Marken Dirt Ride Overnighter
We had spoken about doing this trip when we did the ride to
Koots farm, a few months back. A huge shout out of appreciation goes to Christo for putting this incredible trip together.
We met up at 6.30am and almost immediately headed onto the dirt, passing the old Buffesldrift Mountain Bike Park, then travelling through Dinokeng. The 1st technical happened just before the Safari Mall in Dinokeng, where Koot’s exhaust came off, Christo got to work straightening what he could and we sacrificed 2 of the pillion peg bolts to reattach the exhaust.In Bela Bela we stopped at a Build It and managed to get new nuts and bolts to firmly secure the exhaust and put the bolts back into the pillion peg brackets.
We started with 5 bikes, Koot, Christo, Filies, David and myself and met up with Gaspare, Brian and his son Jayden, for a quick Wimpy breakfast in Bela Bela. From there we headed out onto the Alma road towards Rankins Pass, by this time the temps were already in the mid 30’s.
Some of the best riding is up north, you’re treated to incredible scenery, rocky sections and lots of sand, what an absolute blast. Unfortunately Gaspare would not be so lucky and ended up with a number of punctures, thankfully plenty spare tubes were on hand. He managed to make it to just before Marken and then called his wife to come recover the bike.
The next stop was in Vaalwater for fuel and a well deserved milkshake, we stopped at the Syringa Coffee Shop at the Zeederburg Spar, the mercury was now well over 40 degrees and we still had over 160km of dirt, what an incredible ride this turned out to be – one for the memory bank.
There was a bit of nostalgia as well, we had a farm on the Dorset road and passed by it on the day, looking at the farm there are still so many of the roads that I cut and scraped with our Ford 5000 tractor. I also used to ride my Honda XR200R on some of the dirt roads in the area, I was 18 at the time.
From Vaalwater we headed out onto the Dorset road and then onto Visgat, arguably some of the most scenic riding, with an abundance of game along the way and some decent 2 spoor tracks and plenty more sand, what more could we ask for – maybe cooler weather.
The area is in desperate need of some rain, thankfully the rivers still have a fair bit of water in them, we crossed the Nyati River on a few occasions. Unlike Gautengs rivers, the river was crystal clear and free of plastics and garbage, a rare sight.
After a beer stop in Marken it was time to head to Gaspares bushveld paradise, about 34km north of Marken. We where immediately treated to giraffe, kudu and buffalo as we drove to the lodge. You are welcomed by the mot incredible view over the waterhole.
The lodge itself is absolutely stunning and caters for a very high end European clientele, mostly from Denmark. The rooms and social areas are luxurious and comfortable. Eleen made sure we ate like absolute kings. The pool was a welcome sight and we all immediately got in, to cool off, and enjoy a well deserved beer.
Brian made sure we were well hydrated, he’s visiting from Denmark and spends a fair bit of his time in South Africa, especially up on his farm, which is on the northern border of Gaspare’s farm.
The next morning it was 1st time to swap out the pre-filter, there was a lot of evidence of the insanely dusty conditions, chuffed that I had packed a spare. I was blown from the previous days heat and decided to head back on the tar, still a 350km ride and the day was no cooler, it was already 35 degrees, when I reached Vaalwater.
I was treated to some great game viewing on the road from Marken to Melkrivier and onwards to Vaalwater, many of the farms were hit hard by the fires, but the green shoots are now breaking through and there’s an abundance of wildlife everywhere, including a few big tusker warthogs on the verge of the road – that is the last thing that you want running in front of you, especially when at speed.
I will definitely do this ride and day 2 of dirt again, but in the cooler winter months.
This is the route that we followed on day 1, the GPX route file is attached to the post:
I recorded a fair bit of the route, this is the unedited video, it's a long one, at close to an hour, it'll give you a good idea of the route and conditions - plenty sand.
On Sunday morning we were treated to a herd of kudu, at the back door, all waiting for some mielies, the warthog were a little more apprehensive and stayed in the background.
Luggage:
Main luggage was the
Enduristan Large Tail Pack on the back, in the bag I have my tools, the tools are in the
Kriega Tool Roll and some snacks and a cap, for the harsh African sun. What I like about the Enduristan Large Tail Pack is the size, the quick zip access, easy mounting and the fact that it's waterproof.
I used the
Giant Loop Diablo tank bag to carry a
Leatt 1.5l hydration bladder, some basic tools, snacks and the coffee brewing kit.
Riding Gear:
Helmet -
Arai Tour X-5 (Adventure Grey)
Boots -
Leatt Adv HydraDri 7.5 Boots (Stealth). What I like about these boots is they dry within a few hours, whereas the AStar Tech 7's take 3 days, for the inside to dry after a weekend of riding.
Pants -
Leatt Flow Tour 7.5 (Stealth Colour)
Jacket -
Leatt Flow Tour 7.5 (Stealth Colour)
Gloves -
Leatt X Flow Adv 7.5 (Stealth / Short)
Tyres: I used the
Mitas Enduro Trail XT + on the front, for added grip and the
Motoz Tractionator Adventure on the rear.
Tech Used:
Cardo Packtalk Edge, in-helmet comms. I primarily use the
Cardo Packtalk Edge to listen to music, streamed from Spotify, and take and make the odd phone call to my wife and children, I avoid work related calls when I'm away on the bike.
Navigation: for this trip I used my
UleFone Armor 8 Pro 4G Rugged Smartphone for my navigation needs, with the OsmAnd+ routing and mapping software. Main reason is the
OsmAnd+ software is a lot more responsive and accurate than the Garmin Zumo XT ever was. I used the
SP Connect Universal mount to attach the phone to a SP Connect GPS mount, this is attached to a
Vanasche Motorsport GPS mount for the bike.
Insta60 Ace Pro Action Camera - I opted for this one for my current use, I have had may GoPro's, the Insta360 X1 and One RS, but prefer the wide angle PoV, battery life, flip up screen, filters, quick release and stability of the
Insta360Ace Pro.
Garmin InReach Mini 2 Satellite Communicator - There is a lot of talk that the
Garmin InReach is a waste of money and time, as rarely do the emergency services in South Africa respond, I'm well aware of this. My reason for buying and using this to for my family to be able to track my riding and when I do arrive at a camp or need assistance and there's no cellphone signal, then I have the ability to share my position and message them to let them know I'm ok or if I need assistance, it's a lot easier for them to then make the necessary arrangements.
