hando
Race Dog
I will have to go back to Sutherland to finish what this trip started. I had great plans for this weekend trip , but Murphy and unprepared planning on part changed all of that this weekend.
The plan : Meet up with my friend David and leave after work on Saturday afternoon.
Make our way up the N1 to Matjiesfontein. Look around a bit and then make our way to Sutherland where we will camp for the Night.
then Sunday leave Sutherland and do dirt roads via Ouberg Pass, Tankwa , Katbakkies and then home.
So , what happened :
As I waited for David to arrive I sat around looking at my bike . I could not help taking a photo of her.
Eventually David arrived and we quickly made our way out towards the N1. We decided to take the old Du Toitskloof pass. And stopped just before the start of the pass for a photo and for David to check on the bikes (Read - have a smoke).
With the bikes checked , we continued towards Matjiesfontein. No photos were taken en route as we were both antsy to get there and then be able to get to Sutherland before dark.
At Matjiesfontein we stopped for some pics and quick walk about.
While David was checking the bikes I walked through the transport museum inside the old station.
And then I walked about outside and took some pics of things to be seen.
With the sun slowly setting and the temperatures dropping we got going towards Sutherland. Now I was on a road that I have not ridden before and I was enjoying myself. For me the joy of riding a (DS) bike is in riding and experiencing roads I have not done before.
As we crossed over a little plateau this vista opened in front of us.
We made it to Sutherland and proceeded to the only shop still open at 5pm on a Saturday to buy some tinned food to chow for supper. From here on I made many mistakes for this trip.
The first was to buy a tin of baked beans as an add on to the tin of corned meat for supper. This would come back to haunt me later in the night.
The next mistake I made was to not go and fill up the bikes before we went to set up camp. I thought about doing it and dismissed the thought. This came back to bite me next morning.
With food stocks sorted we set off to the camp site where David managed to set up his brand new unknown tent in a relatively fair amount of time.
Supper was had and corned beef , baked beans and coffee was ingested. Then it was off to the tents and sleeping bags. This was where the baked beans came back to haunt me. With my big body encased in a slightly too small sleeping bag I did not have the space to move about freely and let out a fart that was steadily building pressure as night wore on. And so I spent the night tossing and turning and not really getting down to a good night's rest. Eventually I gave up and went to shower at 4am . Out of the confines of the sleeping bag and now upright my body managed to let one monster fart rip . What a relief . All of a sudden I felt much better. And so showered and dressed in full bike kit I went to lie down again as I had nothing better to do. And at least I slept until 7.
As I awoke I found David checking the bikes again , and I decided it was time to do something about my own little addiction.
With that done I could face the day.
The weather was a bit iffy but looking to the horizon it did look like it would clear later in the day . And luckily it did.
With everything packed it was time to set off, but not before I put some fuel in my bike.
And this was when I learnt that oom Jorrie only opens the fuel pumps at 11:30 after church for an hour on a Sunday.
With about 60km worth of fuel in my bike we had no choice but to wait.
We rode out to the observatory site , but there was no life on on a Sunday , so we rode back into town and went to have a breakfast at the Jupiter while we waited for 11:30 to arrive.
After breakfast we had a quick chat with the owner of the Jupiter (Theo). unbeknownst to us I would get know Theo a lot better later in the day.
And so we sat around and waited for the fuel pumps to open.
At last the bikes were filled and we were off towards Ouberg pass.
Appart from some very bad corrugations on the first bit of dirt from Sutherland the rest of the road was quite nice to travel on.
I would stop and take pictures and then ride and catch up with David again while he was travelling at a steady 80kmh.
As we stopped to check the bikes I noticed that one of the mistakes I had made earlier in the week had come back to bite me in the but. Earlier in the week I noticed that the LH pannier stay on my bike was slightly loose , but I did not think to go to the trouble of actually tightening the two bolts hold the stay. In Hindsight that was very stupid. As I walked up to my bike from behind I noticed that the pannier was hanging skew and that the stay had dropped away - luckily only one bolt went missing and I was able to cannibalise a bolt from anther non crucial part of the bike to fix the stay in place again.
With the stay back in place we could continue down the road.
Being of the thinner body persuasion David had expressed some doubts about taking a BIG GSA down Ouberg pass as he was not yet fully confident in his abilities.
At Ouberg pass I could see that David was not happy with the idea of going down the pass. So I told him that was more than willing to turn around go back the same route we came with.
David decided to give it bash and see how it goes , with the proviso that if after a while he did not feel up to it we turn around.
After a few hundred meters down the pass David indicated that he would rather not risk it and so we turned around.
I am not sure if it was the adrenalin that now affected David but going back down the road he was flying.
I stopped for a photo or two along the way and then caught up with him again.
I slotted in on his 4 o clock position and held station there as we rode back down the dirt road.
Coming around a turn I felt that something did not feel kosher and I only just managed to get the bike around the next turn by forcing the tail out in a broad slide. And then as I tapped of the throttle life became very busy behind the bars as my front wheel that was now totally flat began following its own mind while I fought to bring the bike to stop without putting her down in a cloud of dust.
It was just after one as I stopped and took these last two photos of the trip.
And while this was the last of the photos it was not the end of my day for another full 12 hours.
David was unaware of the fact that I had stopped and he continued to the tar road where he waited for me. Eventually he would make his way back and come looking for me , but in the mean time two 4x4's stopped and asked if I needed help.
By this time I had tried unsuccessfully to re inflate my tire with the compressor that I had and two bombs in my kit. The tire was off the bead and the little compressor just did not have enough volume to get the tire back on the bead. The gent in the one 4x4 called Eben is also a Wilddog and he fetched his 4x4 compressor to see if it will do the trick. The gent in the other 4x4 called Francois also tried to assist and between the 3 of us we tried every trick in the book to try and get the tire back on the rim. After nearly an hour of struggling we eventually gave up and Eben gave the number of someone he said would be able to help. Later on I would figure out that he gave me the number for Theo whom I have met that morning.
With no cellphone signal it was decided that David would ride to a point where he had signal and phone Theo. Just as he was about to leave I realized that we were a short distance away from a farm house and so we decided to first go and ask if the farmer did not have a proper compressor to assist.
To be continued.
The plan : Meet up with my friend David and leave after work on Saturday afternoon.
Make our way up the N1 to Matjiesfontein. Look around a bit and then make our way to Sutherland where we will camp for the Night.
then Sunday leave Sutherland and do dirt roads via Ouberg Pass, Tankwa , Katbakkies and then home.
So , what happened :
As I waited for David to arrive I sat around looking at my bike . I could not help taking a photo of her.
Eventually David arrived and we quickly made our way out towards the N1. We decided to take the old Du Toitskloof pass. And stopped just before the start of the pass for a photo and for David to check on the bikes (Read - have a smoke).
With the bikes checked , we continued towards Matjiesfontein. No photos were taken en route as we were both antsy to get there and then be able to get to Sutherland before dark.
At Matjiesfontein we stopped for some pics and quick walk about.
While David was checking the bikes I walked through the transport museum inside the old station.
And then I walked about outside and took some pics of things to be seen.
With the sun slowly setting and the temperatures dropping we got going towards Sutherland. Now I was on a road that I have not ridden before and I was enjoying myself. For me the joy of riding a (DS) bike is in riding and experiencing roads I have not done before.
As we crossed over a little plateau this vista opened in front of us.
We made it to Sutherland and proceeded to the only shop still open at 5pm on a Saturday to buy some tinned food to chow for supper. From here on I made many mistakes for this trip.
The first was to buy a tin of baked beans as an add on to the tin of corned meat for supper. This would come back to haunt me later in the night.
The next mistake I made was to not go and fill up the bikes before we went to set up camp. I thought about doing it and dismissed the thought. This came back to bite me next morning.
With food stocks sorted we set off to the camp site where David managed to set up his brand new unknown tent in a relatively fair amount of time.
Supper was had and corned beef , baked beans and coffee was ingested. Then it was off to the tents and sleeping bags. This was where the baked beans came back to haunt me. With my big body encased in a slightly too small sleeping bag I did not have the space to move about freely and let out a fart that was steadily building pressure as night wore on. And so I spent the night tossing and turning and not really getting down to a good night's rest. Eventually I gave up and went to shower at 4am . Out of the confines of the sleeping bag and now upright my body managed to let one monster fart rip . What a relief . All of a sudden I felt much better. And so showered and dressed in full bike kit I went to lie down again as I had nothing better to do. And at least I slept until 7.
As I awoke I found David checking the bikes again , and I decided it was time to do something about my own little addiction.
With that done I could face the day.
The weather was a bit iffy but looking to the horizon it did look like it would clear later in the day . And luckily it did.
With everything packed it was time to set off, but not before I put some fuel in my bike.
And this was when I learnt that oom Jorrie only opens the fuel pumps at 11:30 after church for an hour on a Sunday.
With about 60km worth of fuel in my bike we had no choice but to wait.
We rode out to the observatory site , but there was no life on on a Sunday , so we rode back into town and went to have a breakfast at the Jupiter while we waited for 11:30 to arrive.
After breakfast we had a quick chat with the owner of the Jupiter (Theo). unbeknownst to us I would get know Theo a lot better later in the day.
And so we sat around and waited for the fuel pumps to open.
At last the bikes were filled and we were off towards Ouberg pass.
Appart from some very bad corrugations on the first bit of dirt from Sutherland the rest of the road was quite nice to travel on.
I would stop and take pictures and then ride and catch up with David again while he was travelling at a steady 80kmh.
As we stopped to check the bikes I noticed that one of the mistakes I had made earlier in the week had come back to bite me in the but. Earlier in the week I noticed that the LH pannier stay on my bike was slightly loose , but I did not think to go to the trouble of actually tightening the two bolts hold the stay. In Hindsight that was very stupid. As I walked up to my bike from behind I noticed that the pannier was hanging skew and that the stay had dropped away - luckily only one bolt went missing and I was able to cannibalise a bolt from anther non crucial part of the bike to fix the stay in place again.
With the stay back in place we could continue down the road.
Being of the thinner body persuasion David had expressed some doubts about taking a BIG GSA down Ouberg pass as he was not yet fully confident in his abilities.
At Ouberg pass I could see that David was not happy with the idea of going down the pass. So I told him that was more than willing to turn around go back the same route we came with.
David decided to give it bash and see how it goes , with the proviso that if after a while he did not feel up to it we turn around.
After a few hundred meters down the pass David indicated that he would rather not risk it and so we turned around.
I am not sure if it was the adrenalin that now affected David but going back down the road he was flying.
I stopped for a photo or two along the way and then caught up with him again.
I slotted in on his 4 o clock position and held station there as we rode back down the dirt road.
Coming around a turn I felt that something did not feel kosher and I only just managed to get the bike around the next turn by forcing the tail out in a broad slide. And then as I tapped of the throttle life became very busy behind the bars as my front wheel that was now totally flat began following its own mind while I fought to bring the bike to stop without putting her down in a cloud of dust.
It was just after one as I stopped and took these last two photos of the trip.
And while this was the last of the photos it was not the end of my day for another full 12 hours.
David was unaware of the fact that I had stopped and he continued to the tar road where he waited for me. Eventually he would make his way back and come looking for me , but in the mean time two 4x4's stopped and asked if I needed help.
By this time I had tried unsuccessfully to re inflate my tire with the compressor that I had and two bombs in my kit. The tire was off the bead and the little compressor just did not have enough volume to get the tire back on the bead. The gent in the one 4x4 called Eben is also a Wilddog and he fetched his 4x4 compressor to see if it will do the trick. The gent in the other 4x4 called Francois also tried to assist and between the 3 of us we tried every trick in the book to try and get the tire back on the rim. After nearly an hour of struggling we eventually gave up and Eben gave the number of someone he said would be able to help. Later on I would figure out that he gave me the number for Theo whom I have met that morning.
With no cellphone signal it was decided that David would ride to a point where he had signal and phone Theo. Just as he was about to leave I realized that we were a short distance away from a farm house and so we decided to first go and ask if the farmer did not have a proper compressor to assist.
To be continued.
