...and now for something completely different!

An off-day! Yeah!

Well, I was still working, but different stuff. And actually not really working, but well, let's say... helping - kind of ;) Due to organizational issues we decided to take a break for today and tomorrow. Good for me, so I can take care of my photo equipment (will be considered in tomorrows post) and take a little rest. Due to the fact that I find x-treme couching really boring I decided to follow my host and customer Reinhold to his small, experimental vinery and watch him making wine. That sounded interesting and so it was. But honestly, in the end i know now why I'm a sports shooter ;)

I'll just let the pictures talk. Making vine is a too sophisticated process to explain. (I would do so if I understood it...) This actually is a barrel of a 2009 season white wine, which is not ready yet. (I'm somehow sure my explanations sound pathetic - can't we talk about bikes again?)

Flowers have been interesting as well...

A vine-maker's view. Some of you might recognize that the color of this red wine (don't even have a clue which one) is a bit unusual. That is because... it's new!!! ;) 

Hope the temperature is alright...

And the most important ingredient for a good wine is... patience!!!

 

I'm sure this one is going to be perfect...

With a little elbow grease...

...you can fix even one of the most sophisticated bits done by the Mountainbike Industry in the past year.  Truvativ's Hammerschmidt is well known as a good performing and trendsetting alternative to the well-known front mech and chainring set-up. Nevertheless, issues with the wimpy cable stopper are known - and so are a couple of fixes. But what to do when you're pretty much in the middle of nowhere...

Well, at first a little patience comes in handy... 

An in no time (actually it took me like half an hour or so) I filed this out of a piece of aluminum sheet. I used the broken cable stopper as a jig and drilled the holes as well as the upper and lower curve accordingly.

Whalaa!

In the afternoon we even got some work done. Hey, come on - this IS work, even if it doesn't look like ;) 

Have I ever said that I love my job? Ok, I do so now!

Rangers, Parks and the Sea

After being dressed down by some Mountain Ranger we changed our plans and skipped one of the most epic trails i've ever spotted. Dang. We packed the Landie again and off we went to George. The Downhill Course we've seen instead was enough of an excuse.

I had to show you this shot. It's not as catchy as the other ones, but I just love the atmosphere. The course in George is not comparable to anything in Europe. I've seen a lot of them, but the scenery and the fauna are one of a kind. Even the light seems to be special here in the southern hemisphere. I really don't know why, maybe it's because it's autumn here, but the light's turning good by one or two in the afternoon. Normally you've got to wait 'till 5-6ish. By that time it's already dark here. 

Kai is getting used to my demands and is getting a real photo-rider ;)

In the end the obligatory drive-around. I keep thinking "what are we doing here...." and then we go around the next corner and the answer is so easy...

Ok, today I've got an idea...

... about what freeriding/enduro is about here in SA! We drove up to the Swartberg pass and rode two hiking trails down - really gnarly stuff and loads of technical riding skills requested. Even a little climbing was involved. Finally when the light got better, we took the first "real" shots of the trip...

Seems like Ali G waz in tha house as well...

...and riding was the game of the day!

Well, I did a shot as well ;)

A fellow reader mentioned that my watermark is out of date... he's won as many golden washing machines as he can carry. But thanks to him, you'll get a new watermark tomorrow ;)

A 36hrs trip, wonderful weather and first promising test-shots!

I really should find less accurate headlines, because this one just nails it and I don't know what to write in the post ;)

Well, after 36 hrs of travelling and some airport - recreation...

... I arrived in Oudtshoorn:


Größere Kartenansicht


Prior to that i had a drive-around in Capetown, which is nothing but amazing.

Afterwards we drove to Tokai Mountain just to have a look at the local mountainbike trails - what shall I say? Amazing! We've done a couple of test shots as well - here are two as a teaser!

Bags are packed...

...ready to go! Well... almost, actually. This is the promised post about my EVOC Bike Travelbag. (Find more here...) As you can see in the pics it's a tight fit, but it's a fit ;) And, considering that my bike (a Customized Ventana El Terremoto) is not the shortest (45.3" or 117cm wheelbase) one, I was quite surprised i could also easily fit the rather wide tires (Fat Albert in rear and Muddy Mary in Front) - perfect. In the end there's just one thing that bothers me - the weight. 25,7kg (or 56,7lbs) is just a tad over the allowed weight of 23kg. We'll see how rested British Airways' ground personnel is from it's tie-up and if they can lift the additional 2kg ;)

Won't go without a couple of pics...

Preparations...

..still need to be done. Whilst having my photo-equipment almost complete, I'm still pondering about how to manage the rest of my luggage. I opted for extra package at British Arways, meaning i can take 2 x 23kg with me. Well, the EVOC Bike Travel Bag (more on that later) I bought is 7kg alone, leaving 16kg for the bike. And guess what, my Ventana El Terremoto is on the heavy side and weighs in at 15,7kg - here we go....

Nevertheless, this post should deal with my photo equipment... that is pretty much everything I'm taking with me:

Just for the sake of not forgetting something I'll list my stuff here:

D3

12-24 Tokina

70-200 Nikon

300 Nikon

2 x SB-800

SB-24 (not in the pic)

3 x Pocket Wizards

Dozens of Eneloop Batteries

Couple of San Disk Extreme III 8GB Memory Cards

Card Reader

Charger for EN-EL4

Charger for Eneloops

some clamps, tripods, monopod,...

still to come:

D300

16-35 Nikon

24-70 Nikon

These are actually from Nikons NPS Service. I'll test them during my trip, just to know if they are good enough to throw money at them (actually I know already ;) )

BTW: All this stuff fits in my Tamrac Expedition 8 which will be my only hand baggage on the flight... can't imagine getting there without my cam...