Botswana fence ride

[Partyranger]

When riding sand like that, it is extremely important to pick your line correctly.
In this case, a different fence-line with less sand might have been appropriate.
:biggrin:

Net so!  :imaposer:

Maar sal ook laaik om daai roete te ry eendag... wanneer ek sand se baas is.

Pity the sand trap at Rhino has been closed to bikes and quads, I went there once in the hopes of getting some sand practice. Apparently they're converting it to camping ground.

OomD as jy nie seker is oor die sand sou ek se gaan doen die laaste dag se route. Veral as jy hom anders om ry dan is die intro na die dieper sand meer gelydelik.
Volgens my is sand ry meer en deels n geval van hou die bike los onder jou. Hy gaan wiggle en dinge maar op die einde van die dag wil hy nogsteeds regop bly.
Hou die gewig laag op die pegs, no need to meerkat, lig net die boude efens en hou momentum.  Daai sand pit was rof. Ek het met die plastics daar in gegaan en ek dink op n swaar bike gaan dit baie sukkel. 
As ek reg onthou het Rhino ook ander sand patches agter by die koppie se kant.

Some years ago I went to the BMW academy Sand Training day out on a farm near Roodeplaat, I was riding my 1200GS Adv, and ****-scared of sand. It was all going well until just before lunch when we on an "out-ride" on sand tracks, with some thicker section, with normal single-track between, to get us all used to it.
I under-powered into a corner, front washed left, over-corrected and did the worlds most gentle weight-transfer high-side at walking speed, went down on my left, landed slightly funny and "crunch" in my left hand.......
Battled to pick up the bike, everyone thought I was a wuss, but crunchy bones..... Anyway, I was asked to complete the short section to the end, then they would bring a trailer and return me and the bike to the main staging area. In the end I had to drive the bike back to Benoni, by myself (there was another accident, broken legs, required the trailers to be used), which was interesting not being able to use your clutch hand.....
My wife was also cross, as she was out shopping and I foolishly asked her to take me to the hospital, silly me..... Result was a plate and 7 screws in my hand, but zero pain since then!
BUT I STILL HATED SAND EVEN WORSE!!!
Then I bought a 650 X-Challenge, and discovered that, with the correc tools, sand is actually a HUGE amount of fun!! I did some sections of DeWildt last year (not  the riverbed), I had an absolute blast!!! So I reckon the Bots Fence could be a load of fun on my light 650 (144kg)!!

Hi,  that sound hectic having to deal with stuff like that at the academy and then having to ride home.
Sure the right tool makes any task easier and there’s horses for courses.

For that simple reason I’ve realised that coming from an enduro background the big bikes don’t work for me.
Numsch was with me on a ride when I wrote off a ktm1090 in a small silly fall.  Also broke some ribs and rode home, I only found out later about the ribs.

I think the GS is a great bike for certain people doing certain types of rides.
I prefer looking for the smaller tracks and deeper sand and rocks so FOR ME, a GS will never work.

 

[Partyranger]

Lekr read thanks PR... :thumleft:

I would love to join on a trip like this sometime 

Thanks Roxtar.
I will let you know when there will be another ride to the fence, there’s a few friends also interested. My budget is just very tight at the moment still being unemployed.  :-\ :-\
It’s always the case that when you have time you don’t have money. And when the money’s there the time is not.  :biggrin:

 

[Grahamrob]

Thanks for this report! This was really interesting!
Do you think it would be possible to do this route in a 4x4? Ie, is the route wide enough?
Then, in terms of the land youre crossing, any idea what the land ownership is there? Im wondering if a sneaky little overnight bushcamp would be possible along the route?

 

[Partyranger]

Thanks for this report! This was really interesting!
Do you think it would be possible to do this route in a 4x4? Ie, is the route wide enough?
Then, in terms of the land youre crossing, any idea what the land ownership is there? Im wondering if a sneaky little overnight bushcamp would be possible along the route?

It will actually be possible with a 2x4 bakkie. It is basically all twin vehicle tracks. There might be a few bushes scratching the vehicle though.
I believe it’s all tribal land,  towards the madikwe side there’s more farms and people around but lower down towards ramatlabama area there is lots of space and I am sure you will be able to camp.
However the area is not super scenic. It’s not like there are big mountain ranges or much to look at.
That’s why I probably won’t take my wife out there to camp.
I think something bewaarskloof would be a nicer trip.

 

[Grahamrob]

It will actually be possible with a 2x4 bakkie. It is basically all twin vehicle tracks. There might be a few bushes scratching the vehicle though.
I believe it’s all tribal land,  towards the madikwe side there’s more farms and people around but lower down towards ramatlabama area there is lots of space and I am sure you will be able to camp.
However the area is not super scenic. It’s not like there are big mountain ranges or much to look at.
That’s why I probably won’t take my wife out there to camp.
I think something bewaarskloof would be a nicer trip.

Ok cool, thanks very much.
That was something I thought of is the scenery when looking at this area on google earth. It might be a little too boring to do in a car. I'll still give this some thought though, thanks!