Was there any rear entry action at the EC bash?

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DirtyTeNeReLess

Grey Hound
Joined
Aug 24, 2011
Messages
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Location
Pretoria!
Bike
Yamaha T7
ja there was, we mounted the baviaans from the rear. and she pushed back!!!! :deal:

after lots of comments and people saying its plastic country we pushed on. 1 XR650L, 2 sixnientees, 1 660 Tenere. lets just say. we kakked off for 4.5 hours to get 10ks over that damn mountain. couple wipe outs, couple tumbles. not knowing what was ahead was murder. kept thinking. this is only the start... oh shit. oh shit. only found out later on that the Tenere as the heaviest and least powerful bike on that hill. if i knew that at the start i wouldn't have made it (attitude/confidence is all you need). ja and some older dogs will say "your stuffing your bike up" and "pulling it through your arse" but this is why i bought that damn thing to USE it and grow my skills, and if its stuffed when i sell it thats good USAGE. ;-) Ive done few weeks long trip (4000ks), a long weekend trip (1700ks) and now i wanted to push the envelope on the technical abilities of the tenere. it offers you a little everything. not the best for touring but tours well enough to enjoy it. not the best technical bike but got me up and and down the baviaans in every concievable entry point. East/west/side/rear. I use the bike. and dont polish it for sunday runs... now just need to tend to some minor repair work and carry on. whats next to do? hmmmm. Namibia.  :thumleft:

and before anyone asks. my screen was already off before this trip. in spectacular form outside the local pub in PE i (after many beers) failed in an attempt of jumping the curb (like I do at least once a week) and wiped it in full view of all the patrons... FFS.  :peepwall:

:biggrin: so the plan to get into the baviaans on the rear-entry route (Aka Steytlerville pass) came together in the end.  :ricky:

started off 6am from PE with the 4 brave soldiers. Jules, DirtyXT, plug and MURPHY brought some in flight snacks, Jules recons we should do grootrivierpoort to warm up on the way in.  :3some:

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elands river road. man it was cold. the fancy oke on the 690's told us the temp was 4 degrees!!!

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stopped off for a quick braai just after the rivier crossing, nothing real exciting to report on that section, rooibok wors supplied by Murphy. met 13 chaps going to grootrivier poort. found out later the big bikes kakked off a bit with one being left behind and some injuries. waiting for that report.

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coming into SteylterVille, now warmed up.
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heading towards the pass. tried to get some shots of the mountain. basically Doorn kloof is dead centre other side of that hill. this is heading south into baviaans so you can get your barings.

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close up. trying to find the entry gate. took one seriously rocky wrong turn

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some loose rock coming into the start, was feeling good. i prefer beginners luck. if i don't think too much about it and give it stick the chances are ill make it. at this point confidence/fitness was still pretty high. and although the pics look flat these angles and between 40/65 degrees, with massive rock steps. and occasionally reminders that a concrete twee spoor was once there. sadly all the hardcore stuff doesn't get a pic as stopping was not possible.

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first place to take a pic, not a lot of stopping moments.
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hope fully MURPHY gives you some idea of the angles.
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and
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here is a vid i took of Jules and one when i was waiting hopefully get some action. I heard them kakking off.  :pot:  i load another one soon.
Jules. the camera lies... and he didn't stop because the angle was that steep.
https://youtu.be/vOPCDD6s83A
waiting.
https://youtu.be/Xs27eubuKmU

this was i think my first tumble, with Jules behind me i took the inside line of the switchback. totally underestimated the angles (the outside track was much less of an angle). later Jules reckoned that was were he kakked himself the most as i was coming down to him and he was on a ledge. some creative tumbling on my part and i missed him. Jules swing that GO PRO footage here!!! I think in the end i bailed 3 times properly. I was conserving my strength and waiting for the others to come help me pick my bike up. picking up your bike at those angles will ruin you. baring in mind we are all weekend riders like this and fitness was our biggest problem. we all know how to do it and can do it but when fatigue kicks in your confidence levels drop and before you know it the easy things become hard.

after that there was a lot of walking up and down to give each other a hand. that drained our energy quickly. and THATS ONLY when it started getting hectic, you need a serious attitude and aggression to keep things going here. to be 100% honest and true I did twice ask plug to take my bike over a section, he seemed to have all the confidence in the world. Hare scrambles / enduro racing. big up to that man. (wonder if he will still let me take a 1190 for a test run ;-))
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this was just after a particularly stepped section after i think switch back number 5, there is no forgiveness here. if you cock up and come off your down the mountain. adding fatigue I took the wiser option as I didn't have the confidence to risk serious injury. maybe next time ill have a better idea of what im getting into. and can take more on.

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just after that I found some balls accepted this was how its going to be and started smashing my way up. to give you an idea the angles were such you needed momentum but those steps slow you down so much and giving it gas simply just lifts the front (at this point you are dead still so getting momentum is tricky) and there isn't much more angles left to prevent a total flip. to the delight and cheers of Jules and plug as i came past them through a particular gnarly section. wish i found that at the start but needed to settled into the challenge a bit.

round about here we started hearing other bikes, now the pressure was on. I had images of Edgy coming past on the back wheel having a smoke and laughing as I kakked off... they eventually did catch us at the top as we debated the loooong walk to the tower. he rocked up with a XR 650 and a effing 950 SE????? man I was gob smacked at that. GreatDane. makes me look bad. ;-)

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down hill was just as hectic but gravity played its part. was super loose and after Edgy said this part is steep!!! WTF. i set off. took one tumble as my gear speed was a little to fast for my tastes and feather the rear and front brake resulting in a oopsy. having 6 bike bearing down on me I got up realy quick and let Edgy and GreatDane go past. dont want that sort of pressure!!! picking a bike up going down a hill is easy peasy.

hand started swelling at the top (this was the first bail when Jules was behind me, smacked my mitt on a rock), GreatDane gave me some anti-inflamatories. lekker guy.
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having some fun waiting for MURPHY and Jules to tackle the below stretches.
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and thats it. the down stretch went quick and couldnt come sooner as when i reached the baviaans road to the bash i could have dropped on the floor and kissed that beautiful dirty road. sad part. i didnt walk to the tower. so no sticker. Edgy told me later he did when he went up the other way to find a lost bag... maybe I should take up knitting. or get a lighter bike  more powerful bike.

as promised Jupiter delivered a kop for me.
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i can say that its not for me. had 1 eye (nearly lost my stomach digging it out and chewing it), some of the face skin. all of the tongue and some brain on bread... and the cheek. that was nice. but THAT but me off skaap the rest of the night, couldnt even have come of the spit...














 
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