Most pics by Black Rock Studio.
While we do cover virtually all the racing that goes on, it’s refreshing to give the more social events a bit of love too. Last weekend, the Adventure Company hosted a local ride. They have been creating fun for people for the last twenty and a bit years. It’s all chilled, no racing, all marked with backup if you end up coming unstuck.
Here’s a feature sent in by a family that joined them for the first time:
We saw the advert pop up on our social media and phoned in for some details. the lady who answered was extremely helpful and friendly and helped us with the sign up and paying the entry fee. That’s always a bit concerning because you never really know these days, but after Googling The Adventure Company, and seeing the reviews, it all looked very above board and we decided that this was a safe bet. Then… radio silence, which concerned us a little bit, until the week before the ride. We were added to the whatsapp group and the team started sending information and details on what we were to expect.
My Mom was nervous. They posted pictures of rocky climbs, but assured everyone that they were optional. Then lots of rivers and flowing trails and this is when we as a family started getting excited and of course my brother started teasing my Dad with the, “I bet I’ll beat you there Dad. Don’t worry, I’ll help you across the river…”
Finally, it was Saturday morning, we were up bright and early and headed for the meeting place. Dad was happy about the safe parking at a nice little shopping centre. I don’t think I have ever seen so many bikes and quads before. It was still quite early and a bit chilly so we enjoyed the hot coffee and muffins during check-in with the friendly people from the Adventure Company, it was just so relaxed, that was nice! At briefing time we all gathered where we were told what to expect and how the markers work. It all seemed fairly simple, with orange markers showing the general route, and the pink markers for bikes only, with big rocks, (ummmm….. I’ll leave that to my brother to help Dad through there), and green is no go… or is it the other way round…. I think???
I won a Honda buff in the lucky draw which was very nice, everyone was smiling and clapping, then off we went. Did we listen and did we listen correctly? No, not really, we left close to the front and soon realised that in our excitement our enthusiasm was not up to the standard of our talent – and then we also noticed that we were holding a lot of people up. A gap in an open field we pulled over allowing the faster riders to overtake us with a friendly wave. “Hey guys! What’s up?” A marshal arrived just to check that we are OK. We explained, he smiled and carried on. By now we could follow the routes, and it’s pretty simple if you look… orange tags on your left, keep going.
Until… the markers changed colour to… Pink! We were on the route that headed up a massive mountain…. Stop…. look…. Dad decides he’s going, along with my brother. Mom and I, being far more sensible, chose to get back on the orange route. “We’ll wait for you after the hill.” we tell them. We watched the guys starting up. It looked impossible and we know that they sweated a bit even though they denied it when we met up with them an HOUR later. We found a shady tree while we waited.
The day continued in a blur. River crossings, railway lines, flowing trails. Even beautiful big lakes full of birds. Who Knew? I don’t think you’d ever see things like this unless you are on a bike in the Veld. Some sections were quite tough, but we were never really under pressure, lots of people were along offering helping hands. 80 kilometres later, we pulled back into the parking lot. Most had already left by the time we arrived, but we were told that there were still lots of people behind us. So we didn’t come last.
It really was a LOT of fun. We were all pretty tired but a quick milkshake before we loaded up for home replenished the energy levels. I need to point out here that not long into the drive home, my brother was literally snoring his head off. We’ll do it again, for sure. We haven’t stopped talking about it.
What a great experience and just a really nice day out with some super people.
The Viljoen Family.
