Dustdevil
Race Dog
Recently on a trip through the Cederberg, we got stuck at the Oasis for an overnight stop and a meal. Later that night we got into some real deep discussions with the owner which eventually were leading of to the route we plan to follow the next day.
He forked out a Slingsby map and showed us an interesting alternative to our planned route.
This road started in the Bidou valley and end up crossing the Tra - Tra mountain to a place called Cobus se gat.
We only had one problem, we were not sure if we will manage to cross the Doring rivier. If this is the case we will have to backtrack all the way over the mountain again. Depending on the condition of this road it could take us all day to do this and we did not want to end up riding in the dark.
None the less, the owner of the Oasis sold us his older 2006 version of the Slighsby map and the next morning we left planning to see how the day turns out before we make a definite decision whether we should do it or not.
Leaving Wupperthal the next day it was getting a bit late so we decided it would be safer to leave this road for another day when we are more prepared and are a 100% sure that one can get trough the Doring Rivier.
5Km Outside of Wupperthal I noticed this steep road going up the side of a rocky hill. It looked well used and in a real attractive condition if you like difficult technical riding.
I was sure it was one of the roads that meet up with the road to Cobus se gat, this means that we can take a short detour and that we should be able to ride at least part of the road and end up in the Bidou valley.
I waited for Howard as he had the map and sure as hell, the road is clearly shown on the map and a short way up the mountain it meats up with the road to Cobus se gat.
We decided to go for it but halfway up I already started having my doubts has Howard have not been riding off road for to long and it was getting real heavy, climbing up staircase-like rocky sections.
The off road coarse Howard did recently was paying dividends tough and he made it to the top with ease.
We found ourselves on some sort of a plateau but it was evident that the climate is much harsher than down in the valley.
The road meandered of and suddenly started forking in all directions. I kept taking the left forks to keep riding parallel to the main road we have just left.
It did not take long before the road seem to fade away into a track that hardly see traffic. After a short while we ended up passing through some sort of dwelling with dogs and livestock held in small camps. It seems like there was life here after all.
The area around is very dry and harsh tough and it seems nearly impossible for anyone to make a living in a place like this. I stopped for some photographs hoping someone will show their face but besides the poor dogs and coats the place seem to be deserted for the moment.
He forked out a Slingsby map and showed us an interesting alternative to our planned route.
This road started in the Bidou valley and end up crossing the Tra - Tra mountain to a place called Cobus se gat.
We only had one problem, we were not sure if we will manage to cross the Doring rivier. If this is the case we will have to backtrack all the way over the mountain again. Depending on the condition of this road it could take us all day to do this and we did not want to end up riding in the dark.
None the less, the owner of the Oasis sold us his older 2006 version of the Slighsby map and the next morning we left planning to see how the day turns out before we make a definite decision whether we should do it or not.
Leaving Wupperthal the next day it was getting a bit late so we decided it would be safer to leave this road for another day when we are more prepared and are a 100% sure that one can get trough the Doring Rivier.
5Km Outside of Wupperthal I noticed this steep road going up the side of a rocky hill. It looked well used and in a real attractive condition if you like difficult technical riding.
I was sure it was one of the roads that meet up with the road to Cobus se gat, this means that we can take a short detour and that we should be able to ride at least part of the road and end up in the Bidou valley.
I waited for Howard as he had the map and sure as hell, the road is clearly shown on the map and a short way up the mountain it meats up with the road to Cobus se gat.
We decided to go for it but halfway up I already started having my doubts has Howard have not been riding off road for to long and it was getting real heavy, climbing up staircase-like rocky sections.
The off road coarse Howard did recently was paying dividends tough and he made it to the top with ease.
We found ourselves on some sort of a plateau but it was evident that the climate is much harsher than down in the valley.
The road meandered of and suddenly started forking in all directions. I kept taking the left forks to keep riding parallel to the main road we have just left.
It did not take long before the road seem to fade away into a track that hardly see traffic. After a short while we ended up passing through some sort of dwelling with dogs and livestock held in small camps. It seems like there was life here after all.
The area around is very dry and harsh tough and it seems nearly impossible for anyone to make a living in a place like this. I stopped for some photographs hoping someone will show their face but besides the poor dogs and coats the place seem to be deserted for the moment.
