A completely undeserved priviledge as usual to ride with yous! I am going to try and get some newbies to join in the next Intro ride. . .
On 11/29/09, Gerrit van Niekerk <[email protected]> wrote: > It was a hot day. The evening promised to be ideal for riding; very > unlike the unseasonably cold and wet conditions of the previous week. > > As I had to meet someone at the Moo mall before the ride, I planned to > go a little earlier than my usual just-in-time routine. As I was > packing up, I noticed that both the tyres looked a bit flat. A quick > pump would fix that in no time. While pumping the second one, a > "pshhh" came from the first one. Turn, turn, wiggle, wiggle, but it > did not want to seal. The Stans/Joels/Puncture-free must have all > leaked out. Eventually the tyre was back to it's original low > pressure, but not completely flat. Then the other one went "pshhh"! > This one was leaking some white stuff and eventually sealed, but I was > scared to inflate it again and just left it at that. > > So I pulled in at the Moo mall on the strike of seven. Fortunately the > person I had to meet, found me after being told that nobody knew any > "Gerrit van Niekerk" until the penny dropped that he was actually > looking for Oupa Gert. > > There was indeed a good turn-out; I counted 20 or perhaps 21; > difficult to be precise when there is a lot of milling around. These > are the people I knew or can remember, if you are left out, I > apologize: > Hardy (Clinton), our leader. > QT (Thursia), the power behind the throne. > Deekay (Donald), unofficial second in command. > Stealth (Nico), our willing sweeper. > Vortexe (Leon) who had a serious shoulder injury sustained at > Pelindaba three months ago and came back to win the Belfast Bike > Rogaine recently. > D1 (Daleen), finisher of the Bull of Africa. > Goofy Mike (Mike), Mosbolletjie (Adri) and Nando (Fernando), members > of the famous Lickety Split team. > ? (Herman), who, I'm proud to say, I recruited at Sani2C. > Sexy Single (Nadine), who ALMOST convinced her hubby to come along. > Brendan and Hilgard, already old hands. > Chris and Linda, D&D newbies. > Oupa Gert (Gerrit), report writer, jors troely on a bike slightly > wobbly because of under-inflated tyres. > > So we set off in the dusk up Cruiser, but instead of the normal > Vetseun-se-rol, we went down Dirt-rider's hill; haven't done that one > in a long time. Back to Nellmapius on the Eastern route and down > Cornwall Hill, turning left to do the nice drop-off and steep climb > underneath the highway. The drop-off went without a hitch, but having > to do a sharp turn at the bottom, the flattish tyres came into play > and I earned the right to write the ride report. To make up for it, at > least as far as I am concerned, I manage to do the steep incline > without having to put a foot down. > > At both the first and second speed zones I were not close enough to > the front to see who the winners were. Still in denial about having to > write the report, I also did not ask. From the bridge over the R21 we > took some very mild roads and I was beginning to wonder about the > Roadie outing; even taking the Smut's downhill, now stripped from it's > former gnarly glory by some ill-conceived road works. As we slowed > down halfway down, it dawned, if that is at all possible during the > dark night, on me: We were going to do the port-a-bike up to Smuts > memorial for a party! > > And so it was: both QT and Mike had recently turned a year older and > it was celebrated with the usual cup-cakes and bubbly looking at the > lights from the top of Smut's hill. On the way back the mood was > perceptibly lighter. Deekay and Nando were chatting away in Portuguese > or was it Spanish? Я не понимаю, португальском или испанском языке. > > The tour-de-tar was not officially announced as far as I remember, but > was still taken up. Then we did not do the boring > Nellmapius-to-the-second-traffic-light, but the much more exciting Big > Dipper uphill. Just after the dipper itself we were told to switch off > our lights and we did the rest of the hill: Ghost riders in the night! > > The steep road up the hill and gunning down Cruiser with Mike in the > lead, ended off another perfectly enjoyable night ride. Thanks Hardy, > QT and all the fellow riders! > > Oupa Gert. > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "DarkAndDirty" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/darkanddirty?hl=en. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DarkAndDirty" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/darkanddirty?hl=en.
