Hogsback Mountain - no cowboys were harmed

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wino

Race Dog
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
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Bike
Honda XL650V Transalp
Day 1

Two weeks of leave with the bash smack bang in the middle! The first couple of days were spent with the family (especially the new addition) building some credits and then on the Thursday morning I was away. I hit the road early in order to miss the Joburg traffic, taking the R59 and down to Heilbron. I felt elated â?? it has been a while since my tour in April!! It is a drugâ?¦

The plan was to hit the dirt from Heilbron, but not before capturing a pic of the local church.

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Just outside of Heilbron I got onto the gravel and it felt GOOD! Early morning, fresh air, slight cloud cover, the only person on these roads = perfect.

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Although many parts of the route could be done at high speed, there was just no need in me to do it. I was pleasantly surprised by the route I chose â?? snaking along over and down hills.

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Plenty of flowers around to speckle the countryside with a bit of colour:

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The sad part of traveling in the countryside is that the realization that many homesteads have now been abandoned sinks in every time. Whatever the reason for the moves to town, or giving up farming because maybe the son wants to become a computer geek, there is just a sadness about it. Nevertheless, the ruins always intrigue me â?? what kind of life was once lived here?

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Notice the old and new in contrast. None could hold out.

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Gliding along - man, I just love my bike! Iâ??m not one to give pet names to machines, but on rides like this the romance of it all just comes together. A solitary ride, but feeling so much part of the bike and the surrounds.

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If I remember correctly, this is the church in Paul Roux:

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Aah, the view of mountains:

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The church in Rosendal â?? the creep of commercialism is entering this hamlet. Good or bad? Kilroy and I had a discussion about the commercializing of small towns whilst having breakfast in Clarens. Probably very difficult to be objective if one is not one of the locals in the town. Time to buy a small town for preservation?

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Time for a good rest â?? I had nowhere to rush to. I threw myself to the ground so that the Swedish female tourists could have their way with me â?¦ back to reality.

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The road eventually took me to Peka Bridge. Luckily I did not have my passport with me, temptation would have found me.

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And on towards Ladybrand, to meet up with Funacide, Poppipants and Kilroy.

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Stopped in Ladybrand to stock up on some food and beers for the evening. Out to the guest farm there was a 5km stretch of gravel â?? never, ever in my life have I ridden so slow. I can at last honestly say that the beers made me do it.

The bar/restaurant of the Oldenburg lodge. While waiting for the group, I entertained myself to some beers.

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This was the view from the voorstoep of our chalet, with springbok and zebras roaming within eyesight:

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They arrive.

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The evening we introduced Funacide and Poppipants to the artistry of lie dice. I think we created a monster in Funacideâ?¦
 
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