Dark & Dirty Mountain Biking
Adrenalin in the night …………………………………….since 2005D&D — 35km Mild2Wild
Heya Folks,
What an amazing ride last week, with 10 riders proving that we are flesh, blood, heart and soul….and are not dissolving disprins 
lol… and luckily not crispy after all the lightning and bling-bling around
It was really great to be out there again, the fresh earthy night air and a bubbly crowd of great people. Now that is quality time on the saddle
After celebrating, we had a moment when we all tried to think of something wise to say for the year of 2012… and as it so happens when there is something wise to say, many of us stood there eyes blinking like the cursor on the screen waiting for some magic while dipping into the memories of the great essence of what this group has always been about…… …… …….. …… (what could we say in that moment in the dark, on the hillside between the yellow veld blommetjies and white rocks….)
And then, as lighting lit up the surroundings, Oupa spoke….
"one a week."
Wow, incredibly succinct and all encompassing expression that warms the momentum of why we do what we do!!!
So, see you tonite for the "one a week" Mild2Wild ride, well take on some of the less technical but easier cruising trails with a few fun stuff in for good measure….
In Oupa’s "one a week" theme, we even got to church last week and discovered another interesting phrase of "Kenosis" which also has a deep sentiment of what is deeper behind things like D&D and Tshwane AR Club.
What a privilege to ride with all of you!!!
It is going to be a special year!!!!
l8r
hardy
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
5 January – INTRO 25Km
12 January – Mild2Wild Ride 30km
19 January – Rock&Roll! 35km
26 January – Fast&Flirty 35km
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Where: Irene Village shopping mall..
www.irenemall.co.za
When: Every Thursday night,
Starts 18h45 for 19h00
Website : www.darkndirty.co.za
No Charge,
Everyone Welcome, ride at own risk.
Bring: Helmets, Buddies, lights, ride snax & juice, your buddies
and some ching for beers & pizza after the ride.
SOCIAL riding group with SAFETY a Key Factor.
No-One gets left behind,
We always have a sweeper and visual/radio contact.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ride Report : Thunder, lightning, cupcakes and bubbly Intro ride
It took some convincing to get my son to join me for the 2012 Intro ride. He insisted that it was going to rain and we would be the only people to turn up, but I knew how crazy this D&D crowed is (after all I am one of them) and predicted an outcome of at least ten people.
It turned out that I was spot-on. With the thunder roaring and the lightning blazing we set off into the dark and the storm. Hardy lead us up Cruiser so that we could have a good view of the lightning. Fortunately the rain was not that heavy and eventually it subsided.
Down Big Dipper we went and at the railway line a democratic vote selected going around the Air force base as the route for the night. This we did in a clockwise direction and in the vicinity of Back of the Moon we stopped to celebrate D1′s survival of another year despite getting involved in dangerous activities like D&D rides and ARs.
She was sporting a shocking, bright orange, dread lock hair-do and was promptly rechristened “Ginger”. In a much more chatty mood the group went up End of the World and back to Moo Mall, in perhaps less than straight lines. May there be many more rides like this in 2012 (Perhaps sans the thunder and lightning).
Oupa Gert.
D&D 25km INTRO RIDE!!!! >>>>>Happy HaPPY!!!!
Hey All ya Funky Monkeys
All the best for another dirty year ahead!!!!
Oupa Gert is already getting withdrawals and so it is time to get those knobblies rolling on the coolest dirt!!!
woohoooo
Come join us for a lekker Intro Ride, 25km especially for all you nuubs out there!!
And a lot of fun stuff for the oldies too 
Ok so, in celebration of the exciting year ahead,
Put on some BLING!!! thing…. or we might make u sing
Sing anyway cos some had their birthday!!!
Sparkle in da dark, a festive flare
cos we got good times to share!!!
so get on ya MTB gear!!!and have no fear
2012 is gonna be a rocking dirty year
C ya l8r
hardy
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
5 January – INTRO 25Km
12 January – Mild2Wild Ride 30km
19 January – Rock&Roll! 35km
26 January – Fast&Flirty 35km
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Where: Irene Village shopping mall..
www.irenemall.co.za
When: Every Thursday night,
Starts 18h45 for 19h00
Website : www.darkndirty.co.za
No Charge,
Everyone Welcome, ride at own risk.
Bring: Helmets, Buddies, lights, ride snax & juice, your buddies
and some ching for beers & pizza after the ride.
SOCIAL riding group with SAFETY a Key Factor.
No-One gets left behind,
We always have a sweeper and visual/radio contact.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
D&D-chat The things I have forgotten
Things I have forgotten during 18months of no Dark& Dirty rides:
November ride reports
From: Gerrit van Niekerk
Since nobody wants to write, I’ll briefly report on the three November rides I did.
Not that I earned the right, except for last Thursday when I put my foot down at the traffic light and the cleat skidded on the wet tar with a resulting landing on my elbow. Later I had a more spectacular landing, but I’ll draw the curtain on that one.
3 November:
I was still recovering in Nature’s Valley from the attempt to do the Eden Duo.
10 November:
About 10 riders turned up. Stealth was leading and I swept. Stealth took us down to Python and then halfway up Holy trail and down the jeep track after which followed an exiting loop which was new to me. The track that Eric shall name with the rocky option to the left was done in reverse and in ghost riding mode. I was glad to be sweeping as I could be warned about the rocky parts by the front riders getting into all kinds of problems.
We then went a bit down the Queen’s dice and then up over the hill and down the other side. As Stealth likes it, we did the tar uphill and downhill on the Rietvlei dam side. As can be expected with Stealth leading, we were back at the Moo Mall quite early.
17 November:
The weather was threatening with a pre-rain wind blowing and that limited the riders to four. We decided on an urban bash and set off along Van Ryneveld Avenue, but we at least rode the track next to the airbase wall, End-of-the-world and Gauntlet before tackling the old King of the Hill. Being the only one knowing it, I had an unfair advantage. For historical reasons we went through the previous D&D center and then up over the N1 next to Hans Strydom Drive all the way to Garsfontein Road, East to De VillaBois Mareuil Drive and up the hill for a lengthy climb. Via Piering Road, Boeing Street and NellmapiusDrive we arrived back at the Moo Mall having to face only a few occasional stray drops of rain.
That was a different, but still very enjoyable ride.
24 November:
This time the rain was just clearing up at 19h00 and five riders had enough guts to attempt the ride. As it turned out, the clouds quickly cleared and it was a beautiful if somewhat muddy evening. Once more I was leading by default and failed to find the Cruiser singletrack, but found the next one meeting up with Cruiser near the top. To avoid Vetseun-se-rol we went down the very washed out trail on the other side of Dirt Rider’s track to the new road and then up Big Dipper.
The Mieliemuur RUSH claimed two victims, but fortunately not of a human nature. A light stopped working for at least the night and a tubeless tyre hit a rock in a way that could not be fixed – not even with a tube. As we were too few to continue we decided to call it a night and walked/rode back to the Moo Mall for a total distance which must have been a record – a full nine km!
Come on people, you are missing out; we never once got wet!
Oupa Gert
D&D rides for Nov/Dec and Tshwane AR Club upcoming events
Heya Folks
Ok here with the Dark and Dirty rides for Nov/Dec. Gonna be a lot of fun and remember to be prepared, we ride rain or moonshine and with the summer storms, u may get a chance to test your wet weather gear … Intro ride this week, especially for the newbies to riding at night!!! Really easy pace and lots of fun stuff to keep the regulars smilin too!!!!
Some other hightlights….
Check also out www.tshwane.wordpress.com for the upcoming Centrogaine (8th Nov), fun time slides from our last AR club meeting and also… get training – seerious, you got 6 months to prepare for the start line of the Dark Horse 30Hour…. No excuses.
L8r
Hardy
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
3 Nov – INTRO 25Km
10 Nov –PuMpKin Ride 30km
17 Nov – HardRoCK RIDE!!! 35km
24 Nov – Rock&Roll 35km
1 Dec –– INTRO 25Km
8 Dec –– JingleBell Rock-Ride
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Where: Irene Village shopping mall..
www.irenemall.co.za
When: Every Thursday night,
Starts 18h45 for 19h00
Website : www.darkndirty.co.za
No Charge,
Everyone Welcome, ride at own risk.
Bring: Helmets, Buddies, lights, ride snax & juice, your buddies
and some ching for beers & pizza after the ride.
SOCIAL riding group with SAFETY a Key Factor.
No-One gets left behind,
We always have a sweeper and visual/radio contact.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
D&D 2morrow night…
Ok All ya Folks and Blokes,
Bring along ya dodgey Jokes,
Cos we ridin rain or moonshine….
Hey, u not a disprin, u’ll be fine…
Some wicked trails and tall tails
to make a funky monkey smile
And he who is spotted first as he bails
will scribe the next page in our wicked story.
We are dark and dirty,
very flirty
and love a good time
keepin the rubber side down..
C ya’s tomorrow
l8r
hardy
6 Rocktober – INTRO 25Km
13 Roctober –PuMpKin Ride 30km
20 RocKTober – HardRoCK RIDE!!! 35km
27 ROcKTober – BoOzeCruIzer 35km
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Where: Irene Village shopping mall..
www.irenemall.co.za
When: Every Thursday night,
Starts 18h45 for 19h00
Website : www.darkndirty.co.za
No Charge,
Everyone Welcome, ride at own risk.
Bring: Helmets, Buddies, lights, ride snax & juice, your buddies
and some ching for beers & pizza after the ride.
SOCIAL riding group with SAFETY a Key Factor.
No-One gets left behind,
We always have a sweeper and visual/radio contact.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ride reports for first half of October
October 6:
Whether it was the school holiday or the the slightly cooler evening, I don’t know, but only six people, including one newbie, turned up for the ride. Off we went to Exstacy Park for two rounds down the drop-off and one up it. Everyone made it in fine style and we continued down the rocky trail next to the highway to the railway line.
At the old rail crossing Reon kept his promise and produced a sudden stop. We went on to do do Python first-to-last and then last-to-first carrying on to Quad Buster, but halfway up we discovered that Reon and his mate were still at the bottom. We waited and mate came to inform us that Reon had injured his hand and was not doing too well going uphill. Being so few, we all returned to the Moo Mall, dropped off Reon and did Mieliemuur R.U.S.H. and back. Total distance just over 24 km.
October 13:
This time only five riders showed up. Between Stealth and I we decided that the reason was that Hardy did not send out an invite. Hardy, regard this as a serious rap over the knuckles
Stealth agreed to being trailmeister and I to be sweeper. It soon became clear that Stealth had a re-definition of the term "social ride" in mind. Going straight over Nelmapius to the Mieliemuur, I was already trailing; not because I was the sweeper, but because I could not keep up with Stealth and his three not-to-be-outdone young lads. Taking the first turn left from the tar road onto the tar road climbing up the hill, I bravely battled to catch up while they briefly waited at the top; just to shoot off down the other side and up to the light at the end of the tunnel. Down Mineshaft and up to the substation, down to the road and up the single-track I managed to stay in touch. The R21 loop also was not too bad. Bat tunnel and then the first part of the trail that Eric shall name taking the rocky left turn and the writing was on the wall: They had to wait longer for the sweeper to catch up.
Just when I thankfully thought that we were finally going home, Stealth turned down Holy Trail and left again down the rocky trail going all the way down and up and down to the cement factory road. This time I was so far back that I lost the trail and got onto a dicey trail heading straight for the bush. Fortunately the others missed me, stopped and I could see their lights and bundu-bash my way to the right trail.
As soon as I reached them, they set off at a brisk pace and in my efforts to keep up, my peddle must have struck a rock that hurled me off the bike as I found myself on the ground (or rather rocks). Strictly speaking that did not entitle me to write this report as I have certainly not been spotted in the act! They must just have surmised that I was getting even slower.
We did Python and then Tour-de-Tar in a tight group – they must have been tiring by now. And still it was not the end; Stealth lead us along the railway line and up the rocky trail next to the highway towards Extacy Park, which we did not do – thanks for that. Back at the Moo Mall we had done 40km and it was just past nine-thirty.
A social ride it was not, but it was good exercise!
Oupa Gert.
.
__,_._,___
Tshwane AR Club – Social — YOU are invited!!!! — 26th October – 7PM
Tshwane AR Club : Social Meeting, (all welcome!!!)
Date : Wednesday, 26th October 2011
Time : 6:30 for 7PM
Venue : Outdoor Freedom www.outdoorfreedom.co.za
Shop 23 – Doringkloof mall Centurion
Bring : Friends, family and anyone you know who loves adventure
On the Agenda :
- Our club, checking the compass… going forward
- Centrogaine event (all about this exciting event and line entries for those not yet entered online)
- Outdoor Fereedom New Gear Chat – (Gear Guru -Leon Smit who is in Europe will be back some interesting stories)
- The Bushwhakka 12hour AR Training Camp – what is it? how can you help/attend?
- The Dark Horse 30 Hour Adventure Race – a blurb on this extreme AR club race coming up in April 2011
- Developments with Tshwane AR Club Provincial Racing Team
There after we will have some time to catch up, meet new friends and make teams for the upcoming events. While grabbing on some snax and Juice
See you there for a LEKKER blast
Cheers
Tshwane AR Club – Comittee
Last Nights’s ride report – 15 September
Last night was a very interesting and exciting Ride, no Trail meisters, luckily Francois has a good sense of direction and we took the route on from what was still in memory from the previous week. Unplanned rocky downhill’s and the discovery of new single tracks were only some of the adventures last night. At the end we managed to visit all the checkpoints even the done the “Ghost Ride”.
We also met a new friend on the route,
Meet “Wally” the Hedgehog.
Thanks everyone for the ride last night, and Rafael for sweeping
Derek
New Club Comittee Member — Fernando Santos
Hey Guys,
I would like to welcome Fernando onto our club committee. Fernando has been involved in Adventure Racing for many years now and has built up a good depth of experience.
Fernando brings to our club committee team a great passion for the sport and is already kicking off with his first event as a Club Race Director for the Metrogaine!!! More details about this exciting event on our website shortly (8th Nov –Centurion PTA)
Awesome stuff Fernando, we are all loving your enthusiasm!!!
Cheers
hardy
18 August – Rock&Roll Ride Report
18 August Rock&Roll Ride Report
My English teachers at school taught me quite a few amazingly descriptive words, but none of them will suffice when trying to describe the dark ‘n’ dirty night ride.
>From the R.U.S.H downhill section to "look ma, no brakes" it was nothing but a jol all the way!
I was at first slightly apprehensive but now I know exactly what I’m doing every Thursday evening
Thanks to everyone who warmly welcomed us ‘newbees’ and introduced us to something truly incredible.
See you guys next week.
Woooop wooop
James Ross-Marsh
Some Stats
about 33km Temp Mild Moon rose at 10pm
Riders 8
Nuubs 3
Wipe -outs atleast 4+
Speedzones 5 all taken by James
Smileage after rough trailz – Mega beeeg
Dark&Dirty MTB Nite Rides – Sept to ROcKtober – >> free ridin spirit livin on :-) …………………………..since 2005
Greeeetings Dirtlings…
If ya feeling like some dirty fun in the dark then hop on your MTB and join us for a lekker “free”-ride. This week we are taking on the RoCk&Roll route… a technical ride of about 35km with lots of FUN and some non-compulsory speedzones to keep the racing snakes pumped…
Some highlights on the trail menu include.. ..
Cruiser,
down the hatch,
DirtRiders Hill challenge,
Vetseun singletrack,
BeegDipper,
MielieMuur DH R.U.S.H. (race.until.s.happens),
Light-at-the End of the tunnel,
Eric’s Bump&Grind with a spin off onto “Flying Woof”
!!!Caution Adrenalin overload!!! Going down “Puff-Adder”
Over da top and Down Quad-Busta Hilll wooohoooo,
Look-Ma-no-brakes,
Python (Ghost ride)
And some of those other Dirty stuff we usually do…..
If you are a nuuub to night riding, then join us for an intro on the first Thursday of every month.
Next one will be our SPRING CELEBRATION RIDE J
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
18 August – 35km Rock&Roll
25 August – 30km Mild2Wild
1 September – 25km INTRO – SPRING RIDE
8 September – 30km DIRT-FLIRT
15 September – 35km ROCK&ROLL
22 September – 40km Mild2WilD
29 September – 30km ThrillerChiller
6 Rocktober – INTRO 25Km
13 Roctober –PuMpKin Ride 30km
20 RocKTober – HardRoCK RIDE!!! 35km
27 ROcKTober – BoOzeCruIzer 35km
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Where: Irene Village shopping mall..
www.irenemall.co.za
When: Every Thursday night,
Starts 18h45 for 19h00
Website : www.darkndirty.co.za
No Charge,
Everyone Welcome, ride at own risk.
Bring: Helmets, Buddies, lights, ride snax & juice, your buddies
and some ching for beers & pizza after the ride.
SOCIAL riding group with SAFETY a Key Factor.
No-One gets left behind,
We always have a sweeper and visual/radio contact.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
11 August – Uitstekende nag rit
Uitstekende nag rit
Hola a todos, cómo están?, me pregunto dónde está la gente de este grupo?, el clima no es una excusa para no rodar.
Oh sorry i forget that I don´t have any idea of Afrikaans and also that I don´t suppose to be written in Spanish.
But after almost to hour ride and around 22 km last Thursday, I can say that I learn my first words in Afrikaans and also I teach some Spanish word to the group.
Well it wasn’t a big big group just 4 of us, but it was a very nice ride, urban and semi urban ride, where we have the opportunity to have Spanish and Afrikaans classes and also Russian classes.
But seriously the big question is what happens with the member of this group?, I can believe that the weather is the excuse, the winter is almost gone, and last night was a very nice night no so cold.
Cuídense, y vamos a rodar el próximo jueves
Well see you in the road,
Rafael Carmona C.
