Bikes, battles and passes – Take 2

[DD650]

Worker’s Day… public holiday…. long weekend…. which only means one thing… bike trip!  :ricky: :ricky: :ricky:  After our recent trip (https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=121333.0) we thought that we had so much fun and we haven’t seen enough of the battlefields yet, so we decided to give it another go. Only this time there would be no cosmos so we looked for some other excitement… which made us thinking… with a short(ish) detour we can include Sani Pass, which have been on our bucket list for a long time!

Worker’s Day was, very befittingly, a glorious and beautiful autumn day! Perfect weather for biking and to celebrate the fact that we didn’t have to work! We got onto the first dirt roads just before Standerton and started on some stunning Freestate roads… wide, open, smooth, beautiful blue skies, perfect!

Typical Freestate scenery.

Stunning blue skies!

 

[Mr Zog]

:sip:  sub...

 

[alwyn_gs]

:happy1: sub

 

[woody1]

:ricky:

 

[DD650]

Our first stop would be in Ladysmith and we wanted to ride as many dirt roads there as we could since we had the whole day to get there. I only told the GPS to take dirt roads and didn’t check it in that much detail. So we went past Verkykerskop again, but this time from another direction. Not that we minded at all – it gave us a chance for a freshly homemade milkshake!  :ricky:

And then it was nice open roads again.

Until we got to this nice little mountainous (or rather a hilly  ) section.

And then some more open Freestate roads all the way to Ladysmith.

We checked into Buller’s Rest Lodge in Ladysmith – what a fantastic place and very reasonable prices! And best of all, they welcome bikers with open arms! Dinner was even better – homemade oxtail and they have a bar on-site, which means you don’t even have to go into town for drinks or dinner. The lodge is on a hill overlooking Ladysmith and we could sit outside, relaxing with a cold one while we watch the sunset. What a fantastic way to end a fantastic Worker’s Day! It doesn’t get any better than this!  :thumleft:

 

[JACOVV]

Laaaaaank overdue 

Anyway - ek's in.

 

[Kawaki]

ot:

 

[T Rex]

Nice :thumleft:

 

[Nicobie]

Very nice.
You know, we sometimes just want to ride "technical sections" or mountains, which is nice, but for me just to be on gravel, even "flattish" country side is what makes it tick for me.

We have such a diverse riding terrain in our country, we must get on and push the start button.

My next trip will  be to the battlefields.

 

[Marnus]

Hmmmm...  Kan nie wag vir die res nie!  :thumleft:

 

[Pepe]

Gooi Boet!

 

[DD650]

Very nice.
You know, we sometimes just want to ride "technical sections" or mountains, which is nice, but for me just to be on gravel, even "flattish" country side is what makes it tick for me.

We have such a diverse riding terrain in our country, we must get on and push the start button.

My next trip will  be to the battlefields.

So true Nicobie. We had lots of fun on these open roads. It felt like you could ride forever. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery!  :ricky:

 

[DD650]

Gooi Boet!

Uhm, dis gooi Sus.  :biggrin: Maar ek is besig, gee net kans.  :thumleft:

 

[troos]

:spitcoffee: so far, so good, cant wait the rest 

 

[Jondu]

Sub

 

[DD650]

Our first day was such a nice ride with the open roads where you could just sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery! It really felt like we could ride forever, just enjoying nature and getting rid of all the cobwebs. The perfect day to prepare for the rest of the weekend. Part of our trip was however to visit some more battlefields and we chose Ladysmith as our first stopover as we wanted to visit the Battle of Ladysmith.

Our first visit was to the Ladysmith Siege Museum. As we chose this time to visit the sites by ourselves and not use a guide, we wanted to get some more information about the sites beforehand to maximise our experience. The building which houses the museum was built in 1884 and is dedicated to the four month siege of Ladysmith during the Second Anglo-Boer War. The museum building was used as a ration post for civilians during the Siege and after that served as a marketplace. The museum is very interesting and various artefacts, documents, uniforms, firearms etc. are on display. The museum has got a miniature model which depicts Ladysmith and surroundings at the time of the Siege. Not to be missed if you want to know more about the Siege of Ladysmith.

In the courtyard outside the museum are replicas of two of the original canons used during the Siege.

 

[Fearless]

In my hometown. Next time pop in and say hi.

 

[DD650]

In my hometown. Next time pop in and say hi.

Will definitely do. There is still quite a lot we would like to see in the area.  :thumleft:

 

[alwyn_gs]

:sip:

 

[Adriaan5]

I'm doing my masters on the Second Anglo Boer-war. Great piece of South African history  :thumleft: