Day 2
Having slept in the backpackers lodge situated right next to this church (whose bells still irritatingly sounds on every hour) I was up early. Well, I am an early riser?
I only had about 100k?s to go to meet my buds in Jansenville and I had about three hours to kill. So I took up a slow pace, taking in the surrounds of an early Karroo morning. Evidence of a rain shower sometime during the night was all around and it gave the usually dry land a different picturesque quality. Dark clouds lay ominously in wait.
The full moon right above my shadow:
Ah, first dirt of the trip, a little jewel of a winding road with potent scenery collaborating with the low, dark cloud cover:
Eventually the euphoria died as I entered Jansenville, but what a religious structure for such a small town:
So after enjoying a nourishing breakfast in the only restaurant in town and having ridden every street of the town and conversing with a cop that does undercover drug related work (no, he was not selling), I eventually met with these two dirt bags:
From Jansenville we took the gravel to Pearston,
from where we hit the tar for pretty much the rest of the day. In Somerset East, we got word that Michnus and Lito were on there way to Hogsback, which was our destination for the day.
I have yet to find a decent sized Karroo town that does not have a monument for the fallen of the region in the Great War. This one is in Bedford:
The road from here to Alice was winding through the hills ? potholes, stock and imbecile drivers galore! A few k?s after Fort Hare on the way to Hogsback the sudden appearance of the mountains is a real smack in the eyeballs. We pulled over for the tourist action, and lo and behold who rides past? Lito, his girlfriend and Hilde!
Rudeasy followed in hot pursuit:
Who?s the tourist?
For me, there is just something invigorating and enchanting about mountains:
While the rest of the troupe glided through the twisties up the mountain, I noticed a minor detour and was treated to this:
And so it was up the twisties, with breathtaking views all around:
Until we reached the King?s Lodge, where Michnus, Wikus, Lito and Hilde (all ***** persons!) were already having tea (who the hell had the tea?!?).
After Michnus and Wikus left for matrimonial duties Lito was keen for a ride further up to check out the scenery. And spectacular it was! Columns of mist were rolling in and in some patches the setting sun shone through in dramatic fashion:
The black monster showing off its stealth fashion:
A quaint church providing an inspiration for things to come?
And after they did it once, Hilde prodded Lito to do it again ? hope he can live up to other expectations!
And after this spirited ride, it was time to spend some time with friends, old and new at the bar. Later on the lie dice played their part in retiring a ?tired? Rudeasy to bed!
Having slept in the backpackers lodge situated right next to this church (whose bells still irritatingly sounds on every hour) I was up early. Well, I am an early riser?
I only had about 100k?s to go to meet my buds in Jansenville and I had about three hours to kill. So I took up a slow pace, taking in the surrounds of an early Karroo morning. Evidence of a rain shower sometime during the night was all around and it gave the usually dry land a different picturesque quality. Dark clouds lay ominously in wait.
The full moon right above my shadow:
Ah, first dirt of the trip, a little jewel of a winding road with potent scenery collaborating with the low, dark cloud cover:
Eventually the euphoria died as I entered Jansenville, but what a religious structure for such a small town:
So after enjoying a nourishing breakfast in the only restaurant in town and having ridden every street of the town and conversing with a cop that does undercover drug related work (no, he was not selling), I eventually met with these two dirt bags:
From Jansenville we took the gravel to Pearston,
from where we hit the tar for pretty much the rest of the day. In Somerset East, we got word that Michnus and Lito were on there way to Hogsback, which was our destination for the day.
I have yet to find a decent sized Karroo town that does not have a monument for the fallen of the region in the Great War. This one is in Bedford:
The road from here to Alice was winding through the hills ? potholes, stock and imbecile drivers galore! A few k?s after Fort Hare on the way to Hogsback the sudden appearance of the mountains is a real smack in the eyeballs. We pulled over for the tourist action, and lo and behold who rides past? Lito, his girlfriend and Hilde!
Rudeasy followed in hot pursuit:
Who?s the tourist?
For me, there is just something invigorating and enchanting about mountains:
While the rest of the troupe glided through the twisties up the mountain, I noticed a minor detour and was treated to this:
And so it was up the twisties, with breathtaking views all around:
Until we reached the King?s Lodge, where Michnus, Wikus, Lito and Hilde (all ***** persons!) were already having tea (who the hell had the tea?!?).
After Michnus and Wikus left for matrimonial duties Lito was keen for a ride further up to check out the scenery. And spectacular it was! Columns of mist were rolling in and in some patches the setting sun shone through in dramatic fashion:
The black monster showing off its stealth fashion:
A quaint church providing an inspiration for things to come?
And after they did it once, Hilde prodded Lito to do it again ? hope he can live up to other expectations!
And after this spirited ride, it was time to spend some time with friends, old and new at the bar. Later on the lie dice played their part in retiring a ?tired? Rudeasy to bed!
