Swimming in the Baviaans

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Zanie

Race Dog
WD Supporter
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
702
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137
Location
Table View, Cape Town
Bike
Honda CRF-250 Rally
Prequel

The initial plan for the December holiday season was a different type of RR: Rest and Recover; not Ride Report. Yet all it took was an invitation from previous neighbours (now living in Plett) to visit. That got the brain ticking. Why only Plett? Is not Baviaans somewhere in that general direction? Leave applications were sent, accommodation bookings were hastily made and Lance and I headed off 2 weeks later.

It would be our longest bike trip yet, at 8 days. It was a test of some sort, considering we will be heading off to Namibia in May this year and I have only ever done 4-day trips max. The scenery and accommodation would be varied: from camping, tackling a pass that we were told was sworn off by some bikers and the locals, and areas so desolate we didn’t see another vehicle in hours; to high-style freebies and the bustle of Plett on New Year’s Day (not for the faint-hearted).

One of the middle-of-nowhere spots
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Shortly before our trip, as a birthday present in the form of a “free workshop” and skills-building exercise, Lance made me remove my own wheels and tyres, rather than let Trac-Mac do it for me, when I went to get new knobblies. I was pretty chuffed afterwards; knowing I need fear the idea of a puncture no more. Not only did I now know the theory, but the practical as well.

Putting the wheel back on - with new knobbly
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I would get an opportunity to use my new-found skills during our trip …

The routes are available in 3 formats. For the techno-ninja, all the gpx files can be found in my Dropbox (for a limited time only – who knows when I’ll need to create space again). For the middle-of-the-road person, there are Google Maps links, where you can zoom in/out (caveat – Google doesn’t believe in the existence of some of the roads we travelled). For the technophobe there are pretty pictures.

I have added statistics for those interested: route distance, moving time and total time (includes stops along the way). Note: I am a (very) slow rider.
 
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