Ja Boet, it was great to do this race, the Vaal Marathon, where you can paddle on a river, a river that is clean ek se’, with no oversize microbes that crawl up your drinking tube, or worse. The river is open, ou swaer, you don’t get caught in a tree block, almost to get sucked under, and fight with something smelly to get back up to the surface. Of course I am not in any way referring to that race in Natal, that one where you carry the boats over the mountain, when in fact you should be sitting in the boat and it should be carrying you around the mountain, nor am I referring to that river in Midvaal that so many of us Vaalies end up paddling. Total disclaimer ek se’, don’t talk to me, you can sue my lawyer. Maar ja, I almost didn;t do the race, my partner broke his foot the day before, then one of my East Rand mates agreed to jump in the back of the boat, first time ek se’, we had a test paddle for ten metres before the start at the dam wall, then we were off my broer. First
rapid after the bridge, some dudes always fall out there. Ja boet, then further down, that flowing stretch with the islands, donkey rapid, previously in a K1 I just about collided with a donkey that was chowing shrubs on the island, clash of boats, down to shute, fast dudes go past us, some of them bliksem out, paddle fast, swim fast. Then my one of my ex paddling partners, ex paddling partners are like ex wives, it is a love/hate relationship, amper soos die skoon familie, in a K3 and I am in a K2, we portage Visgat and he goes through, en hy slat ‘n gat in sy boot, hy is voor ons, he beat us on day one, but at the end of the race we beat him. Ja Kobus, ek praat van jou. And then there is the question of the race sticker on the boats – there are two dudes whose faces are on every competitors boats, I know these okes, Rodney and Keith, they are good guys, maar goeie gonners, ou Rodzilla is nie die mooiste rooier wat ons het nie, kan ons nie liewer ‘n mooi gesiggie op die bo
ot he’ nie, like a nice chick ek se’, ek kan ‘n paar naame noem. The beers at finish day 1 were fantastic, ons kon nie genoeg kry nie. Day 2 at the Barrage, vroeg wegspring, this is the only time I make A batch, reverse order ek se’, the only reason I do the race, when we were paddling the flat stretch to the first rapid, I was worrying about whether the second would get more beers before the bottle store closed, day 1 we had drunk every last beer in sight. That first rapid, Benoude Boude, named after a farmer’s daughter, was roff ek se’, die ouens het op die rotse vasgerooie, hulle het uitgeval, maar ja, daarna was dit deur rooie na Goose Bay Weir. Complements to the race organizers, there was a switched on marshal at the weir, he showed us exactly where the middle of the shoot was, we zoomed down there, adrenalin rush, this is the highest weir that you can shoot, bigger than Dusi, Fish, Orange, ek se’. As jy van ‘n hoe” ene weet, se’ vir my, ek sal soon toe gaan. Bemarking
s punt organiseerders ! Daarna was dit deursettingsvermoe” toe die einde toe. We saw leaky boats emptying, a boat with no rudder, other crews too tired to talk, then the cell phone tower on the hill, signifying the end of the race, my partner said he had no more drink left, he was craving beer, ek ook ek se’, come round the final bend in the river and we are finished. Moers ek se’.
JCC, thanks, this was a great race, and the sponsors: CMH East Rand, next vehicle, get an Isusu or Chev from them.
rapid after the bridge, some dudes always fall out there. Ja boet, then further down, that flowing stretch with the islands, donkey rapid, previously in a K1 I just about collided with a donkey that was chowing shrubs on the island, clash of boats, down to shute, fast dudes go past us, some of them bliksem out, paddle fast, swim fast. Then my one of my ex paddling partners, ex paddling partners are like ex wives, it is a love/hate relationship, amper soos die skoon familie, in a K3 and I am in a K2, we portage Visgat and he goes through, en hy slat ‘n gat in sy boot, hy is voor ons, he beat us on day one, but at the end of the race we beat him. Ja Kobus, ek praat van jou. And then there is the question of the race sticker on the boats – there are two dudes whose faces are on every competitors boats, I know these okes, Rodney and Keith, they are good guys, maar goeie gonners, ou Rodzilla is nie die mooiste rooier wat ons het nie, kan ons nie liewer ‘n mooi gesiggie op die bo
ot he’ nie, like a nice chick ek se’, ek kan ‘n paar naame noem. The beers at finish day 1 were fantastic, ons kon nie genoeg kry nie. Day 2 at the Barrage, vroeg wegspring, this is the only time I make A batch, reverse order ek se’, the only reason I do the race, when we were paddling the flat stretch to the first rapid, I was worrying about whether the second would get more beers before the bottle store closed, day 1 we had drunk every last beer in sight. That first rapid, Benoude Boude, named after a farmer’s daughter, was roff ek se’, die ouens het op die rotse vasgerooie, hulle het uitgeval, maar ja, daarna was dit deur rooie na Goose Bay Weir. Complements to the race organizers, there was a switched on marshal at the weir, he showed us exactly where the middle of the shoot was, we zoomed down there, adrenalin rush, this is the highest weir that you can shoot, bigger than Dusi, Fish, Orange, ek se’. As jy van ‘n hoe” ene weet, se’ vir my, ek sal soon toe gaan. Bemarking
s punt organiseerders ! Daarna was dit deursettingsvermoe” toe die einde toe. We saw leaky boats emptying, a boat with no rudder, other crews too tired to talk, then the cell phone tower on the hill, signifying the end of the race, my partner said he had no more drink left, he was craving beer, ek ook ek se’, come round the final bend in the river and we are finished. Moers ek se’.
JCC, thanks, this was a great race, and the sponsors: CMH East Rand, next vehicle, get an Isusu or Chev from them.
