A bit of sand training in Thabazimbi.

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LeonDude

Bachelor Dog
Joined
Sep 26, 2007
Messages
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Location
Gauteng - Centurion
Bike
Suzuki DR650
Cave Girl and yours truly decided we needed a bit of sand training for our Namibia trip that is coming up in October, so we decided to go ride in the Thabazimbi area. I’ve encountered lots of sand there before, and we knew of at least one stretch that was 16 kilometres long for us to practice our skills on.
Well like so many of our plans we never got to that stretch, but we did get a lot more than we bargained for.
We set out on Saturday morning and cruised quietly to Thabazimbi, stopping at Beestekraal to say hallo to Ieps tree.

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In Thabazimbi we found that the place we were supposed to camp at, Montane lodge, had closed down, so we spent an extra hour finding a different camping site. We ended up at Marakeli caravan park, a good enough place for us.

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And then we spent a few extra hours talking kak and drinking a few beers. You know how it goes.

Anyways, the next morning we were to do a loop that I had wanted to do for a long time now, from Thabazimbi, on the Southern side of the Crocodile river, to a little place called Rooibokkraal, then back to Thabazimbi on the northern side of the crocodile river. This was supposed to be a lekker relaxed ride, with nothing technical.

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And it was, up until the deep sand started. At first it was fun playing in the sand, learning to stand up, look up and keep the knees loose. Then the sand got deeper and looser, and we had to work harder and harder at it.


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By the time we reached Rooibokkraal we were exhausted. I was surprised to find a clean and neat petrol station and café, and we made use of the opportunity to have a cool drink.

I love this pick!
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What we didn’t know though, was that the bloody bloody bloody sand had just started. From Rooibokkraal back home was a battle, and I’m afraid it was such a battle that the camera was the last thing on my mind. It was eighty kilos of arse tightening sand riding, with far too many close calls for me to have counted.
After the first fifty Kilos I thought that the tar road just had to start here somewhere. Another ten kilos and I was praying for the tar to be around the next corner. Cave Girl was riding ahead, as she was more comfortable at a bit higher speed than I was. I think I was doing about 40 or 50 km/h, but that is a guess as I never even considered looking down at my speedo.
Well we did eventually reach the tar road, and of course headed straight into town and straight to the bar for a cold one, and we are still telling each other about all the close moments.
Sorry about the lack of photos, but as I said, my mind was on the task at hand 120%!
Back at camp we didn’t need much convincing that a rest before the nights braai would be a good idea. My KLR was told to keep first watch.

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Oh, the next morning before heading back to GP we went to have a quiet breakfast on Rankins Pass. It was while I was thusly occupied with eating a sarmie that Cave Girl quietly passed a remark.
“We forgot to let down our tyre pressures on the sand yesterday”.

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Well, so we learn. But we both agreed, we are now more confident about Namibia in October. If you guys want a bit of sand practice, I can really suggest this route.

See you all on the road.




 
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