Thanks for visiting Winter but Summer is here so.....off

Finally those months of riding like deformed Eskimos have come to an end. Time to shed those bulky winter clothes and enjoy the warmth of our South African summer. 

2 weeks after riding in sub-zero temperatures, the temps have shot up to over 20 degrees Celsius in the day. Greg (2), Mac, Brad and me had  a very nice ride this week to Befordview in the morning before work. The average temperature was almost 16 degrees for our 2 hour MTB ride - leaving at 04:30 in the morning. Nice fast ride, averaging 24km/h for the 47km (Garmin details here). Great to be out in the morning with like-minded souls and push the boundaries of your bodies' endurance.

Today Greg (1) and me went for a fantastic ride past Serengeti Golf Estate and we did parts of the Nissan Down and Dirty MTB race, that we will be doing next weekend. So nice to do some new routes and the spirit of adventure and exploring numbs the bodies' plea to slow down. One part of our new route was a bit nerve racking as we had to ride with barbed wire on the one side and a 2 meter drop on the other side. Nevertheless we both rode over with no problems.

One part of this route was a bit dodgy, as we went right up to the outskirts of Tembisa (a local township) with the highway just between us. We know for a fact, that some mountain bikers had been attacked here before. My heart was in my throat when we saw two guys armed with big pangas wading through the long grass with a bunch of dogs. Fortunately these guys were only hunting for small game and rabbits and were not bothered by us. Further on we went through a forest with a small rock garden on the route. After riding through, I looked back and could not see Greg - my first thought was that he had been bike-jacked. What to do, oh what to do? Go back and help him or ride on and phone for help? Phew!! a few minutes later I could finally see him, he had stopped to pick up the bits that had fallen out my saddle bag, as I had not closed it properly when I used my Multi-tool to tighten the bolt on my rear shock. Well I am thankful that I got my stuff back and I am not too sure I will be riding in this area once again, it is just not worth it.

Greg catching up after picking up the contents of my saddle bag...

Was really a great ride, we are so blessed here in South Africa to have wide open spaces that we can ride from home to. We did just over 67km, here are my Garmin stats of the ride.

Railway track meander...

Greg 'powering' up the small drag...



Modderfontein Trails 11-08-2012

Great ride this morning with (old) Greg and Justin. We hit the Modderfontein MTB Trails and had an awesome ride. It is really good to be out in the open and ride through varying terrain. We did the Red Route which was really nice as they have added a few more sections since the last time I rode here, a few weeks ago.

Great scenery, hard to believe you are in the middle of a city..

Greg and Justin

Feels like the bush until you see Sandton in the background....

Justin pushing up the slight drags

Greg heading for the forest

Yes keep your finger on the hole until I can plug it....

 

Polar bear ride 07-08-2012

It's not often that we have snow in South Africa, in fact I have only seen it 3 times in my life. Little did I know that later this day we would have a fair share of it. With plummeting temperatures forecast we decided to hit the roads for our normal early morning cycle. I left home at 04:30 AM and met up with (young) Greg and Denzel for a ride to Bedfordview and back. It was pretty damn cold my Garmin showed that the temp was never over 1 degree Celsius the whole ride. I am sure my runny nose turned to stalactites by the end of the ride. Wow it was a freezing but rewarding experience.