The Mountain, the Cemetery and the Monument Ride.

Woke up yesterday morning and suddenly had an itch to go and explore somewhere. Grabbed the laptop and opened up google maps to look for an interesting route for the day. Strapped the tool bag to the bike and I was en route by 09:15. Direction East, towards the Wolkberge. Forced my way through the morning traffic madness at Mankweng township and then stopped to fill up with fuel at Moria, home of the (ZCC) Zion Christian Church.

Left the tar after a few more kilometers and aimed for Wolkberg.


Drove past this twee-spoor that snakes up the side of the koppie. I did not see any "No Entry" signs but I did not want to trespass on someone's property so will first have a look on google maps and then return to do this route.

Heading towards the valley below.



On my right, there was what appeared to be a road about halfway up the mountain. I don't know how to get there, so I will have a look on google maps as I would love to ride up there as well.

Wolkberg in the distance.



The speed limit is really slow around here


Narrow road ahead.

Enjoyed the solo ride up the mountain for many kilometers.
I did not stop for pics.
Around lunch time, I headed towards the village called Haenertsburg.
Wolkberg was now behind me.


The scenery was still beautiful. I still had to get over the mountain in front of me before reaching the village.

At the foot of the pass.



The first section was no too steep but the road was quite narrow.

A couple in an oldish Land Rover Freelander appeared from the opposite direction and they stopped to have a chat with me when I pulled out of the narrow road to allow them to pass. They were on holiday in Haenertsburg and doing some sight seeing. The guy told me that the next section on my route was steeper and uneven with lots of lose stones and erosion. He was right. Not far from there, the incline of the road became much steeper and lose stones were everywhere with an off camber to the right. I enjoyed this part but really had to concentrate on choosing the right line. Only stopped once for photos as it was difficult getting on and off the bike on the steep incline.

The road surface improved towards the top


Beautiful views in the background.



I crested the top and from here the road snaked gradually downhill towards Haenertsburg


Someone's dream that sadly did not materialize?

Driving past some B&B, farms and guesthouses

Stopped by the "cemetery - with - a - view" at the top of the hill overlooking Haenertsburg.



The road to the cemetery used to be a twee-spoor in bad condition and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had recently been paved all the way to the top.

Visited the Long Tom Monument/War Memorial which is also in Haenertsburg.

Leaving Haenertsburg, I happened to notice this sign on the side of the road
which welcomed me (Skydiver) personally to stop by at any time.


One last gravel section through a pine forest before I joined the tar for the remainder of the way home.

Odo ticked over to 16k km on the way home.



Thats All Folks!!!!
Until the next one.

… nice … you did this loop …?

These impromptu trips is always the nicest.

Thanks for taking the effort to share this with us. Looks like a awesome ride.

Nice. Need to do that road again.
I came from Heanertsburg side a few months after I got the SYM.

Beutifull area of the country.

Chrisjgvn said:

… nice … you did this loop …?

Click to expand...

Yes, basically that area

Black_Hawk said:

These impromptu trips is always the nicest.

Thanks for taking the effort to share this with us. Looks like a awesome ride.

Click to expand...

Thank you
I never over-plan. Just get an idea and go with the flow.

Wildwindfr said:

Nice. Need to do that road again.
I came from Heanertsburg side a few months after I got the SYM.

Beutifull area of the country.

Click to expand...

I like to ride this area because there is hardly ever any vehicles on the road.
During the entire gravel ride yesterday, I only saw three vehicles.

Very very nice!!

Enlighten me WRT that Long Tom Memorial :
The Long Tom on Long Tom Pass, between Sabie and Lydenburg(? my memory of that area is bad)...Is that just there because the pass is so-named?? I somehow thought that THAT was 'the last Long Tom'.