souljacker
Puppy
I wanted to do a day’s riding as much as possible on dirt roads and after considering the options decided to go with a route to Bothaville in the Freestate. At an actual travelling distance of 423km measured from the Pinehaven Sasol garage it was, for me, just the right length for a day’s enjoyable riding with no rushing to get to the end. The terrain is far from spectacular by any means and is often dreary and dull but it is still interesting to see how the landscape changes as you move along. The roads are all good dirt roads so it makes for an easy days riding along routes that one would not otherwise get to see.
The route
My Transalp performed well as usual and even though my Heidenau tires felt a bit loose on the gravel bits they performed well too. Here’s some random images from along the way.
Bothaville is according to the web the centre of the mielie world and it doesn’t disappoint. I didn’t spend too much time going around town but found a good watering hole at the Bothaville club on the south-eastern side of town where I quickly made friends with some of the locals and got nicknamed “Engelsman” which I actually am not. If you want something to eat Jake’s pub and grille is the place to go but unfortunately I couldn’t find it and settled for a pizza which I think was the reason for me being quite sick later on. After the meal you can get back to mingling with the locals at Jake’s or go to the one other place in town called, I think, Survivors or else just guess jump into bed. I stayed at the Elgro in hotel which for R250 for the night was not a bad deal. They have a lack of parking though but made a plan to keep the bike behind locked gates. There are a lot of other B&Bs in town so there’s no lack of choice. Be warned though that drinks with the locals are sure to leave you with bit of a headache the next morning. Don’t try to compete. I think drinking is the only thing to do in a small town like this so they are well practised.
Feeling a bit flat the on Sunday morning I decided to just stick to the tar via Parys to home in JHB. All in all an awesome trip and Bothaville is definitely a place to return to.
The route
My Transalp performed well as usual and even though my Heidenau tires felt a bit loose on the gravel bits they performed well too. Here’s some random images from along the way.
Bothaville is according to the web the centre of the mielie world and it doesn’t disappoint. I didn’t spend too much time going around town but found a good watering hole at the Bothaville club on the south-eastern side of town where I quickly made friends with some of the locals and got nicknamed “Engelsman” which I actually am not. If you want something to eat Jake’s pub and grille is the place to go but unfortunately I couldn’t find it and settled for a pizza which I think was the reason for me being quite sick later on. After the meal you can get back to mingling with the locals at Jake’s or go to the one other place in town called, I think, Survivors or else just guess jump into bed. I stayed at the Elgro in hotel which for R250 for the night was not a bad deal. They have a lack of parking though but made a plan to keep the bike behind locked gates. There are a lot of other B&Bs in town so there’s no lack of choice. Be warned though that drinks with the locals are sure to leave you with bit of a headache the next morning. Don’t try to compete. I think drinking is the only thing to do in a small town like this so they are well practised.
Feeling a bit flat the on Sunday morning I decided to just stick to the tar via Parys to home in JHB. All in all an awesome trip and Bothaville is definitely a place to return to.
