JustJane
Pack Dog
As a child I remember going to Bosbokstrand on the Wildcoast every year... If I were to have children and if my regular holiday spot wasn't somewhere along the coast, I'd like the Cederberg to be one of their fond childhood memories. There's something calming about the mountains, something that allows you to reflect on everything and nothing all at once... So when Hein (HeavyMetal) mentioned another trip up that way, I was immediately all in and ready to ride...
Hein had invited a few people but most couldn't make it. Guy, keen on fitting in some adventure riding before us heading off to Mozambique towards the end of July, had enquired about the trip at the last minute, and pending KTM finishing his bike service on time for our departure, was also in.
So Friday, 4pm Guy and I left from Rondebosch to meet up with Hein at the Engen on the N1. Hein on the 1150 Adventure (apparently the "Adventure" part is quite import in the bike description
), Guy on the 990 and I on the 650 GS set off chasing the fast setting sun.
Guy's awesome helmet cam!!
Hein had his first of many scares riding up Gydo pass when his front wheel slipped out from under him and diverted off the road, only just avoiding disaster by missing a half meter trench on the left
With not a hint of a breeze, the dust hung heavy in the air. Edging along slowly we were guided along by what was almost a full moon... Occasionally we hit pockets of frosty air but other than that the night was pleasant. Gerrit and Chantal welcomed us with a wholesome soup and T-bone steak!! Who could ask for a better start to the weekend?
Before a ride there are obviously the obligatory few things which need patching before setting off. This time it was the KTM...ot: Guy'd forgotten to switch the heated grips off, and as a result the battery was DEAD!!! Gerrit kindly lent assistance and helped charge it up. Unreal how KTM tuck that battery away. You'd swear the bike is expected to never have battery problems and never need replacement..?
A little bit of a late start, but none-the-less nothing to complain about... As we start off towards Eselbank we passed a turn off signed "Voelvlei". Not having ever explored the road, I suggested to the others that we do so... and am so glad that we did too... What an AWESOME road it turned out to be. Very rocky and probably the most technical riding we did on the weekend. A fair number of donga's, ruts, rocks, corners, steep inclines, step declines... Just beautiful!! Had to be thankful for my bash plate... Guy also had a dent or two to show for it. Unfortunately, 5km from Wuppertal our road came to an abrupt end. The gate was locked up with a sign showing that it was private property... so we did what we had to and turned around. I was more than happy to do the track again. This time I felt a whole lot more confident than when we'd headed up.
Voelvlei Road
The road through Eselbank wasn't as sandy as one could usually expect in summer. The rains had washed away or compacted much of it. After a half hour snack stop at the waterfall outside Eselbank we headed on through to Wuppertal for lunch.
Waterfall snack stop
What to do... what to do... ? We had a few options and decided we would attempt the ride through to Uitspankraal. Once we hit the Doring river we would make a judgement call based on what time we got there as to whether we'd ferry our bikes across or turn around. At 15:00 we were finally stopped by the river. The new S.A.S Willehond ferry (looking awesome by the way :thumleft stood there begging to be used, but alas, time restraints forced us to turn around if we were to make it back to the Oasis before dark ("before dark" meaning not having to ride in the dark for more than 2 hours). This will have to be attempted on another trip... :'(
We turned around and shot on back through to Clanwilliam, riding past a group of Red Hartebeest and a huge herd of Eland. I so missed the farm remembering when we used to ride out to the veld every Sunday to view the game, or feed them when we going through a drought. Guy made an executive decision to jump onto the N7 from Clanwilliam and then turn off to head past Algeria. By the time we went past Algeria we were riding in the dark. Again, we were greeted by an incredible full moon rising above the mountains!! Sometimes you just can't help but to find yourself in a happy place... :ricky:
This time the Oasis was teeming with bikes... more how I'm used to seeing the place... ;D
Although the end of the weekend, we had another whole day's riding ahead of us... plan being that we'd head over Katbakkies pass, down the neverending Calvinia road towards Ceres but turn off towards Touwsriver. Hein, loving living on the edge, had to make his few obligatory adrenaline pumping detours into the trenches, miraculously straightening out every time!! I think Hein even managed to get some footage of the almost offs. But all good, we carried on.
At the bottom of Katbakkies pass, Guy was keen to play on some of the roadside sand dunes. Other than a few vehicles stopping for a picnic, the dunes were ours. Guy and I made a couple of runs before heading off... On the R355 we got comfortable riding at 120km/hr+... The guys a fair bit faster... It was just amazing... So much time to clear your mind... Also amazing how much nothingness can be so stunning!! I was on a high!!
Roadkill
From Touwsriver, we decided to head on towards Montagu over the Ouberg Pass. I'd never been on that road before and thoroughly enjoyed it. Once in Montagu we had a quick lunch before shooting home on the R62.
Hein, Guy, it was an absolute pleasure to ride with you guys!! Thanks a million for an awesome weekend. Looking forward to a lot more time on the road with you... :thumleft: :thumleft:
Hein had invited a few people but most couldn't make it. Guy, keen on fitting in some adventure riding before us heading off to Mozambique towards the end of July, had enquired about the trip at the last minute, and pending KTM finishing his bike service on time for our departure, was also in.
So Friday, 4pm Guy and I left from Rondebosch to meet up with Hein at the Engen on the N1. Hein on the 1150 Adventure (apparently the "Adventure" part is quite import in the bike description
), Guy on the 990 and I on the 650 GS set off chasing the fast setting sun.
Guy's awesome helmet cam!!
Hein had his first of many scares riding up Gydo pass when his front wheel slipped out from under him and diverted off the road, only just avoiding disaster by missing a half meter trench on the left
With not a hint of a breeze, the dust hung heavy in the air. Edging along slowly we were guided along by what was almost a full moon... Occasionally we hit pockets of frosty air but other than that the night was pleasant. Gerrit and Chantal welcomed us with a wholesome soup and T-bone steak!! Who could ask for a better start to the weekend?
Before a ride there are obviously the obligatory few things which need patching before setting off. This time it was the KTM...
ot: Guy'd forgotten to switch the heated grips off, and as a result the battery was DEAD!!! Gerrit kindly lent assistance and helped charge it up. Unreal how KTM tuck that battery away. You'd swear the bike is expected to never have battery problems and never need replacement..?
A little bit of a late start, but none-the-less nothing to complain about... As we start off towards Eselbank we passed a turn off signed "Voelvlei". Not having ever explored the road, I suggested to the others that we do so... and am so glad that we did too... What an AWESOME road it turned out to be. Very rocky and probably the most technical riding we did on the weekend. A fair number of donga's, ruts, rocks, corners, steep inclines, step declines... Just beautiful!! Had to be thankful for my bash plate... Guy also had a dent or two to show for it. Unfortunately, 5km from Wuppertal our road came to an abrupt end. The gate was locked up with a sign showing that it was private property... so we did what we had to and turned around. I was more than happy to do the track again. This time I felt a whole lot more confident than when we'd headed up.
Voelvlei Road
The road through Eselbank wasn't as sandy as one could usually expect in summer. The rains had washed away or compacted much of it. After a half hour snack stop at the waterfall outside Eselbank we headed on through to Wuppertal for lunch.
Waterfall snack stop
What to do... what to do... ? We had a few options and decided we would attempt the ride through to Uitspankraal. Once we hit the Doring river we would make a judgement call based on what time we got there as to whether we'd ferry our bikes across or turn around. At 15:00 we were finally stopped by the river. The new S.A.S Willehond ferry (looking awesome by the way :thumleft
stood there begging to be used, but alas, time restraints forced us to turn around if we were to make it back to the Oasis before dark ("before dark" meaning not having to ride in the dark for more than 2 hours). This will have to be attempted on another trip... :'(
We turned around and shot on back through to Clanwilliam, riding past a group of Red Hartebeest and a huge herd of Eland. I so missed the farm remembering when we used to ride out to the veld every Sunday to view the game, or feed them when we going through a drought. Guy made an executive decision to jump onto the N7 from Clanwilliam and then turn off to head past Algeria. By the time we went past Algeria we were riding in the dark. Again, we were greeted by an incredible full moon rising above the mountains!! Sometimes you just can't help but to find yourself in a happy place... :ricky:
This time the Oasis was teeming with bikes... more how I'm used to seeing the place... ;D
Although the end of the weekend, we had another whole day's riding ahead of us... plan being that we'd head over Katbakkies pass, down the neverending Calvinia road towards Ceres but turn off towards Touwsriver. Hein, loving living on the edge, had to make his few obligatory adrenaline pumping detours into the trenches, miraculously straightening out every time!! I think Hein even managed to get some footage of the almost offs. But all good, we carried on.
At the bottom of Katbakkies pass, Guy was keen to play on some of the roadside sand dunes. Other than a few vehicles stopping for a picnic, the dunes were ours. Guy and I made a couple of runs before heading off... On the R355 we got comfortable riding at 120km/hr+... The guys a fair bit faster... It was just amazing... So much time to clear your mind... Also amazing how much nothingness can be so stunning!! I was on a high!!
Roadkill
From Touwsriver, we decided to head on towards Montagu over the Ouberg Pass. I'd never been on that road before and thoroughly enjoyed it. Once in Montagu we had a quick lunch before shooting home on the R62.
Hein, Guy, it was an absolute pleasure to ride with you guys!! Thanks a million for an awesome weekend. Looking forward to a lot more time on the road with you... :thumleft: :thumleft:
