Bodge
Pack Dog
A few weeks ago 5 of us decided to do our first “noob” ride from Pretoria to Ellisras. One or two of us had done some enduro riding on the side, but this was our first trip as a group and for some going gravel was a new experience.
We left early on the Saturday, with one bike indicating -3C, and stopped in Bela-Bela for a breakfast at the Wimpy. From there we left the town past the Bela-Bela Dam on the D180 towards Rankin Pass. We followed the Marakele National Park Boundary over Bakkers Pass (which is less known than Rankins Pass, but more interesting!) towards Thabazimbi. By now the chilly air had warmed up considerably and all the winter gear was packed away.
In Thabazimbi we fueled up and retraced our route up towards the D928 where we turned left. From there we followed the western boundary of the national park all the way up to the D1371, where we took a right. We were following the northern boundary of the Marakele Park at this stage. The gravel roads up to now where all fairly good, with some interesting sand patches in between, however that was all about to change for the next few km’s. The road on the northern side had some deep sand areas and to keep it interesting a section of the road was washed away. Then there was a small river crossing, which had a BM stuck…. We followed this road up to the R517 and made a left towards Ellisras. We had our overnight stop at the Molalatau Lodge just outside the town. Nice accommodation, very decent prices including a big breakfast and a nice pub overlooking the river.
The next morning we left after breakfast and fueled up in Ellisras. We took the R33 out of town and immediately after the Mokolo River made a right into the D1836. The first part of this road had some nice sandy patches and then some interesting climbs into the nearby koppies. We followed this road up to R33 and turned right towards Vaalwater again. We went through Vaalwater towards Nylstroom and turned left onto the D2748. From here we followed various gravel roads up to Nylstroom. These gravel roads are firm and before you know it the next tar road pops up. From Nylstroom we traveled on the R101 through Bela-Bela towards Pretoria. We did less gravel roads on the return leg as we were pressed for time, but it was still loads of fun!
Lessons learnt (from a noob’s point of view):
- Don’t plan your distances too long, especially when there a lots of sand involved and unless you like to do things in the dark! We had to cut our route by quite a margin.
- Stop more!
- Do way more trips!
Breakfast at Bela-Bela with very clean machines
Somewhere between Bela-Bela and Rankins Pass
Johan, Spietkop, Bodge, Marius and Morphine
The road washed away
Time to get the bikes over (the dust clogged the lens cover of my mik & druk!)
Morphine going solo
This is what happens when there is not enough momentum… ;D
A small sand patch just to keep it interesting
Some of us were glad to be back on tar….sies!
Nice fire at Molalatau for the braai and some deserving beers!
Our man Johan, all the way from Kinshasa
Spietkop going up the hill
Cruising on the way home
We left early on the Saturday, with one bike indicating -3C, and stopped in Bela-Bela for a breakfast at the Wimpy. From there we left the town past the Bela-Bela Dam on the D180 towards Rankin Pass. We followed the Marakele National Park Boundary over Bakkers Pass (which is less known than Rankins Pass, but more interesting!) towards Thabazimbi. By now the chilly air had warmed up considerably and all the winter gear was packed away.
In Thabazimbi we fueled up and retraced our route up towards the D928 where we turned left. From there we followed the western boundary of the national park all the way up to the D1371, where we took a right. We were following the northern boundary of the Marakele Park at this stage. The gravel roads up to now where all fairly good, with some interesting sand patches in between, however that was all about to change for the next few km’s. The road on the northern side had some deep sand areas and to keep it interesting a section of the road was washed away. Then there was a small river crossing, which had a BM stuck…. We followed this road up to the R517 and made a left towards Ellisras. We had our overnight stop at the Molalatau Lodge just outside the town. Nice accommodation, very decent prices including a big breakfast and a nice pub overlooking the river.
The next morning we left after breakfast and fueled up in Ellisras. We took the R33 out of town and immediately after the Mokolo River made a right into the D1836. The first part of this road had some nice sandy patches and then some interesting climbs into the nearby koppies. We followed this road up to R33 and turned right towards Vaalwater again. We went through Vaalwater towards Nylstroom and turned left onto the D2748. From here we followed various gravel roads up to Nylstroom. These gravel roads are firm and before you know it the next tar road pops up. From Nylstroom we traveled on the R101 through Bela-Bela towards Pretoria. We did less gravel roads on the return leg as we were pressed for time, but it was still loads of fun!
Lessons learnt (from a noob’s point of view):
- Don’t plan your distances too long, especially when there a lots of sand involved and unless you like to do things in the dark! We had to cut our route by quite a margin.
- Stop more!
- Do way more trips!
Breakfast at Bela-Bela with very clean machines
Somewhere between Bela-Bela and Rankins Pass
Johan, Spietkop, Bodge, Marius and Morphine
The road washed away
Time to get the bikes over (the dust clogged the lens cover of my mik & druk!)
Morphine going solo
This is what happens when there is not enough momentum… ;D
A small sand patch just to keep it interesting
Some of us were glad to be back on tar….sies!
Nice fire at Molalatau for the braai and some deserving beers!
Our man Johan, all the way from Kinshasa
Spietkop going up the hill
Cruising on the way home
