Offroad

Any vehicle is an offroad vehicle if you try hard enough...

Commuting to work, the traffic crawl tends to start just before my turn-off. I'm really glad I don't have to go through Stellenbosch to get to the office! But it does mean that my turning lane sits empty while I'm way back in the queue.

So I go offroad. Hit the verges and travel through the grass with one wheel on the last of the tar, past the line of cars to my turn-off. A bit of mild off-roading... :-)

Yup, when I drive, I DRIVE. Much to the dismay of those who think shock absorbers should never be shocked (yes, you dad!).

About a year ago I took the passenger door apart to see what was up with the locks. I found an immense amount of yellow-red dust in there, the same shade as my grandparent's farm. And I remembered I'd done a bit of unofficial offroading there too!

They live outside Pretoria along many a dirt road, including one very corrugated one that just about rattles your teeth out your head unless you either take it so slowly that they're more like speedbumps or at such a speed that you're likely to overshoot the turn and head off into the veld. The road dips through river-bed crossings and climbs steep hills. Coming off of that there's about 1km of total farm road to get to the house, and if it's rained there are the usual road-dongas to negotiate. Which means you head offroad and through the bush - avoiding thorn trees and rocks. After about a week there you tend to get rather proficient at hitting the road in the dark at speed, simply swerving left or right at the good points, rattling over the cattle grid and onwards. Offroading in a Ford Sierra. Which kicks up dust, which then gets stored in the doors and discovered 3 years later.

Funny then that my official off-road vehicle has yet to go off-road.. :-)