The day had been coming for a long time. Mrs Pickle had wanted to get out and spend a decent amount of time on the bike to see if she really liked this whole biking thing. She had previously done 2 short rides with me; one of 30km and another of about 40km.
So we arranged for a baby sitter and planned to spend most of the day together. The planned destination was Hogsback. A leisurely ride with breakfast on the way, lunch in Hogsback and back home, all on tar. That was the plan anyway . . . .
On the morning of the ride we decide that breakfast at the Wimpy in King Williams Town would be a good idea. So a leisurely ride from EL to KWT on the N2 was leg one of the day. We arrived in King and Mrs Pickle had a smile on her face. Whew, I was worried that even the N2 would be too much for her. During breakfast I tell Mrs Pickle about the Ciskei National Monument and how it has been ransacked and stripped since the new dispensation. Conveniently I tell her that it happens to be not too far out of the way if she wants to take a side trip on the way up to Hogsback albeit that we will need to ride on a little bit dirt to get there. She ponders for a fleeting moment and says yes. YES!!!! So breakfast is thrashed down the gullet and we head off on leg two of the day.
The Trusty Steed ready for a day doing what it loves most . . . .
Close up of The Steed (or Zoomy as our daughter calls it)
Mrs pickled kitted up and ready to go 9she has a smile on her face and apparently it wasn’t nerves or apprehension . . . . .
We head out of KWT and pass Dimbaza and take the Keiskammahoek turnoff. About 3km after the turnoff we take a left and the dirt starts, only about 6km of it but it is DIRT. The road isn’t in too bad a condition but it had rained the night before so it was slippery in places and of course there were puddles. We arrive at the monument unscathed and Mrs pickle is still smiling. She does say though that she did think we were going to slip and fall quite a few times. I explain that she will get used to that (I have only just started getting used to it myself) and that the bike is more than capable of handling what we have just been on. We have a look around and take some pictures. It is truly a pity that this building was allowed to be ruined like this. I had been there a few times in the 80’s and it was an impressive structure and facility. Now it is a derelict ruin that is used to house cattle, sheep and goats. I did not have the heart to take pictures of what it looked like inside.
The Ciskei National Monument, or what is left of it (the whole concrete area that the bike is parked on used to be under roof and enclosed in glass
Me and Zoomy
Leg three takes us to Hogsback. We mount the trusty steed and head back down the dirt road, reach the tar and make a leisurely pace to Hogsback. The plan was to have a cup of coffee before exploring the odd shop, etc in Hogsback. As we pull into Hogsback I ask Mrs Pickle where she wants coffee. The answer astounds me: no she wants to go to the Telkom tower at the top of Hogsback!!!! I explain that this about 9km of dirt and that it will be wet from the rain the night before. No problem, let’s go she says.
So off we go. For some reason I had a poor rhythm going on the dirt on the way and this where we nearly had an off. We came around a slow corner in too high a gear, nearly stalled. The corner was also the start of a rather steep section and it was wet. I got it all wrong and we slid sideways a bit. I managed to keep the bike upright though. Had we come off it wouldn’t have bad as we were only going about 10km/h. Nonetheless it was not what I had wanted Mrs pickle to experience on her first day out. To her credit this didn’t faze her a bit. Near the top is the Hogsback dam. With the grought we are having we were expecting it to be low but not empty. We went to investigate and found that they are busy renovating the wall and hence all water is passed straight through. We carried on to the top. We took some pictures had some water and enjoyed the view.
Mrs Pickle at the Hogsback Dam
The Hogsback Dam Wall. They are renovating it on the upstream side (the picture I took sucks so this is a picture of the downstream side)
Me with the Menziesberg in the distance
Gaikas Kop
Zoomy and Gaikas Kop
Mrs Pickle and Gaikas Kop
After a while I say that we should head back down for some coffee. No says Mrs Pickle, she wants to go down to the lake on the other side of the Madonna & Child water fall. No questions asked from me and off we went. The ride down was far less eventful and I got my dirt rhythm back. 15km of dirt later we arrived at the lake. We take some more pictures and enjoy the scenery, quiet and peacefulness of the place.
Mrs Pickle at the lake. It was cold and windy . . . .
The Steed
The Pickle and the lake . . . . .
Pickle
Finally we are ready to have lunch. We headed off to the Arminel for lunch on the Terrace. We were so relaxed that we forgot to take pictures. After lunch we took a leisurely ride back to East London (all on tar, but I can’t complain). The worst part of the ride for Mrs Pickle happened on the way back. Nearing EL the wind picked up quite a bit. As we went under bridge we got a serious gust that through the bike around quite a bit. That rattled her. I have been through far worse on a ride in April (250km of above gale force west wind either side of PE) and was not concerned. I explain to her that wind is something that is part of biking and that she will get used to it in time.
All in all it was a fantastic day out. I was more apprehensive than Mrs Pickle and I am so stoked that she enjoyed it, even the dirt part. Thank you my honey for trying this out and I really looking forward to our next ride.
So we arranged for a baby sitter and planned to spend most of the day together. The planned destination was Hogsback. A leisurely ride with breakfast on the way, lunch in Hogsback and back home, all on tar. That was the plan anyway . . . .
On the morning of the ride we decide that breakfast at the Wimpy in King Williams Town would be a good idea. So a leisurely ride from EL to KWT on the N2 was leg one of the day. We arrived in King and Mrs Pickle had a smile on her face. Whew, I was worried that even the N2 would be too much for her. During breakfast I tell Mrs Pickle about the Ciskei National Monument and how it has been ransacked and stripped since the new dispensation. Conveniently I tell her that it happens to be not too far out of the way if she wants to take a side trip on the way up to Hogsback albeit that we will need to ride on a little bit dirt to get there. She ponders for a fleeting moment and says yes. YES!!!! So breakfast is thrashed down the gullet and we head off on leg two of the day.
The Trusty Steed ready for a day doing what it loves most . . . .
Close up of The Steed (or Zoomy as our daughter calls it)
Mrs pickled kitted up and ready to go 9she has a smile on her face and apparently it wasn’t nerves or apprehension . . . . .
We head out of KWT and pass Dimbaza and take the Keiskammahoek turnoff. About 3km after the turnoff we take a left and the dirt starts, only about 6km of it but it is DIRT. The road isn’t in too bad a condition but it had rained the night before so it was slippery in places and of course there were puddles. We arrive at the monument unscathed and Mrs pickle is still smiling. She does say though that she did think we were going to slip and fall quite a few times. I explain that she will get used to that (I have only just started getting used to it myself) and that the bike is more than capable of handling what we have just been on. We have a look around and take some pictures. It is truly a pity that this building was allowed to be ruined like this. I had been there a few times in the 80’s and it was an impressive structure and facility. Now it is a derelict ruin that is used to house cattle, sheep and goats. I did not have the heart to take pictures of what it looked like inside.
The Ciskei National Monument, or what is left of it (the whole concrete area that the bike is parked on used to be under roof and enclosed in glass
Me and Zoomy
Leg three takes us to Hogsback. We mount the trusty steed and head back down the dirt road, reach the tar and make a leisurely pace to Hogsback. The plan was to have a cup of coffee before exploring the odd shop, etc in Hogsback. As we pull into Hogsback I ask Mrs Pickle where she wants coffee. The answer astounds me: no she wants to go to the Telkom tower at the top of Hogsback!!!! I explain that this about 9km of dirt and that it will be wet from the rain the night before. No problem, let’s go she says.
So off we go. For some reason I had a poor rhythm going on the dirt on the way and this where we nearly had an off. We came around a slow corner in too high a gear, nearly stalled. The corner was also the start of a rather steep section and it was wet. I got it all wrong and we slid sideways a bit. I managed to keep the bike upright though. Had we come off it wouldn’t have bad as we were only going about 10km/h. Nonetheless it was not what I had wanted Mrs pickle to experience on her first day out. To her credit this didn’t faze her a bit. Near the top is the Hogsback dam. With the grought we are having we were expecting it to be low but not empty. We went to investigate and found that they are busy renovating the wall and hence all water is passed straight through. We carried on to the top. We took some pictures had some water and enjoyed the view.
Mrs Pickle at the Hogsback Dam
The Hogsback Dam Wall. They are renovating it on the upstream side (the picture I took sucks so this is a picture of the downstream side)
Me with the Menziesberg in the distance
Gaikas Kop
Zoomy and Gaikas Kop
Mrs Pickle and Gaikas Kop
After a while I say that we should head back down for some coffee. No says Mrs Pickle, she wants to go down to the lake on the other side of the Madonna & Child water fall. No questions asked from me and off we went. The ride down was far less eventful and I got my dirt rhythm back. 15km of dirt later we arrived at the lake. We take some more pictures and enjoy the scenery, quiet and peacefulness of the place.
Mrs Pickle at the lake. It was cold and windy . . . .
The Steed
The Pickle and the lake . . . . .
Pickle
Finally we are ready to have lunch. We headed off to the Arminel for lunch on the Terrace. We were so relaxed that we forgot to take pictures. After lunch we took a leisurely ride back to East London (all on tar, but I can’t complain). The worst part of the ride for Mrs Pickle happened on the way back. Nearing EL the wind picked up quite a bit. As we went under bridge we got a serious gust that through the bike around quite a bit. That rattled her. I have been through far worse on a ride in April (250km of above gale force west wind either side of PE) and was not concerned. I explain to her that wind is something that is part of biking and that she will get used to it in time.
All in all it was a fantastic day out. I was more apprehensive than Mrs Pickle and I am so stoked that she enjoyed it, even the dirt part. Thank you my honey for trying this out and I really looking forward to our next ride.
