...and then we got high! (21 passes in the Eastern Cape and Lesotho)

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Wayne Duck

Race Dog
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When we think about doing a bike trip I'm sure that most of us think spectacular scenery, lots of dirt tracks, splashing through river beds, negotiating steep mountain passes...and all the while enjoying perfect sunny weather, not too hot, not to cold and definitely not (too) wet. Well this trip was all of the above  :biggrin:

The last two years during the month of May we (my fiance Ronelle and I) took three weeks leave and explored Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe on my bike. During the rest of the year we cover SA, Lesotho and Swaziland on shorter one week trips (see links to these RR's below in my signature). This May we decided to base ourselves in Underberg for three weeks doing a few day rides and one longer, multi-day trip.
So, without any further boring background as to how we found ourselves in Underberg enjoying the "champagne weather", let's hit the road on our five day, 21 passes trip through the Eastern Cape and Lesotho.

My brother Nolan and his wife Jill from Amanzimtoti joined us on their GS650 Dakar.
I will attach our route / tracks file at the end.

Day One - Underberg to Rhodes (292km)

With a very chilly start, around 4 degrees C before the wind chill factor, we left Underberg down the R617, over Kingscote Cutting (pass 1 of 21) and turned left onto the D609 heading for Matatiele. After breakfast and a refuel in Matat we were off to Mt Fletcher and onto the Elandshoogte road (DR08018) which takes you up and over Naude's Nek (pass 2 of 21).































This lead us into Rhodes where we checked into the Rhodes Hotel for a the night. After a few drinks in their bar, a tasty three course meal and a bottle of red, we turned on the electric blankets and slid into our beds.



Day two to follow...
 
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