Mark Hardy
Grey Hound
I didnâ??t feel like sitting home and twiddling my thumbs while most of you were at the BASH so I started an innocent thread for a Sunday ride with any Capies still at home. All was going well until a certain Ulitjie (bless his soul) wrote these wordsâ?¦â?¦
â??We could of course do the "up-the-mountain" ride I told you about Mark, but itâ??s not really for noobs, what you think?â?
And so started one of the most enjoyable and challenging rides I have been on.
The meeting place was at the Shell garage at the bottom of Sir Loureys pass, XT660R (Andy) and I left at 6h50 to meet the others at the pass for 7h30. What a beautiful morning, no wind and nice and cool but not cold. We meet Masehare at the garage and after 10min or so realized that no one else would be joining us. Time to head out to Caledon and Ulitjies farm where we would meet the rest of the â??mountain ridingâ? crew. I really enjoy the ride out that way, all tar, as there are some enjoyable sweeping corners and passes to negotiate.
When we get to Ulitjies place there are four more bike waiting to be ridden, Gavelmad, Ulitjie, Tattoo, Rico. So that 2x KTM950, KTM950SE, 2x XT660R, BMW1150adv, and last but not lest a Valedero. Good mix of machines. After a bit of chit chat it was on the mountain. Stopped at the farmer those land we were going to ride on, really pleasant chap and I felt he was quite happy to see us there and ready to tackle his mountain tracks. We each paid R50 for the ride and by the end of the day I would have gladly paid R500.
â??Start your engines and lets rideâ? or something that from our leader Uiltjie. Not 500m from the farm house the track starts, we were warned that the first kilometer or so would be rocky and loose. That was true and it went up and up and up. First thought through my head was â??Today I will have the ride of my life and I KNOW I will fallâ? on both counts I was right. I donâ??t know how long or far we rode till the first pit stop, but what I do remember is all the switch backs, loose rock and gravel, uneven tracks and the shear beauty of the area we were riding in. This wasnâ??t a gravel rode we were going up but a 2 spoor track. I could not stop smiling and whooping in my helmet.
Some pics of the track to the first Pit Stop.
Maybe M should explain his actions here
Left all alone
So where to now.....up I guess
Gavelmad....the happy snapper
Smoke break and where to now chat
Tattoo and his beast
From there we set out for some more wonderful riding and mountain climbing. Most of the time it was 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd gear. Loose rock, tight corner and up up up. But most of all FUN. I was having a ball and so was every one else judging by their grins and high 5â??s at the next Pit Stop. This is with Ulitjieâ??s son was waiting for us in the 4x4 with some refreshment. Thank you. Popped the Champagne and the bottle got passed around. Beers and Savanna also came out.
Da refreashment
Da views
Da crew
Da track
While we were chatting I looked ahead and saw this track going right up to the top.
Looking at Ulitjie I ask â??Are we riding up Thereâ?
â??No, we are turning right and going to the next mountain trackâ?
â??Well can we ride up thereâ? I ask
â??Go for itâ? he replies.
So Gavelmad, Andy and I head out to climb/ride to the top, being warned to be on the lookout for big loose rocks. Once at the top, the views were stunning.
I will add the rest tonight.....work is calling.
â??We could of course do the "up-the-mountain" ride I told you about Mark, but itâ??s not really for noobs, what you think?â?
And so started one of the most enjoyable and challenging rides I have been on.
The meeting place was at the Shell garage at the bottom of Sir Loureys pass, XT660R (Andy) and I left at 6h50 to meet the others at the pass for 7h30. What a beautiful morning, no wind and nice and cool but not cold. We meet Masehare at the garage and after 10min or so realized that no one else would be joining us. Time to head out to Caledon and Ulitjies farm where we would meet the rest of the â??mountain ridingâ? crew. I really enjoy the ride out that way, all tar, as there are some enjoyable sweeping corners and passes to negotiate.
When we get to Ulitjies place there are four more bike waiting to be ridden, Gavelmad, Ulitjie, Tattoo, Rico. So that 2x KTM950, KTM950SE, 2x XT660R, BMW1150adv, and last but not lest a Valedero. Good mix of machines. After a bit of chit chat it was on the mountain. Stopped at the farmer those land we were going to ride on, really pleasant chap and I felt he was quite happy to see us there and ready to tackle his mountain tracks. We each paid R50 for the ride and by the end of the day I would have gladly paid R500.
â??Start your engines and lets rideâ? or something that from our leader Uiltjie. Not 500m from the farm house the track starts, we were warned that the first kilometer or so would be rocky and loose. That was true and it went up and up and up. First thought through my head was â??Today I will have the ride of my life and I KNOW I will fallâ? on both counts I was right. I donâ??t know how long or far we rode till the first pit stop, but what I do remember is all the switch backs, loose rock and gravel, uneven tracks and the shear beauty of the area we were riding in. This wasnâ??t a gravel rode we were going up but a 2 spoor track. I could not stop smiling and whooping in my helmet.
Some pics of the track to the first Pit Stop.
Maybe M should explain his actions here
Left all alone
So where to now.....up I guess
Gavelmad....the happy snapper
Smoke break and where to now chat
Tattoo and his beast
From there we set out for some more wonderful riding and mountain climbing. Most of the time it was 1st, 2nd and maybe 3rd gear. Loose rock, tight corner and up up up. But most of all FUN. I was having a ball and so was every one else judging by their grins and high 5â??s at the next Pit Stop. This is with Ulitjieâ??s son was waiting for us in the 4x4 with some refreshment. Thank you. Popped the Champagne and the bottle got passed around. Beers and Savanna also came out.
Da refreashment
Da views
Da crew
Da track
While we were chatting I looked ahead and saw this track going right up to the top.
Looking at Ulitjie I ask â??Are we riding up Thereâ?
â??No, we are turning right and going to the next mountain trackâ?
â??Well can we ride up thereâ? I ask
â??Go for itâ? he replies.
So Gavelmad, Andy and I head out to climb/ride to the top, being warned to be on the lookout for big loose rocks. Once at the top, the views were stunning.
I will add the rest tonight.....work is calling.
