Rounding my tyres.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

zagser

Race Dog
Joined
Oct 11, 2008
Messages
820
Reaction score
1
Location
Strand
Bike
Honda XR600
My rear tyre was nearing 9000km before this weekend, and due to all the long distance riding, it was getting a bit squared off.
What better way to remedy this than doing lots and lots of twisties!?

I left Bloem at about 05:00 Saturday morning.
Riding the road towards Ladybrand, past Botsabello and Thaba Nchu, in the dark, was less than entertaining to put it mildly.
Busses, taxis, cars without headlights, and drunks not knowing wheather they are coming or going did not help to make this part of the trip any easier!

Note to self: I need to find a gravel route from Bloem to Ladybrand, or even as far as Fouriesburg to skip the boring/dangerous tar road.

Enroute to Ladybrand, with the sun starting to rise.
DSCF0362_s.jpg


I was on my way to Fouriesburg to meet up with Pom and a few of his friends. We were going to have a look at Katse Dam.
What was a mere 75 odd kilometres from Fouriesburg 'as the crow flies', turned out to be about 172km by tar!
I rode more corners on that stretch of road than during the combined 9000km since I got my bike last year!

To me there are three kinds of rides.
1.The bike ride, where the focus is on riding the bike.
2.The scenic ride, where the focus is on the surroundings, usually accompanied by lots of photo stops.
3.The social ride, where the focus is on spending time together with fellow riders.

This was a bike ride.

If you took your eyes off the road, sometimes even for a fraction of a second, you might end up in trouble.
The road has no painted lines and no barriers.
It felt as though 80% of the corners were sharp, blind corners often followed by a rise or a downhill section.
Add to that one or more of the following, at any given moment, in any combination, and you can imagine what a ride this turned out to be:
a) Lesotho handbrake/s
b) Fallen rocks
c) Gravel on the surface
d) Potholes
d) Another vehicle going wide on the turns
e) People
f) Livestock
g) Glass

DSCF0367_s.jpg


As someone else put it so eloquently: "only myself and the washing machine will know how many 'moments' I have had on this trip!"

The dam itself is a modern day engineering marvel.
You are just dumbfounded by the shear size of this body of water.

DSCF0369_s.jpg


DSCF0371_s.jpg


Note the lighter patches towards the top of the mountains, those are actual crops planted by the Basotho people!
DSCF0375_s.jpg


DSCF0378_s.jpg



We stopped at Katse lodge for some much needed food and drinks, and promptly headed back as the guys were eager to watch the Sharks' super 14 game.

What I enjoy about riding in a group is the fact that you are often forced to ride outside of your comfort zone, and in the process improve your riding skills.
This ride was no exception.
(Being a noob, this happens on almost all the rides that I join...  :deal:)

I have utilised surfaces on my tyres for cornering that has never had contact with tar in 9000km!
Although I still have a few square kilometres of chicken strips left, my tyres have a much rounder profile again, thanks to the guys who built the road to Katse, and Pom who organised this trip. :thumleft:

BTW, the same lady that threatened to have us arrested on LeonDude's Lesotho ride was still present at the Caledonspoort border post, and she was as rude as always! ::)

Having been unsuccesfull at making contact with DeonDj, I retired to a guesthouse in Bethlehem for the night and went to bed early. Boy, I was exhausted. I do not even remember putting my head on the pillow.

The following morning I took a leasurely ride back to Bloem, but only after having been passed by DeonDj himself, on his way to a nice twisty ride through Golden Gate!

Cosmos fields enroute.
DSCF0391_s.jpg


A view from the top: Ladybrand
DSCF0394_s.jpg
 
Top