Boesmans lowveld ride - Lekgalameetse

[De Jager]

This report is long overdue as we have done it already last year October when 6 of us did the lowveld and the infamous Orrie Baragwanath pass.

Me – XT660Z
Andre – GSA1200
Danie GS1200R
Jaco GS1200R LC
Mack GS1200R LC
Herman GS1200R

 

[De Jager]

Day 1 –  Pta, Tonteldoos, Lydenburg, Mount Sheba – 375km (2 Passes)
Herman, Jaco and Danie, Myself on the XT ready for a trip. We met up in Bronkhorstspruit and made our way to Loskopdam via the Loskop stofpad but needed to have some breakfast along the way!

 

[De Jager]

No trip is complete without some DIY repairs along the way, Welding on the side stand was needed. Quick help from the locals just 2km from Loskop dam and we were on our way once more. We rode some very nice gravel roads in the direction or Tonteldoos.

 

[De Jager]

The roads in this part of our country is really awesome but you need to keep awake and on the lookout for potholes. The rest of the route took us from Tonteldoos through Lydenburg and from there we went to Mount Sheba for our first night of camping. the route was mostly on the black stuff but the twist and turns was good enough. Passes we crossed was De Berg Pass as well as Jaap se Hoogte

We set up camp for the first night, testing some new camping gear and having a few captains and Jägermeister’s around camp fire, facilities is a bit far from one another but the ride down to the campsite was well worth the visit

 

[De Jager]

Day 2 – Mount Sheba, Pelgrimsrus, Swadini, Mariepskop, Hoedspruit, Swadini - 300km (4 Passes)

We had a nice relaxed leisure day of riding ahead of us from Mt Sheba we rode the Robbers pass, for some breakfast in Pilgrims rest, there is nothing left in the town as I remembered it from my younger days, from there we took an awesome dirtroad from just outside of the town going over Caspers nek pass and linking onto the tar between Origstad and the JG Strydom Tunnel.On route Andre had an encounter with the slithering kind, caught on his Drift camera.

 

[Steekvlieg]

:snorting:

 

[Duster]

Aaaa.....uiteindelik!  Ek ry saam en dankie vir die deel.

 

[Mikie]

Come Come, dont stop now

 

[De Jager]

I will im just out of town for two days :thumleft:

 

[De Jager]

Some more pics of the ride from Mount Sheba to Hoedspruit

 

[De Jager]

The sun was a real scorcher in the valley, we stopped at THE SHOE for some refreshments and a visit to the local museum for about R 2.00 each. While sitting there we decided that we made good progress thus far and that we should alter our plans for the day, we decided to head to Swadini, set up camp and head up to Mariepskop rather than just sitting in a pool and hide from the blistering sun! Off we went through the tunnel and down Abel Erasmus pass.

We booked into Swadini's campsite as this is to be our basecamp for two days.
We kitted up again and headed out to go up Mariepskop.

We took the tar road between Swadini and Klaserie towards Mariepskop, got off on a dirtroad leading us towards the mountain, with some nice dirt roads, fast gravel, sandy sections, plantation windy roads up Mariepskop pass and all of a sudden the concrete twisties heading up to the top, what an awesome secluded place this is!!

We got to the top to be greeted by the cool, clear crisp air and silence of nature, abandoned buildings and breathtakingly nice views, this was so nice to be sharing this with great friends.

 

[De Jager]

Some more Pics of Mariepskop

 

[De Jager]

It was getting late as we headed back down the mountain, we decided to have dinner in town before turning into Swadini and our tents, the planned short trip for the day, turned out to be a long day in the saddle but it was worth every hour and kilometer.

 

[De Jager]

Day 3 – Lekgalameetse Loop 309km (1Pass - Orrie Baragwanath pass!!)
Today will be our outride day doing the Lekgalameetse nature reserve and the much talked about Orrie Baragwnath pass (7km of rocks). 
We back tracked on the route we came in from the day before and entered the rural areas from the western side, riding past various townships, some nice twee spoor along the way, we also encountered closed gates but these seem to be easily opened for some reason :ricky:.

 

[De Jager]

We knew we were getting closer as the GPS turned to the right and all of a sudden a steep rocky twee spoor paadjie that will definitely test your skills lies before you, with no indication as to what lies ahead.

We split up into groups of two that takes off in different intervals in order for us to try and keep momentum up the hill.
This helped for a while!! :lol8:

The only advice on this one is look up and keep a steady momentum going, stop where possible to take in what you accomplished and drink a lot of water.
The lack of fitness is your worst enemy as Fatigue sets in you start to loose concentration and that is when it gets interesting, you loose your line, you hit big rocks and go down. In our group we had about 2 falls (by one unfortunate rider) but nothing serious all in good spirit.

Yes you are going to get very tired and dehydrated, yes the rocks are big and a lot thereof, yes you are not going to be able to keep your planned line the whole time but man what a nice feeling getting to the top unharmed!

 

[De Jager]

Some more

 

[punisher]

O0 O0 :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[Black_Hawk]

Lyk na baie lekker trippie. Dankie vir die deel  :thumleft:

 

[De Jager]

For what its worth here is a Graph of the track over the 7km pass.

 

[De Jager]

Made it to the top, signed the book…… took the picture at the gate… made a fire and had a lekker braai at the western entrance gate, this was awesome. After lunch we head out through the reserve and onto the tarred road which has nice scenery and turns, just watch out for the tree in the centre of the road!!

We were quite tired and headed straight to Swadini to go and relax in the pool