SGB
Race Dog
Last weekend it was a good friend's 40th in Pretoria and we attended the celebrations. Driving to Gauteng just for a birthday party can quite easily be justified, especially THIS one, but pulling a trailer with some plastic along just gave the whole thing a little more purpose. And collecting the 690 from Pro Action for next weekend's Lesotho ride caused us to be fully occupied for the whole long weekend.
We have been hearing a lot about this place De Wildt, and at last we get a chance to see the place. We only arrived at about 13:00, not ideal but the only time we have. The team is me on the 525, my laaitie and his 85, B on one of the 250 F tour bikes from our friendly dealer, and P, our local guide on his 250.
We started off at the old police station, took off onto a dirt track, over a hill with a concrete path going up and a rocky downhill on the other side. Then along a track with some sandy patches and lots of whoops. These whoops are quite interesting, the frequency is inconsistent and you sometimes get spat out in some unexpected directions, good fun nonetheless.
At this little dam, B had a puncture and we had time for some pics
Fixed up and continued into a rocky river bed. We had great fun here - stayed in the bottom, avoided the escape routes up the banks. The rocks with sandy patches in between make for great riding, although the heart rate did accelerate..... Did not take too many pics, here is an idea.
Rest spot - the 85 has a mass advantage, but the small wheels did make him work a bit too. Good practice for rugby..... I'm a bit tired dad!
We crossed under a road through a culvert, the 525 barks nicely in there. Then further along, things got a little muddy. Real snotty stuff! The 85 ran out of fuel, and P went and fethed some from a near by shop. R 23 / 2 liters. Bargain!
About 40 km in we realized that time is getting short - wasted time with the puncture and fuel fetching, and we also had to do a spark plug repalcement on the 85. The Durban fuelling on the 85 was not great at DW, was running too rich and carboned up with the slow going in the rocks. Bit different to an MX track at sea level....
Also interacted with the friendly locals at a shebeen, they were a few quarts ahead of their capacity, but cheerful and made us feel welcome. The little ones are very keen on photos, especially when you show them the pic on the camera screen afterwards!
By now it was getting really late, and we misjudged the sun a bit, it goes down FAST! Moved out of the river and took the faster track on the side, and made for the camp. We ended up in darkenss and climed that last hill back to the reservoir in total darkness. Better with lights off, then you don't see the rocks and climb over easier..... >
See the bike coming up in the pic.....
Back to the police station in total darkness, did some asking around to find the hole under the railway, again a bit tricky in the dark. Back at the cars, our guards were still there waiting around a little fire, which we really appreciated.
All and all a great experience, you have a lekka playground there! Just over 80 km's done, and I undertand there are lots more. The locals made us feel very welcome, and I would like to have more time to see more of the place one day.
And the lesson was that one should arrive earlier, avoid night riding out there!
But KZN is still riding heaven.....
We have been hearing a lot about this place De Wildt, and at last we get a chance to see the place. We only arrived at about 13:00, not ideal but the only time we have. The team is me on the 525, my laaitie and his 85, B on one of the 250 F tour bikes from our friendly dealer, and P, our local guide on his 250.
We started off at the old police station, took off onto a dirt track, over a hill with a concrete path going up and a rocky downhill on the other side. Then along a track with some sandy patches and lots of whoops. These whoops are quite interesting, the frequency is inconsistent and you sometimes get spat out in some unexpected directions, good fun nonetheless.
At this little dam, B had a puncture and we had time for some pics
Fixed up and continued into a rocky river bed. We had great fun here - stayed in the bottom, avoided the escape routes up the banks. The rocks with sandy patches in between make for great riding, although the heart rate did accelerate..... Did not take too many pics, here is an idea.
Rest spot - the 85 has a mass advantage, but the small wheels did make him work a bit too. Good practice for rugby..... I'm a bit tired dad!
We crossed under a road through a culvert, the 525 barks nicely in there. Then further along, things got a little muddy. Real snotty stuff! The 85 ran out of fuel, and P went and fethed some from a near by shop. R 23 / 2 liters. Bargain!
About 40 km in we realized that time is getting short - wasted time with the puncture and fuel fetching, and we also had to do a spark plug repalcement on the 85. The Durban fuelling on the 85 was not great at DW, was running too rich and carboned up with the slow going in the rocks. Bit different to an MX track at sea level....
Also interacted with the friendly locals at a shebeen, they were a few quarts ahead of their capacity, but cheerful and made us feel welcome. The little ones are very keen on photos, especially when you show them the pic on the camera screen afterwards!
By now it was getting really late, and we misjudged the sun a bit, it goes down FAST! Moved out of the river and took the faster track on the side, and made for the camp. We ended up in darkenss and climed that last hill back to the reservoir in total darkness. Better with lights off, then you don't see the rocks and climb over easier..... >
See the bike coming up in the pic.....
Back to the police station in total darkness, did some asking around to find the hole under the railway, again a bit tricky in the dark. Back at the cars, our guards were still there waiting around a little fire, which we really appreciated.
All and all a great experience, you have a lekka playground there! Just over 80 km's done, and I undertand there are lots more. The locals made us feel very welcome, and I would like to have more time to see more of the place one day.
And the lesson was that one should arrive earlier, avoid night riding out there!
But KZN is still riding heaven.....
