LanceSA
Race Dog
I am so fortunate to live in the Eastern Cape. We have some of the best riding right on our doorstep. So it was that we planned a ride from Sunday the 24th of April to Saturday the 30th. I was very specific in what I wanted to do. I wanted to ride up the Wildcoast, get to Underberg and ride Sani again, and then go through to Rhodes and from there on to the Hogsback, riding as much dirt as possible and as many passes and Neks as we could find. But I was determined to have a direction for each day and not an itinerary. No accommodation was booked and nothing was set in stone.
Originally 4 of us planned to go, but Mike bought a new bike that didn’t arrive in time, so he had to sit out this one. So there was Mark from Cape Town on his Gs 800, who rode up to EL on the Friday and Saturday just so that he could do the ride:
Gerald on Mike’s ex XT 660, who has only owned road bikes for the last couple of years and collected the bike the week before we left:
And me on Katie – Ktm 950 Se
Our first stop was the Pont at Kei Mouth. It really is a special feeling crossing a river like this - one that just has to be experienced:
We could only leave EL at about 12:00, so after the Pont we headed to Trennery’s for a spot of lunch and to discuss accommodation. The people at Trennery’s are really awesome. First they phoned around for us to see who had accommodation further up the line and then when we couldn’t find anything, gave us an out-of season rate as a favour. I can highly recommend this great place with a fantastic setting and awesome food.
The next morning we made our only navigational error. The maps showed a through road from the wreck of the Jacaranda up the coast but we could not find this. Along the way was a bit of sand riding and it claimed a victim.
The bikes were still clean and we were keen.
After all the recent rains, the Transkei is extremely rutted and the roads are a mess, but it means the cars have to drive slower and there was little chance of meeting someone on a blind bend coming at speed. What we did see are so many amazing valleys and passes. The Transkei is as green and lush as I have ever seen it and the scenery is absolutely beautiful. We navigated using the gps and a very detailed map of the Wildcoast. All we had to do was head north!
