Benoni to Tzaneen and the long way back. 2 days. 3 bikes, 1100km.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
1,650
Reaction score
478
Location
Sierck-Les-Bains, France, (Formerly Benoni, SA)
Bike
Triumph 800 XC
I've owned my Triumph Tiger 800XC since late July and have only ever done day rides. Lots of them. This, as you all well know, is simply not good enough. To make matters worse, my rifing exploits are carefully rationed out owing to the fact that I work overseas, mostly in Saudi Arabia but also in the UK and France. 5 weeks away, 3 weeks at home, repeat.
This time away from my bikes (The other one is a XR600) is agonizing and torturous. Therefore I spend my lonely nights in hotel rooms, plotting my next ride.
My cousin Warren and I have been riding buddies since we were 16, and nothing has changed. We've been meaning to head up to Tzaneen for quite a while, as that is where he lived for a while, and where I spent many happy teenage holidays.
So finally we settled on a date between Christmas and New Year 2014 and made our plans.
Another mate of mine, Gus, who also has a Tiger enthusiastically volunteered to join us on the ride. Three of us it was!!

The Tiger was packed, and ready on the 26th for an early morning departure on the 27th December. Balsak is still to come...
IMG-20141228-WA0000.jpeg


Warren sent me a photo of his 1200GS ADV, packed and ready that evening..
IMG-20141228-WA0006.jpg


Gus at the Engen on the PTA Hiway, where we rode out to meet up with Warren..
IMG_1648.JPG


Warren standing at my heavily loaded bike at the Engen. His Beemer in the background.
IMG_1649.JPG


So we set off, deciding to slab it all the way to Pietersburg. We wanted to get to Haenertsburg as soon as possible so as to be able to enjoy the mountain passes around Tzaneen. I was the only sucker without a rain suit. As we got about 80km before Pietersburg it began to spit.
Warren and Gus under a bridge, suiting up to stay dry.
20141229_084349.jpg


By sheer luck we somehow managed to stay behind the storm, riding on wet roads, but not getting more than a few drops of rain on ourselves. The following sequence of pics give you an idea of the severity of the rain storm moving just ahead of us:-
A river in flood...
IMG_1650.JPG


IMG_1651.JPG


IMG_1652.JPG


We couldn't have been more than 3km behind that big evil cloud.

When we pulled in to gas up in Pietersburg, the rain started getting nasty, so I opted to check out the local Midas for a rain suit.
I went into a very bleak looking Midas, with a lot of empty shelves, due to a heavy Christmas season. I was not feeling optimistic, and upon being directed to the shelf where rain suits are kept, it was empty.
A helpful dude behind the spares counter saw me looking all forlorn and asked me what I was looking for. Luckily he had one on a different shelf. The last one, and it fitted me!!
No pics, sadly.

We headed out towards Tzaneen, and no sooner had we left P'burg when it started bucketing down on us. There I was, dry and happy in my new rain suit.
We decided to stop for breakfast in Haenertsburg..
20141229_114325.jpg


The rain definitely put a damper on trade..
We ended up only having a coffee, as the service was a bit (LOT) slack.
I played with my Sony action cam while we waited for the coffee.
PICT_20141229_120153.JPG


Eventually we consulted with some locals who recommended we get breakfast a bit further down the road towards Tzaneen.
Back on the bikes.
DSC01645.JPG


Hungry and looking for food..
DSC01650.JPG


DSC01654.JPG


The Pot 'n Plow.. Good Pizza!!
DSC01663.JPG


Crappy pic I lifted from my helmet camera which I forgot to turn off..
PICT_20141229_122841.JPG


From there it was back in the saddle and headed towards Tzaneen with a full stomach and a smile on the dial!!


 
Top