trak and trials—winter solstice!

the shortest day—gunner collected the skipper pre ride caffiene and onto the kidds, who was pretty sure it wasnt 8am yet. kidds ride preperation left little to the imagination cheap african beer and spicey african food and convo to the wee hours, while gunner has been zealously on the wagon for 11 weeks and in hard training mode for just such a dog fight for the mantle of directeur sportif status. fog filled valley crisp winter sun and not a breath of wind. prospects of pure gold. but the undertones of leadership again on the agenda. the day had a few surprises. skipper underplayed his organisation and sydney was in prospect at 9am. syncro. rowdy suits up his flat bar cross over. yukon au duex and gunner fancying himself on a canuck norco. gunner puts an embargo on salitious banter domestique watch this space... signed in and ready to roll en time but rowdy makes a late pit call for gloves and the ensuite and true to form we roll last of the earlybirds... yet again. why change something that works? the first climb and downhill had gunner reaching for locked cogs kidd stripping bikes bits to observe weight limits and nifty cleat dismount in the middle of the track. up and on then the fast downhill section roll out to morris road. a short section of pavement littered with cow sluces kept the front wheels honest and centre of gravity low. black nursery not inspiring any speed loss and chookaloo campsite with its first log hurdle and GGJ gunner gear jam. refreshments anyone? no now at only 14k and we were half way round the first loop and things have too options from here with such an early waypoint. it must get tricky or its a low grade run. yet slowly the technical stuff played out. a small section of down hill, remember front brake hang your arse out and throw it on down...then rowdy attempts a river cross single wheel bunny hop and does a neat left turn through the peleton almost wiping out the squad but fairly leaving the gunner to saunter to the first sprint bradbury. he then threw away his bike on a 'baulk' at a down hill to the mud sections, note to diary keep fast and flexible. team golden single file against a picturesque backdrop of pines and paddocks. team smokkelaars had come to ride hard and fast through the forest and somehow turned in the first loop in the first few riders. now the numbers GPS dont add up and yet the map cant lie and 24.7 in 1 hour 12 mins are impressive off road numbers. we dismounted to meet syd, rode a few new specialised demos around and argued the point about a supposed wrong turn. do you trust leadership or garmin technology. not to be deterred we then saddled up sydney to entre his 'too white' raceline to the forest proper on a reverse section of the last 13 k the included a massive detour through untouched forest floor. this is where the leadership challenge played out. those who did, trusted the lead out and the rewards were there to be had. dismounts and falls from grace and thorns all experienced and only fed the leadership challenge fires. you had to be there rays of pure gold in the middle of dense pine forest. the heysen roll out stunning single track tour.... do coups de trak unravel? they can and maybe the 'curing' of the cabana on the assemble point was in fact a signal to all who witnessed the grand forest section. attacks on the road to be played out in cyberspace but we start together and finish together. as for questions of smokkelaars origins its to be tabled as a 'how much do you really need to know' basis. great ride post bakery musing of quatro pasties and cabana with a 'K'. for the few who rode we missed all the MIA smokkelaar quality on the road and we all wish you speedy recoveries and or safe travels. gunner and thunda are brewing up a double eagle ITNTDF so keep an eye on the headlines. and i suspect some newer offroad bikes as well may be on the recently viewed columns.
tight lines. skip