So my ?LIVE? reporting was a ballsup, but I see you guys have kept yourself busy on this thread. Well we all got together at 07:30 as arranged and after sorting a few rules, etc for the offroad riding we got underway.
The route took us through Mamelodi, past Cullinan,
Bronkhorstpruit
and KwaMchalnga
Sharkie approaching
till we eventually stopped at the Loskopdam petrol station for some guys to refuel, but mostly to buy some biltong
as none of us had eaten breakfast before we left.
The beemer was the 1?st to require some minor maintenance. Amstel working on his baby
This gave us the necessary booster for the next leg of the journey to Dullstroom where the Korfneck pass
required some degree of technical challenges. Luch was had at the Duck & Trout
After Dullstroom we headed via tarr towards Lydenburg where the map displayed an interesting little route through the area south of Longtompass. During a smoke break
I noticed a fairly well used road leading directly north in the direction of Longtompass,
and when Gideon checked his routes4africa map it revealed that this was indeed shown on his map, so we followed it. After some time we got to an open gate with a warning that we were now entering private property, and no trespassing was allowed.
Well needless to say we continued, till our progress was halted about 6 km?s before we got to the Longtompass road that lead to Sabie, by a locked gate.
Highly disappointed we turned around and head back along the route.
Has Bla Bla Black Sheep been sleeping with Ryperd?
Gideon decided to go and ask at the farmhouse we passed earlier
whether they had a key to let us through, and was told the owner is on his way, and would come and unlock the key for us. After a while a Land Cruiser pulled up with four men, two sitting on the back with hunting rifles, while the owner was not a happy chappie. Fortunately he could count, so he just told us to get off his property, and that he would not open the gate for us. So we headed back,
and continued with the main road
that eventually passed the Sudwala Caves, and onto a lovely tarr section that took us to Sabie.
By now it was dark, so we headed for the campsite, pitched out tents
and went to Woodsman for supper, as it was cold, misty and wet! We met this oke from Cape Town circumnavigating South Africa on Vespa Scooters. 8500 km?s in 60 days.
www.scooteraddicts.co.za .All for charity
Upon our return we tried to get the fire going, and after three tries
and a packed of Stormers fire lighters, we managed to get it going.
Friday morning greeted us with mist and lots of dampness around,
while Excalibur was wrestling the Bulls Horn in his tent.
Crazy Eyes had to do some mending on the KTM
So once he was done we packed and headed to Pelgrims Rest.
Excalibur had camped here a few weeks ago, and recommended the place.
We pulled into the campsite,
pitched our wet tents and went for a ride. The plan was to follow th egravel road from Pelgrims to Bourke?s Luck and then take the turn off over the Caspersneck pass.
If you can chuck this metal ball out of the tyre & back in you get a free beer!
Petrol stop in Pelgrims
Johny at the Vine pub said that the road was �± 500 meters past the Barloworld farm,
so when I passed the farm I saw a nice road leading towards the mountain. This was not Caspersneck, but a fine route none the less.
Excalibur & Crazy Eyes had turned around as they realized we were on the wrong route, so halfway up the mountain when I stopped for a smokebreak, Ufudo informed me about this. He volunteered to turn back and join them, while the rest of us continued on this unknown road. We would then turn towards Ohrigstad and meet them somewhere along that road. Our route took us up and over the mountain, and eventually we hit the tarr road that lead to Ohrigstad. We met Ufudo, Excalibur & Kary Eyes,
and decided we gonna cross Caspers Neck from this side
while they headed back to the campsite. Caspers Neck was a breeze, and by 16:00 we were all back at the campsite in Pelgrims.
That night we had a mean fire, braaied some meat and talked nonsense till late into the night. Saturday morning we rose and discussed which route we were gonna ride that day. Nobody was sure what or where we were gonna ride, so I suggested lets ride to Mariepskop. The idea was met favourably so everybody packed, except Excalibur & myself as we wanted to return to Pelgrims and spend the night there. Meanwhile Funacide & Gustav (Amstel) headed back to Gauteng.
We ate in Graskop
and then headed towards Blesbokrand, before we turned north on the easter side of the Blyde river canyon. This route was absolutely awesome and had everything from flat out sections, water crossings,
mud & even some sand.
Beer break
We got the Mariepskop
and
managed to bribe our way past the guard to get to the top. Our efforts were rewarded with an absolutely awesome view over the Klaserie part of the country.
In our efforts to find the best viewpoint we managed to loose Digital Dan, and once we got back to the guard at the boom he told us DD was there but had turned back up the mountain.
It was getting late so Excalibur & myself decided to leave while the other waited on him, as we had not packed our tents, etc as we planned on staying at Pelgrims again.
The others were gonna stay at the Swadini Aventura, which was just around the corner.
Excalibur & myself got back to Pelgrims
after passing the Bobbers pass in the dark ? not fun,
just in time to see the Bulls winning, and then sat down to watch the Stormers beating the Crusaders J. During the half time break the barman meantioned that he would eat a raw egg if the Stormers won. Well we held him to his word.
Meanwhile Excalibur & myself was having too much redwine!
The barman decided we were gonna stay till very late so he served us a concoxtion that saw me heading for my bed in minutes
Sunday morning we headed to Graskop, on to Hazyview and had breakfast at Woodsman in Sabie. After breakfast it was Longtom pass on to Lydenburg, over Steenkampsberg pass on the Middelburg and via N4 to Pta to watch the MotoGp which started at 14:00. We travelled some awesome routes and had lts of laughter & fun.
In hindsight the group was maybe a bit too big, it?s difficult to please everybody all the time, but for a fisrt time we did one helluva job. Thanks to all for their patience and contributions. We will ride again.
Topic: Mpumalanga (Read 5572 times)
