DirtyTeNeReLess
Grey Hound
due to some serious cunning and gile I managed to negotiate taking my bike down to Durban this year to join the family. I decided to spread it over two days each way and really soak it up.
wanting to get outta jhb asap and into holiday mode I decided to take the mostly tar route down via Clarens and golden gate.
Ganjora gave me some tips for the route back home that will have more features, dirt, arm pump and sweat in it. this part is a gentle meander.
the theme for this was to stay of the N3. left jhb from the south and exited via Alberton/Walkerville/Vereeniging/Sasol -burg/Heilbron/Bethlehem/Clarens/Goldengate/Bergville/Estcourt/Pietermaritzburg/then follow the comrades route to Pinetown.
been eyeing out the Karoo 3 for some time, it just looks the part. so installed one from justbiketyre centurion. as usual great service from those guys, decided on a T63 front instead of a matching Karoo 3 (put the 140 wide 17 inch Karoo 3 on instead of the 130). nothing IMHO beats the T63 in front in terms of performance and value for money. The front, back and a rear set of brake pads came just under 2k.
walkerville
Sasol in the background. thrilled to pieces to be on the road and just soaking it all in. in hindsight perhaps taking the highway out of jhb would be a better plan. like the R59. traffic is a pain. but enjoyed the ride through walkerville and de-deur brought back some good and not so good memories from when i was a lightie.
a awesome time to be taking the small roads, everything is green and alive and really just sat back and relaxed.
first bit of gravel coming up to Clarens. stunning entry point seeing all the mountains.
![690i.jpg]](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/c90/c9010abea8abb4b0f964a3fe3ea12da6)
getting gatvol of riding debated staying over in Clarens. but sadly the accommodation costs and the inefficient handling of my queries irritated me so I decided to push on through Golden Gate. was really fancying smashing a few draughts at that point in a pub.
bumped into a German couple riding some katooms that were having some mechanical problems at a garage, chatted to the wife and offered to help but they seemed rather capable. their story went something like this : we rode from Germany to Cape town a couple year ago, sold our bikes and have just bought them back from the person who bought them in jhb and riding to cape town again. not quite sure but the wife was chatty the husband not so much.
![buqh.jpg]](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/554/55416fd352c6f899aa45fdb29c95e55a)
very pleased I went through though the Golden Gate is quiet something. was loving the Karoo 3's, so far flawless. especially through golden gate. was getting my knee's down on some of the bends and the grip was endless.
went through the little pass via sterkfontein dam just as the sun was setting and some miserable clouds gathered. the pass is under construction so its pot holed to death, tired and thirsty I took some creative riding and some really unnecessary risks to get passed trucks and taxis ramping on and off the newly constructed road and construction debris either on the right or the left.
![4j22.jpg]](https://proxy.imagearchive.com/af2/af2edf2613dd8bc6483c09feab5cb9f8)
better conditions.
arse was getting sore and my mind was set on taking it easy and heading towards Bergville stopped at a random spot and found THIS!!! Bingalela almost half price of Clarens and highly recommended.
for a serious bargain R390 a night.
and we all love a bath on a ride... WTF.
so settled in durbs for a full week of R and R. highlight was a 1kgs roti from Johnny's in durbs. i wanted the dodgiest place. triple cheese and chip roti... ordered lamb but the order got messed up.
caught the boxing day test cricket match and generally ate and drank myself into oblivion.
it must be mentioned that I expected Durban to be a busy hot shithole, too many people not enough parking and litter everywhere. the below picture is how busy it actually was... quiet plenty parking clean and safe. don't tell anyone but now all the vaalies hit ballito durban has become a great place.
Eventually started the return leg.
hit the N3 to Mooi river then took the off ramp there, gave the toll gate on the exit the bird and carried on. to go find the elusive bezuidenhouts pass that Ganjora suggested. the R103 and R74 goes past little Switzerland through some tar pass and you hook a right towards the pass.
pretty average entrance not knowing what lay ahead, was hoping it wasn't just a gentle pass with boring views.
anyone been up this pass?
went straight towards a mountain range that I had been hoping was the bez pass. was tempted to go see but didn't want it to become a 6 hour pass without any signal and fully loaded on my ace pushed forward towards what seemed to be the bez pass in the grassy hills ahead.
plenty of rain was had previously so the roads were properly muddy.
ho hum, gentle meandering...
things started to get interesting here, can't see it but that is pretty steep, rocky and muddy and there was a little stream coming down the hill so was getting a little excited.
the pic of the trip i think!
tyres were performing splendidly in the mud, had a couple slip and slides due to the camber of the path / twee spoor. got the heart rate up a bit
reached what seemed to be the peak, again it's pretty steep here, rocky, muddy and there was always a little stream to contend with. not in the slightest but concerned. ho hum. the stone steps were getting large though.
I'll need to explain this next one a bit. found the only reasonable line to go through a couple boulders and a stream but my momentum was a little too slow (not being in a rush and being solo without support i was taking it easy) and my front wheel got stuck in the stream and a hole and a boulder. so I was performing the splits with each foot on the opposite rocks and the bike in a awkward downward angle (the front suspension was fully compressed). tried to power my way through, tried to rock it. i was stuck. to my left was a ledge and a straight down drop off the ledge. sooo i had to lay my bike down and climb off walked around dragged the rear wheel down the bolder and picked the front out of the wet hole. started sweating here.
after that it was alot of the same, rock steps streams and slopes. started getting some arm pump.
eventually, fully sweating now i got down through the pass into a little village.
this popped me out at swinburn and around the other side of that cool mountain you see coming down the N3
popped in the total and got some comments on how muddy i was.
went from Harrismith to verkykerskop>memel>standerton>balfour>heidelburg>city deep>midrand
all in all a good couple days solo riding, wondering why my girlfriend didn't want to come with considering she has a lovely pink XT...
Thanks Ganjora for pointing me towards bezuidenhouts pass. nice pass indeed. happy it wasnt twice as long though...
wanting to get outta jhb asap and into holiday mode I decided to take the mostly tar route down via Clarens and golden gate.
Ganjora gave me some tips for the route back home that will have more features, dirt, arm pump and sweat in it. this part is a gentle meander.
the theme for this was to stay of the N3. left jhb from the south and exited via Alberton/Walkerville/Vereeniging/Sasol -burg/Heilbron/Bethlehem/Clarens/Goldengate/Bergville/Estcourt/Pietermaritzburg/then follow the comrades route to Pinetown.
been eyeing out the Karoo 3 for some time, it just looks the part. so installed one from justbiketyre centurion. as usual great service from those guys, decided on a T63 front instead of a matching Karoo 3 (put the 140 wide 17 inch Karoo 3 on instead of the 130). nothing IMHO beats the T63 in front in terms of performance and value for money. The front, back and a rear set of brake pads came just under 2k.
walkerville
Sasol in the background. thrilled to pieces to be on the road and just soaking it all in. in hindsight perhaps taking the highway out of jhb would be a better plan. like the R59. traffic is a pain. but enjoyed the ride through walkerville and de-deur brought back some good and not so good memories from when i was a lightie.
a awesome time to be taking the small roads, everything is green and alive and really just sat back and relaxed.
first bit of gravel coming up to Clarens. stunning entry point seeing all the mountains.
getting gatvol of riding debated staying over in Clarens. but sadly the accommodation costs and the inefficient handling of my queries irritated me so I decided to push on through Golden Gate. was really fancying smashing a few draughts at that point in a pub.
bumped into a German couple riding some katooms that were having some mechanical problems at a garage, chatted to the wife and offered to help but they seemed rather capable. their story went something like this : we rode from Germany to Cape town a couple year ago, sold our bikes and have just bought them back from the person who bought them in jhb and riding to cape town again. not quite sure but the wife was chatty the husband not so much.
very pleased I went through though the Golden Gate is quiet something. was loving the Karoo 3's, so far flawless. especially through golden gate. was getting my knee's down on some of the bends and the grip was endless.
went through the little pass via sterkfontein dam just as the sun was setting and some miserable clouds gathered. the pass is under construction so its pot holed to death, tired and thirsty I took some creative riding and some really unnecessary risks to get passed trucks and taxis ramping on and off the newly constructed road and construction debris either on the right or the left.
better conditions.
arse was getting sore and my mind was set on taking it easy and heading towards Bergville stopped at a random spot and found THIS!!! Bingalela almost half price of Clarens and highly recommended.
for a serious bargain R390 a night.
and we all love a bath on a ride... WTF.
so settled in durbs for a full week of R and R. highlight was a 1kgs roti from Johnny's in durbs. i wanted the dodgiest place. triple cheese and chip roti... ordered lamb but the order got messed up.
caught the boxing day test cricket match and generally ate and drank myself into oblivion.
it must be mentioned that I expected Durban to be a busy hot shithole, too many people not enough parking and litter everywhere. the below picture is how busy it actually was... quiet plenty parking clean and safe. don't tell anyone but now all the vaalies hit ballito durban has become a great place.
Eventually started the return leg.
hit the N3 to Mooi river then took the off ramp there, gave the toll gate on the exit the bird and carried on. to go find the elusive bezuidenhouts pass that Ganjora suggested. the R103 and R74 goes past little Switzerland through some tar pass and you hook a right towards the pass.
pretty average entrance not knowing what lay ahead, was hoping it wasn't just a gentle pass with boring views.
anyone been up this pass?
went straight towards a mountain range that I had been hoping was the bez pass. was tempted to go see but didn't want it to become a 6 hour pass without any signal and fully loaded on my ace pushed forward towards what seemed to be the bez pass in the grassy hills ahead.
plenty of rain was had previously so the roads were properly muddy.
ho hum, gentle meandering...
things started to get interesting here, can't see it but that is pretty steep, rocky and muddy and there was a little stream coming down the hill so was getting a little excited.
the pic of the trip i think!
tyres were performing splendidly in the mud, had a couple slip and slides due to the camber of the path / twee spoor. got the heart rate up a bit
reached what seemed to be the peak, again it's pretty steep here, rocky, muddy and there was always a little stream to contend with. not in the slightest but concerned. ho hum. the stone steps were getting large though.
I'll need to explain this next one a bit. found the only reasonable line to go through a couple boulders and a stream but my momentum was a little too slow (not being in a rush and being solo without support i was taking it easy) and my front wheel got stuck in the stream and a hole and a boulder. so I was performing the splits with each foot on the opposite rocks and the bike in a awkward downward angle (the front suspension was fully compressed). tried to power my way through, tried to rock it. i was stuck. to my left was a ledge and a straight down drop off the ledge. sooo i had to lay my bike down and climb off walked around dragged the rear wheel down the bolder and picked the front out of the wet hole. started sweating here.
after that it was alot of the same, rock steps streams and slopes. started getting some arm pump.
eventually, fully sweating now i got down through the pass into a little village.
this popped me out at swinburn and around the other side of that cool mountain you see coming down the N3
popped in the total and got some comments on how muddy i was.
went from Harrismith to verkykerskop>memel>standerton>balfour>heidelburg>city deep>midrand
all in all a good couple days solo riding, wondering why my girlfriend didn't want to come with considering she has a lovely pink XT...
Thanks Ganjora for pointing me towards bezuidenhouts pass. nice pass indeed. happy it wasnt twice as long though...
