Honda Adventure Roads 2019

[woody1]

Nee op pad tussen Middelburg en so 20 km voor GR draai jy links af.... Tussen die 2 Nieu-Bethesda  afdraaie.

[corne.l]

Nee op pad tussen Middelburg en so 20 km voor GR draai jy links af.... Tussen die 2 Nieu-Bethesda  afdraaie.

Hier draai jy af

[Vis Arend]

Nee op pad tussen Middelburg en so 20 km voor GR draai jy links af.... Tussen die 2 Nieu-Bethesda  afdraaie.

Djy moet nie so vroeg beginne suip nie.   

[Kobus Myburgh]

Day 5 - Continued

We set off over the Gariep dam wall in all its splendour and followed the R58 towards Colesberg.  As we entered Nimmo's home town, there was a small gathering around a traffic officer.  We stopped and the reason for the hold up was an outdated license on one of the SA rental bikes.  Even though we had no responsibility, nor accountability for the rental bikes, it was embarrassing that the Europeans ship numerous bikes, thousands of miles across the ocean, without any problems and here we as Saffers can't even put a new license disk on a bike we rent out for this prestigious event!

Jean-Michel with his luggage in tow the morning of departure.



With the fine issued, we set off past Sunset Chalets onto the N9 towards Graaff Reinet, through Noupoort, Carlton Pass and eventually refuelled in Middelburg.  It's strange how familiarity breeds content:  Photos were getting fewer due to the area being so familiar to me. 

After about 30km back on the N9, we turned left on some gravel roads towards Wapadsberg. 

We already had our first puncture for the morning and Janco and Hardy had the honour of doing the repair, which gave me the time to take a sneaky picture of the action.





It was approximately 21km of welcomed gravel road that brought us back to the N9.  In this time we had another puncture caused by a piece of wire. 







20km of tar back towards Middelburg and we turned left onto the Owl Route towards Nieu Bethesda, where we had lunch and a visit to the famous owl house.





Deep in conversation with Richard and Tiago of Honda Europe.







After lunch we headed straight to Graaff Reinet, drove through town and headed towards to the Valley of Desolation.  It was properly hot by now. 







And of course we had to fix another flat in scorching heat before we could retire for the day.



With all the practice, we were now down to about 32 seconds to repair a rear puncture.   

All in all it was a great day out with no mishaps, the only complaints being that due the extreme heat for some Europeans.

[Kobus Myburgh]

Day 6:  Graaff-Reinet to Port Elizabeth (299.2km)



After a decent breakfast at the Drostdy hotel, some minor adjustments and personal preference on handlebars, gear selectors etc. was made.  There was excitement in the air since this marked the day that Joan Barreda and Ignacio Cornejo would join the group in Port Elizabeth.

We took the R75 towards Bie's town Jansenville, where we made a coffee stop at the Ark.  After the first puncture on the previous day, I subtly asked Hardy over the radio if we could do the next repair.  As if the two that followed the previous day was not enough, this day would be full of surprises, especially with team Hardy and Janco making headway straight to PE to sort out some logistics, leaving me and Oom Bonnie to follow the riders for the day.

Approximately 28km out of town, we turned left onto the R400 towards Waterford, which is a gravel road taking you past Darlington dam, Wolvefontein etc.  In general, the Tripy II navigation device is really detailed and a pleasure to use.  What it didn't warn you about on this day was the numerous unexpected ditches and dry riverbed sections we were about to cross.





The first sandy section lay claim to not only its first victim, but also a mirror, some bent handlebars and a LHS pannier.



And then the punctures started! 

This is how it works:

You receive a sms with the co-ordinates of where the problem is and the bike number.



An e-mail is also received with basically the same information. 





You can then open the two links provided which takes you to a map which you can actually route to should you wish.





You can also track the riders as you drive during the day.

[Kobus Myburgh]

The messages came in short succession.  It was the one puncture after the other and there was no time to take photos or anything else for that matter.  It was pack out, fix, pack in and go until we finally got to the last one.

At the last puncture even one of the bakkies had a flat wheel.  Causes varied from sharp rocks to nails to pieces of wire to snake bites etc.



The group of Spanish riders were the last to receive our attention.  A truly great group of guys with remarkable team spirit.  On arrival we received a cheery welcome and they immediately asked if they could assist.  We gladly accepted, since we were out of new tubes by now and they could assist Oom Bonnie while I carry on patching one of the better tubes.











We were properly tired by the time we reached Addo Elephant Park, which was our lunch stop for the day.  The riders all went for a game drive while we attended to some of the other bikes also claimed by the sand monster.









We arrived in PE late the afternoon, with work far from finished.  You'll remember from an earlier post that the Karoo's were expected to last the entire trip and we were frowned upon when we raised our concern that this might be a little naïve.  Well, some of the tyres were shot by now and fortunately Hardy could arrange for an emergency shipment to PE through Metzeller SA.













With no time to waste, we set up an area in the basement to get to work.  In parallel to getting all the daily niggles attended to, tyre changes started with what we had in stock.

At about 01h00 that morning, the new tyres arrived and we started offloading.  Hats of to Richard and Tiago from Honda Europe who was with us the whole time, making sure we had coffee, water, food and even assisted with the offloading.









At just after 02h00, if memory serves me correct, we went to bed.  In the Radisson Blu nogal!

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[Kobus Myburgh]

Day 7:  Port Elizabeth to Oudtshoorn (424.4km)

We left the hotel with a couple of additional journalists and the film crew that joined the group.  And of course, Joan Barreda and Ignacio Cornejo.  Unfortunately only Ignacio would ride this day since there was a mix up with Joan's luggage and none of his kit arrived as yet.







This meant that he was in one of the vehicles with Richard from Honda Europe.  Hardy and Janco was in the front, followed by Richard and us trailing.  Probably the only time Hardy and Janco was ever going to be in front of Barreda and me keeping up with him!

We followed the R75 and refuelled in Steytlerville.















From there we took the R329 to Willowmore, where we were served with a properse Karoo braai at the Royal Hotel.  It was heaven after so many hotel buffets - jip, you can get gatvol of those.









From here we hit some gravel roads on the R407 past Vondeling.  A particular dry river crossing claimed many victims.  It was one of those where you had an audience cheering you on and lots of motivation and laughter later, everyone made it across, no broken bones, but a couple of egos crushed.











Jean-Michel Bayle and Ignacio Cornejo showing the guys how it’s done.



Giuseppe having some fun.









And of course I had to sit on Barreda’s bike. (Ook maar niks gewoond nie!)



It wasn't long after that we received notification of an accident.  One of the journalists that joined us just the night before (his first day of riding) had a big tumble.  When we arrived, the medic was already attending to him and the doctor, who was further up in the convoy, already on his way there.



It was pretty obvious that he was riding too fast, hit the brakes and lost control.  Later that evening we would learn that he broke his clavicle, humerus, all 5 toes on his right foot, some ribs and suffered a punctured lung.  He was admitted to the Oudtshoorn Medi-Clinic and later transferred to George, where he is still recovering until able to fly back home.

We loaded his bike onto the trailer and left the medical staff to attend to the rider.



Apart from this unfortunate incident, everyone reached Buffelsdrift unscathed.





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[BikerJan]

Awesome trip Kobus, cannot wait for your updates!!!

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Yep, am I pleased to have the Alpine Rims and Tractionators ... Ja, Oom!

[Sithe]

@Kobus Myburgh ... would you still say you prefer tubes to tubeless ?

[Kobus Myburgh]

@Kobus Myburgh ... would you still say you prefer tubes to tubeless ?

Sithe I don’t think either is a deal breaker for me.  By far the majority of my riding is done off road and the tubes (albeit a very general statement) is more lenient to pressure fluctuations, i.e. low pressures for sand riding.

One of the few necessary upgrades on the AT is tubes.  The OEM ones are simply not up to standard.  We saw it on the 2017 Quest  especially, with far more punctures than this trip.

Ever since I put heavy duty tubes in my AT, I had one puncture, which I think was caused by a defective tyre pressure sensor, causing the pressure to drop too low and then I suffered a snake bite.

It might sound silly, but a flat tyre often adds to the adventure for me. 

I would personally never consider an upgrade to tubeless on my AT.  20 Minutes out of my life for a tube change doesn’t warrant the cost to me.

Just wait for the day that a tubeless tyre can’t be plugged and you have to de-bead it, put a tube in to get you home and you are not used to it.  It will make you wish you got used to tube tyres.


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[KarooKid]

Ek wens girls het so na my gekyk..........

[Kobus Myburgh]

Ek wens girls het so na my gekyk..........

Jy hoef glad nie minderwaardig te voel nie Charl.  Ek onthou goed hoe die girls jou ook uit gekyk het daar in Kaokoland op die Quest.  Veral daai een wie se ridder op die vleis donkie al was wat sy geken het.  Dit was ‘n true love oomblik toe sy jou sien.   

[DUSTRIDERS]

Ek wens girls het so na my gekyk..........

ek wou iets sê toe bly ek maar stil, maar daai girl se oogte se wit wys soos n perd wat geskrik het!!

[windswept]

 

[Oubones]

Toemaar die Kudu bul hou ook 'n ogie!

[KarooKid]

Ek wens girls het so na my gekyk..........

Jy hoef glad nie minderwaardig te voel nie Charl.  Ek onthou goed hoe die girls jou ook uit gekyk het daar in Kaokoland op die Quest.  Veral daai een wie se ridder op die vleis donkie al was wat sy geken het.  Dit was ‘n true love oomblik toe sy jou sien.   

Jy verbeel jou. Dit was die donkie wat vir my gekyk het.

[Kobus Myburgh]

Day 8: Oudtshoorn, Swartberg Pass (183km)



The day started with a briefing by the 3 HRC riders; Jean-Michel Bayle, Joan Barreda and Ignacius Cornejo.





They gave the riders a run down on various aspects of body positioning, braking and general skills.  Each one of them in a different language.  It was truly a privilege to be in their company.

And then Hardy, together with the Honda Europe guys somehow volunteered me to show them the correct way of picking up the bike in the event it being dropped.  No pressure!  In front of these legends!

I can not describe what goes through your head during this process.  Will these rugby weakened knees of mine even let me pick up the bike?  Will I moer it over to the other side once its up?  The options of failure is endless!

Anyway, all went relatively well and then ........

Jean-Michel Bayle approaches us and thank me for the demonstration and more or less in his words:  “Thanks for the demonstration.  I never knew how to pick up the bike, because I’ve never had to put it down.” 

Well Mr Bayle, I’ve had my fair share of practice.














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[Kobus Myburgh]

And then we were off, Joan Barreda leading.



We didn’t see much of the riders until the coffee stop, which was just below the view point on Swartberg Pass.

The weather didn’t play ball and it was a pity the foreigners couldn’t see Swartberg in all its glory.

Hardy and Joan in conversation.



A photo I’ll always treasure.  Jean-Michel Bayle is certainly one of the biggest legends I’ve met to date.



The day went incident free which was quite unusual.  Probably because this was service day!

Some pics of the day.















Once back at Buffelsdrift Game lodge just outside Oudtshoorn, the HRC riders went for a filming/photo shoot and our work started.

We had about 35 bikes to service and plenty of tyres to change.  We split the team with Hardy and Janco on tyre duty and me and Oom Bonnie doing the oil services.  I think Hardy and Janco drew the shortest end of the stick here.  (Sorry no photos of the work undertaken)











The sun was long gone when we retired from our daily duties, tired, but content.


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[Vis Arend]

Ja, if you have talent you have talent.  Nice to see what can be done with a bike in capable hands.   

Great job you guys did to keep the riders happy on their tour, hats of to the team.