Duallies to Breedts Nek & the Canal Road

[iamgigglz]

As with my last trip to Dullstroom, I just put up a thread saying "I'm going, who's coming?", and the response was overwhelming. In my inexperience I initially set the ride for Saturday morning, but after being told Saturday was a day for cyclists on Breedts, I decided to shift it to Sunday.

With the numbers growing and some wanting to stick to Saturday, White Rhino stepped up to lead a ride on the Saturday too. With 15+ bikes on both days, I'm glad it worked out that way.

The Saturday guys did the route clockwise, skipping & adding certain sections to the posted route.
This was the Sunday route:
<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/6892136922_cf38d712c9_b.jpg"/>

After missing two turn offs and leading fifteen bikes into three dead ends, my first WD ride was off to a shaky start. The very first section, from the Hartbeespoort four way stop to the green blob just South of Brits, was easily the most complicated to try and follow. As White Rhino mentioned from the Saturday ride, it's just a maze of tracks, bridges over the canal, mines, shacks etc. It also introduced the first mud of the day straight away. We were all chuffed with getting through reasonably unscathed, and took our first rest stop.
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We spotted these on the ground - clearly we were in the right place  :headbang:
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I had some mud on the boney, so I took a picture. As it turns out, this would simply be used as a comparison shot for the epic mud that was waiting further down the path.
<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/6892048272_66072e13f3_b.jpg"/>

The Beemers also had a taste of mud...
<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7104/6892049936_d2f7fe81f0_b.jpg"/>

...some more than others.
<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7238/6892050266_df30628e4b_b.jpg"/>

We let some air out the tyres and missioned onwards.

Second rest stop after a LOT more mud...
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And another rest stop where "he-who-shall-remain-nameless" chalked up our first and only stationary fall for the day.  :-X
The mud in the background claimed one indicator and some tank paint.
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After that the track slowly got smaller and smaller, leading us to a small farmstead where we were first greeted by a HUGE Great Dane, and then a farmer with a rifle tucked under his arm. We weren't sure whether he was telling us where to go, or where to get off, but pointed us in the right direction nonetheless.
A tiny track led us into very thick grass veld, eight feet high and so thick you couldn't see your front wheel, never mind the track. You just had to follow the least dense part of grass and hope the track surface stayed constant under wheel.

The whole time I was telling myself "Must get a helmet cam. MUST get a helmet cam!..."  :sad1:

Apart from a short muddy section, the surface did stay constant, and breaking out the other side deserved another break we thought. A short while after that we discovered that the 1150 had picked up a puncture on the front. The bike was nursed to the end of the gravel section where, as chance would have it, there was a Tiger Wheel & Tyre, African style...

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Once the tyre was sorted, a few pack members decided to call it a day. Time was tight and our progress was a lot slower than we bargained for. That said, the guys that left early still had a good ride.

The rest of us rode on, crossing the R556, through Segwaelane township and into Wonderkop township. Epic fail.

The route through Wonderkop that we were supposed to take was closed, and we were directed around it. Google maps kept up with the change of plans, and led us through what felt like a decidedly unfriendly township. JUST when I saw the way out, I also saw a wall of people completely blocking the road ahead. It was a march of some sort, and people on the side of the road were warning us not to go anywhere near them.
We pulled (yet another) U-turn and tried to find another way out - no joy. We turned around (again) and headed back to where the march was...nothing. It was as if there was no march to start with. We gassed it and were out of there with a thankful nod to the SANDF forces parked nearby.
Never again. In future, I'll take the green line marked on the map.

After a few kays of horribly corrugated roads we pulled into Mooinooi for petrol, food and drink.

After that, a few more kays of lovely high speed gravel led us to Breedts Nek. It was a little disappointing that it wasn't sign-posted or anything, but the rapid change from sitting down in 5th gear to standing up in 1st left little doubt.

We all handled it pretty well, but my VERY badly placed catalytic converter got friendly with one rock in particular, stopping me dead in my tracks, almost resulting in a three bike pile-up. We all got to the top in one piece though. This was my first time up Breedts Nek, but certainly won't be my last. What a lovely spot.

<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7180/6892056262_a4e2c96778_b.jpg"/>
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We then went to check out the cave/ex-mining spot. It's a very shallow cave in the rock face, but the climb up gave us some great views....

<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/7038152967_d1b6036ede_b.jpg"/>
<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7042/6892058418_060892b51a_b.jpg"/>

...and some interesting bugs...

<img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7051/7038153823_ee5ca64b30_b.jpg"/>

...and allowed *cough*a certain bike*cough* to show what it could do. Only those who were there will ever know how that turned out.
All I'll say is the rider did not fall...  eepwall:

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We then trundled down the other side and ended up on a beautiful stretch of dirt. It was 4th & 5th gear all the way, with huge trees lining the road and birds flying along in front of the bike...it was like something from a chick flick.
Just like a chick flick, the end was a let-down. We ended up on a farm with nowhere to go. We were forced to turn around (yes, again) and head back to the main road. That would be the last dirt we saw for the day.

Looking back at the map I realise we could have followed the green line back up to the dirt road, but I didn't notice that on the day. With the the sun at our backs we cruised home listening to bits of grass flapping in our foot-pegs and loose mud flinging off the tyres.

Thanks to everyone who did the ride. It certainly won't be the last and I hope I have a group like this again next time  :thumleft:

Flickr Album: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjyNa67A
Google Map: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?vps=2&ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=204142044685212825360.0004bb1f17f0bd44108a8
Original thread: https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=93905.0


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