SGB
Race Dog
So, it is Roof time again and a plan came together - resulting in a large group of 11 riders to go and watch the action and do some riding in Lesotho. The group were getting to Maseru in small packs with JonW and Shark (KLR's) doing the Sani thing, Peter and Craig (640, KLR) on their own, Chris and Philip (950, 650 Dakar) on thier mission, Gaukes, John Briscoe (of Gear-Up fame) and Kevin (1150, 1200A, 1150) riding in on Friday. Thursday morning at 4 am saw the departure of me and Hein (990, 640) from Durbs and Stephen and Piet (1200, 1150A - became 1200A) at the same time from Pretoria. Piet arrived on a brand new 1200 GSA which he bought under secret conditions, causing MbB to be fired from the KGB.... Mooi fiets Piet! The 4 of us met in Fouriesburg for brekkie and then proceeded to the Peka bridge border.
On arrival in Maseru, we stopped at the Round the Houses track and watched some of the racing there. Our friend Andre, did the race and eventually finished 3 days later, in time for a badge! - well done to all of you!!
This chopper added some colour to the event....
Then off to watch the time trial - me and Hein only. Piet and Stephen had to drive a friend's Vito to the DSP, so they went in airconditioned luxury.
At the first Marshall point, we were told that a quad rider was injured, and we should go and have a look. Luckily the rider was OK, but the kwat was broken. Gave the rider my cellphone to call his crew. Now, seeing we were on the route, we decided to continue and see where the route takes us. We kept away from the racing riders and gave them adequate space to pass. The ride was good fun. We passed some guys who already had bike hassles this early in the race and one could not help feeling sorry for them.
Stopped often along the track - got this group to add to the entertainment by singing a song for us.
Some more of the time trial route.
Back in Maseru, we set up camp at the Club and had supper at the Mimos. Great place to camp and saw lots of friends we have not seen for a while. Also went around to the pit area at Maseru Sun to get some spares for te campers and get the final arrangements for the next day from Wayne. The rest of the group arrived and we were approaching full strength, barring the ones who were only coming on Friday.
The plan for Friday morning was to get going at the best riding time of the day, and we set of at 5 to the start at Matsieng. (Which Shark thought was not such a great idea and he did his own thing, see his story). Sat around there until 7:30 to see the delayed start, apparently due to some timing query from the previous day's racing.
The race eventually got under way in the normal fashion, and we were off to Malealea to help our friends from the champion team refuel at the DSP.
We arrived minutes before Louwrens, amazing to watch these guys riding!
Did the refueling thing there, and the proceeded back towards Ramabanta along a track that is great to ride with our kind of bike. Just the first section was a little hairy, against the racing traffic, but being a public road we were careful to be as visible as possible and stayed out of the racing line. From here the ride was great with Alex, Bugs and Brian being around too.
Piet and his new beast.
This friendly Mosotho was happy and did his favourite tune for us.
At Ramabanta, we watched some more of the racing as the guys came down Baboons and off to Black neck. Also had a bite and a few cooldrinks - festive atmosphere and all in high spirits!
After some chatting and resting we set off towards Semonkong with Stphen and Brian disappearing in the distance ahead as if something serious was chasing them. Some great display of riding skill. We caught up with them at the top of Baboons which is on a little track off the main road.
Spent a bit of time here, before we left for Semonkong, our next overnight point. Fueled the bikes up and were lucky to find accommodation with beds which was better than camping in the rain. Dinner was great and we shared some stories in the pub. The rest of the group arrived, and we were now back at full strength.
The lodge staff were of the opinion that our intended ride down to the Senqu was impossible and we changed the plan to attempt a ride down Slide your Arse (which has been repaired and not all part of the roff route this year), of which the first part formed part of the previous day's route. We settled for that, although I was a little disappointed to miss the Senqu crossing. Decided to be back soon on a plastic bike to check out if it is really that bad. Anyway, went to sleep and ready early on Saturday. First did the tourist thing - the waterfall is quite spectacular. Highest single drop abseil in the world - 202 m or something like that.
The road was still quite muddy from the previous night's rain and things were a bit slippery. The 4 BM's decided to go direct (3 to Rhodes and Piet had to get home). The rest set off to check out the Slide pass. Black mud was a challenge - slippery and clogging up mudguards. Took some mechanical attention to fix.
I was looking for a place to cross this little stream and things got very soft very suddenly without warning.... Must have looked quite funny from behind.....
We started ascending and things were wet and technical. The large size of the group caused time to drag out a little, which concerned me, but luckily we had 2 days. (If we missed Rhodes).
A few km's down the road, we met up with some racers who slept in the mountains - they were demoralized enough to talk the group out of this pass and into a warm bed at Rhodes, so we made a U-turn and took the long way towards Tele bridge and Rhodes. Some of the guys went their own way from here, and me, Hein and JonW set off for Rhodes - "Long way round".
Hein's punctures kept us occupied along the way.
Some great riding followed and we steamed into Rhodes just before 5.
We all arrived just about on the same time - the 3 BM's took a ride to Tiffendel ski resort (no snow) and Chris and Phil caught up after some technical challenges. All well!
Rhodes hotel is another excellent overnight spot. Need to come back! We were treated like kings and had a hot bath, good food, breakfast - what more could we ask for!
Sunday morning, we took it easy and only got moving at 7. Naudesnek pass, down to Mount Fletcher is a wonderful ride too.
From there to Matatiele, past a road block where our panniers were searched for pork!! and fixed another puncture for Hein (luck left him just before Semonkong). The dirt road to Swartberg was a highlight once again, fast ride. Fueled at Underberg, then past Bulwer where we had a quick bite at the Nip Inn. Said our goodbyes and I did not feel like coming home. Could quite comfortably do this for a few more days!
I really enjoyed this trip, and each member contributed to the outcome in some way. Thank you all for that! There is some unfinished business. Our favourite threat: We'll be back!
On arrival in Maseru, we stopped at the Round the Houses track and watched some of the racing there. Our friend Andre, did the race and eventually finished 3 days later, in time for a badge! - well done to all of you!!
This chopper added some colour to the event....
Then off to watch the time trial - me and Hein only. Piet and Stephen had to drive a friend's Vito to the DSP, so they went in airconditioned luxury.
At the first Marshall point, we were told that a quad rider was injured, and we should go and have a look. Luckily the rider was OK, but the kwat was broken. Gave the rider my cellphone to call his crew. Now, seeing we were on the route, we decided to continue and see where the route takes us. We kept away from the racing riders and gave them adequate space to pass. The ride was good fun. We passed some guys who already had bike hassles this early in the race and one could not help feeling sorry for them.
Stopped often along the track - got this group to add to the entertainment by singing a song for us.
Some more of the time trial route.
Back in Maseru, we set up camp at the Club and had supper at the Mimos. Great place to camp and saw lots of friends we have not seen for a while. Also went around to the pit area at Maseru Sun to get some spares for te campers and get the final arrangements for the next day from Wayne. The rest of the group arrived and we were approaching full strength, barring the ones who were only coming on Friday.
The plan for Friday morning was to get going at the best riding time of the day, and we set of at 5 to the start at Matsieng. (Which Shark thought was not such a great idea and he did his own thing, see his story). Sat around there until 7:30 to see the delayed start, apparently due to some timing query from the previous day's racing.
The race eventually got under way in the normal fashion, and we were off to Malealea to help our friends from the champion team refuel at the DSP.
We arrived minutes before Louwrens, amazing to watch these guys riding!
Did the refueling thing there, and the proceeded back towards Ramabanta along a track that is great to ride with our kind of bike. Just the first section was a little hairy, against the racing traffic, but being a public road we were careful to be as visible as possible and stayed out of the racing line. From here the ride was great with Alex, Bugs and Brian being around too.
Piet and his new beast.
This friendly Mosotho was happy and did his favourite tune for us.
At Ramabanta, we watched some more of the racing as the guys came down Baboons and off to Black neck. Also had a bite and a few cooldrinks - festive atmosphere and all in high spirits!
After some chatting and resting we set off towards Semonkong with Stphen and Brian disappearing in the distance ahead as if something serious was chasing them. Some great display of riding skill. We caught up with them at the top of Baboons which is on a little track off the main road.
Spent a bit of time here, before we left for Semonkong, our next overnight point. Fueled the bikes up and were lucky to find accommodation with beds which was better than camping in the rain. Dinner was great and we shared some stories in the pub. The rest of the group arrived, and we were now back at full strength.
The lodge staff were of the opinion that our intended ride down to the Senqu was impossible and we changed the plan to attempt a ride down Slide your Arse (which has been repaired and not all part of the roff route this year), of which the first part formed part of the previous day's route. We settled for that, although I was a little disappointed to miss the Senqu crossing. Decided to be back soon on a plastic bike to check out if it is really that bad. Anyway, went to sleep and ready early on Saturday. First did the tourist thing - the waterfall is quite spectacular. Highest single drop abseil in the world - 202 m or something like that.
The road was still quite muddy from the previous night's rain and things were a bit slippery. The 4 BM's decided to go direct (3 to Rhodes and Piet had to get home). The rest set off to check out the Slide pass. Black mud was a challenge - slippery and clogging up mudguards. Took some mechanical attention to fix.
I was looking for a place to cross this little stream and things got very soft very suddenly without warning.... Must have looked quite funny from behind.....
We started ascending and things were wet and technical. The large size of the group caused time to drag out a little, which concerned me, but luckily we had 2 days. (If we missed Rhodes).
A few km's down the road, we met up with some racers who slept in the mountains - they were demoralized enough to talk the group out of this pass and into a warm bed at Rhodes, so we made a U-turn and took the long way towards Tele bridge and Rhodes. Some of the guys went their own way from here, and me, Hein and JonW set off for Rhodes - "Long way round".
Hein's punctures kept us occupied along the way.
Some great riding followed and we steamed into Rhodes just before 5.
We all arrived just about on the same time - the 3 BM's took a ride to Tiffendel ski resort (no snow) and Chris and Phil caught up after some technical challenges. All well!
Rhodes hotel is another excellent overnight spot. Need to come back! We were treated like kings and had a hot bath, good food, breakfast - what more could we ask for!
Sunday morning, we took it easy and only got moving at 7. Naudesnek pass, down to Mount Fletcher is a wonderful ride too.
From there to Matatiele, past a road block where our panniers were searched for pork!! and fixed another puncture for Hein (luck left him just before Semonkong). The dirt road to Swartberg was a highlight once again, fast ride. Fueled at Underberg, then past Bulwer where we had a quick bite at the Nip Inn. Said our goodbyes and I did not feel like coming home. Could quite comfortably do this for a few more days!
I really enjoyed this trip, and each member contributed to the outcome in some way. Thank you all for that! There is some unfinished business. Our favourite threat: We'll be back!
