SGB
Race Dog
RR 2009 is nearing fast, and a warm-up ride for the KZN team has traditionally been accepted as the healthy thing to do. We had a quick look at the map and the calendar and the Alfie Cox Racing RR2009 Warm-up ride was born. The word was spread and a group was gathered. The timing was not perfect, some of the regular suspects were on holiday with families and missed out unfortunately. Amazing how fast the year is filling up already, and it is only April….
So on Friday morning I set off bright and early and took a leisurely ride to Fouriesburg. You have to see a sunrise now and again...
Entered Lesotho at Caledonspoort and rode up the mountain towards Oxbow. The Moteng pass is always an enjoyable tar stretch, and on a motorbike even more so.
See the road in the bottom of the valley?
The first “Top of the World” view.
Some construction going on at the top of Moteng
Continued past Oxbow and the Afriski resort, and on to Mokhotlong past Letseng mine.
The potholes on this tar section are just getting deeper and more. They had some rain the previous night and it is difficult to see the depth when the holes are filled with water. So just go and hold on. The Tlaeng pass is the highest drivable pass in SA, but you do not realize it because the views are not as stunning as some of the others around here.
En route:
Someone left a trailer behind - Lesotho has it's little moments....
Approaching Sani - see the clouds....
Arrived at Sani top, and waited a short while for the KZN contingent to arrive.
Some of the guys are new DS riders, experienced Harley boys who have seen the light at last. They have been through the “Turbo Charged Hyabusa” phase as well. They have now realized that 200 km/h on gravel is a much bigger thrill than 300 on tar…. The group actually did very well considering the condition of Sani and it was the first “off-road” ride for some. Well done to the Mpumalanga span!
We had lunch at Sani Top and proceeded down the pass.
Sani is quite loose at present, and dictates some careful riding. All got down without any serious incident.
See the grader?
Then the man on the 1200 GS decided to go riding in the ditch next to the road, which worked OK until it narrowed a bit and the one pod hooked up on the side, bringing the bike to a sudden stop. The rider did not stop as fast, and continued over the bars. The headlight broke in the process, but no other lasting damage to man or machine.
Refelcting - How exactly did that happen??
Back in Himeville, some decided to load up and go in the vehicle to our overnight stop near Cedarville.
The rest of us rode – 70km tar to Swartberg. We saw a track on the GPS (shortest distance….) and it was just getting good when a locked gate caused a u-turn. The next option was a lovely gravel road where we cleared the throats a bit. The two Chris’s joined on this stretch.
Arrived at Cedarville guest farm, nice place to stay over. Oom Gerrie and his wife look after us well and the braaivleis went down well. We had to wait for some good friends to arrive, so dinner was stretched a little late but the venue was comfortable and the company not too bad, so it was all bearable. Eventually Richard and the divers arrived and the starvation was a thing of the past.
Saturday morning, we were on our way at 8 after a breakfast that would easily last for the day. Support Cedarville Guest Farm, highly recommended!
The team size varied considerably as we went along, some had enough yesterday and chose to explore the throbbing metropolis of Matatiele, and some arrived late and had to do some catchup. Some of our forum members and highly experienced navigators even found the wrong border post!
The ride continued up Ongeluksnek in the mean time. Some great scenery and a nice trip on a motorbike. Ongeluksnek is certainly an easier ride than Sani at present.
We stopped at the dam where the Mpumalanga guys made a u-turn and returned to Matatiele where they met with the rest of their group and headed home. It always amazes me how so much water can collect in this hole. It really feels like the “top of the world” here too!
A local herdboy, see his boney in the background?
The rest of us continued down the mountain to Mphaki where we did a fuel stop and re-grouped.
From here we did a short stretch on the tar and a nice loop through some rural villages and found another “top of the world” view as we came over the summit.
Joined the tar road to Mount Moorosi, down the Devils Staircase pass, great views here too.
Stopped for a local lunch experience in Mount Moorosi, great cuisine. And the spectators were there in numbers too….
Back on the tar for 70 odd km’s, then off on a track along the Maphutseng river and over the hill into Mohaleshoek.
Power nap
We slept over at the Mount Maluti Hotel in Mohaleshoek. We were able to watch the Sharks in our rooms, and the food and accommodation is good. Had a good time here, but everyone was off to bed quite early.
Sunday morning we were off after breakfast, headed for Tele Bridge – about 45 km tar just to warm up for the day.
After the border post we turned up Lundeansnek up to Wartrail. This is still one of the great rides and I will always come back here.
Another “top of the world” view. Our captain showed us where the SE can go – do not try this at home….
At Wartrail, we turned off to Tiffendel. The road has been graded and very loose on the surface. And the pass up to Tiffendel was not graded but also loose. An ounce of momentum is worth a pound of traction…. Traction was a problem and I saw and heard of some moments in these loose corners….
Be Prepared....
From Tiffendel we took the concrete strips down to Rhodes where we fuelled up again. I split off here and returned home via Barkly East and Aliwal North. The rest continued over Naudesnek back to Matatiele and on to Durban. Uneventful from here, hopefully someone will post some pics of this section.
Some reflections:
The bikes: There was quite a wide selection of bikes, including Alfie’s new Erzberg limited edition 950SE, Another two 950SE’s, a new 990 R, two 990 S’s, two 990’s, two 950’s, two 690’s, a 660 Rallye, a 525 Rallye, a 640 (Goldie) a BMW 800 GS and a 1200 GS and two XR 650’s. All the bikes did very well, no issues at all.
The riders: Again, the trip worked because everyone rode within his own limits and there was no racing. All came prepared and no babysitting was needed. Great bunch of guys, I really enjoyed the ride with them.
It is the first group ride ever that we did not have to even repair puncture. No break-downs, no recoveries, no medical cases. Well done boys, I really look forward to RR and the next ride!
So on Friday morning I set off bright and early and took a leisurely ride to Fouriesburg. You have to see a sunrise now and again...
Entered Lesotho at Caledonspoort and rode up the mountain towards Oxbow. The Moteng pass is always an enjoyable tar stretch, and on a motorbike even more so.
See the road in the bottom of the valley?
The first “Top of the World” view.
Some construction going on at the top of Moteng
Continued past Oxbow and the Afriski resort, and on to Mokhotlong past Letseng mine.
The potholes on this tar section are just getting deeper and more. They had some rain the previous night and it is difficult to see the depth when the holes are filled with water. So just go and hold on. The Tlaeng pass is the highest drivable pass in SA, but you do not realize it because the views are not as stunning as some of the others around here.
En route:
Someone left a trailer behind - Lesotho has it's little moments....
Approaching Sani - see the clouds....
Arrived at Sani top, and waited a short while for the KZN contingent to arrive.
Some of the guys are new DS riders, experienced Harley boys who have seen the light at last. They have been through the “Turbo Charged Hyabusa” phase as well. They have now realized that 200 km/h on gravel is a much bigger thrill than 300 on tar…. The group actually did very well considering the condition of Sani and it was the first “off-road” ride for some. Well done to the Mpumalanga span!
We had lunch at Sani Top and proceeded down the pass.
Sani is quite loose at present, and dictates some careful riding. All got down without any serious incident.
See the grader?
Then the man on the 1200 GS decided to go riding in the ditch next to the road, which worked OK until it narrowed a bit and the one pod hooked up on the side, bringing the bike to a sudden stop. The rider did not stop as fast, and continued over the bars. The headlight broke in the process, but no other lasting damage to man or machine.
Refelcting - How exactly did that happen??
Back in Himeville, some decided to load up and go in the vehicle to our overnight stop near Cedarville.
The rest of us rode – 70km tar to Swartberg. We saw a track on the GPS (shortest distance….) and it was just getting good when a locked gate caused a u-turn. The next option was a lovely gravel road where we cleared the throats a bit. The two Chris’s joined on this stretch.
Arrived at Cedarville guest farm, nice place to stay over. Oom Gerrie and his wife look after us well and the braaivleis went down well. We had to wait for some good friends to arrive, so dinner was stretched a little late but the venue was comfortable and the company not too bad, so it was all bearable. Eventually Richard and the divers arrived and the starvation was a thing of the past.
Saturday morning, we were on our way at 8 after a breakfast that would easily last for the day. Support Cedarville Guest Farm, highly recommended!
The team size varied considerably as we went along, some had enough yesterday and chose to explore the throbbing metropolis of Matatiele, and some arrived late and had to do some catchup. Some of our forum members and highly experienced navigators even found the wrong border post!
The ride continued up Ongeluksnek in the mean time. Some great scenery and a nice trip on a motorbike. Ongeluksnek is certainly an easier ride than Sani at present.
We stopped at the dam where the Mpumalanga guys made a u-turn and returned to Matatiele where they met with the rest of their group and headed home. It always amazes me how so much water can collect in this hole. It really feels like the “top of the world” here too!
A local herdboy, see his boney in the background?
The rest of us continued down the mountain to Mphaki where we did a fuel stop and re-grouped.
From here we did a short stretch on the tar and a nice loop through some rural villages and found another “top of the world” view as we came over the summit.
Joined the tar road to Mount Moorosi, down the Devils Staircase pass, great views here too.
Stopped for a local lunch experience in Mount Moorosi, great cuisine. And the spectators were there in numbers too….
Back on the tar for 70 odd km’s, then off on a track along the Maphutseng river and over the hill into Mohaleshoek.
Power nap
We slept over at the Mount Maluti Hotel in Mohaleshoek. We were able to watch the Sharks in our rooms, and the food and accommodation is good. Had a good time here, but everyone was off to bed quite early.
Sunday morning we were off after breakfast, headed for Tele Bridge – about 45 km tar just to warm up for the day.
After the border post we turned up Lundeansnek up to Wartrail. This is still one of the great rides and I will always come back here.
Another “top of the world” view. Our captain showed us where the SE can go – do not try this at home….
At Wartrail, we turned off to Tiffendel. The road has been graded and very loose on the surface. And the pass up to Tiffendel was not graded but also loose. An ounce of momentum is worth a pound of traction…. Traction was a problem and I saw and heard of some moments in these loose corners….
Be Prepared....
From Tiffendel we took the concrete strips down to Rhodes where we fuelled up again. I split off here and returned home via Barkly East and Aliwal North. The rest continued over Naudesnek back to Matatiele and on to Durban. Uneventful from here, hopefully someone will post some pics of this section.
Some reflections:
The bikes: There was quite a wide selection of bikes, including Alfie’s new Erzberg limited edition 950SE, Another two 950SE’s, a new 990 R, two 990 S’s, two 990’s, two 950’s, two 690’s, a 660 Rallye, a 525 Rallye, a 640 (Goldie) a BMW 800 GS and a 1200 GS and two XR 650’s. All the bikes did very well, no issues at all.
The riders: Again, the trip worked because everyone rode within his own limits and there was no racing. All came prepared and no babysitting was needed. Great bunch of guys, I really enjoyed the ride with them.
It is the first group ride ever that we did not have to even repair puncture. No break-downs, no recoveries, no medical cases. Well done boys, I really look forward to RR and the next ride!
