johang
Race Dog
A weekend away for me and Zanda has been long overdue. One of the things I committed to during my weekend at Country Trax was that I was going to slow down and find more things than just work to do.
Lucky for me the work for the weekend was cancelled and a nice opportunity to go away. But it is hard to "sommer" get out of old habits. It seemed sort of easy to find to many things to do Saturday morning rather than leaving, but in the end we did. Did not rush to get ready, just took our time. Our destination, according to the GPS, was about 160km (Die Oog just outside Naboomspruit).
It was the first time that Zanda (Puddles) used her panniers. Low and behold, just like last year when she used her top box for the first time, she did what?
She read the instructions and actually weighed the panniers after putting her stuff into it.
The initial idea was to take the old Warmbad (Bela Bela) road to skip the toll roads and then from Warmbad take some back roads to Loubad and so forth. This changed just outside Pretoria as we took the Zambezi off ramp and proceeded to Cilliers via some backroads.
Puddles on her TransAlp (with the big panniers)
Warmbad was a nice stop for Wimpy and then the back roads towards Loubad/Alma. Outside Warmbad is a new development, Fish Eagle or something.
The garvel roads were nice, and as part of the slow down we actually slowed down. This is something that Camo Jo knows and have been preaching for a long time. You actually see more and enjoy the scenery, much less tired and both of us can enjoy the ride.
We arrived at "Die Oog" late the afternoon, booked in, swam, braaied and camped...
The warm water is fun and the supertube is not for the faint hearted. I really pounded my body. The heavier you are the faster you go, so give the little ones some real space before you start, cause you do catch them up. The last few turns are painfull and I ended up with a stiff neck, must be the old age coming into play. The camping works out about R60.00 per person with good ablution facilities. Chalets are also available.
Camo Jo joined us on the way back. The next day so taking the road towards Alma. Have never been there before. Unfortunately I missed out on some photos. We stopped to support the locals, about two kms before Rankins Pass. There are some fresh chciken heads and feet on offer...
Rankins Pass reminds me very much about the little mountain pass otherside Hartbeespoort Dam. It also brings about memories of day in the force when a Mfezi ambulance missed the roads duing some military exercise. But that is another "when we" story.
From here it was shortest route to Rooiberg with the optional smoke breaks.
At Rooiberg we could not get fuel for Puddles' bike. The smaller tank plays a role when one rides with a bigger capacity and keep forgetting to check the smaller bike. Age old DS lesson.
The turn-around thing she still needs to work on but the gravel road, sand and those lekka gravel road places, she has no problem, even some corrigated corners, where I thought she is not going to turn, she just leaned weight forward, shoulders turned and go!!
We had lowered the TransAlp for Puddles and have not adjusted the sidestand yet, so the first task when we got home Sunday evening was to do the sidsestand thing, just to be ready cause some new weekends may just pop-out more regularly than antisipated.
Then the bike were cleaned, checked and ready for the next trip. DS just gives and opportunity to spend time together, whether in large group or just a small group.
Lucky for me the work for the weekend was cancelled and a nice opportunity to go away. But it is hard to "sommer" get out of old habits. It seemed sort of easy to find to many things to do Saturday morning rather than leaving, but in the end we did. Did not rush to get ready, just took our time. Our destination, according to the GPS, was about 160km (Die Oog just outside Naboomspruit).
It was the first time that Zanda (Puddles) used her panniers. Low and behold, just like last year when she used her top box for the first time, she did what?
She read the instructions and actually weighed the panniers after putting her stuff into it.
The initial idea was to take the old Warmbad (Bela Bela) road to skip the toll roads and then from Warmbad take some back roads to Loubad and so forth. This changed just outside Pretoria as we took the Zambezi off ramp and proceeded to Cilliers via some backroads.
Puddles on her TransAlp (with the big panniers)
Warmbad was a nice stop for Wimpy and then the back roads towards Loubad/Alma. Outside Warmbad is a new development, Fish Eagle or something.
The garvel roads were nice, and as part of the slow down we actually slowed down. This is something that Camo Jo knows and have been preaching for a long time. You actually see more and enjoy the scenery, much less tired and both of us can enjoy the ride.
We arrived at "Die Oog" late the afternoon, booked in, swam, braaied and camped...
The warm water is fun and the supertube is not for the faint hearted. I really pounded my body. The heavier you are the faster you go, so give the little ones some real space before you start, cause you do catch them up. The last few turns are painfull and I ended up with a stiff neck, must be the old age coming into play. The camping works out about R60.00 per person with good ablution facilities. Chalets are also available.
Camo Jo joined us on the way back. The next day so taking the road towards Alma. Have never been there before. Unfortunately I missed out on some photos. We stopped to support the locals, about two kms before Rankins Pass. There are some fresh chciken heads and feet on offer...
Rankins Pass reminds me very much about the little mountain pass otherside Hartbeespoort Dam. It also brings about memories of day in the force when a Mfezi ambulance missed the roads duing some military exercise. But that is another "when we" story.
From here it was shortest route to Rooiberg with the optional smoke breaks.
At Rooiberg we could not get fuel for Puddles' bike. The smaller tank plays a role when one rides with a bigger capacity and keep forgetting to check the smaller bike. Age old DS lesson.
The turn-around thing she still needs to work on but the gravel road, sand and those lekka gravel road places, she has no problem, even some corrigated corners, where I thought she is not going to turn, she just leaned weight forward, shoulders turned and go!!
We had lowered the TransAlp for Puddles and have not adjusted the sidestand yet, so the first task when we got home Sunday evening was to do the sidsestand thing, just to be ready cause some new weekends may just pop-out more regularly than antisipated.
Then the bike were cleaned, checked and ready for the next trip. DS just gives and opportunity to spend time together, whether in large group or just a small group.
