500's For the Win

[JonW]

Unfortunately it didn't seem to be getting any cooler and time was marching on, so we had to get going

So off we set, stopping every couple of hundred meters to recover

 

[JonW]

By about 18h00  Werner and Andre (exkdx) and I had got to the bottom of the hill, all of us flaked out and completely out of water, but feeling good. The lodge from here was an easy 20 minute ride.

We could hear Ian and Bart's bikes sporadically on the hill above us, so we knew they were ok and not too far off.

Andre decided that he was going to ride to the lodge and get something to drink and bring it back to where we were waiting for the others

While he was gone, Bart and Ian appeared out the bush on foot. They had decided to leave their bikes on the mountain and walk the last tricky steep section. They were exhausted and dehydrated. Bart immediately set off walking to the lodge, but I reckoned it was too far to walk, so I rode there and found Mark, Zingela's owner, and we returned to fetch Bart and Ian in his 4 wd.

All of us arrived safely at the lodge by about 20h00, except Ian and Bart's bikes, but they could be retrieved in the morning.

 

[ianb]

Thanks JonW it was a awesome ride. But man when the heat pulled in Bart and i hit the wall.  The next days riding was amazing.

 

[JonW]

All those who have been there know that Zingela is a very special place

I think Linda felt sorry for us after our tough long day, and upgraded all of us from safari tents to their deluxe rooms.

That night we had a sumptuous dinner at the lodge, and a few of us stayed up late with our host Mark, drinking various liqueurs as well as Mark's home made gin

 

[JonW]

Mark has been telling me for a while now about a new track he has made which heads north of the lodge along the Tugela River, so the next morning's plan was to head out along mark's new trail.

But first Ian and Bart's bikes needed to be rescued, so Mark organized a driver to take Andre and Werner to fetch the bikes before breakfast.

After breakfast Mark took us out to the start of the trail.

 

[JonW]

And onto the awesome track

 

[JonW]

more

 

[JonW]

Awesome riding

 

[JonW]

More great riding, and finally stopped for a refreshment after leaving the valley

 

[JonW]

By now time was getting on, it was already 14h00 and we had at least a 2 hour ride back home, as well as threatening rain, so I reluctantly (sensibly) abandoned all the off-road tracks that I had planned for the way home, and we stuck to the dirt highway known locally as the Middelrus Road.

As we got near Karkloof it started raining and we all got soaked. The temperature had plummeted and we had a miserable last hour on the bikes negotiating the slippery dirt through the Karkloof with minimal visibility.

We all made it back safely and that night got together again for supper. The weather for Saturday showed rain all day, but Sunday looked hopeful, so we decided to miss Saturday's riding and see what Sunday brings.

 

[BuRP]

This was a trip of quite a few 'firsts' for me.... and let me put it here in the same breath, an absolutely awesome one!

First off, 40+C temperatures I've ridden in before, I remember a trip with [member=8364]Mof[/member] & [member=1741]Beserker[/member] in the Cederberg. 43C read my dash, and the wind scorched our faces like a wind from an oven! But, the Cederberg is dry, so one's sweat evaporates, plus we had plenty of water.
Where we were in Zululand it was not only hot but super-humid, we were sweating profusely... but to no avail as first of all no wind was there due to the super low speed (if not parked & panting), the sun was blazing down and it was simply too humid.... so we tried to go bare chested, a first indeed - sorry for the pics chaps!
Once out of the second bladder of water & rehydrate (and add a liter of beer plus some sparkling water at the lunchstop, some 7+ liters total) I was desperate for something to drink, and add here that by this time I 'peed' only a few drops of thick yellow goo, not a good sign. But surprise surprise, during a layover downhill Ian produced a RedBull plus a coke - which we finished of course, he was also out of water for a while already. Never having had an energy drink until then but for a single sip of RB&Vodka (years ago, which I hated) this wasn't too bad - better still, it seemed to do something, all good: I'll try a RedBull again!
But, not nearly enough liquid, and quite frankly we were at our end, and please take that work very literal. We tried again but to no avail, we could manage only what, some 70 meters.... so I called it quits for myself. I knew I still could walk on, dunno how far but let's see! Ian agreed so we packed our luggage and started to stumble down this track, by no means easy going and with frequent breather stops .... and yes, leaving our bikes carelessly behind, I could not have been bothered!
I've never done that yet, didn't feel good or proud or anything, just wanted to get out and to water.... and once I reached the others sprawled out on some shady flat bits I make a not too kosher remark to Jon also - which wasn't called for neither appropriate or deserved, my humble apologies for that bit here in public Jon, you didn't deserve that!  :thumleft:
I walked on in the hope to meet some water somewhere - and holy moly, after some walking plus getting lost Andre roars up with water (COLD!) and cokes!  :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:
I drank a liter plus a coke and knew I had to feel better soon, so that was a lifesaver - thank you Andre!
Ian & me were lifted on bikes to the lodge but somewhere somehow a 4x4 shows up with a guy in it (Mark) and Jon - I still don't know how Jon did that but all good, Ian and me could now sit and die in the back of that car 
Once back at the lodge we drank a lot, I mixed some sugary stuff with the water, and started to feel better!
Then dinner was served - Gentlemen, Zingela Lodge serves sterling meals, go surprise yourself by experiencing this! Needless to say I pigged in without delay, I was famished also I discovered.
Feeling a whole lot better but completely knacked I went to bed early, at the minimum I had deserved that bit.


The owner Mark turned out to be a genuinely super guy! He and his wife Linda run a special lodge remotely somewhere out there, look here
https://www.zingelasafaris.co.za/
They like bikers, go figure that - worse even, Mark made a brandnew track in the recent past, and suggested we go ride it!
Jon had other routes planned for us but agreed to try this new route.... and what a splendid route it proved! Difficult-enough for all but not making it impossible for the weekend novice, and it leads past and through vistas one has to see to believe - stunning!
But there's more! We were the first to ride this bit so no markers present yet, only verbal directions from Mark to do this & that, turn here not there etc, all good.... but we got lost of course  No problem, we were yelled at from below somewhere along the river by Mark: "That is the wrong track, go one up!"  ;D
So we did, carried on, had to evade a fallen tree, carried on, all good... until we suddenly meet a 4x4 with Mark in!  :thumleft:
He told us where to go and did so a few times after that too, we got lost of course...  8)
Eventually he saw us off to a shebeen from where we knew how to get home... that's the perfect host manne, no can do better!  :thumleft:

Yeah, the last bits to Hilton we got soaked by rain, bleddie cold too, and I had to battle the fogging up of both my visor and my glasses, could not see a thing - but all good, we all made it safely home.
Saturday we sat it out due to rain the entire day & eve, but Sunday morning it was dry! Overcast yes so not too warm, perfect to tackle some green rolling Natal hills - beautiful scenery, some challenging riding also, a perfect closing off of a super riding trip!

Thank you Jon & the others, I hope there will be more of these!  :thumleft:

 

[BuRP]

Some pics of this 3-day riding trip...

 

[BuRP]

And more...

 

[BuRP]

And more!

 

[JonW]

I've never done that yet, didn't feel good or proud or anything, just wanted to get out and to water.... and once I reached the others sprawled out on some shady flat bits I make a not too kosher remark to Jon also - which wasn't called for neither appropriate or deserved, my humble apologies for that bit here in public Jon, you didn't deserve that!  :thumleft:

No worries Bart man  :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

You are not the first person to be a bit grumpy wirh me at the end of that section and I doubt you will be the last  :laughing4: :laughing4:

All good

 

[JonW]

So the weather reports leading up to the weekend all said that Saturday was going to be miserable, with rain forecast the whole day.  Sunday's forecast showed that the weather was clearing and we might be lucky enough to get a ride in.

My regular Pretoria riding buddies, Shaun and Dawie were due to come down on Friday to join us for Saturday and Sundays rides, but with Saturday looking so grim I suggested they give it a miss.

Sunday morning was overcast and cool, but no rain, so we met at XWays in Hilton at 07h00 and headed out through Taylors Halt towards Ncwadi. Locals Jimmie nel and Charlie Greger as well as Darren (Goodtoogo) from Jhb joined us on the ride

It was pretty muddy from all the rain, but traction was surprisingly good.

 

[JonW]

Nice smooth green grassy hills and cool weather made for a big change compared to the last ride

 

[JonW]

More

 

[JonW]

When I arrived at the meeting place before the ride, one of the guys noticed that my front tyre was completely flat.

I had not noticed it in the short ride from my house  :-[

So i pumped the tyre before the start, it seemed to stay hard, so I set off like that. Unfortunately half an hour later it was flat again, so out with the pump again every half hour. Not ideal.

At the first shebeen stop I decided it was time to get the wheel off and put a new tube in.

big thanks to [member=5448]exkdx[/member] for doing the job basically singlehandedly  :thumleft:

 

[JonW]

Then on to riding in the rolling green Ncwadi hills