- Joined
- Feb 6, 2006
- Messages
- 10,516
- Reaction score
- 4,156
- Location
- Cape Town, deep in the lentils
- Bike
- KTM 990 Adventure
Wilddog Hogs? You get them but they are very rare, only 20 in existence. But I am getting ahead of myself.
I was a late entrant to this, work that was scheduled disappeared so it seemed like I wouldn't have an excuse not to go.
Hmmm, routes?
The idea of tar for a 1000k's to go for a drink seemed like a kuk idea so Google Earth and I plotted a route that was mostly a straight line between Swellendam and Hogsback. I'd decided that Swellendam was really going to be the start of the trip for a few reasons; Dirt from Cape Town would have been too far and I have done a lot of the dirt around here anyway. Also, I have access to a camp in Swellendam for free so that seemed like the obvious place to start.
The route according to Google Earth was 756k's and that was mostly straight lines so it would be closer to 900k's if I didn't get lost and kept to the route.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=118374918996877371476.00043d60e8db6c27b8edd&z=7&om=1
Nico and Shameel were initially keen to join me but sanity prevailed and they decided that it was probably a bit of stretch and joined the bunch going through to Mossel Bay. I was in equal measure disappointed and glad, Disappointed as it is wiser to travel that far with a buddy or two and I enjoy riding with others, glad as both are a little new to gravel and the pace needed may have seen us having to defer to the tar to make up time.
Bike serviced with fresh TKC 80 meat, packed ready for the day.
Initially I was just going to shoot through to Swellies but once on the top of Sir Loweries
I thought I'd give Nico a call and see if he had left yet. He was just about to leave and was going to be at the Shell garage in 15 minutes to meet up with Shameel. Hmmm, cool! So I coasted back down to the garage and after a short wait they arrived. Shameel wasn't expecting me and his face was a picture.
Let's ride.
The ride was relaxed and I had a chance to try get some photo's of the two of them. I have a throttle lock that allows me to fiddle with the camera while riding, it doesn't look too good from another's perspective as the bike wanders around from the wind whilst taking pictures.
The local road works people.
I waved Nico and Shameel goodbye at the Malgas turnoff.
At one of the road work stops I checked the chain tension as there was a bit more vibration than I am used to coming through the frame. The tyre guys must have adjusted it and it was too tight, so this was the spot to change it.
Home for the night; I got a waterfront cottage. You all missed out on fine and free food and lodging.
A few drinks with the guys there and off to bed.
4.50am, it was overcast and just getting light when I left, perfect for riding, I was hoping that it wouldn't rain and that is not the best ingredient for dirt.
Just past Buffelsjaghts, some ostridges we being photogenic;
Initially I had planned to go over Gysmans Hoek pass, but, as I have done it already and there was going to be a lot of virgin dirt I would just have been being greedy so I changed plan and went over Gacia's Pass at Riversdale.
First mistake; I took the wrong road out of Riversdale and was travelling parallel to the mountains instead of going over it. Damn! Ok, so that was an extra 30k's
Second mistake; Once over the pass I turned right one dirt road too soon. Can't tell you what the name of the valley is but it is a dead end with a farm called boplaas at the end of it. Pretty though.
Ok, route to Van Wyksdorp take 2.
I had printed and bound a little route map as my GPS is broken. It made it more of an effort. GPS kind of robs you of the uncertainty of whether you are on the right track and the euphoria once you know you've got it right and after all this is a bit of an adventure anyway. I was using the two trip meters to measure distance for fuel and distances between critical turns.
I knew that I was bound to make mistakes but to let them piss me off would affect the way I ride. I gave myself a little pep talk about keeping a good attitude and that I was going to enjoy even the mistakes and just deal with them as they cropped up. Getting pissed off is invariably going to lead to more bad decision making and it really distracts one from needing to be in the 'groove' to ride well. I had to cover the ground at a good pace that also left a good margin for error and being pissed off while riding can be seriously bad for one's health.
Van Wyksdorp came and went. I had spied a little short cut to Rooiberg Pass that turned out to be tight and technical and had me whooping in the helmet. It was the first time my routing and trip metre system worked Yeha! ''Check, I am doing the Dakar thing!'' If you are like me then these fantasies crop up often.
Rooiberg pass has some fine powder on the switchbacks going up that would have been seriously unpleasant if the heavy threatening clouds had let loose. Trips have moments of memories that leap out; this section was one of them. I was having fun, the bike was going well, the road had it all tight U bends, jumps, quick corners and great views. In the moment of it all I over cooked a few places just to keep the adrenal glands busy. It is interesting the way the gravel changes; on the way up it is rutted and stony while the way down the road is a different gravel that is smoother but with less grip with loads of humps directly into off camber turns recipe for making a mess of it if not concentrating.
Ok, Oudshorn had better arrive soon as the fuel light started to make itself irritating. Having fun eats fuel. I can get close to about 300k's with very conservative riding but where's the fun in that? Rooiberg plus the wrong turns had me thinking about walking at just over 220k's.
A KTM 950 has an official 22 litre tank!
Ok, bikes full, I needed refuelling too. Breakfast, you gotta love small homely cafés. It was 9.20am here, I was thinking I had done pretty well.
Oudshorn to just past De Rust was unavoidable tar. From there I had found a gravel road that ran parallel to the R341 for a bit before it rejoined then headed back towards the mountain, it was fast gravel and the odd corner to keep one busy. I messed this up and somehow missed the second section and was in Willowmore for more fuel. The challenge here was that for some reason I could not get the one fuel cap open? The key would not go all the way in.
Breathe! Think good thoughts towards the cap. Go for a piss. Nope. Hmmmmm!
The KTM has two tanks that are connected by a thin 6mm pipe, great idea if you have broken one tank but shit it you can't get one of them open. Breaking the key in the hole here would be just as useless. Then after much swearing and battling to keep my ''good attitude'' it opened, never to bother me again? Was it a message? A sign? Well if it was I still haven't worked it out.
There is a section of gravel that once you leave Willowmore goes down a valley that has a lot of game farms in it. It was another amazing riding section. I was blasting through and really enjoying the ipods contribution to the entertainment. The road has quite dense bush on either side that makes looking far ahead quite hard but then climbs up onto a wider open section.
Big sky.
Klipplaat. Wish you never have to live in Klipplaat. It must have some redeeming features but I certainly didn't see it. It looks like it used to be a big shunting station but now looks like it is only has a ghost town tag to look forward to.
They are busy building a tar road between it and the next town Jansenville, they shouldn't have bothered. Needless to say Klipplaat to Jansenville it just boring and flat with roadworks.
Jansenville was where I was slightly uneasy about the route. It looked when I was planning it that it was just a maze of small farm roads. Most farm roads come with gates and some of them can come with locks too. The distance was pretty large and I wouldn't be able to make many mistakes.
The terain had changed to more thorny cactus type stuff but the riding was brilliant, another highlight. Most of the time I had decisions like this to make. At one juntion, much like any other this was the choice
Go this way;
Or
Only my mapping knew. If you ever get here, it is the left one.
I only opened two gates, or rather I opened up the same one twice when I went up a road that dead ended before I got it right. This section was very quick; it is mostly flat and open so this was where the KTM starts to kill distance. It is easy to hold very high speeds, this is just as exhilarating as the slower sliding stuff.
Somerset East?! I know where Somerset West is. Normally the western and eastern parts of a town are not 700km's apart? What's up with that?
Somerset East then a boring stretch of tar to Cookhouse. Another mystery of this part of the world; Cookhouse? You'd think that you'd be able to find something decent to eat in a place called Cookhouse? Nope, just crappy samoosas and bananas and a coke. That was lunch, I've had better.
From Cookhouse I took a shortcut to Bedford and from there to Adelaide. This whole crazy adventure was coming together, I was going to make it, Adelaide was not far from Hogsback. Yes! It was either in Bedford or Adelaide that I bumped into Scribble and Peter Styversant (Sean). Or rather PS standing outside a bank with Scribbles bike. Apparently Scribble was busy measuring a bank said Sean? Measuring a bank? And they let you! Most times you'd assume that their profession was robbing banks when some tells you they are measuring a bank. Bank robbing must be getting easier or I have the wrong end of that stick.
Ok, second last leg. It looked like I should easily make sundowners with the dogs.
My maps said turn right 25.4 k's on the gravel to the Katberg Pass after Adelaide. I was not sure if I had missed the turn but a turn came up at 48k's. I took it but soon started to go into what looked like a dead end valley. I was taking wrong decision on top of wrong decisions. So I decided to go back to the last place that I knew where I was. But first I had to sort out a pressing need.
See that on the handle bars?
The maps and a bog roll.
I had worked so hard to stay focused and concentrate on the trip and riding but it seems that my pressing need had started to impact on this. It is amazing what taking a squat can do for the ability to focus again. Maybe my brains are down there?
Anyway, I couldn't find anyone to ask for directions even after riding up to a farm house that seemed like it was in use but everything was closed and locked. I had eaten into a lot of the light I had left and fuel was soon going to be a problem if I didn't sort the puzzle out soon.
I backtracked to the 25k mark and would you know it, there was a turn off but no sign posts except for a gate saying Security for a game farm called Mpofu. Whilst stopped trying to make heads or tails of this I noticed that the signboard for the turn had been run over and was lying in the bush. It said Fort Beaford! Halleluiah! Great, back on track but I had to take a critical turn 3k's on or it would have been the long way around.
Through the park;
Finally Seymore, it was 6.30pm.
I asked a local if there was a petrol station in Seymore, ''Yes, just turn right over there and it is on the left"
I do this, nothing?
Ask two young guys, they point to a house. Ahh so the pumps must be on the other side. Nope. It's just a house?
Oh, I get it now, they sell petrolâ?¦ in 5 litre cans.
R46 for 5 litres of leaded nogal. Cheap when you are in my situation.
Choosing the route I had seen a 4x4 track that goes up to Hogsback called Mitchells Pass. On riding into Seymore, I just wanted to get to Hogsback now and decided that since the sun had set that maybe riding a 4x4 track wasn't the best plan. Pieter Styversant had warned me that it had a very difficult section with boulders and huge ruts. But just as I left the "petrol station" I saw a board; Hogsback 20km, 4x4 vehicles only.
Fuck it.
I took it and after a little while I came to this and smiled as I recognised it from a previous ride report.
It was 7pm on the dot at the top and light was fading fast.
Oops, what's the name of the venue?
Doos!
(more to come...)
I was a late entrant to this, work that was scheduled disappeared so it seemed like I wouldn't have an excuse not to go.
Hmmm, routes?
The idea of tar for a 1000k's to go for a drink seemed like a kuk idea so Google Earth and I plotted a route that was mostly a straight line between Swellendam and Hogsback. I'd decided that Swellendam was really going to be the start of the trip for a few reasons; Dirt from Cape Town would have been too far and I have done a lot of the dirt around here anyway. Also, I have access to a camp in Swellendam for free so that seemed like the obvious place to start.
The route according to Google Earth was 756k's and that was mostly straight lines so it would be closer to 900k's if I didn't get lost and kept to the route.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=118374918996877371476.00043d60e8db6c27b8edd&z=7&om=1
Nico and Shameel were initially keen to join me but sanity prevailed and they decided that it was probably a bit of stretch and joined the bunch going through to Mossel Bay. I was in equal measure disappointed and glad, Disappointed as it is wiser to travel that far with a buddy or two and I enjoy riding with others, glad as both are a little new to gravel and the pace needed may have seen us having to defer to the tar to make up time.
Bike serviced with fresh TKC 80 meat, packed ready for the day.
Initially I was just going to shoot through to Swellies but once on the top of Sir Loweries
I thought I'd give Nico a call and see if he had left yet. He was just about to leave and was going to be at the Shell garage in 15 minutes to meet up with Shameel. Hmmm, cool! So I coasted back down to the garage and after a short wait they arrived. Shameel wasn't expecting me and his face was a picture.
Let's ride.
The ride was relaxed and I had a chance to try get some photo's of the two of them. I have a throttle lock that allows me to fiddle with the camera while riding, it doesn't look too good from another's perspective as the bike wanders around from the wind whilst taking pictures.
The local road works people.
I waved Nico and Shameel goodbye at the Malgas turnoff.
At one of the road work stops I checked the chain tension as there was a bit more vibration than I am used to coming through the frame. The tyre guys must have adjusted it and it was too tight, so this was the spot to change it.
Home for the night; I got a waterfront cottage. You all missed out on fine and free food and lodging.
A few drinks with the guys there and off to bed.
4.50am, it was overcast and just getting light when I left, perfect for riding, I was hoping that it wouldn't rain and that is not the best ingredient for dirt.
Just past Buffelsjaghts, some ostridges we being photogenic;
Initially I had planned to go over Gysmans Hoek pass, but, as I have done it already and there was going to be a lot of virgin dirt I would just have been being greedy so I changed plan and went over Gacia's Pass at Riversdale.
First mistake; I took the wrong road out of Riversdale and was travelling parallel to the mountains instead of going over it. Damn! Ok, so that was an extra 30k's
Second mistake; Once over the pass I turned right one dirt road too soon. Can't tell you what the name of the valley is but it is a dead end with a farm called boplaas at the end of it. Pretty though.
Ok, route to Van Wyksdorp take 2.
I had printed and bound a little route map as my GPS is broken. It made it more of an effort. GPS kind of robs you of the uncertainty of whether you are on the right track and the euphoria once you know you've got it right and after all this is a bit of an adventure anyway. I was using the two trip meters to measure distance for fuel and distances between critical turns.
I knew that I was bound to make mistakes but to let them piss me off would affect the way I ride. I gave myself a little pep talk about keeping a good attitude and that I was going to enjoy even the mistakes and just deal with them as they cropped up. Getting pissed off is invariably going to lead to more bad decision making and it really distracts one from needing to be in the 'groove' to ride well. I had to cover the ground at a good pace that also left a good margin for error and being pissed off while riding can be seriously bad for one's health.
Van Wyksdorp came and went. I had spied a little short cut to Rooiberg Pass that turned out to be tight and technical and had me whooping in the helmet. It was the first time my routing and trip metre system worked Yeha! ''Check, I am doing the Dakar thing!'' If you are like me then these fantasies crop up often.
Rooiberg pass has some fine powder on the switchbacks going up that would have been seriously unpleasant if the heavy threatening clouds had let loose. Trips have moments of memories that leap out; this section was one of them. I was having fun, the bike was going well, the road had it all tight U bends, jumps, quick corners and great views. In the moment of it all I over cooked a few places just to keep the adrenal glands busy. It is interesting the way the gravel changes; on the way up it is rutted and stony while the way down the road is a different gravel that is smoother but with less grip with loads of humps directly into off camber turns recipe for making a mess of it if not concentrating.
Ok, Oudshorn had better arrive soon as the fuel light started to make itself irritating. Having fun eats fuel. I can get close to about 300k's with very conservative riding but where's the fun in that? Rooiberg plus the wrong turns had me thinking about walking at just over 220k's.
A KTM 950 has an official 22 litre tank!
Ok, bikes full, I needed refuelling too. Breakfast, you gotta love small homely cafés. It was 9.20am here, I was thinking I had done pretty well.
Oudshorn to just past De Rust was unavoidable tar. From there I had found a gravel road that ran parallel to the R341 for a bit before it rejoined then headed back towards the mountain, it was fast gravel and the odd corner to keep one busy. I messed this up and somehow missed the second section and was in Willowmore for more fuel. The challenge here was that for some reason I could not get the one fuel cap open? The key would not go all the way in.
Breathe! Think good thoughts towards the cap. Go for a piss. Nope. Hmmmmm!
The KTM has two tanks that are connected by a thin 6mm pipe, great idea if you have broken one tank but shit it you can't get one of them open. Breaking the key in the hole here would be just as useless. Then after much swearing and battling to keep my ''good attitude'' it opened, never to bother me again? Was it a message? A sign? Well if it was I still haven't worked it out.
There is a section of gravel that once you leave Willowmore goes down a valley that has a lot of game farms in it. It was another amazing riding section. I was blasting through and really enjoying the ipods contribution to the entertainment. The road has quite dense bush on either side that makes looking far ahead quite hard but then climbs up onto a wider open section.
Big sky.
Klipplaat. Wish you never have to live in Klipplaat. It must have some redeeming features but I certainly didn't see it. It looks like it used to be a big shunting station but now looks like it is only has a ghost town tag to look forward to.
They are busy building a tar road between it and the next town Jansenville, they shouldn't have bothered. Needless to say Klipplaat to Jansenville it just boring and flat with roadworks.
Jansenville was where I was slightly uneasy about the route. It looked when I was planning it that it was just a maze of small farm roads. Most farm roads come with gates and some of them can come with locks too. The distance was pretty large and I wouldn't be able to make many mistakes.
The terain had changed to more thorny cactus type stuff but the riding was brilliant, another highlight. Most of the time I had decisions like this to make. At one juntion, much like any other this was the choice
Go this way;
Or
Only my mapping knew. If you ever get here, it is the left one.
I only opened two gates, or rather I opened up the same one twice when I went up a road that dead ended before I got it right. This section was very quick; it is mostly flat and open so this was where the KTM starts to kill distance. It is easy to hold very high speeds, this is just as exhilarating as the slower sliding stuff.
Somerset East?! I know where Somerset West is. Normally the western and eastern parts of a town are not 700km's apart? What's up with that?
Somerset East then a boring stretch of tar to Cookhouse. Another mystery of this part of the world; Cookhouse? You'd think that you'd be able to find something decent to eat in a place called Cookhouse? Nope, just crappy samoosas and bananas and a coke. That was lunch, I've had better.
From Cookhouse I took a shortcut to Bedford and from there to Adelaide. This whole crazy adventure was coming together, I was going to make it, Adelaide was not far from Hogsback. Yes! It was either in Bedford or Adelaide that I bumped into Scribble and Peter Styversant (Sean). Or rather PS standing outside a bank with Scribbles bike. Apparently Scribble was busy measuring a bank said Sean? Measuring a bank? And they let you! Most times you'd assume that their profession was robbing banks when some tells you they are measuring a bank. Bank robbing must be getting easier or I have the wrong end of that stick.
Ok, second last leg. It looked like I should easily make sundowners with the dogs.
My maps said turn right 25.4 k's on the gravel to the Katberg Pass after Adelaide. I was not sure if I had missed the turn but a turn came up at 48k's. I took it but soon started to go into what looked like a dead end valley. I was taking wrong decision on top of wrong decisions. So I decided to go back to the last place that I knew where I was. But first I had to sort out a pressing need.
See that on the handle bars?
The maps and a bog roll.
I had worked so hard to stay focused and concentrate on the trip and riding but it seems that my pressing need had started to impact on this. It is amazing what taking a squat can do for the ability to focus again. Maybe my brains are down there?
Anyway, I couldn't find anyone to ask for directions even after riding up to a farm house that seemed like it was in use but everything was closed and locked. I had eaten into a lot of the light I had left and fuel was soon going to be a problem if I didn't sort the puzzle out soon.
I backtracked to the 25k mark and would you know it, there was a turn off but no sign posts except for a gate saying Security for a game farm called Mpofu. Whilst stopped trying to make heads or tails of this I noticed that the signboard for the turn had been run over and was lying in the bush. It said Fort Beaford! Halleluiah! Great, back on track but I had to take a critical turn 3k's on or it would have been the long way around.
Through the park;
Finally Seymore, it was 6.30pm.
I asked a local if there was a petrol station in Seymore, ''Yes, just turn right over there and it is on the left"
I do this, nothing?
Ask two young guys, they point to a house. Ahh so the pumps must be on the other side. Nope. It's just a house?
Oh, I get it now, they sell petrolâ?¦ in 5 litre cans.
R46 for 5 litres of leaded nogal. Cheap when you are in my situation.
Choosing the route I had seen a 4x4 track that goes up to Hogsback called Mitchells Pass. On riding into Seymore, I just wanted to get to Hogsback now and decided that since the sun had set that maybe riding a 4x4 track wasn't the best plan. Pieter Styversant had warned me that it had a very difficult section with boulders and huge ruts. But just as I left the "petrol station" I saw a board; Hogsback 20km, 4x4 vehicles only.
Fuck it.
I took it and after a little while I came to this and smiled as I recognised it from a previous ride report.
It was 7pm on the dot at the top and light was fading fast.
Oops, what's the name of the venue?
Doos!
(more to come...)
