day.
Saw Donald and he was sipping on a drinking yoghurt… mmmilky again.
Soon more bikes arrived and totaling 10 riders. Nico as trailmeister,
Donald sweeper, myself, Oupa Gert, Mike, Chris, Brendan, Hennie & his
2 first-time-DnD-rider colleagues. Hardy paid a quick visit and also
told us about the week’s scouting they did for the upcoming Tswane-AR
race.
We set off with the usual start through the veld, fresh bossies
clearing the airways for most people. Left turn onto tar road and down
the side of Cornwall Hill. Rain has sculpted some more interesting
ruts and keeping left at the bottom we turn up to the tar road again.
Here Donald hands out a banana to some guys stranded with their car on
the side of the road, we remount Oupa Gert’s spotlight with cable ties
and then head up to the shebeen for the first speed zone. At the top
we turn right over the highway and further down left into some single
track. The single track was mostly “half track” (a term I picked up
from MTB glossary) meaning rather overgrown and therefore not really
single track anymore.
Braving a ghost ride on a familiar section I loose my shoe due to some
grass stuck to the Velcro strap, and the very long grass made it
almost impossible to make any calculated decisions. I remember only
the shebeen-queen declared a speed zone, but if your trailmeister is
often the queen himself, most parts of the evening was at an
above-average pace. We soon covered a good distance and even got to
name a section as “The Road Less Traveled” as 3 people were down, in a
row because of respectable rocks hidden in the tall grass of the
unfamiliar track. Not sure where this was, but remember Mike showing
me Eric-se-klip just before that. Loose & find shoe again, a few more
turns later and we’re at the bottom of the MineShaft going up….oe eina
I was thinking. But to my surprise the mineshaft was no longer my
enemy; we have befriended each other second time round. At the top we
turn left to do the-ride-to-the-light in reverse which provided for a
refreshing whiz to the bottom. In the last hundred meters our
surroundings got ‘milky’ as mist have now moved into the valley. Left
again into thicker mist that added another impressive dimension to the
usual DnD ride. Sharp left again up past the chicken farm the thrill
of the mist continues until we pop over the top down to the
shebeen-queen again.
Fly down, sho’t left onto the tar and up the side just after the
stream, Oupa Gert’s bike is trying to beat something soon identified
as about 2 meters of wire. Undoing the metal knot we head back up
home. A quick confrontation with taller-than-the-trailmeister (TTTT)
grass and we meet the last turn-off home.
Thankyou’s to the Weather Man for perfect evening, Nico and Donald,
the regulars, the newbies, Spur, fresh burgers, the mmmmilky magic
sauce and Synap Forte
(And a Thankyou billboard from SARS as I crossed the boerwors-gordyn
to arrive home just before 12 with both shoes.)
we leave for work or we buy it on the way to work and scan through the
headlines whilst in traffic. There is something about news, the latest
news, smell of printer's ink, a have-to-have, an ASAP. It’s the same
with fresh bread or donuts, we insist on it. No one likes old bread,
no one buys old bread, no one pays for yesterday’s paper either. And
the coffee has to be fresh too, and the 2 go together. Paper and
coffee… and donut if you’re lucky. We want the latest stuff and we
want it first thing in the morning… so we know what others are talking
about or be the first to talk about it and send everyone else to
scurrying to their computers for a News24 update.
In the same way I trust last night’s race report is met by your fresh
coffee. Both fresh, ready for you, first thing Friday morning.
It didn’t rain in Joburg all week. Things were pretty dry and dusty
everywhere. Come Wednesday morning, early clouds confused a few
people’s dress code as the familiar scorching sun was with us by
lunchtime again. Thursday morning the clouds were no longer
threatening and the first drizzle started around 6am. The drizzle
developed into a decent downpour by 10am and a steady drizzle
contributed to a steady appetite for most of the day. Its good its
raining now I thought, coz then the DarknDirty ride tonight will be
fresh, dry, dust-free, dark and dirty. How we like it. A quick email
to Donald on the other side of the boerewors-gordyn to confirm the
weather and his reply: “blue skies” set an expectation for a good
evening.
Arriving early at the Moo-Mall, I paid a regular visit to Mugg & Bean,
this time a chai latte to set the stomach for a good dose of Synap
Forte to silence the 2-week old coccyx injury. I bought the new March
issue of RIDE magazine and read the articles on pain killers &
exercise and the one Milk. Read it, and you’ll understand that my
milky-painkiller cocktail is a nice summary of what I fed my mind
earlier in the day.
Saw Donald and he was sipping on a drinking yoghurt… mmmilky again.
Soon more bikes arrived and totaling 10 riders. Nico as trailmeister,
Donald sweeper, myself, Oupa Gert, Mike, Chris, Brendan, Hennie & his
2 first-time-DnD-rider colleagues. Hardy paid a quick visit and also
told us about the week’s scouting they did for the upcoming Tswane-AR
race.
We set off with the usual start through the veld, fresh bossies
clearing the airways for most people. Left turn onto tar road and down
the side of Cornwall Hill. Rain has sculpted some more interesting
ruts and keeping left at the bottom we turn up to the tar road again.
Here Donald hands out a banana to some guys stranded with their car on
the side of the road, we remount Oupa Gert’s spotlight with cable ties
and then head up to the shebeen for the first speed zone. At the top
we turn right over the highway and further down left into some single
track. The single track was mostly “half track” (a term I picked up
from MTB glossary) meaning rather overgrown and therefore not really
single track anymore.
Braving a ghost ride on a familiar section I loose my shoe due to some
grass stuck to the Velcro strap, and the very long grass made it
almost impossible to make any calculated decisions. I remember only
the shebeen-queen declared a speed zone, but if your trailmeister is
often the queen himself, most parts of the evening was at an
above-average pace. We soon covered a good distance and even got to
name a section as “The Road Less Traveled” as 3 people were down, in a
row because of respectable rocks hidden in the tall grass of the
unfamiliar track. Not sure where this was, but remember Mike showing
me Eric-se-klip just before that. Loose & find shoe again, a few more
turns later and we’re at the bottom of the MineShaft going up….oe eina
I was thinking. But to my surprise the mineshaft was no longer my
enemy; we have befriended each other second time round. At the top we
turn left to do the-ride-to-the-light in reverse which provided for a
refreshing whiz to the bottom. In the last hundred meters our
surroundings got ‘milky’ as mist have now moved into the valley. Left
again into thicker mist that added another impressive dimension to the
usual DnD ride. Sharp left again up past the chicken farm the thrill
of the mist continues until we pop over the top down to the
shebeen-queen again.
Fly down, sho’t left onto the tar and up the side just after the
stream, Oupa Gert’s bike is trying to beat something soon identified
as about 2 meters of wire. Undoing the metal knot we head back up
home. A quick confrontation with taller-than-the-trailmeister (TTTT)
grass and we meet the last turn-off home.
Thankyou’s to the Weather Man for perfect evening, Nico and Donald,
the regulars, the newbies, Spur, fresh burgers, the mmmmilky magic
sauce and Synap Forte
(And a Thankyou billboard from SARS as I crossed the boerwors-gordyn
to arrive home just before 12 with both shoes.)
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