LeonDude
Bachelor Dog
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2007
- Messages
- 10,493
- Reaction score
- 532
- Location
- Gauteng - Centurion
- Bike
- Suzuki DR650
Wild dogs are a tenacious bunch. When Boer Schoeman phoned to ask if I would do a recce ride with them over the weekend, it was short notice, and I declined. But look, you cannot get these dogs to let go, and not long after Cave Girl was on the phone. Pressure selling, I tell you, pressure selling.
As Cave Girl was picking up her new bike on Saturday, her plan was to trailer the BRAND NEW bike from the shop to my place, leave the car and trailer here and the two of us would head off to Zeerust, were we would meet up with Boer and some other dogs, who would be leaving much later.
Ja right!
That brand new bike
Time for breakfast
On Friday night I concocted a couple of routes I thought would be good to Recce for the newbie rides on the Bosvark bash, and on Saturday of course it didn’t take me long to take the wrong turnoff, land up on the wrong road, create an alternative route and generally just work my way to our destination. Ok I cheated, I used CG’s GPS to find the route!
First Gravel
Strange signage you find on the road!
Through all of this Cave Girl didn’t once loose her smile. At first I thought it was me, but I soon realised I had some stiff competition in the form of that new Honda 250. Brilliant bike!
Detours and more detours, every time I missed the route that I had planned on taking, there was other great roads to explore. That is one of the big attractions of riding gravel in the Groot Marico, the scenery is fantastic.
Scenery (6 and 7)
After leaving late, spending too much time eating and drinking on the road and taking some lekker detours, we arrived in Zeerust at the exact moment that it was completely dark. To make matters worse, one of the bikes in Boer’s group had broken down, and they were still stuck on the other side of Rustenburg.
A quick debate ensuid and CG decided we would opt for a bed and breakfast instead of looking for a camping spot 40 Km out of Zeerust in the dead of night.
Good choice, and the place we found had exactly one room open. Which, after we had paid for it, turned out to be not available cause it hadn’t been cleaned. We were then given a full bungalow, four beds, separate bathroom etc etc.
Which turned out had a double bed that hadn’t been made. Luckily there were also some single beds that had been made. But fark, it was fine, we just wanted a place to crash and food to eat. Which, of course, led to the next problem.
LeonDude tried to clean out the bar. I mean really tried. And CG was not going to be left behind, there was a new bike in the Wild Dog family and this called for a bottle of Bubbly.
LeonDude starting work on the bar
Skip scene to the next morning and a BEEG babbelaas.
But, just on the other side of 8 we were on our way to Ramatlabama. The idea was not to cross the border, but rather to test the conditions of the roads in the area, to see if they were newby friendly. The good news is that yes, they are newby friendly.
Once again it took me a while to find the routes I wanted, and sadly this inviting looking dirt road had to wait for next time.
Another example of the great road conditions
Cave Girl trying to help me find the route
Once at Ramatlabama we again changed our plans. Instead of doing dirt back to Zeerust we would visit Mafikeng, a place I had not seen before. Through text messages we knew that Boer was on his way to Zeerust area, so we let him know our plans.
The bikes in front of the Ramatlabama border post
From Mafikeng, it became a matter of getting home before dark. I really really did not want to ride in the dark, and I was very relieved when we got back with about half an hour to spare. But fark, that was one ice cold ride!
After putting CG’s bike back on the trailer, (and accidentally forgetting to take the key off the trailer, one missing key), we went inside for some warmth and a beer.
And of course, it was at this point that I phoned Boer to hear if he had made it home safely.
“Ek het nou net my gat af geval!” (Eng: I just had a fall), or something like that. Shit.
Fortunately Boer was not seriously hurt, and his bike was rideable. He assured me that if he needed to be fetched, he would call. By now he’s put his experience in a thread, and eish, those piccies don’t look lekka. Sterkte Boer, hope you and the bike is feeling great soon.
See you all on the road, and ride safe!
As Cave Girl was picking up her new bike on Saturday, her plan was to trailer the BRAND NEW bike from the shop to my place, leave the car and trailer here and the two of us would head off to Zeerust, were we would meet up with Boer and some other dogs, who would be leaving much later.
Ja right!
That brand new bike
Time for breakfast
On Friday night I concocted a couple of routes I thought would be good to Recce for the newbie rides on the Bosvark bash, and on Saturday of course it didn’t take me long to take the wrong turnoff, land up on the wrong road, create an alternative route and generally just work my way to our destination. Ok I cheated, I used CG’s GPS to find the route!
First Gravel
Strange signage you find on the road!
Through all of this Cave Girl didn’t once loose her smile. At first I thought it was me, but I soon realised I had some stiff competition in the form of that new Honda 250. Brilliant bike!
Detours and more detours, every time I missed the route that I had planned on taking, there was other great roads to explore. That is one of the big attractions of riding gravel in the Groot Marico, the scenery is fantastic.
Scenery (6 and 7)
After leaving late, spending too much time eating and drinking on the road and taking some lekker detours, we arrived in Zeerust at the exact moment that it was completely dark. To make matters worse, one of the bikes in Boer’s group had broken down, and they were still stuck on the other side of Rustenburg.
A quick debate ensuid and CG decided we would opt for a bed and breakfast instead of looking for a camping spot 40 Km out of Zeerust in the dead of night.
Good choice, and the place we found had exactly one room open. Which, after we had paid for it, turned out to be not available cause it hadn’t been cleaned. We were then given a full bungalow, four beds, separate bathroom etc etc.
Which turned out had a double bed that hadn’t been made. Luckily there were also some single beds that had been made. But fark, it was fine, we just wanted a place to crash and food to eat. Which, of course, led to the next problem.
LeonDude tried to clean out the bar. I mean really tried. And CG was not going to be left behind, there was a new bike in the Wild Dog family and this called for a bottle of Bubbly.
LeonDude starting work on the bar
Skip scene to the next morning and a BEEG babbelaas.
But, just on the other side of 8 we were on our way to Ramatlabama. The idea was not to cross the border, but rather to test the conditions of the roads in the area, to see if they were newby friendly. The good news is that yes, they are newby friendly.
Once again it took me a while to find the routes I wanted, and sadly this inviting looking dirt road had to wait for next time.
Another example of the great road conditions
Cave Girl trying to help me find the route
Once at Ramatlabama we again changed our plans. Instead of doing dirt back to Zeerust we would visit Mafikeng, a place I had not seen before. Through text messages we knew that Boer was on his way to Zeerust area, so we let him know our plans.
The bikes in front of the Ramatlabama border post
From Mafikeng, it became a matter of getting home before dark. I really really did not want to ride in the dark, and I was very relieved when we got back with about half an hour to spare. But fark, that was one ice cold ride!
After putting CG’s bike back on the trailer, (and accidentally forgetting to take the key off the trailer, one missing key), we went inside for some warmth and a beer.
And of course, it was at this point that I phoned Boer to hear if he had made it home safely.
“Ek het nou net my gat af geval!” (Eng: I just had a fall), or something like that. Shit.
Fortunately Boer was not seriously hurt, and his bike was rideable. He assured me that if he needed to be fetched, he would call. By now he’s put his experience in a thread, and eish, those piccies don’t look lekka. Sterkte Boer, hope you and the bike is feeling great soon.
See you all on the road, and ride safe!
