River Rat

I was actually thinking about this, having had the virus and recovered from it might just become a serious asset. Then disclosure will make sense, having said that I would not have a problem informing people that I have been in contact with that I have been infected when that happens.

Listening to the President's announcement it is clear why this event was cancelled. Remember the quote "in consultation with government" now we know how that went down. Just imagine if it was cancelled after the first stage.

I wonder if social distancing on the ride might not mitigate the risk. No slip streaming and watch that snot rocket.

Thinking about it the Cape Epic is a bit like a landlocked cruise ship with similar shared facilities and possibly worse if you consider shared toilets and showers. Looking at the rate of the virus being spread on a cruise ship added to the fact that a large number of competitors come from Europe which is currently being considered the epicentre of the pandemic, cancelling the event was the only option. That does not make the pain that is being felt by those getting ready to register yesterday any less.

Tough choice but it is the right one. I feel for all those that trained hard, got their bikes sorted and were chomping at the bit to just get going. Saying there's always next year is not going to ease the pain.

Ranger just chilling at the night market.

Nothing wrong with being confident!

We are a bit wary of the mismanagement by SAPS so I'll PM you the contact details of the guy that did the citizens arrest he is trying to coordinate the ID parade to make sure it happens.

Just a correction it is one suspect in custody and he is the kingpin. We need to put this guy away so please if you or someone you know has been attacked and you have opened a case please contact me so that we can get you to an ID parade. This guy has already been released twice because witnesses don't come forward. I can't stress how frustrating it is to everyone involved when we catch the perpetrators and we can't follow through with prosecutions.

I am never making my strava stats public!

Seems like we have a gang of four operating. CSI Security have offered to patrol the area so we will catch the other two soon enough.

Some good news the suspects have been located and are under arrest. What we need now is for any recent victims to contact me so that we can facilitate the ID parade.

Water quality is a major part of the Duzi and believe me there are very few of us for whom this is not an issue. I am one of very few that have not fallen foul of the dreaded Duziguts but I am very worried about what we might encounter. This Saturday we finished another piece of the puzzle when we finished the 50 miler. The 50 miler is traditionally the paddlers version of a shortened Duzi, most sections that would be portaged on the Duzi are compulsory paddling, although on the same sretches of river 50 miler versus Duzi is like comparing Three Towers to Sani . The race starts just above Mission rapid and finishes at Mfula's store it encompasses the Big Three of day 2 of Duzi namely Gumtree, Thombi and Hippo Rapids. These are not rapids for novice paddlers and any mistake ever so slight will lead to a broken boat and a risk of life and limb. Our A grade river proficiency meant that we could enter but because we had been absent from the paddling scene we were placed in the last batch. We had an ignominious start and swam at the approaches to Mission and found ourselves in last position. The sweeps were trying to convince us that we should rather pull out now, after all if you can't even make one of the easiest of rapids this was going to be a long day. We were hard pressed convincing them that we were up for the challenge ahead. Nonetheless, we shot Finger Nek rapid leaving 6 boats swimming in the eddy below in our wake leaving the sweeps to worry about paddlers more worthy of their attention. The organisers had arranged a small release of water from the Henley dam which meant that we had just enough to get through most rapids on the Umsinduzi but our collective quarter ton of boat, kit and humans meant the shallower sections were bumb and grinds that would make my pilates instructor proud. But it was not doing our boat any good and the twelve year old fibre and kevlar soon failed the ultimate test and we were taking on water big time. We duct taped what we could but we had to manage the boat by emptying just before all the big rapids. Things got considerably worse after the Umsinduzi confluenced with the Umgeni river and the little water release we had was spread over a far wider river and the bumb and grind became almost obscene as two grown men well over 55 and an average weight of close to 100kg were trying to synchronise their pelvic thrusts. This was not a pretty sight and the grunts and groans sounded like a dubbed soundtrack from a German porn movie. We managed to successfully shoot two of the big three but unfortunately Hippo was a no go at that low level. We finished way back in the field with a boat that ended it's life almost on the finish line but the confidence is up and now for the 2 day Klip race to fine tune our training in our new boat. Ah yes still no Duziguts, holding thumbs!

We forget how short our time is with our furry companions today they're cute and cuddly, tomorrow their characters make us laugh or despair, eventually they become our faithful protectors and companions, their twilight years are filled with simple love and respect. Enjoy the journey it's worth it every time.

Sadly these guys were released by SAPS Sunnyside before we could hold an ID parade. I am not going to let this go.

Foam is caused by dissolved organics a sure sign that there's poo in the water. I believe the weir that you refer to was Henley Weir where we started on Saturday the high water level would have diluted the e.coli count quite a bit. We chatted to some roadies who came to have a look at the water level but there was no way anyone was crossing that weir.

None of us ever forget our first time The bridge in question is the R551 and thanks to the canoe clubs like JCC and Florida most of the tree blocks have been cleared. Over the last 15 years we've been able to paddle up to 70km on that river, it has become the ideal river for introducing novices to river paddling. In 1999 I think we were restricted to the Henley weir to caravan park stretch which is a very nice piece of water but on Saturday it had a bit of bite to it.

Alonso had some bad luck yesterday currently lying 4th on today's stage. We have two ladies in the bikes Kirsten Landman and Tyla Perry both lying in the 80s on their first Dakar.

I see in KNP they're decommissioning manmade waterholes creating a natural culling device for elephants because they are so destructive to the habitat. Of course this won't work in places like Chobe and along the Zambezi rivers.

Unfortunately that's the story of the Duzi I have done 16 and 11 50milers on these rivers without getting sick but it remains a game changer and it's always in the back of my mind. Wife insists that I do a course of probiotics beforehand.

Saffers don't miss a beat!

Thanks to a back injury I have been unable to paddle rivers with my last Duzi being in 2009 with my son, a truly wonderful experience. It was my 16th and his first but alas 2 broken facets in L4 and L5 has kept me off the river, my target of 20 Duzis and a King Rat sticker seemed a lost cause. Not that I haven't tried but it took me about 6 years of Mountain Biking, lots of physio, Pilates and 3 false starts thanks to rotator cuff injuries and subsequent operations to get me where I am. On Saturday we hit the river for the first time in a looong while and a very full Klip river greeted us, this got the adrenaline going. I had hoped for a rather sedate initiation into the restart of my paddling career and the Klip river is ideal for this but a full river was a different proposition. For brief moment we considered calling it a day but we knew what that would do for our confidence and we stuck to the plan. Starting in turbulent water is no easy feat and we were extremely nervous and wobbly but we very soon found our river legs. The flow of the river meant that our second was hard pressed to stay ahead of us and we just missed him at the bridge on the R551. Just after the bridge we had the unpleasant discovery of a dead body of a black male trapped in a tree block, dressed in dark blue overalls and covered in flies . So staying in the boat had become vital and the big water was testing us , fortunately we had no swims and by the time we hit the last rapid at Caravan park we were bullet proof. This is the second body that I have discovered in a river that last one some 20 years ago on the Vaal and I knew the drill. We found SAPS patrolling the Klipriver resort and reported the incident to them, but I knew from my previous experience that they were going to ask us to retrieve the body for them, after all we had a boat. We offered to show them were it was but got the hell out of Dodge when the discussion turned to retrieval , that body was ripe and not something for sensitive stomachs! Hopefully SAPS were capable of identifying who he was and his family can find some closure. Despite this unfortunate discovery our confidence is up, now for the 50 Miler on the Umsimduzi and Umgeni Rivers on Saturday, this will be a lot more technical, but we're up for it.

I would suggest that you will most likely find a clause in a Pros contract enforcing this type of behaviour, I not sure if the penalty for non compliance is a broken arm though.

If the rangers involved are found guilty of GBH that would amount to committing a crime whilst on duty. That would equate to an immediate dismissal and if I was SANPARKS I might be tempted to charge them accordingly.

This but for the actions of these stupid rangers could have been the theme of this thread but instead it's their jobs that are on the line. It just goes to show how this macho approach doesn't work.