Losing my Solo Virginity

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Yefimovich

Race Dog
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
1,233
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Location
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Bike
BMW R1200GS
Ever since I bought my first bike (the XTZ125) and joined the forum, reading all the wonderfull reports I've wanted to get myself a piece of that action! Just me, my bike and this magnifent country.

Now I've been on a few fun and memorable rides, but none of real substance. So the seed was planted, the firelighter was when a guy walked into our store selling map books, I purchased the 'touring atlas' and duly made up my mind that I would do some mountain passes that weekend.

I had sort of settled on doing a tar only route over the Long Tom pass untill I started playing around on google earth and found a gravel route from Belfast to Lydenberg. This would be a +-50km dirt route which satisfied me as this would be my first solo ride, I don't as yet own a prosthetic sense of Direction(GPS) and I didn't want to tickle fate's arse because she may just decide to spank mine resulting In me ending up at the bottom of a canyon  :eek:

Then Last week smithey posted a passes index and I spotted a pass between Schoemanskloof and Lydenburg which looked, from google earth at least, to be a dirt pass. Wooohooo! This route looked to be +-80km's through the plantations and over the mountains!! So with my questionable planning done, I packed on Friday night to leave on Saturday morning.

My Riding Gear:
Gear.jpg

Fly Viper Boots, Thor MX socks, Thor Googgles, Scott Goggles(In case), Spare lenses, Baaiker jacket, Helmet(thanks Runner), fong kong riding pants and first aid kit.

The In case Kit:
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Mini pump, tyre weld(whatever), 24/22 spanners, valve tool(thanks ADV MX), Screwdriver with many bits(allen keys etc), pliers, tool inna can (thanks TravelGravel), insulation tape, chainlube and two large screwdrivers.

The Steed:
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Yamaha XT600E

The Rider:
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Full of the exuberance of youth and in dire need of a haircut  :ricky:

The Resurected Tool Box:  8)
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Lookit this Yamaha is Ready to Reis (as in travel  :mwink:) )

With two hours of work under the belt I left Pretoria at 09H30 taking the N4 towards Witbank/Middelburg and had my first stop at the Ultra Shitty at Middelburg chowing down on a Flamegrilled double delight (2 rave burgers for those not fluent in Steers speak)

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The n4 is such a dreary road made worse by idiots not knowing where they're going or how fast they want to travel resulting in alot of muffled helmet swearing and dramatic, if inefective, hand gestures. The Yammie informed me of her thirst by demanding access to the reserve tank, I duly obliged by stopping at the 1-stop in belfast, which was only about 1km away, besides I had my little 5lt of glorious 95octane superjuice just in case. 

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At the point where the N4 at Machadadorp(?) I took the left leg and entered my first joyous stretch of mountain pass. I naturally stopped for a Piccie!

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After all the boringness I was pleased to say the least! O0
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... To be Continued. :pot:





 
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