So I decided to scout a few new unridden routes, solo.
Tar from Mossel Bay to Armoed on the R328 left turn onto the concrete road that runs past the hot springs then left on dirt road to the base of Rooiberg Pass. Over the pass and at the bottom of the pass on the Van Wyks Dorps side I turned left which eventually comes out again on the R328. This road is really remote and has no traffic at all, farms in the area have been abandoned years ago. Great road to ride but has a number of gates to open and close.
At the 3rd gate I opened and rode through and placed the fat girl on her side stand on a rock because it was sloped to the side stand side. As I close the gate I hear the fat girl fall over. Tried picking her up with a big heave but the only thing that happened was my back clicking and quite some pain. Now sweating so off with all the gear. An hour later still huffing and puffing, swearing and sweating decide to phone my son to come help, no signal, also no water. Should I walk or should I spend the night and wait until I’m missed or by chance a vehicle might come along. Problem was wifey and son don’t know what route I took.
After many more painful attempts I eventually decided the only way was to dig holes under the wheels drop her in and ride her out, easy as that, no! Started digging with some shale piece as the road is compacted and hard shale. Eventually I took out my tubeless puncture repair kit and used the T spike to break up the shale and scrape it out with my hands. An hour and a half later they seemed deep enough so used some larger rocks to prop under the head and gave her a painful shove into the holes and another to lift her up. Success! But now I couldn’t get the side stand down as there was no space and dreading dropping her again I managed to move the one rock under the left head, swung a leg over started up and she just spins no forward momentum. Arranged the rock stand gain and dug a slope in front of the front wheel. Success again, made sure she was stable on the side stand. Got the gear on again and off I went very tenderly. Forty five kms later I got to the tar and headed for home.
Some pics.
:-[
Tar from Mossel Bay to Armoed on the R328 left turn onto the concrete road that runs past the hot springs then left on dirt road to the base of Rooiberg Pass. Over the pass and at the bottom of the pass on the Van Wyks Dorps side I turned left which eventually comes out again on the R328. This road is really remote and has no traffic at all, farms in the area have been abandoned years ago. Great road to ride but has a number of gates to open and close.
At the 3rd gate I opened and rode through and placed the fat girl on her side stand on a rock because it was sloped to the side stand side. As I close the gate I hear the fat girl fall over. Tried picking her up with a big heave but the only thing that happened was my back clicking and quite some pain. Now sweating so off with all the gear. An hour later still huffing and puffing, swearing and sweating decide to phone my son to come help, no signal, also no water. Should I walk or should I spend the night and wait until I’m missed or by chance a vehicle might come along. Problem was wifey and son don’t know what route I took.
After many more painful attempts I eventually decided the only way was to dig holes under the wheels drop her in and ride her out, easy as that, no! Started digging with some shale piece as the road is compacted and hard shale. Eventually I took out my tubeless puncture repair kit and used the T spike to break up the shale and scrape it out with my hands. An hour and a half later they seemed deep enough so used some larger rocks to prop under the head and gave her a painful shove into the holes and another to lift her up. Success! But now I couldn’t get the side stand down as there was no space and dreading dropping her again I managed to move the one rock under the left head, swung a leg over started up and she just spins no forward momentum. Arranged the rock stand gain and dug a slope in front of the front wheel. Success again, made sure she was stable on the side stand. Got the gear on again and off I went very tenderly. Forty five kms later I got to the tar and headed for home.
Some pics.
:-[
