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Trailrider

Bachelor Dog
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
11,238
Reaction score
3
Location
George
Bike
Honda TransAlp XL700V
It was difficult! Iâ??ve always wanted to do a ride without planning anything, but having a long weekend looming without planning the ride in the minutest detail proved very difficult. I did try and determine where various Wild Dogs will be over the weekend. Running into some of them would be very cool.  8)

On Wednesday I spoke to Eisbein and I told him about my idea of just riding where-ever the wind blows for 4 days. He thought it a good idea and decided to join. For a GS the trip from Cape Town to George is just a quick hop.

Day 1

Thursday morning early we were ready. Where to? How far? Who knows?  ;D

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We both wanted to see Gysmanshoek Pass so we set off in a Westerly direction. Early in the ride already we decided to take roads we did not usually take or know. This took us past the Wolwedans dam and down the little gravel pass running into Groot Brak.

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The leisurely scenic ride took us past Brandwag and down several interesting roads (some ending in dead ends). We did have a head wind that wreaked havoc with my heavily laden bike at times, but it was a sunny day and the scenery was stunning.

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Only two rules applied â?? explore and ride in a generally Westerly direction to Gysmanshoek Pass. We had tents and food and drink for one day. Where we would end up we did not know. Along the way we happened upon the Vetrivier Korente Dam. Itâ??s a very nice spot! And so close to home. Who knew?

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And there we were:

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We were excited to get into the mountains at last. Itâ??s been a while since Iâ??ve ridden a pass I havenâ??t seen before.

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We even thought that if we saw a nice secluded spot weâ??ll just camp and sleep in the mountains. Apparently we werenâ??t the first people who have had this idea.  ;) ;D

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Itâ??s a nice road and not to technical. Just as were starting to enjoy the ride we found ourselves looking into the Klein Karoo. WTF?  ??? Thatâ??s it?  :( Maybe living 3km from Montagu Pass spoils a person, but this pass is not the most spectacular.  :-\

Where to now? Sutherland? Cederberg? These options sounded nice, but we knew there was an approaching cold front and the Westerly wind was blowing profusely, so after half a day of traveling West in the coastal belt, we found ourselves traveling East in the Klein Karoo. Riding with the wind was a lot better!  8)

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The spirit of adventure was alive and well now. We were traveling towards Gysmanshoek during the morning, but now we were just traveling. Riding where the wind blew us.

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Born freeâ?¦

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We traveled past Van Wyksdorp and towards Rooiberg Pass

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This pass is longer and (in my opinion) better than Gysmanshoek. Itâ??s got upâ??s and downâ??s and sweeping vistas.

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By now it was getting late and we needed to find a place to stay. We refueled in Calitzdorp and heard about a place called the Bosvarkie. When we got there it did not seem like the type of place weâ??d want stay, so we traveled east still.

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We stopped at the Calitzdorp Spa only to hear that bikes are not welcome  :eek: (especially loud bikes with performance exhausts!).  :mad: But our bikes arenâ??t loud at all?  ??? Weâ??ll only ride to the camping spot and out again the next morning â?? promise! OK. Weâ??ll make an exceptionâ?¦

Itâ??s quite a nice spot with Springbuck roaming free among the tents. What a day we had! And after traveling 400km for the day we ended up sleeping 60km from my home.

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We had a nice braai and chatted about everything under the bright stars of the Klein Karoo. What a privilege. What would the next day hold?
 
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