tankgirl
Pack Dog
This report got more pictures than words… (the little pics are clickable)
So the first part of this trip I thought I’d retrace my tracks from a BMW ride to Loskop dam but I never managed to load the route (my dad lent me his GPS, it’s new and we don’t have a data cable for it yet), so instead I just rode some roads I roughly remembered from rookie rides…
Meant to check out the Ndebele Cultural Village but seems like I took a wrong turn somewhere. Either that or it doesn’t really exist… I went through Verena at one stage where I nearly ran out of fuel, and that was still relatively close to home! Pfff. But I made it to Loskop just in time, refuelled there and off I went again towards Stoffberg all the while still trying to get the hang of globally positioning myself on the fancy little touch screen.
I hadn’t decided where exactly I would spend the night yet, but by the time I’d reached Stoffberg, Dullstroom kinda became the obvious choice. It started to get noticeably chilly as I passed by a few trout farms and the sun was almost setting. Germany and Argentina had already kicked off! Arriving in Dullstroom I asked around where there might be a caravan park or something. As I rode around the block I passed this pub with some bikes and cars with German flags parked in front of it. So I stopped quick just to ask what the score was (nearly half time already) only to get lured over by a group of Harley Davidson okes outside. We had a drink or two swapping trip summaries when it was soon decided that I would die in a tent in this place so they insisted on booking me safely into the Inn. Fun bunch of guys though (who’d have thought!). We eat and drink some more, celebrating Deutchland’s great victory and biking and divorce and pole dancing etc. The next morning I awoke to décor that clashes with itself so hard I almost passed out again…
I had a few printed maps with me and thought I’d ride past the “Highest Point in Mpumalanga” as indicated on one the of them… I followed the GPS rather blindly and ended up on some private land where I crossed quite a few of those cattle gates and even two proper farm gates. Didn’t think much of it but the third one was padlocked with no way around it. I was 2.3km from my “destination”. Oh well, I tried. So I turned back about 10km’s the way I came and followed a bit of tar to Lydenburg where I refuelled again and then hit some more tar towards Kiepersol. Very nice roads all the way.
From there I went on towards White River, but didn’t see much tar. Again the sun was setting and I was still contemplating whether I should camp somewhere but I was so close to Nelspruit where my cousin lives that I figured I’d find out what she was up to first. She was still at work but told me to come over and crash at her place for the night. Nice! She runs the Orange Restaurant on Du Preez Street. The food is stunning but the waiters are baaaaaaad. Had a great time catching up though.
On Monday morning after an amazing Orange breakfast I was on my way again. Quickly popped round to check out the Mbombela stadium, I think it looks super cool like group-hugging giraffes. Heh. I was on my way to Crystal Springs, and had until 3pm to get there. The rest of the company would meet me there. I chose a route through Sabie that ended up taking me in a nice loop ending up pretty much right back where I started but damn! what a ride!! I rode up a mountain and through plantations and this road had the awesomest speed bumps evAr! Hehe. If/when I figure the tracks out I’ll try to post it. When I reached Sabie for the second time I decided to take the 539 – the tar roads around here are a moerse pleasure to ride. Then left on the 533 – Robber’s Pass. Befok y0!
Arrived at Crystal Springs just about 5 minutes before the others and then we all parked and settled in for the week.
So the first part of this trip I thought I’d retrace my tracks from a BMW ride to Loskop dam but I never managed to load the route (my dad lent me his GPS, it’s new and we don’t have a data cable for it yet), so instead I just rode some roads I roughly remembered from rookie rides…
Meant to check out the Ndebele Cultural Village but seems like I took a wrong turn somewhere. Either that or it doesn’t really exist… I went through Verena at one stage where I nearly ran out of fuel, and that was still relatively close to home! Pfff. But I made it to Loskop just in time, refuelled there and off I went again towards Stoffberg all the while still trying to get the hang of globally positioning myself on the fancy little touch screen.
I hadn’t decided where exactly I would spend the night yet, but by the time I’d reached Stoffberg, Dullstroom kinda became the obvious choice. It started to get noticeably chilly as I passed by a few trout farms and the sun was almost setting. Germany and Argentina had already kicked off! Arriving in Dullstroom I asked around where there might be a caravan park or something. As I rode around the block I passed this pub with some bikes and cars with German flags parked in front of it. So I stopped quick just to ask what the score was (nearly half time already) only to get lured over by a group of Harley Davidson okes outside. We had a drink or two swapping trip summaries when it was soon decided that I would die in a tent in this place so they insisted on booking me safely into the Inn. Fun bunch of guys though (who’d have thought!). We eat and drink some more, celebrating Deutchland’s great victory and biking and divorce and pole dancing etc. The next morning I awoke to décor that clashes with itself so hard I almost passed out again…
I had a few printed maps with me and thought I’d ride past the “Highest Point in Mpumalanga” as indicated on one the of them… I followed the GPS rather blindly and ended up on some private land where I crossed quite a few of those cattle gates and even two proper farm gates. Didn’t think much of it but the third one was padlocked with no way around it. I was 2.3km from my “destination”. Oh well, I tried. So I turned back about 10km’s the way I came and followed a bit of tar to Lydenburg where I refuelled again and then hit some more tar towards Kiepersol. Very nice roads all the way.
From there I went on towards White River, but didn’t see much tar. Again the sun was setting and I was still contemplating whether I should camp somewhere but I was so close to Nelspruit where my cousin lives that I figured I’d find out what she was up to first. She was still at work but told me to come over and crash at her place for the night. Nice! She runs the Orange Restaurant on Du Preez Street. The food is stunning but the waiters are baaaaaaad. Had a great time catching up though.
On Monday morning after an amazing Orange breakfast I was on my way again. Quickly popped round to check out the Mbombela stadium, I think it looks super cool like group-hugging giraffes. Heh. I was on my way to Crystal Springs, and had until 3pm to get there. The rest of the company would meet me there. I chose a route through Sabie that ended up taking me in a nice loop ending up pretty much right back where I started but damn! what a ride!! I rode up a mountain and through plantations and this road had the awesomest speed bumps evAr! Hehe. If/when I figure the tracks out I’ll try to post it. When I reached Sabie for the second time I decided to take the 539 – the tar roads around here are a moerse pleasure to ride. Then left on the 533 – Robber’s Pass. Befok y0!
Arrived at Crystal Springs just about 5 minutes before the others and then we all parked and settled in for the week.
