This is a Ride Report of a trippie by me and Kawasefi in July 2008.
I was not yet registered as a Wilddog back then. I was reading this thread https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=27289,
then thought I should maybe post this little ride report.
I have been wanting to do a DS-Trip for some time where we ride all the mountain passes going up and down the Drakenberg escarpment, between Memel and Oliviershoek pass. In my research with various Map books, Tracks 4 Africa and MapSource I have found 9 passes in this stretch, namely (from north to south): Muller’s Pass, Normandien Pass, Collins Pass, De Beers Pass, Van Reenen (Railway line), Van Reenen (N3), Middledale (Tintwa) Pass, Bezuidenhoudt’s Pass and Oliviershoek Pass.
The plan was simple, start at the top and ride one down and the next one up and so on. This is what actually happened: (I added pictures at the end of this report)
I left work at 12pm on Friday 11 July and made my way to Heidelberg via the N3. At Heidelberg, I took a little back-road via a short dirt road under the N3 in order to avoid the De Hoek Toll Plaza. I kept to this back-road all the way to Villiers. Then I took the R26 to Bethlehem, through Clarens and Golden Gate to arrive in Harrismith. In Harrismith I met up with Kawasefi, a longtime friend of mine, on his Kawa KLR650. We stayed over at his parents’ house in Harrismith.
A cold, wet, misty and rainy Saturday morning greeted us in Harrimith. We made our way onto Muller’s Pass on dirt roads. I misjudged the “slippery” dirt road and had a “little fall”, nothing major, just a broken indicator. By this time the weather had cleared up and it was a beautiful clear winter’s day. Muller’s Pass is just a dirt road going down into Natal, not difficult at all. We made our way to Normandien Pass, and I felt that my rear wheel was not behaving the way it should. We stopped, and found that I had a rear-wheel puncture. We sprayed some “Tire-Fix” and we were off again. Normandien Pass is spectacularly beautiful. It cuts through the side of the Drakenberg, and is quite steep at places, but nothing a 650GS and a KLR650 couldn’t handle with ease. After Normandien we went down Collins Pass and up De Beers Pass. Both were uneventful, and had very good dirt-road riding. De Beers Pass is in the process of being tarred. At the top of De Beers we decided to head home and see if we can get my rear tyre fixed. Luckily I always carry a spare tube for both tyres with me. We got the new tube installed in Harrismith and we were ready for the next day.
Again a VERY cold and misty morning greeted us on Sunday morning. We decided to wait until the mist cleared up a bit before we leave, so we got onto the dirt roads a bit later than we wanted. We headed to Middledale (Tintwa) Pass via Swinburne. On chatting to Kawasefi’s dad the night before, he informed us of a rough 4x4 track leading down the escarpment, between Tintwa Pass and Van Reenen’s Pass, called the Sandspruit Pass, this track would lead us pass “Die Verlore Vallei”. Well, it sounded like fun, so we decided we will give it a bash and see what happens!! We were VERY happy we took this little track. Die Verlore Vallei is stunningly beautiful and the track is very rocky and steep at places, and A LOT of fun!! We later found out that the only way in and out of “Die Verlore Vallei” is via a very, very steep 4x4 track. We will try this next time round!! At the bottom we made our way to Geluksburg and up Tintwa Pass, the pass is tarred and the tar on the pass is in good condition. You cannot really call the stretch above the pass “tar”; it is more “dirt road with patches of tar”! but nice to ride. We made our way back to Harrismith, and I left for Pretoria, again via Golden Gate. The road through Golden Gate is just THAT good to ride.
All in all I did 1443km; it was good fun, and a trip to remember.
Highlights of the trip:
Golden Gate
Normandien Pass
Die Verlore Vallei
Sandspruit Pass / Track
Lowlights:
Clarens being turned into a Golf Estate
De Beers Pass being tarred
Photos:
The trusty steed in Golden Gate
Brandwag Rock and the 650GS
Off the main road in Golden Gate.
The stunning Brandwag Rock
Sandstone Valley in Golden Gate
Base of Normandien Pass
Normandiem Pass cutting through the Drakensberg
On the way to Collins Pass
The bikes at the top of "Die Verlore Vallei"
All in all a nice relaxing trip.
Thanks for reading !!!!
:thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:
I was not yet registered as a Wilddog back then. I was reading this thread https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=27289,
then thought I should maybe post this little ride report.
I have been wanting to do a DS-Trip for some time where we ride all the mountain passes going up and down the Drakenberg escarpment, between Memel and Oliviershoek pass. In my research with various Map books, Tracks 4 Africa and MapSource I have found 9 passes in this stretch, namely (from north to south): Muller’s Pass, Normandien Pass, Collins Pass, De Beers Pass, Van Reenen (Railway line), Van Reenen (N3), Middledale (Tintwa) Pass, Bezuidenhoudt’s Pass and Oliviershoek Pass.
The plan was simple, start at the top and ride one down and the next one up and so on. This is what actually happened: (I added pictures at the end of this report)
I left work at 12pm on Friday 11 July and made my way to Heidelberg via the N3. At Heidelberg, I took a little back-road via a short dirt road under the N3 in order to avoid the De Hoek Toll Plaza. I kept to this back-road all the way to Villiers. Then I took the R26 to Bethlehem, through Clarens and Golden Gate to arrive in Harrismith. In Harrismith I met up with Kawasefi, a longtime friend of mine, on his Kawa KLR650. We stayed over at his parents’ house in Harrismith.
A cold, wet, misty and rainy Saturday morning greeted us in Harrimith. We made our way onto Muller’s Pass on dirt roads. I misjudged the “slippery” dirt road and had a “little fall”, nothing major, just a broken indicator. By this time the weather had cleared up and it was a beautiful clear winter’s day. Muller’s Pass is just a dirt road going down into Natal, not difficult at all. We made our way to Normandien Pass, and I felt that my rear wheel was not behaving the way it should. We stopped, and found that I had a rear-wheel puncture. We sprayed some “Tire-Fix” and we were off again. Normandien Pass is spectacularly beautiful. It cuts through the side of the Drakenberg, and is quite steep at places, but nothing a 650GS and a KLR650 couldn’t handle with ease. After Normandien we went down Collins Pass and up De Beers Pass. Both were uneventful, and had very good dirt-road riding. De Beers Pass is in the process of being tarred. At the top of De Beers we decided to head home and see if we can get my rear tyre fixed. Luckily I always carry a spare tube for both tyres with me. We got the new tube installed in Harrismith and we were ready for the next day.
Again a VERY cold and misty morning greeted us on Sunday morning. We decided to wait until the mist cleared up a bit before we leave, so we got onto the dirt roads a bit later than we wanted. We headed to Middledale (Tintwa) Pass via Swinburne. On chatting to Kawasefi’s dad the night before, he informed us of a rough 4x4 track leading down the escarpment, between Tintwa Pass and Van Reenen’s Pass, called the Sandspruit Pass, this track would lead us pass “Die Verlore Vallei”. Well, it sounded like fun, so we decided we will give it a bash and see what happens!! We were VERY happy we took this little track. Die Verlore Vallei is stunningly beautiful and the track is very rocky and steep at places, and A LOT of fun!! We later found out that the only way in and out of “Die Verlore Vallei” is via a very, very steep 4x4 track. We will try this next time round!! At the bottom we made our way to Geluksburg and up Tintwa Pass, the pass is tarred and the tar on the pass is in good condition. You cannot really call the stretch above the pass “tar”; it is more “dirt road with patches of tar”! but nice to ride. We made our way back to Harrismith, and I left for Pretoria, again via Golden Gate. The road through Golden Gate is just THAT good to ride.
All in all I did 1443km; it was good fun, and a trip to remember.
Highlights of the trip:
Golden Gate
Normandien Pass
Die Verlore Vallei
Sandspruit Pass / Track
Lowlights:
Clarens being turned into a Golf Estate
De Beers Pass being tarred
Photos:
The trusty steed in Golden Gate
Brandwag Rock and the 650GS
Off the main road in Golden Gate.
The stunning Brandwag Rock
Sandstone Valley in Golden Gate
Base of Normandien Pass
Normandiem Pass cutting through the Drakensberg
On the way to Collins Pass
The bikes at the top of "Die Verlore Vallei"
All in all a nice relaxing trip.
Thanks for reading !!!!
:thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:
