Jolly Rubino

Date : Friday 1st December 2006

Riders : Aroon, Thaven, Jerome, Vincent
Bikes : Raptor 350, Raptor 700, Raptor 350, Raptor 700
Conditions : Overcast, but dry





Trail : Kwambonambi to Mapelane, to the wreck of the Jolly Rubino

GPS : eTrex Legend
Camera : CANON digital IXUS
Refreshments : lots of powerade

Average speed : 65 kph
Maximum speed : 121 kph (oops!!!)
Duration of trip out : 1.5 hrs
Duration of trip back : 1 hr

Thaven had gotten the co-ordinates for the wreck to load into his GPS, and was very keen to navigate by handheld....

After a delay waiting for Vincent's borrowed bike's key to be brought to Kwambo (left it behind, somehow !) we made off towards the Jolly Rubino, on the Mapelane road. After a couple of detours, following the GPS rather than gut feel, we got back onto the main Mapelane road and gassed it to the beach.

The entire trip took us about 2.5hrs.

Some safety tips :
1. when riding in built-up areas, SLOW DOWN
2. riding on roads (tarred or gravel) - keep to the left, and in single file - the gravel roads were quite dusty, and we tried to keep out of the dust by riding two abreast, but after dodging local traffic, we switched to single file.
3. note that tarred roads with large potholes can be more hazardous than dirt tracks, for quads ! the quads don't handle that well on tar, especially at speed in corners.
PS. Cow droppings are far more difficult to navigate than potholes.


Gadgets to get for next trip : Hydropack - taking off helmets just to take a sip became quite annoying !