Husky Ride to Bezhuidenhouts Pass and Old Mill Route (almost)

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alanB

Grey Hound
Joined
Apr 28, 2010
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Location
Johannesburg
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Husqvarna (all models)
I decided it was time to go on another trip a while ago and opened negotiations with TK (Tony) and Straatkat (Bertie) on the subject.

After a few suggestions back and forth via email we settled on the weekend of the 24th Oct - destination Bezhuidenhout's Pass (camping at Sterkies Dam) and then from there to Clarens to ride the Old Mill Route.

So all was set.

Unfortunately Julian, Bertie's mate, pulled out at the last moment (he was initially going to join us on his HP2). So it was just the three of us on 610's.

I planned a route down from the Blockhouse One Stop on the R59 trying to stick to sand roads as much as possible all the way to Sterkies where we would camp on Friday night.  

I didn't have time to do much more.  Because, as is always the case, the weeks leading up to the trip suddenly became very hectic work-wise and I was very distracted.  

So I ended up getting the bike ready late Thursday night and hurriedly tossing stuff in the bag, without a hell of a lot of preparation.

Just before I went to sleep I realised I hadn't transferred the route to my GPs, so I had to get up and do that - good thing I did because I also realised I hadn't  even thought about the Old Mill Route and how to find it.  

I remembered downloading the GPS track from the forum a while ago, so in my tired state, I found that and transferred that as well onto my GPS.  I had to do it a few times because it didn't show up initially (this might be a cause of what ensued later  :p ::)).

Anyway, next morning I sprang from bed, sorted out all the work stuff with my partner and finished packing.

Was just about to leave when I received a call from Bertie who was stuck on the side of the road 5 k's from home with a bike that had just cut out! :eek: :patch:  He was obviously quite frustrated and was talking about not making it and going home.  But luckily after some thought and calls back and forth we identified the cause of the problem (he had given his bike a thorough going over and had inadvertently got the choke cable stuck when he reassembled it all).  So he disconnected the choke cable and all was well.  :thumleft: :ricky:

I was very relieved because it would have been a real pity if he had to withdraw due to something so small.

So eventually we all met at the Block House One Stop an hour or so late.

Bez1.JPG


After a hurried breakfast (for Bertie) we headed off.

The sand roads my GPS found leading from there down to Villiers were superb!  They were smooth, un-corrugated and deserted!

It was a nice day and it was great to be away from the stresses of work.  

I soon got into a great mood  :ricky:

We stopped a couple of times on the way down.  It was very hot, my ambient temp gauge was showing 30C!

Bez2.JPG


Bez3.JPG


On the second stop, we could see storm clouds building on the horizon in front of us and lighting and thunder were constantly evident.

It was clear that we had picked the 1st weekend of spring in which proper rains would start again for the year!  It didn't look like we could avoid getting a thorough soaking.

But being very tough, we all put on our rain suites (except me who didn't have one, and was really wishing I had :p) and pressed on regardless.



 
 
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