nox1111

Got lost up on Helderberg early Saturday morning. Is it just me or is the signage and trails all a blur - one big maze? Going up is pretty straight forward - down not so much. Any ideas on what the best (read fun, fast, flowy with some jumps) routes are for going down - that I don't descend in what feels like 2minutes? Seems like too much of a pedal for how quickly I was on a trail called "Mexican Border" missing the jumps, and most of the lekker trails I guess. I kept ending up on the black DH routes - not ideal for riding blind, gnarly, but not fun. My Strava from the sesh looks like a scratchpad...

Quick hour and a couple of runs down G-spot after work yesterday.

Going down Spez 2 & 3 in Jonkershoek including the wall ride. Quality issues makes it blurry, even though footage is super crisp on my end before uploading. Fun ride, bumpy and all over the place.

hahaha, OJVJ - hubname for OJ, one of my riding buddies. My wife grew up in Switzerland, so she can visit schoolfriends, whilst I ride my bike.

This is the year of the young one. Due in March, so will have to hold back on Mtb excursions. Planning one with OJVJ in 2 years, maybe Lenzerhede

Whaha, great comment! I find that if I ride purely to get and stay fit, my skill stays stagnant. If I go for more play-focused rides, choosing my trails accordingly, I will do a 15 - 30km ride, and have one helluva chanllenging time, forcing myself to go faster in difficult sections, and hit things that scare me (within reason - I'm not stupid or blind to my shortcomings), but walk away with a new 'skill' in my bag, and a massive smile on my face. My suggestion for getting your skills honed - is G-spot. Ride it up and down until you can't feel your legs, but choose sections that you want to nail and focus on them.

I'm so amped for the sheer amount of good trails in and around the Boland! Testimony to quality of the trailbuilders - Shaun, Bennet etc and the conservations and farmers whom let us use their lands. But deffo still want to do Europe! Once my skills are a bit more honed.

Rooikat Run (Oom Hansie ST) - Jonkershoek. Following Bos down the run. (don't know what's going on with the quality - supposed to be HD - perfect before uploading, and crap thereafter).

Now that's a feel good story! Lekker Martin, best of luck with both ventures!

nope, none of that. We rode street for a while on our DJ bikes, but no trials type of maneuvers, more wallride, gap, manual type stuff.

And here's Bos on his 90mm XC machine without a dropper, dropping in on The Plumber, Black route in Jonkers, proving that you don't need big travel, only big kahunas to go big. To be fair though - I don't know many guys that can ride with that kind of confidence with the skill and ability to back it up like Bos can.

Better? 60FPS HD - best possible Gif I could make

haha, ya ya, GIFs destroy resolution

Dropping into Monday like: The Plumber - Black, in Jonkers. Trail is pretty wasted after the rain, and would need a lot of work. But still fun to attempt it. Did however halfway down decide to call it quits before destroying our bikes on what used to be the trail, and is now on par with Ezelenduro S4, and headed down on Red Phoenix.

It's supposed to be the main competitor to GoPro, that's the reason for getting it - it was a better cam than the top of the range GoPro model when I bought it, and still is pretty much spot-on. Wifi and back screen as standard also - so lekker features.

I'm on SJCam SJ5000+ with just a chestmount and no gimbal. Quality is very good, albeit a bit shaky every now and then, filesizes at full resolution just get a bit crazy, so I only shoot on 1280 x 720 60frames a second. It can go up to 120frames a second on this, or 60frames a second on 1920 x 1080, or 240frames a second on lower res shooting.

Thanks Andrew! I'm doing a lot of playing on my bike in an attempt to get my skills sorted - so that I can comfortably ride most trails blind. It's paying off and even though my fitness is nowhere, I am having rad rides since I can carry more speed and read the trail better - getting faster times on sections now than when I was riding fitter and could pedal more.

Oh yes, and calling something 'sexy' does not make it so, may as well have called it 'funky' - exact same sentiment. It's similar to calling the Etios Cross a 'rugged crossover'. Marketer's desperate attempts to distinguish the bland from the norm.

I get that when you are riding road, or in bigger groups of MTB its lekker to peacock - and that's great for mating. In which case, I would get the Trace socks - as they look great; but I don't and I don't so I don't. I myself prefer socks that can get dirty without looking dirty or bloody from bleeding knees and or shins and I don't have to discard a R100 sock because of a stain. For trail / enduro general mtb fooling around, I prefer falke's trailrunning padded socks - yes, the short ones, or black Wilson tennis socks - medium length (5-pack for like R120). (I'm sure I've just lost friends and alienated people with that statement - oh well) I don't fret if a thornbush bites them and makes a hole, or if I lose one after a ride loading my kit (read: throwing from a distance) in the car. And maybe it's just me, but not a fan of the cyclist tell: white foot/ankle, tanned calf/shin/knee, white above the knee.

Luckily you can't see my facial expression or my tongue sticking out...

Last run heading home.

Went for a play session at the G-spot on my way home from work. Doing my best to get more comfortable on the jumps, and on my bike.

That's a seriously good looking machine - even if I had to owl head to see the pics properly.

Sometimes new toys are big, and sometimes they're "end-of-the-month-salticrax" but still tasty...