Nice trip! Good photees. Looks like Mr T & friends had quite an adventure. Thanks for posting.
8 - Day Adventure Report (Ashman & Warrior pics added)
- Thread starter Mr.T
- Start date
Tweetie
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Good one guys :thumleft: :thumleft:
spoedvark
Grey Hound
Awesome guys. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the challenge of Sani at the end of the month. Gonna be interesting.
Mrs.T
Puppy
The last two pics of their ride! Posting as myself now!! 
Saturday night stay-over by a friend of Warrior in Middelburg...
A pit-stop on Lootsberg Pass - 7 Deg C
Mr T had an awesome week, but I might add, he did come home with a few bruises!! But well rested! :ricky:
And knowing him, he will be planning another trip, somewhere or other! :3some:
Mrs.T
Saturday night stay-over by a friend of Warrior in Middelburg...
A pit-stop on Lootsberg Pass - 7 Deg C
Mr T had an awesome week, but I might add, he did come home with a few bruises!! But well rested! :ricky:
And knowing him, he will be planning another trip, somewhere or other! :3some:
Mrs.T
JACOVV
Race Dog
Thanks for sharing. It was nice to follow them :thumleft:
Red Adventure
Race Dog
Hey guys, it was awesome to meet you.
Huge respect for the determination to keep going up Sani, it was really tough going.
I took a chance by keeping up the momentum which could have ended badly but thankfully I was blessed with getting to the top much earlier for that much enjoyed coke while watching you guys at it just a short bit down.
Maybe youth on my side or good favour I'm not sure. (I don't believe in luck) Mambat warned me that the altitude gets to you and it sure did, catching my breath takes a whole while longer.
Would I recommend the momentum option, maybe not as it remains a gamble with conditions like Sani Pass, but taking it slow does wear you out and you will need to dig deep like these three heroes did.
Again respect guys :thumleft:
Huge respect for the determination to keep going up Sani, it was really tough going.
I took a chance by keeping up the momentum which could have ended badly but thankfully I was blessed with getting to the top much earlier for that much enjoyed coke while watching you guys at it just a short bit down.
Maybe youth on my side or good favour I'm not sure. (I don't believe in luck) Mambat warned me that the altitude gets to you and it sure did, catching my breath takes a whole while longer.
Would I recommend the momentum option, maybe not as it remains a gamble with conditions like Sani Pass, but taking it slow does wear you out and you will need to dig deep like these three heroes did.
Again respect guys :thumleft:
Tweetie
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Go to see also home safe RA. For the this thread. Great weekend for all. Good to you're all home safely.
Now to start planning the next one.
;D
Now to start planning the next one.
;D
Crab
Race Dog
Tweets, will you translate this into English please.
Tweets said:
Red Adventure
Race Dog
:thumleft:Crab said:
Swart Baard
Race Dog
Well done Mr T and co :thumleft:
Sani pass look a bit like some scene from Marseepwall:
Sani pass look a bit like some scene from Mars
eepwall:Tweetie
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Sjoe :
Sorry guys, that was terrible finger trouble, then just hit the "post" button. ;D
Ok, lets try again. So , it looks you you are all home safely , after this most adventurous week end. FUNtastic guys & girls if there were. :thumleft: :thumleft:
Sorry guys, that was terrible finger trouble, then just hit the "post" button. ;D
Ok, lets try again. So , it looks you you are all home safely , after this most adventurous week end. FUNtastic guys & girls if there were. :thumleft: :thumleft:
Mr.T
Race Dog
Been planning this ride since 2011. So was glad to see the day eventually arrive.
Warrior and Ashman are good riding partners for this adventure as was the final report to prove.
The bikes all prepared and serviced. We all had Heidenau K60 on the back and TKC80 plus Karroo 2 on the fronts. This combination proved to be excellent in the dirt, clay and loose gravel.
Day 1 We chased the rain out of PE and ended up in Grahamstown, Mad Hatter for a great breakfast. After breakfast it was on to Roydon Game Park with a little dirt under the rubber from Queenstown to Roydon.
Next day on to Dordrecht and then off on to the dirt until Barkley East. Nice riding all the way with a piece nasty road and hill climb here and there. Down to Mountain Shadows for dinner, bed and breakfast.
Warrior and Ashman are good riding partners for this adventure as was the final report to prove.
The bikes all prepared and serviced. We all had Heidenau K60 on the back and TKC80 plus Karroo 2 on the fronts. This combination proved to be excellent in the dirt, clay and loose gravel.
Day 1 We chased the rain out of PE and ended up in Grahamstown, Mad Hatter for a great breakfast. After breakfast it was on to Roydon Game Park with a little dirt under the rubber from Queenstown to Roydon.
Next day on to Dordrecht and then off on to the dirt until Barkley East. Nice riding all the way with a piece nasty road and hill climb here and there. Down to Mountain Shadows for dinner, bed and breakfast.
Mr.T
Race Dog
Next day off to Bastervoet Pass on a sunny day.
This proved to be very wet, very slippery and very dangerous.
A rollercoaster of 17 km sliding, and 17 km 'butt biting' as Ashman explained it. I was last year with Kev and Co, and it is at least three times more technical. Deep river crossings and very bad rocky ascents and descents. We were so relieved to exit that pass that had taken us 3.75 hours for 34 kms.
Back to Mountain Shadows Hotel for the night. Did we celebrate? Oh yes!! The next day Naude's Pass and roads were taken in our stride. We felt like pro's compared to Bastevoet. That night we slept at Gairtney Farm. What a great place! And we were well looked after. The next day tar trip down to Underberg, where we stayed at Underberg BackPackers. Then SANI!!
Beautiful place to see and awesome place to ride. Red Adventure joined us at Underberg and proceeded up the pass with us.
The first section is plain sailing, but the last 500 metres were very hectic to say the least! With the assistance of my riding partners we all arrived at the top albeit with a couple of bruises!
This proved to be very wet, very slippery and very dangerous.
A rollercoaster of 17 km sliding, and 17 km 'butt biting' as Ashman explained it. I was last year with Kev and Co, and it is at least three times more technical. Deep river crossings and very bad rocky ascents and descents. We were so relieved to exit that pass that had taken us 3.75 hours for 34 kms.
Back to Mountain Shadows Hotel for the night. Did we celebrate? Oh yes!! The next day Naude's Pass and roads were taken in our stride. We felt like pro's compared to Bastevoet. That night we slept at Gairtney Farm. What a great place! And we were well looked after. The next day tar trip down to Underberg, where we stayed at Underberg BackPackers. Then SANI!!
Beautiful place to see and awesome place to ride. Red Adventure joined us at Underberg and proceeded up the pass with us.
The first section is plain sailing, but the last 500 metres were very hectic to say the least! With the assistance of my riding partners we all arrived at the top albeit with a couple of bruises!
Mr.T
Race Dog
So we pushed on to ride out of Lesotho immediately doing another 150 kms of dirt until the tar.
Ficksburg was a great place to stop over. Breakfast was had at "Ou Vellies" Bethulie, another wilddog called Lupo and Miss Piggy. What a nice enthusiastic biking couple.
Here I must add that most of our accommodation was booked on the fly everyday and this worked out very well.
The next day down to Badfontein near Aliwal North with a 50/50 split of dirt and tar. Nice braai that night and a dip in the sulphur pool on the farm. Next day, wind and more wind as we left for Middelburg where Warrior had arranged a stay-over by his friend. Also got caught in 5 times 'stop/go' between Colesberg and Middelburg with a splash of thunderstorm to cool us down.
Next day tarred it home, due to the very strong winds until we rode back into PE.
Those BM's started everytime and ran sweet everyday! No punctures and no problems!! We all had a great ride and all pushed beyond what we thought we could deal with. There are so many events that happened, but this will have to do for now! Warrior will also be adding his piece to this thread as soon as I get it.
Ficksburg was a great place to stop over. Breakfast was had at "Ou Vellies" Bethulie, another wilddog called Lupo and Miss Piggy. What a nice enthusiastic biking couple.
Here I must add that most of our accommodation was booked on the fly everyday and this worked out very well.
The next day down to Badfontein near Aliwal North with a 50/50 split of dirt and tar. Nice braai that night and a dip in the sulphur pool on the farm. Next day, wind and more wind as we left for Middelburg where Warrior had arranged a stay-over by his friend. Also got caught in 5 times 'stop/go' between Colesberg and Middelburg with a splash of thunderstorm to cool us down.
Next day tarred it home, due to the very strong winds until we rode back into PE.
Those BM's started everytime and ran sweet everyday! No punctures and no problems!! We all had a great ride and all pushed beyond what we thought we could deal with. There are so many events that happened, but this will have to do for now! Warrior will also be adding his piece to this thread as soon as I get it.
n0b0dy
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HOME SWEET HOME!!!!
Fantastic Updates..
Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic Updates..
Thanks for sharing!
spoedvark
Grey Hound
Man now i am starting to get an itch in my butt for 27 April when we leave on JMOL's trip to Lesotho. Can feel the tingling of excitement!!!!
Mrs.T
Puppy
Hi there, Mrs.T posting again on behalf of Ashman and Warrior. Shall first post their sotry and then their own pics afterwards.
First up we have Ashman's take on his 8 Day adventure!
8 Days 3039km Adventure April 2012 - Ashman
The 31st March dawned overcast and wet after overnight rain, I fitted the panniers and top box to the 1150GS, said my goodbye`s to the wife and dogs, fired up the BM and set off to Colchester to meet up with Trevor and Etienne. Trevor had arrived a short while before me and Etienne arrived a few minutes later.
Our next stop would be for brekkies in Grahamstown. The pace was 100 – 110kmph and we were soon in Grahamstown and warming ourselves with coffee and a good brekkies. It had started raining while we were waiting for brekkies and the owner of the establishment offered to cover our saddles with black bags to prevent us from having wet bums when we left. After discussing the conditions of the wet roads it was evident that there would be no dirt riding today.
We refuelled in Fort Beaufort then stopped for coffee at a farm stall outside Fort Beaufort. Our route to Queenstown was via the Nico Malan Pass to Cathcart.
Our accommodation for the night was at the game farm Royden situated 12km outside Queenstown. My heart sank when we turned onto the road to Royden as it was wet clay. On my last encounter with wet clay I was dumped big time and the bike was not even loaded then, with lots of apprehension I tackled the road to Royden arriving safely and still upright. As this was a self catering facility Trevor and myself road back to Queenstown for provisions.
First up we have Ashman's take on his 8 Day adventure!
8 Days 3039km Adventure April 2012 - Ashman
The 31st March dawned overcast and wet after overnight rain, I fitted the panniers and top box to the 1150GS, said my goodbye`s to the wife and dogs, fired up the BM and set off to Colchester to meet up with Trevor and Etienne. Trevor had arrived a short while before me and Etienne arrived a few minutes later.
Our next stop would be for brekkies in Grahamstown. The pace was 100 – 110kmph and we were soon in Grahamstown and warming ourselves with coffee and a good brekkies. It had started raining while we were waiting for brekkies and the owner of the establishment offered to cover our saddles with black bags to prevent us from having wet bums when we left. After discussing the conditions of the wet roads it was evident that there would be no dirt riding today.
We refuelled in Fort Beaufort then stopped for coffee at a farm stall outside Fort Beaufort. Our route to Queenstown was via the Nico Malan Pass to Cathcart.
Our accommodation for the night was at the game farm Royden situated 12km outside Queenstown. My heart sank when we turned onto the road to Royden as it was wet clay. On my last encounter with wet clay I was dumped big time and the bike was not even loaded then, with lots of apprehension I tackled the road to Royden arriving safely and still upright. As this was a self catering facility Trevor and myself road back to Queenstown for provisions.
Mrs.T
Puppy
Our overnight stop for the 1st April was the Mountain Shadow Hotel situated at the top of Barkley Pass. All Trevor`s pre planned dirt routes had to be tossed due to wet conditions that had prevailed over the last few days. The discussion was that we would have to stick to the tar going via Dordrecht and Elliot to our overnight stop. A short distance out of Dordrecht we decided to take the dirt road to Barkley East via Rossouw and Clifford as the road had seemed to be drying out. The road was not in too bad a condition and was good practise for what lay ahead for us the next day. I led the group through Barkley East and pointed out where I had worked and the house I lived in some 30 odd years back. The town is going backwards; even the hotel had shut down. The ride to Mountain Shadow Hotel was fantastic, winding through lush valleys with fast flowing rivers. This area had received 143mm rain over the last 2 days. It was decided to spend another night in this establishment which would allow us to leave most of our luggage at the hotel during the ride through Bastervoet the next day.
After a good breakfast we headed for Bastervoet. At the turn off from the road to Rhodes, Trevor asked if we were still in favour of riding Bastervoet as the roads were wet in places, we decided to go as far as possible. The ride to the top of Bastervoet is loose stone and rock. We crested Bastervoet with no incidents and the view from the top overlooking the valleys was spectacular with the road winding away into the distance. Our relaxed attitude soon changed a few bends later as the road was washed out and bikes had to be manhandled in places. We had reached the point of no return and so pressed on forward. I had a very slow drop of the bike as the front wheel slid out while negotiating a rut. Before Ettiene could get his camera out I had the bike upright. The route down was very slippery and washed out, stopping to take photo`s was impossible. At the bottom of Bastervoet I found Trevor`s bike parked across the track blocking it He had tried to change from one wheel rut to the next but the back wheel refused to follow. I took a back up the track as Ettiene had not arrived, he eventually arrived having taken a tumble on one of the rocky sections.
After a good breakfast we headed for Bastervoet. At the turn off from the road to Rhodes, Trevor asked if we were still in favour of riding Bastervoet as the roads were wet in places, we decided to go as far as possible. The ride to the top of Bastervoet is loose stone and rock. We crested Bastervoet with no incidents and the view from the top overlooking the valleys was spectacular with the road winding away into the distance. Our relaxed attitude soon changed a few bends later as the road was washed out and bikes had to be manhandled in places. We had reached the point of no return and so pressed on forward. I had a very slow drop of the bike as the front wheel slid out while negotiating a rut. Before Ettiene could get his camera out I had the bike upright. The route down was very slippery and washed out, stopping to take photo`s was impossible. At the bottom of Bastervoet I found Trevor`s bike parked across the track blocking it He had tried to change from one wheel rut to the next but the back wheel refused to follow. I took a back up the track as Ettiene had not arrived, he eventually arrived having taken a tumble on one of the rocky sections.
Mrs.T
Puppy
We managed to point Trevor`s bike in the right direction and set off. After a few river crossings we were amongst the pine plantations at the bottom of the valley where coffee was made and “ happy” mushrooms were found. We followed the plantation roads and eventually found the tar between Ugie and Elliot and headed back to Mountain Shadows for a cold one and a scrub. We scrapped the idea of riding other passes this day due to the shortage of time. My phobia for mud has been cured but I now treat it with respect.
Bastervoet has the right name as it is a Baster in its present condition. It took us 3hrs 45 min to do 35 km, this can be summed up as riding 17.5km and sliding 17.5km.
The bikes were loaded after breakfast on Tuesday and we headed for Maclear to tackle Naudesnek and Rhodes. The town was a hive of activity as the government had decided to pay grants into accounts of those who were fortunate to receive them. The roads are in a pretty good condition and after a while we crested Naudesnek. Ettiene ambled down a road to a hotel and I had to wait for him while Trevor headed off towards Rhodes to pick up cell signal to phone Ettiene. While waiting for Ettiene I was entertained by a pair of Bearded Vultures riding the thermals, one even passed directly over me at a height of about 5m, not sure if it was hoping to make a meal of me or not.
The road to Rhodes is very scenic, I need to return and do some trout fishing. We stopped in the main road in Rhodes and made coffee and lunched on rolls and cold meats purchased in Maclear.
We had planned to ride Lundiensnek and from there head for Sterkspruit then for our overnight stop at the farm Geartney on the Joubert Pass road. This was aborted due to time and we instead headed to Barkley East and road the tar to Lady Grey. Our overnight stop was great, the host braaied for us that evening and also provided a good breakfast before we departed for Underberg.
The ride from Geartney to Underberg was uneventful except being held up in a traffic jam in Tsolo. We over nighted in a backpackers in Underberg were Ettiene once again braaied for us.
Bastervoet has the right name as it is a Baster in its present condition. It took us 3hrs 45 min to do 35 km, this can be summed up as riding 17.5km and sliding 17.5km.
The bikes were loaded after breakfast on Tuesday and we headed for Maclear to tackle Naudesnek and Rhodes. The town was a hive of activity as the government had decided to pay grants into accounts of those who were fortunate to receive them. The roads are in a pretty good condition and after a while we crested Naudesnek. Ettiene ambled down a road to a hotel and I had to wait for him while Trevor headed off towards Rhodes to pick up cell signal to phone Ettiene. While waiting for Ettiene I was entertained by a pair of Bearded Vultures riding the thermals, one even passed directly over me at a height of about 5m, not sure if it was hoping to make a meal of me or not.
The road to Rhodes is very scenic, I need to return and do some trout fishing. We stopped in the main road in Rhodes and made coffee and lunched on rolls and cold meats purchased in Maclear.
We had planned to ride Lundiensnek and from there head for Sterkspruit then for our overnight stop at the farm Geartney on the Joubert Pass road. This was aborted due to time and we instead headed to Barkley East and road the tar to Lady Grey. Our overnight stop was great, the host braaied for us that evening and also provided a good breakfast before we departed for Underberg.
The ride from Geartney to Underberg was uneventful except being held up in a traffic jam in Tsolo. We over nighted in a backpackers in Underberg were Ettiene once again braaied for us.
Mrs.T
Puppy
We left Underberg on Thursday morning with mist threatening which we went through between Himeville and Sani. After clearing the SA border post we tackled Sani Pass which was rough but not bad until we reached the last 2km before the top. The last section was badly washed out leaving loose rock and deep ruts. I passed Trevor on one of the corners, where he had dropped the 1200 Adventure, and carried on until the next corner where I could stop and walk back to assist him. Before walking back I had to rest as the altitude and being unfit was taking its toll on me. All 3 bikes needed to be manhandled over loose rocks on the next corner and Ettiene took a tumble just after this when a rock rolled out from under his front wheel. After this the next few corners to the top were smooth going, what a relief to have reached the top of Sani without dropping the 1150. A celebratory beer at the highest pub in Africa was had.
According to the map we had the Black Mountain Pass and 56km of dirt to cover before the tar began. Black Mountain Pass was loose rock and bad ruts, on the decent we came across 2 heavily loaded Dakars both being ridden 2 up. The one had just been dropped because the load was too heavy on the back causing the front to lift on the one steep rocky climb. The tar road that was indicated on the map did not exist as it had broken up and we were riding on the base of the tar road which was very loose, rutted and pot holed. Going was very slow on this never ending stretch with a max of 65km/h reached. Some enterprising locals were filling the ruts with rocks and the pot holes with sand, needless to say they wanted payment for this road repair. Coming from the coast it was strange to see bridges over flowing rivers at an altitude of 2995m. With a threatening storm and not sure of the border post closing time I pushed on until the temperature had dropped way down and I pulled over at the turn off to Afriski to put on my jersey. A few km later we did have a tar road to ride at last, beautiful and twisty. Moteng Pass lifted my spirits hairpin bend after hairpin bend, what a pleasure tossing the bike through the bends. We arrived at the Ficksburg border post about 17h30 and headed off to the Woodpecker B&B for the night. An excellent supper of Eisbein and veg had been prepared by our host. A good days hard riding had past.
According to the map we had the Black Mountain Pass and 56km of dirt to cover before the tar began. Black Mountain Pass was loose rock and bad ruts, on the decent we came across 2 heavily loaded Dakars both being ridden 2 up. The one had just been dropped because the load was too heavy on the back causing the front to lift on the one steep rocky climb. The tar road that was indicated on the map did not exist as it had broken up and we were riding on the base of the tar road which was very loose, rutted and pot holed. Going was very slow on this never ending stretch with a max of 65km/h reached. Some enterprising locals were filling the ruts with rocks and the pot holes with sand, needless to say they wanted payment for this road repair. Coming from the coast it was strange to see bridges over flowing rivers at an altitude of 2995m. With a threatening storm and not sure of the border post closing time I pushed on until the temperature had dropped way down and I pulled over at the turn off to Afriski to put on my jersey. A few km later we did have a tar road to ride at last, beautiful and twisty. Moteng Pass lifted my spirits hairpin bend after hairpin bend, what a pleasure tossing the bike through the bends. We arrived at the Ficksburg border post about 17h30 and headed off to the Woodpecker B&B for the night. An excellent supper of Eisbein and veg had been prepared by our host. A good days hard riding had past.
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