This year we decided to do the drive from Cape Town to Joburg to skate the King of the Fort 2014 race. It was a looong drive with a harrowing run in with the cops.
Joburg was definitely a completely different cup of tea to Cape Town. A murky, chaotic cup of tea. Taxis own the road and nearly all the traffic lights seem to lack electricity. There was a permanent haze over the city, constant police presence and toll gates that were slowly diminishing what little cash we had with us. Needless to say we felt pretty uneasy. And then we met Nick’s dad and stepmom. They took us wrangled bunch of skaters (there were 7 of us) like we were their own kids. This was a real dealbreaker and made the trip the awesome experience that it was. There’s nothing better than being able to shower and relax after a long day of skating. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank them (again) for having us.
The skate weekend was upon us and King of the Fort was a really well run, fun event. The hill is by far the slowest of the season yet no less challenging. The lack of speed means tactical drafting, overtaking and cornering are necessary to get ahead and stay ahead.
Once again we’d like to congratulate Decio Lourenco for taking first place in the Open division, as well as Nick Hook and Alex Meyer for making the consolation final. Our team riders never fail to impress with their results and skating talents.
We made a video trying to capture the essence of the roadtrip and the race. We hope you enjoy.
much love
The Baboons