GravelNap
Puppy
The initial plan was a weekend trip to Marloth Park, but about a week before our departure date, Just_Plain_Dan sends all the parties concerned a link of a ride report by krazy_eyes titled 7km of hell and without any deliberation the plans are changed. Regardless of the fact that most of us read the ride report, we were completely oblivious to what we were getting ourselves into.
The guilty parties are as follow:
• Charles
• Just_Plain_Dan
• Granto
• Redeyeball
• Badprop
• Willem
• Myself
We all met up at a gas station on Solomon Mahlangu Dr and hit the road around 3pm. Since we left Pretoria later than expected, it was tar road all the way to Loskop Dam. This being my first long trip, the seat on my 990 could just as well have been a piece of wood and my rear end started feeling the strain early on. Never the less, the ride to Loskop was quick and we were able to setup camp before the sun set.
What followed was great company and way too much alcohol which meant that we only left Loskop Dam Forever Resort at 11AM the next morning and completely forgot about documenting the stay with some photos. Once we hit the road, complains of thirst, heartburn and headaches quickly disappeared.
By the time we reached Roedtan everyone was itching to get some dirt under their wheels. The KTM’s filled up and just to be safe Dan strapped a six pack Black Label to his luggage plate. Willem added 6 more to his topbox as backup. ;D Little did we know that later in the day they would come in very handy!!
Not far outside of Lebowakgomo we were pulled over for not stopping at a stop street. Dan promised to stop twice the next time we pass that way, but I reckon they did not want to go through the effort of writing seven tickets. As we entered the valley a donkey cart ignoring a stop street nearly t-boned me
. I don’t know who’s eyes were bigger, the two donkeys, the guy steering the cart or mine.
At this point the scenery became more remote and before we knew it the tar turned to dirt and spirits were lifted. We had a quick stop and cracked open the first beer. At the bottom of the mountain pass we had a quick stop since badprop was having trouble with the screen on GS which had rattled loose.
It is exactly the way krazy_eyes explained it. You almost can’t believe that this overgrown track leads you over the mountain.
The start of the mountain pass was brutal. I have zero experience on this kind of terrain with such a big bike and was battling to keep the KTM upright. The loose rocks determine where you are going and it felt like all I was doing was holding on for dear life. I had many an “Oh Crap!” moment. It was getting hot and not before long I was exhausted, but stopping was not an option. Every now and then the track got better, but you are left utterly disappointed when you turn the next corner. Rocks, Rocks and more rocks! We pulled out some photos from the GoPro footage, but have a look at the video we put together at the end of the post.
I was relieved to see that Dan and Granto stopped for a breather, since I was about to throw in the towel. It was a much needed rest and slowly but surely everyone started to arrive. Willem apparently was having some trouble at the beginning on his 1200GS and by the sounds of it; peoples ‘mothers’ were mentioned.
The scenery became more stunning around each corner. In some locations it is so overgrown that the plant life creates a canopy and almost seems tropical. It is a shame that you can’t stop where you want and take it all in. We eventually found a place to stop and have another beer, but quickly realized that it was starting to get late. We definitely don’t want to be riding this track after sunset so we picked up the pace.
The track was a lot better than before, but as Dan and I proved, you cannot stop concentrating for a second. All I saw was a small dust cloud as Dan went down. When Grant and I reached him he was getting up which was a great relieve. As I pulled up I did not pay attention to where I was stopping and when I tried to put my right foot out, there was no solid ground. So now we had two bikes down, but at least Dan had a proper bail. We all had a good laugh because when we asked him what happened, his only reply was “I ran out of talent”. Dan’s KTM took a bit of a knock and when we wanted to get going again the KTM kept cutting out. The fall had damaged the side stand sensor, and after bypassing it he was back up and running. It was unfortunate that he had to run out of talent 100m before the end of the mountain pass.
Look Mom, I did not drop my beer!
After passing through the gate the road did not get much better, but it was not long and we were greeted with this amazing view.
By now it was getting late and we still had to make it to Swadini. The Orrie Baragwanath Pass is the most stunning piece of tar I have ever seen on a bike and a welcome change to what we just experienced. The battery on the GoPro was dead at this point and we could unfortunately not record our trip down the mountain. We reached Swadini at about 20:00 and had good food, drink and a much needed hot shower.
From Swadini it was tar road all the way home. All in all it was a successful weekend, one which we will definitely have to do again. Here is a quick highlights video of our trip.
[flash=480,385]https://www.youtube.com/v/ebkfhGvnhJo[/flash]
The guilty parties are as follow:
• Charles
• Just_Plain_Dan
• Granto
• Redeyeball
• Badprop
• Willem
• Myself
We all met up at a gas station on Solomon Mahlangu Dr and hit the road around 3pm. Since we left Pretoria later than expected, it was tar road all the way to Loskop Dam. This being my first long trip, the seat on my 990 could just as well have been a piece of wood and my rear end started feeling the strain early on. Never the less, the ride to Loskop was quick and we were able to setup camp before the sun set.
What followed was great company and way too much alcohol which meant that we only left Loskop Dam Forever Resort at 11AM the next morning and completely forgot about documenting the stay with some photos. Once we hit the road, complains of thirst, heartburn and headaches quickly disappeared.
By the time we reached Roedtan everyone was itching to get some dirt under their wheels. The KTM’s filled up and just to be safe Dan strapped a six pack Black Label to his luggage plate. Willem added 6 more to his topbox as backup. ;D Little did we know that later in the day they would come in very handy!!
Not far outside of Lebowakgomo we were pulled over for not stopping at a stop street. Dan promised to stop twice the next time we pass that way, but I reckon they did not want to go through the effort of writing seven tickets. As we entered the valley a donkey cart ignoring a stop street nearly t-boned me
. I don’t know who’s eyes were bigger, the two donkeys, the guy steering the cart or mine.At this point the scenery became more remote and before we knew it the tar turned to dirt and spirits were lifted. We had a quick stop and cracked open the first beer. At the bottom of the mountain pass we had a quick stop since badprop was having trouble with the screen on GS which had rattled loose.
It is exactly the way krazy_eyes explained it. You almost can’t believe that this overgrown track leads you over the mountain.
The start of the mountain pass was brutal. I have zero experience on this kind of terrain with such a big bike and was battling to keep the KTM upright. The loose rocks determine where you are going and it felt like all I was doing was holding on for dear life. I had many an “Oh Crap!” moment. It was getting hot and not before long I was exhausted, but stopping was not an option. Every now and then the track got better, but you are left utterly disappointed when you turn the next corner. Rocks, Rocks and more rocks! We pulled out some photos from the GoPro footage, but have a look at the video we put together at the end of the post.
I was relieved to see that Dan and Granto stopped for a breather, since I was about to throw in the towel. It was a much needed rest and slowly but surely everyone started to arrive. Willem apparently was having some trouble at the beginning on his 1200GS and by the sounds of it; peoples ‘mothers’ were mentioned.
The scenery became more stunning around each corner. In some locations it is so overgrown that the plant life creates a canopy and almost seems tropical. It is a shame that you can’t stop where you want and take it all in. We eventually found a place to stop and have another beer, but quickly realized that it was starting to get late. We definitely don’t want to be riding this track after sunset so we picked up the pace.
The track was a lot better than before, but as Dan and I proved, you cannot stop concentrating for a second. All I saw was a small dust cloud as Dan went down. When Grant and I reached him he was getting up which was a great relieve. As I pulled up I did not pay attention to where I was stopping and when I tried to put my right foot out, there was no solid ground. So now we had two bikes down, but at least Dan had a proper bail. We all had a good laugh because when we asked him what happened, his only reply was “I ran out of talent”. Dan’s KTM took a bit of a knock and when we wanted to get going again the KTM kept cutting out. The fall had damaged the side stand sensor, and after bypassing it he was back up and running. It was unfortunate that he had to run out of talent 100m before the end of the mountain pass.
Look Mom, I did not drop my beer!
After passing through the gate the road did not get much better, but it was not long and we were greeted with this amazing view.
By now it was getting late and we still had to make it to Swadini. The Orrie Baragwanath Pass is the most stunning piece of tar I have ever seen on a bike and a welcome change to what we just experienced. The battery on the GoPro was dead at this point and we could unfortunately not record our trip down the mountain. We reached Swadini at about 20:00 and had good food, drink and a much needed hot shower.
From Swadini it was tar road all the way home. All in all it was a successful weekend, one which we will definitely have to do again. Here is a quick highlights video of our trip.
[flash=480,385]https://www.youtube.com/v/ebkfhGvnhJo[/flash]
