LADIES DAY - SATURDAY 27TH FEBRUARY 2021

[BushWacker]

Annie unfortunately has to cancel for tomorrow
... even though she was quite keen to attend.

[LesseW]

OK, only Simone's payment outstanding.
I will refund Henri Steyn for Sue.

Just allocate Henri’s payment to Simone’s


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[AndreasR]

TIME IS HERE!!!

A few reminders.

Try to be at the venue by 9H00
We have a thatched lapa booked
Bring chairs
Bring braai stuff and refreshments
Club will provide charcoal
Hopefully we will not need raincoats
There will be a list of attendees at the entrance gate. Names will be as per the attendance list. You have prepaid so do not pay again.

[Mad Manny]

Will we be deflating?
If so, must we bring compressors?

[AndreasR]

Have you been to a 4x4 venue before?

[Rabbiddog RIP 7/6/21]

Thanks everyone it was a great day. Nice meeting the new members and seeing some we have not seen for a while

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[Kells]

What an awesome day. Thanks everyone. Thanks for organising it guys. And special thanks to Anthony, vic and Avon the awesome trip after lunch!


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[KurtG]

I am eagerly anticipating Manny’s or Andreas’s report of the day and how it went.

[Mad Manny]

OK, just for Kurt herewith my report:

There were TWO aspects to our Ladies Training Day:

1. Our Ladies Training Day @ De Wildt

2. Other '4x4 drivers' who were at De Wildt

I will split my report in two, focusing here on the 1st item.
Report on the4x4 Action Group at De Wildt Saturday 27th February

Thirteen ladies arrived on the day;

1. Tammy (Manny)
2. Elana (Lessew)
3. Natalie
4. Maryna (SAXJ)
5. Ally (Andreas)
6. Deseré (Emile)
7. Monica (Avon)
8. Beatrix & Mariana (CCIC/AntonB)
9. Kells & Michelle
10. Kroontjie Anita (w JP the Ninja)
11. Sue-Anne (Rabbiddog)
12. Marina (SamuraiX) &
13. Ursh
We also had the Great Anthony Forgey attend - so 14 vehicles & a total of 25 adults (over 21)*.
That is a very pleasing turnout.

* I say over 21 because I brought three teens...

We arrived & headed to our Lapa, not the most accessible Lapa by road, but it was close to everything.

We got off to a start a little late (thanks Emile), but not too late.

Andreas gave a presentation which lasted about 30 minutes.
He managed to cover every relevant topic in as as broad and clear way as possible.
Remember, to give a talk to relative Newbies, where you don't pitch it too high, but don't make it so easy to understand that is worthless whilst keeping it interesting but also informative, is no easy task & I thing Andreas did well.
We were done with the theory by around 09:40 I think.

We then headed to the man-made Training Track.

Personally, I felt that starting with that track was not ideal. The steep climb after the water obstacle is daunting.
Expecting the ladies to do it so early in the day before they'd had a chance to get comfortable with the vehicles, was not ideal.
As it was, a few ladies skipped that obstacles & many others, Marina almost had a nasty incident.
But all those who did attempted did extremely well - most lost traction & slid back, but then did extremely well on their 2nd attempt.

By 11:00 we were done & almost everyone headed to the trail.

Anthony was great with giving advice & guidance, it was also nice to have someone like Victor (SAXJ) there to give advice to Beatrix & others in Jimny's.

As is typical of the great & glorious 4x4 Action Group - we all stuck together & everyone helped & supported where required.

We did most of the De Wildt trail, skipping or bypassing sections due to the large amount of 'traffic' (see part 2).

By 14:00 we were at the play pit near the end, the ladies were, by now, far more confident & enjoyed themselves here.

Lessew & Elana had to leave early as did Emile & Desere'...

We then returned to the Lapa to braai & Andreas handed out the certificates.

Overall a great day.

I got some feedback from the ladies, they will either post it here or I'll post it in Feedback posts...

[SamuraiX]

Feedback:
Thanks everyone for organising this, it was a great day out.
Some feedback from my mom as it was her first time driving a 4x4 on a trail.
It was very informative and well run, the spotters were patient and professional. The only criticism was that we had to skip a number of obstacles due to external factors (Toyotaholics) however that criticism lies with De Wild management not the Action Group.

[Mad Manny]

There were TWO aspects to our Ladies Training Day:

1. Our Ladies Training Day @ De Wildt
Reported on 2post up

2. Other '4x4 drivers' who were at De Wildt
This is the 2nd item -

I'm not going to bother sugar coating this, lets say it as it was...

A large group of ToyotaHolics were at De Wildt on the same day.

You've got to hand it to Toyotaholics - that name is perfect, they drive Toyota's & the drink - a lot.
Also, they don't have the word 4x4 in their name - so you cannot accuse them of a misleading name.

They were there, drinking & careening around, struggling on escape routes, wheel spinning & struggling everywhere.

Now, while seeing their behaviour (drinking, clueless driving & loudness) may be disappointing, funny & irritating, the behaviour of others should not bother you, if it doesn't affect you.
However, these guysare not 4x4'ers & they are not off-road users, so their inconsiderate ineptness DID affect us.

They just stopped in the track, completely unaware that other track users may be using the track, whether this level of disinterest in others was due to the alcohol use, lack of intelligence, or poor upbringing, or a combination of all 3 is not clear.

At Gert se Klip they had blocked the road, one Holic even had his braai in the track, I started doing pointsman duty get get our convoy past this rowdy bunch & another Holic stepped in front of me & put his hand up to stop the rest of my convoy.
My 'Moer Meter' started climbing through the red towards the purple, but then he directed an FJ in front of use & towards the Klip.
"Fair Enough" I though - he wants to let one of his guys to do the obstacle - as soon as he moves forward to the start of this over-hyped obstacle, I'll continue filing my group through. But then the FJ stopped, the back still blocking the road.
They then had a long, long, long discussion on ' how va driver did kan like to try do vis mooerewa Klip ek se"
Finally, the inbred drunk moved forward & I continued to get my convoy through - until a 'lady; in a Hilux pulled forward leaving too narrow a gap between the braai & her white Hilux for us to get through.
She then shouted to someone 'Ek dink hiedie mense will verby kom!' I looked at her & realised why women shouldn't drink alcohol during pregnancy.
Then some idiot in a nice red SFA Hilux parked like a complete twat & we had to squeeze between the cockwombles bakkie & a sharp branch.

We then encountered more more of the Holics guys: Cars stopped & abandoned in the track, parking in the way, drinking, getting stuck in obstacles a Yaris with tyres at 2.5bar could negotiate etc..

But finally we left this Brannawyn mess behind & continued on our way.

I'll start a Thread on the matter soon - but these guys gave me a fantastic reminder of why we started the4x4 Action Group.
They are the antithesis of the 4x4 Action Group.
They break every one of our 10 Commandments.
They add nothing to the 'sport' & they are not ambassadors for 4x4 & Off Road users.
They make it unpleasant to participate .
They certainly are doing the Toyota brand & their people no favours.

However, I must say, despite their brannas fueled dumbfookery, they was no antagonism between them and us (largely because we avoided them) & they at least appeared friendly (if somewhat inconsiderate).

But at least our 13 ladies could see WHY the 4x4 Action Group does what it does. They are a great advert for us...

[Mad Manny]

Feedback:
From Monica (Avon's Wife):
Hi Manny, first want to say a big thanks to the club thinking of and arranging a special day for the ladies. It made me feel a real part of the club. While there was some light bickering in the cockpit, the overall experience made me more confident as a driver. The only unpleasant aspect was De Wilt clearly over booking the venue and unfortunate altercation with the drunken Toyota club (none of which was Action Groups doing). Avon, sorry Kyle, is very jealous of my certificate! I'd like to say a HUGE thank you again to Cross Country for the gift certificate - very generous in deed. (And for the record will not be spent on my husband!). Thanks again for an awesome day out with a really great group. Monica
PS" Doing Gert Se Klip was the absolute High Light.

From Elana (Wessel's Wife):
Loved the training from Andreas, she said it was thorough
For the steep obstacle we could have had more “marshals” to guide the Ladies up...

From Kells & Michelle:
Positive - there was no competition and no male egos making it a super fun day for everyone.
Negatives? - honestly, I can’t think of one.

From Beatrix:
Extremely well organized. Impressed with the level of planning & organisation.

[Kells]

When I asked michelle at the end of the day what her highlight was it remained “that steep slope we did first” and that’s even after going back out with Anthony and friends (where we yet again encountered Toyota guys - where they yet again blocked the road for us)


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[LesseW]

The positives outshine the negatives by far! Thanks to the team who arranged and organised everything.


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[Martin de Jager]

Well done to all the people that organised the day and to all the ladies who attended, you are all special.
Pity we missed out.