1512 DT final

NIGHT X
PURE ADRENALINE
PACKED ENDURO RACING
Story Clive Strugnell. Pics Glenn
Foley and Rich Sutherland.
What would you do if you had a
great big hole in your back garden?
If you are Mike Puzey you turn it
into an action packed, condensed
enduro circuit and invite a whole
bunch of adrenaline junkies to come
and race! And then invite all your
friends, and their friends, to come
and watch. And because you have
to work all day to earn a buck, as
do your friends, run the race under
lights at night. Oh sorry, Mikes’
race was on a Saturday, well then
at least you could get all the boring
stuff like playing golf and tennis,
kid’s swimming galas and all those
events out of the way first.
Mike Puzey owns a place called
“Puzey’s Biker Warehouse” out on
Malibongwe Drive heading towards
Lanseria, where he sells mainly off
road bikes, including Husqvarnas,
Puzeys and lots of other stuff, as
well as everything you can think of
for off road riding like the kit, parts,
specialist lubricants and much,
much more. Being a jet-fuelled
extrovert who can’t sit still for one
minute, organising four of these
Nite-X racing evenings a year is kids
stuff for him, and anyone leaving
a frigging big hole in his back yard
with a pond at the bottom is just
asking for trouble! In two -twos
he has sorted the whole (no pun
intended) out into an awesome off
road circuit, complete with some
highly technical sections like the
“Rock garden”, the “See-saw”, the
“Hanging Bridge”, it’s partner the
“Floating Bridge”, a real “Freestyle”
ramp over the water for the braver
riders to leap a vertical cliff, and
much, much more. For riders it’s
challenging, in fact it’s downright
intimidating.
For spectators, who are there as
Mike Puzey and some of his friends
in the trades’ guests, as there is
no admission fee, the entire show
can be seen from almost any point
around the rim of the big hole.
It is even more spectacular than
watching moto-x in a stadium.
What makes it more awesome is
that in many places the bikes are
racing just centimetres away from
the natural grandstand. The whole
(that unintended pun again) place
is floodlit, and the atmosphere
is unmatched by any other two
wheeled event. There is also a pub
floating in the middle of the pond at
the bottom, where the racers roar
past each side during a lap if you
really want to be close to the action!
The excitement of the setting and
the anticipation of the spectators
seems to motivate the competitors
almost into a frenzy….there is
78 DECEMBER 2015
1512 DT NIGHT X.indd 78 2015/11/21 8:43 AM