MTB_XC60
Pack Dog
So last Friday I decided to head out to Darlington Dam via Greystone, seeing that it was my last day of leave. I left at 05:00. At about 05:30 I took the Glenconnor turnoff (point B on the map). About 1km onto the gravel road, I got to a "Road Closed" sign. Flood damage. Crap. So I decided to ride the route anyway until I can't go any further, and then turn around.
The first 20km or so was quite rough going through the "mountain" pass. The road was quite bad in some places, but it was certainly not bad enough to have closed the road - for a bike anyway. After I got to the other side of the pass, the road sort of got better, which meant I could speed up a little. If you go looking for Greystone, you'll miss it. It's not there... When I turned right at where Greystone was supposed to have been, the road turned into a gravel highway.
I got to the dam in no time and took a few pics. After letting the bike rest for a while at the dam, I took the same road back. I am still sorry that I didn't take more pics on the way to the dam. There is plenty of wildlife on the route (snakes, Kudu, turtles, bosbokkies, etc). One massive Kudu blocked the road at one point, but he ran away just as I wanted to take a pic. I must say I was quite intimidated by the size of that thing - I'm used to seeing them out of a car...
On my way back, at Glenconnor, I passed two bikes that just started the route. If they were fellow Dogs, "hi" again - hope it wasn't too hot on the road! I quite enjoyed the route. Nice and technical in some places due to the flood damage, and then straight and in good enough condition in others to take in the scenery. Close to 300km in 5 hours.
Here are some pics I took of the dam, as well as the route:
A quick ride well worth taking...
The first 20km or so was quite rough going through the "mountain" pass. The road was quite bad in some places, but it was certainly not bad enough to have closed the road - for a bike anyway. After I got to the other side of the pass, the road sort of got better, which meant I could speed up a little. If you go looking for Greystone, you'll miss it. It's not there... When I turned right at where Greystone was supposed to have been, the road turned into a gravel highway.
I got to the dam in no time and took a few pics. After letting the bike rest for a while at the dam, I took the same road back. I am still sorry that I didn't take more pics on the way to the dam. There is plenty of wildlife on the route (snakes, Kudu, turtles, bosbokkies, etc). One massive Kudu blocked the road at one point, but he ran away just as I wanted to take a pic. I must say I was quite intimidated by the size of that thing - I'm used to seeing them out of a car...
On my way back, at Glenconnor, I passed two bikes that just started the route. If they were fellow Dogs, "hi" again - hope it wasn't too hot on the road! I quite enjoyed the route. Nice and technical in some places due to the flood damage, and then straight and in good enough condition in others to take in the scenery. Close to 300km in 5 hours.
Here are some pics I took of the dam, as well as the route:
A quick ride well worth taking...
