SlowPoke
Race Dog
It all started one Wednesday evening at the Diaz club. Drazil organised a braai at the club but did not get a grill, wood or any of the other accessories â?? so we had an indoor â??dopâ? since the chop was not to be had. Slowpoke mentioned something about game farms and the idea was born to go and ride on a game farm with excellent gravel roads that Slowpoke knew about. After the usual route planning on the Dogsâ?? forum the date was set for the 12th of December as the departure date.
As we were leaving around midday the planned route was around 40% tar and the rest gravel. And boy what gravel it turned out to be at that â?? but weâ??ll get there. The final group was 5 strong after two fellow riders pulled out due to some strange reasons. Most notable of which was the reason Terror gave us â?? we wonâ??t go into the finer details of it all but suffice to say that none of us envied him for this. So the group was ready and we finally set off on the wild adventure at around 2pm after a quick Steers lunch and fuel level check.
Crab is looking very relaxed here at the departure point and of course the bikes are all nice and clean. This would soon change.
We left and did a bit of tar until we got to the Paarde Poort turn off. This road runs fairly parallel to the tar strip but on the far side of a small â??mountainâ? range.
This stretch of the journey to the flat plains through the mountains was some of the most scenic routes of the trip and was well worth the hard work it caused us. The road seemed to be recently graded and this left some very sharp dagger like shaped shale on the surface. It was Slowpokes first flat wheel on a bike â?? ever.
I (Slowpoke) was at the back of the line only followed by Crab. When I felt the back wheel go all soft and the bike trying to measure the width of the road I slowed down and behold the wonder of the flat tyre. Man I was excited â?? I had gas bombs, tyre weld, tools, the works. Crab pulled up behind and we quickly set to work. Crab has a lot of experience and (and this is important) a small packet of patch and solution. So after we hauled the tube out and patched it and after much reminiscing of how we used to do this a lot as kids the tube was back in and it was time for the tyre bombs! Yeah baby. Well after three gas bombs the tyre was still flat. So out with the tube again only to find I pinched the tube with a tyre lever â?? so on went the second patch. Whilst this was in progress Crab discovered he also had a flat.
Now, with my bike it was easy as I have a centre stand. With Crabsâ?? KLR we had to be more creative. At this point Fugly, Fourringdog (donâ??t ask) and Thump had turned around and joined us. Just in time to help move Crabs KLR onto a makeshift Karoo Bike stand. The air temperature at this point was about 35 and we were sweating. ATGATT is not very Hot Weather friendly. This was to be a precursor to the main event where it got really HOT! At last the bikes were declared road worthy again. It must be mentioned here that there are a few things that saved the day here and which are essential albeit â??simple thingsâ?. Crabâ??s patch and solution was a definite winner and for less than R40 an absolute must have to seal tubes. Crab and Fuglyâ??s tyre leavers are a must. Fugly even had jobbies that can double as wheel spanners â?? neat! Finally Thump had a little R60, 12V compressor there â?? in that heat it was worth every free beer we owed him! Oh and a fine little bit of knowledge from Crab on breaking a tyre bead using the kick stand â?? brilliant advice.
There we were off again. After the flat tyre incident we all were a little more careful of the â??middelmannetjieâ? and had a sharp lookout for more dagger blades. We simply enjoyed the scenery which was absolutely something to see. Fugly took some very artistic rear view photos. We took enough time to stop, take photos and simply enjoy being â??out thereâ?.
We also played a little and sometimes this led to the odd â??stof streepâ? as here where Fugly managed an impressive 30m skid mark. He was later overheard saying something about spotting a sheep stuck in a fence...
Mostly though we just had fun riding these seldom used roads.
https://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/SlowPoke_SA/P1120664.jpg</img>
The main reason for choosing this particular stretch of dirt was that the maps showed a total of 16 river crossings. The map was absolutely correct in that we did cross a river bed 16 times. What one must always remember though is that a map does not always convey the real situation. Here you can see Slowpokes bike in the middle of one of the larger crossings. Yup, rivers look different in the Karoo.
[img]https://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/SlowPoke_SA/IMG_7108.jpg</img>
Our next major stop was just north of the Darlington dam on the turn off that leads straight to Pearston. From here on it was full taps country. What is not evident from the photo graphs is the tremendous wind that blew in this area. As we came through the Poort we entered a wind tunnel. The wind must have been blowing a good 70 â?? 80kmh â?? and for about 30kmâ??s we had it from right to left across the road. Driving behind (being a Slowpoke affords one with some interesting views of other drivers) Thump at one point the wind blew him straight onto the thick gravel bit on the side of the road â?? we were doing about 110 at this point. He exhibited some excellent handling skills and controlled it very well. Fourringdog had a similar incident with the wind and the â??middelmannetjieâ?. Finally we arrived at the windmill (windpomp sounds so much better donâ??t you think?). All in one piece still. We had some water and prepared for the next 60km stretch of almost perfectly flat scenery with a howling wind at our backs. Good recipe for some fast and loose playing on the dirt.
[img]https://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/SlowPoke_SA/IMG_7105.jpg</img>
Very soon Pearston was in view. At around this point I relieved my GS of the rear mudguard which everyone agreed was for the better. I think they just did not want to laugh outright. Another handy tip here â?? even if you did check all your nuts and bolts when you left home, check them on the road as well. The mudguard came off due to 1 loose screw coming off and the rest vibrating the mounting point off. Oh well at least I did not have to pump up wheels again.
[img]https://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/SlowPoke_SA/P1120726-1.jpg
The mountains behing Pearston is where we were heading to and I was getting excited at the prospect of Saturdayâ??s riding.
I was also at this point very thirsty â?? a feeling apparently shared by all. And after a quick fuel stop we headed for the off sales. Now let us for a moment just consider the fuel station in Pearston. It has exactly 2 pumps of which the petrol one only had unleaded (not a problem for us but, you know, thought Iâ??d mention it).
Now Pearston is of course the only town where you can find $#!(%##@ lekker take aways.
After a beer or two (no one was counting) the local police force arrived. As we were standing in the main street indulging in fermented beverages and causing a little bit of comment from the local wildlife we expected a small to medium talking to. The general feeling was if we are going to be in trouble it may as well be properly done and we proceeded to wave to the law enforcement officials beer in hand as they drove up. They waved back and drove on. Either they were not really on duty or they could, after all, count.
So off we were to Hoeksfontein with only 23 kmâ??s to go to ice cold beer heaven. I will mention that an aborted unintended wheely, a little bit of tankslap and a much more alert Slowpoke caused a good couple of laughs and chuckles from the other dogs and some headshakes from the wildlife. About 10kmâ??s out from Hoeksfontein we stopped and got the lay of the land for the next dayâ??s outing.
We finally arrived at the gate with big grins on our faces. We had a very full, scenic ride and the prospect of a few â??choppiesâ? and cold ones loomed large and happy in our minds.
One of the first stops though was the pool. Fugly had a no holds barred 2 minutes from bike stop to wet in the pool run. Ok, maybe it was three minutes but the man wasted no time. Photos of him cannot be posted however as there may be sensitive viewers out there.
There is of course also a large fire place and we had approximately 3 tons (due to a small administrative error â?? apparently you need to tell you farm manager to stop cutting wood otherwise they keep going) of fire wood at our disposal.
The bikes also got to rest in a nice shady spot. They were going to need the rest, day 2 was going to be hairy, scary, bum gripping fun...
As we were leaving around midday the planned route was around 40% tar and the rest gravel. And boy what gravel it turned out to be at that â?? but weâ??ll get there. The final group was 5 strong after two fellow riders pulled out due to some strange reasons. Most notable of which was the reason Terror gave us â?? we wonâ??t go into the finer details of it all but suffice to say that none of us envied him for this. So the group was ready and we finally set off on the wild adventure at around 2pm after a quick Steers lunch and fuel level check.
Crab is looking very relaxed here at the departure point and of course the bikes are all nice and clean. This would soon change.
We left and did a bit of tar until we got to the Paarde Poort turn off. This road runs fairly parallel to the tar strip but on the far side of a small â??mountainâ? range.
This stretch of the journey to the flat plains through the mountains was some of the most scenic routes of the trip and was well worth the hard work it caused us. The road seemed to be recently graded and this left some very sharp dagger like shaped shale on the surface. It was Slowpokes first flat wheel on a bike â?? ever.
I (Slowpoke) was at the back of the line only followed by Crab. When I felt the back wheel go all soft and the bike trying to measure the width of the road I slowed down and behold the wonder of the flat tyre. Man I was excited â?? I had gas bombs, tyre weld, tools, the works. Crab pulled up behind and we quickly set to work. Crab has a lot of experience and (and this is important) a small packet of patch and solution. So after we hauled the tube out and patched it and after much reminiscing of how we used to do this a lot as kids the tube was back in and it was time for the tyre bombs! Yeah baby. Well after three gas bombs the tyre was still flat. So out with the tube again only to find I pinched the tube with a tyre lever â?? so on went the second patch. Whilst this was in progress Crab discovered he also had a flat.
Now, with my bike it was easy as I have a centre stand. With Crabsâ?? KLR we had to be more creative. At this point Fugly, Fourringdog (donâ??t ask) and Thump had turned around and joined us. Just in time to help move Crabs KLR onto a makeshift Karoo Bike stand. The air temperature at this point was about 35 and we were sweating. ATGATT is not very Hot Weather friendly. This was to be a precursor to the main event where it got really HOT! At last the bikes were declared road worthy again. It must be mentioned here that there are a few things that saved the day here and which are essential albeit â??simple thingsâ?. Crabâ??s patch and solution was a definite winner and for less than R40 an absolute must have to seal tubes. Crab and Fuglyâ??s tyre leavers are a must. Fugly even had jobbies that can double as wheel spanners â?? neat! Finally Thump had a little R60, 12V compressor there â?? in that heat it was worth every free beer we owed him! Oh and a fine little bit of knowledge from Crab on breaking a tyre bead using the kick stand â?? brilliant advice.
There we were off again. After the flat tyre incident we all were a little more careful of the â??middelmannetjieâ? and had a sharp lookout for more dagger blades. We simply enjoyed the scenery which was absolutely something to see. Fugly took some very artistic rear view photos. We took enough time to stop, take photos and simply enjoy being â??out thereâ?.
We also played a little and sometimes this led to the odd â??stof streepâ? as here where Fugly managed an impressive 30m skid mark. He was later overheard saying something about spotting a sheep stuck in a fence...
Mostly though we just had fun riding these seldom used roads.
https://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/SlowPoke_SA/P1120664.jpg</img>
The main reason for choosing this particular stretch of dirt was that the maps showed a total of 16 river crossings. The map was absolutely correct in that we did cross a river bed 16 times. What one must always remember though is that a map does not always convey the real situation. Here you can see Slowpokes bike in the middle of one of the larger crossings. Yup, rivers look different in the Karoo.
[img]https://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/SlowPoke_SA/IMG_7108.jpg</img>
Our next major stop was just north of the Darlington dam on the turn off that leads straight to Pearston. From here on it was full taps country. What is not evident from the photo graphs is the tremendous wind that blew in this area. As we came through the Poort we entered a wind tunnel. The wind must have been blowing a good 70 â?? 80kmh â?? and for about 30kmâ??s we had it from right to left across the road. Driving behind (being a Slowpoke affords one with some interesting views of other drivers) Thump at one point the wind blew him straight onto the thick gravel bit on the side of the road â?? we were doing about 110 at this point. He exhibited some excellent handling skills and controlled it very well. Fourringdog had a similar incident with the wind and the â??middelmannetjieâ?. Finally we arrived at the windmill (windpomp sounds so much better donâ??t you think?). All in one piece still. We had some water and prepared for the next 60km stretch of almost perfectly flat scenery with a howling wind at our backs. Good recipe for some fast and loose playing on the dirt.
[img]https://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/SlowPoke_SA/IMG_7105.jpg</img>
Very soon Pearston was in view. At around this point I relieved my GS of the rear mudguard which everyone agreed was for the better. I think they just did not want to laugh outright. Another handy tip here â?? even if you did check all your nuts and bolts when you left home, check them on the road as well. The mudguard came off due to 1 loose screw coming off and the rest vibrating the mounting point off. Oh well at least I did not have to pump up wheels again.
[img]https://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd235/SlowPoke_SA/P1120726-1.jpg
The mountains behing Pearston is where we were heading to and I was getting excited at the prospect of Saturdayâ??s riding.
I was also at this point very thirsty â?? a feeling apparently shared by all. And after a quick fuel stop we headed for the off sales. Now let us for a moment just consider the fuel station in Pearston. It has exactly 2 pumps of which the petrol one only had unleaded (not a problem for us but, you know, thought Iâ??d mention it).
Now Pearston is of course the only town where you can find $#!(%##@ lekker take aways.
After a beer or two (no one was counting) the local police force arrived. As we were standing in the main street indulging in fermented beverages and causing a little bit of comment from the local wildlife we expected a small to medium talking to. The general feeling was if we are going to be in trouble it may as well be properly done and we proceeded to wave to the law enforcement officials beer in hand as they drove up. They waved back and drove on. Either they were not really on duty or they could, after all, count.
So off we were to Hoeksfontein with only 23 kmâ??s to go to ice cold beer heaven. I will mention that an aborted unintended wheely, a little bit of tankslap and a much more alert Slowpoke caused a good couple of laughs and chuckles from the other dogs and some headshakes from the wildlife. About 10kmâ??s out from Hoeksfontein we stopped and got the lay of the land for the next dayâ??s outing.
We finally arrived at the gate with big grins on our faces. We had a very full, scenic ride and the prospect of a few â??choppiesâ? and cold ones loomed large and happy in our minds.
One of the first stops though was the pool. Fugly had a no holds barred 2 minutes from bike stop to wet in the pool run. Ok, maybe it was three minutes but the man wasted no time. Photos of him cannot be posted however as there may be sensitive viewers out there.
There is of course also a large fire place and we had approximately 3 tons (due to a small administrative error â?? apparently you need to tell you farm manager to stop cutting wood otherwise they keep going) of fire wood at our disposal.
The bikes also got to rest in a nice shady spot. They were going to need the rest, day 2 was going to be hairy, scary, bum gripping fun...
