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I finally decided to stop being a cheapskate and shell out for an app. I use Sasol eBirds 5th edition and am very happy with it. I still prefer the book (Sasol field guide) for identification - far easier to quickly compare the number of likely culprits. Yet the app has allowed me to see some...

How on earth did you spot the nightjar?

Actually quite a bit shorter. We have a pair that nest regularly in our garden (couple of batches of chicks each year). Incubation: 2 weeks. Fledging: They start venturing out of the next on about day 15; still returning for a 3-4 more days sometimes. Here's a video tracking the growth of one...

Great choice. I commute in MX boots (Sidi Crossfire) and full kit. Then I change at work. My colleagues joke about "Robocop". I got a crush fracture in my foot back in 2014, thanks to my bike landing on my foot while wearing softer adventure boots. Never again. I hate crutches. I can still feel...

Day 6 (part 3) And then things came to a halt. The next obstacle looked very “interesting”. Clay is one thing. Clay on a hill is quite another. For those who have yet to experience the laws of physics combined with clay, here is a summary: clay coats your tyres until they form a beautifully...

Day 6 (part 2) Heading onwards, still following the road-river to the valley floor: We met a donkey that appeared to be taking itself for a walk. Yet this was soon followed by a family and their dogs. Pause here for a moment of gratitude as to our ease of living. Ask yourself: How far are...

Day 6 (20 April 2022): Bottelnek, Bastervoetpad and Naude’s Nek Pass Key statistics: Distance: 266 km Time: 10h11 Speed: 26 km/h (total) or 38 km/h (moving) Video of day 6: Dave from Walkerbouts Inn had warned us about Bastervoetpad Pass. He said that while the pass itself was a challenge...

Jammer man. Werk en als was bietjie mal aan my kant. En dan, wanneer dit naweek is, voel ek net lus van wegkom van die laptop - of ten minste van dink! As ek in daai bui is skryf ek net "en toe ry ons hier en toe ry ons daar". Maar die dag se storie is al geskryf. Met al die emosies wat gepaard...

Absense makes the heart grow fonder. Although that is indeed a long time to be without a dirt roads bike!

The manual also mentions only changing oil every 12,000km, which is something else I ignore as well. ;)

10W40 oil is better suited to our climate. Apparently it's better for a hotter-running engine or rides in temperatures >30 deg C.

Beste wat ek kry is op my commutes of stadige (60 km/h) grondpad; enigiets tussen 34 en 36 km/lit. Het eenkeer 38km/lit gekry, maar dit is raar. Het al 335km op n tenk gery - toe ek volmaak, het ek 9.4 lit ingegooi, so daar was dalk nog so 15-20km oor.

A pity, but definitely the smart move to turn back. I found the other side to be more hectic. How did the guy with the buggered clutch manage the rest of the ride? Or was it only partially-toasty? It's definitely a must-return area. Stunningly beautiful and really exhilarating! Next time, I...

Thanks for the report. It's so interesting to see the area in a different season and to see it from someone else's perspective. Crazy to leave tools behind in that region. You can get so monumentally stuck there if things go pear-shaped. Good thing you had the tools with on that day! Definitely...

Day 5 (19 April 2022): Carlilsehoekspruit, Volunteershoek and Joubert's Pass Key statistics: Distance: 299 km Time: 8h55 Speed: 34 km/h (total) or 47 km/h (moving) Video of day 5: Today’s passes included one we’ve done earlier in the trip (Carlilsehoekspruit), one of the more infamous passes...

Lance has got super-skills (except for on the TTT day...), which is why he can risk it (all footage is from him). I guess he also wants to capture then moment if (when!) I fall, up close and personal. Perhaps I should be nicer about his motives: maybe he wants to be close to assist when I fall.

That's a lot of passes in one day! But it seems you got Otto nice and dry. It was a mud fest when we were there. The scenery looks so different: brown vs green. And yet it seems luck was not on your side weather-wise, if the little snippet of Baster footage is anything to go by. That finger...

I may be wrong, but I think you and your mates probably ride a lot faster! Less margin for error. We snail along. Exhibit A: the ride videos. Exhibit B: the daily average speeds.

Lance will be really happy to know the video and pics are appreciated. He prettified all the footage snapshots I took, using Lightroom. And those vids take hours of editing and colour-correcting. Although the main reason for the vids is for us to be able to reminisce about our trips. It's great...

Ek verstaan die moeilikheid. Ek kan ook glad niks by werk tik nie - te mal daar. Net in die aande, wanneer my brein partykeer deeglik moeg is, of op die naweke, wanneer mens weer wil gaan bietjie ry! Almal sal maar moet wag, maar wag sal ons maak.