HomerSimpson Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Just to report to all those who advised me on how to find the new section of singletrack in Jonkershoek....I followed the advice to the letter...got lost...climbed and climbed and climbed....and eventually realised I was not lost...saw a whole lot of bike tracks going though a muddy patch, followed the tracks and there it was!AWESOME! (Mental note to self...do not ride unknown singletrack after sunset still wearing sweat-spattered sunglasses ). Went straight on at the first sharp right-hander (Meurant...Berms???) and nearly had an attack of vertigo in one little section (see note re sunglasses), but otherwise it was great. Junior only had to wait for about 3 minutes for me at the bottom. Can't wait to do it again. From home to Jonkershoek, do the loop including single track and back home is 37km. Perfect.
Buff Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Gr8 stuff and yea, pity about all the climbing to get back up there.... wonder if we can get ppa to sponsor us a ski lift
SARA Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 have u tried riding up it? that's loadsa fun too. bit nervous in Jonkershoek at the moment everyone is running into snakes incl myself. Thought I was going to be bitten and die alone in the mtns the other day. Was coming down the top single track and there was this fat black snake hauling ass towards me. argh hysterical girl like shriek followed by brake noises, followed by shriek (realising i didnt want to stop next to snake), pedalling, legs up, shriek, xtra hard pedalling......it was probably just a mole snake.still.
TitusTi Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Learn to pedal you lazy bastards! Saying this, a friend of mine has just come back from the biggest bike park in Europe (Winterberg) and he reckons ski lifts are the sh*t! Spent 6 hours riding and most of that most on cool tracks!
SARA Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 ja but Ti it's different in Europe. The mtns go straight up so its hectic to climb them, never mind descend but that's another story. Instead there are little ups and downs all along the tops of the mtns so it makes WAY more sense to enjoy that stuff with the awesome view. Here the climbs are much shorter so yip pedal people.
HomerSimpson Posted November 2, 2006 Author Posted November 2, 2006 have u tried riding up it? that's loadsa fun too. bit nervous in Jonkershoek at the moment everyone is running into snakes incl myself. Thought I was going to be bitten and die alone in the mtns the other day. Was coming down the top single track and there was this fat black snake hauling ass towards me. argh hysterical girl like shriek followed by brake noises' date=' followed by shriek (realising i didnt want to stop next to snake), pedalling, legs up, shriek, xtra hard pedalling...... it was probably just a mole snake.still. [/quote'] Cool, even more reasons to go back. I like snakes. Used to catch them when I was at school. If the snake you saw was black and large then it was definitely a molesnake. The only snakes we have to really worry about down here are the puff-adders, They are lazy bastards that will lie in one position and not make much effort to move. For the rest, there are plenty of Cape cobras around, but they are pretty hard to get close to.Interesting point though, snakes are very sensitive w.r.t vibrations caused by people walking....not sure about a bike hurtling down a mountainside. Different vibration and speed? Maybe easier to surprise them! I know I've only ever seen small buck (Duiker?) on Papegaaiberg while on my bike, never on foot.
SARA Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 ja Im pretty sure it was a molesnake, they have little heads too. normally im fine with snakes, used to catch the little slug eaters as a kid. As long as I can see them (the big guys) at least 5m away from me I dont mind. Ive often done field work with snakes chilling in the fields next to me. What do u do at the university by the way? Ive been meaning to ask u!
HomerSimpson Posted November 2, 2006 Author Posted November 2, 2006 Mostly I do as little as possible, and then I take my salary and run........suffice to say that I'm an academic in the Science Faculty (my goodness, that sounds pompous).
Buff Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 You need to be wakeup this time of the year, plenty of the slithery buggers chilling out in the sun. Just watch out if you cycle over one that it doesn't get picked up by your knobblies and wrapped around your frame... rather do the biggest damn bunnyhop of your life over him.... and be sure to warn your mates coming down the track behind you!
Buff Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Homer, have you tried Meurants new black route at Delvera?That's also a sweet piece of track, although a bit more technical than Jonkers. We rode out there on Sunday and did the loop... followed by amazing coffee scones... yum!
SARA Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Mostly I do as little as possible' date=' and then I take my salary and run........suffice to say that I'm an academic in the Science Faculty (my goodness, that sounds pompous).[/quote'] thought u were a scientist. u sound like one. I was curious about which science.
HomerSimpson Posted November 2, 2006 Author Posted November 2, 2006 Homer' date=' have you tried Meurants new black route at Delvera? That's also a sweet piece of track, although a bit more technical than Jonkers. We rode out there on Sunday and did the loop... followed by amazing coffee scones... yum![/quote'] Ok, so now you used 2 words in a sentence that makes me somewhat uncomfortable....black and technical The coffee and scones sound good though!
Marius Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 we saw a fat little snake the other day when out Mtb'ing near Thandi. It was a fat snake, really cute, I've not seen such a fat short snake, looking at it I thought it should be longer cuz it was so fat, did I mention it was a fat snake?? It's had the prettiest colours, nice shiny browns, all shades but it was so sharp/clear in the sunlight, I don't know how to describe it, the colours looked brilliant on that shake, like when you see a advert for a plasma screen clean, really sharp clearcut colours witch is really weird cuz when you think brown it's kinda boring but it was not...I'm I going on a bit?? It had a pretty head aswell, but not like a cobra so it must've been some other kinda snake. I know what a molesnake looks like, use to catch them and throw each other with them, so no, it was not a molesnake.
Velouria Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Saw a couple of puffadders on the Rooi Els road a few weeks back - all sunning themselves by the side of the road. I thought it was only the MTBer who were at risk from snakes. A mate's chain jumped off, so he stopped to put it back on, and got the fright of his life when he saw one of these "fat short snakes" chilling about 3 meters from him.
Thug Posted November 2, 2006 Posted November 2, 2006 Marius, could have been a Puff Adder, generally short and FAT, but bloody lazy and will not get out of your way.
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