circling the. karoo's

[The Badger]

Thanks and keep it coming....... :thumleft:

 

[spoedvark]

Subscribed!

 

[advwannabe]

Greetings fellow dogs,

Please accept my humble appologies for taking so long to finnish this ride report, riding got the better of me, then i hadto pay for my pleasures by working extra hard. Having a family also comes with its responsibilities as many of you can well understand, tie that in with a healthy dose of computer illiteracy and you might begin to understand some of my reasons.

Special appologies must go to Daskop, my unexpected partner durring the second half of tyhis journey, i only read his side of the story now, and realised how much his story needed my pics.....(hanging my head in shame).

Ok before i run out of time again, lets get this thing done!!!

 

[advwannabe]

Ok that first evening in matstiele, i was unexpectedly joined by three more adventurers, Clive G, Tibor, and Shaun.
Well what happens when you put a bunch of bikers together.........awesome times.......we chatted on over a few chops and dops well into the night, despite the thunderstoms around us, all thoughts of tomorrows wet conditions were forgotten.
They were heading up into Lesotho to do bobejaans.........and to see those guys try it on their 1200gs's......i would have dearly loved to gi....butt this trip was going to bd a life changer........far more than a weekends ride, so i decided to stay the course..

A pic of the beautifull day that greated us that sat morning......ps, at least i now knew my tent was waterproof

 

[advwannabe]

Ok now this second day was always going to be a tough one with 500+km on dirt , little did i know just how enjoyable it was going to be.........my first real adventure day.....just me aand my bike from sunrise till sunset.....and way beyond as it turrneed out to be..........i couldnt wait.......can you remember your first true day alone with your bike and the elements?

I couldntt wait to get going, and was in tghe saddle by 7, juiced up and more exciteed than aa kid on xmas day ;D ;D
Now thee whole purpose of yhis trip was to stay off the tar except where unavoidable, sk it was only a few kms out of town that the dirt started, and boy did it stsrt with a bang!.....it was the road to Rhodes, cant remember yhe exact designaation right now bbut will look it up if anyone wants to know........its a simply stunning route as the pics will show
;D
Pic time

 

[advwannabe]

Oops keep hitting the post button instead of the pic one.

Anyway not far into the ride, i come accross this huge rock overhanging the road, so its pic time again......what better place then right under the rock?.........
As i dismount in my rather uniquee style.......lol.........the ground gives way underfoot, it looked dry but that was only on the surface........last nights rain claims a vicctim and down i go!........
Not as embarasing as when it happens in front of my mates........but embaressing none the less.
Whats a riders first instinct?.........pick it up off course.......lol not this tine she cried.......my feet kept slipping in tthe mud not to mention that i had fallen "downhill".
A quick head scratching moment.......see there was noone for milees who could help.......i decided to drag her around 90 deegrees, and try again.......it worked  ;D ;D

And so began another lesson in how to pick up a bike way bigger than you ...lol

See attaced pics for evidence

 

[advwannabe]

Despite my mishap, this were awesome, this bike is the business on this terrain, and we began to bond.
No i have to add here that ive never been a speed freak, always prefering slower technical riding, where falls are just that.....minor.....get up and dust yourself off, now i must also add ive had hundreds of falls, in fact i think i could be a dirt bike stunt rider...lol.....but never broken anything on my body ..........anyway i digress.......but this machine sure begged me to set her free, and visions of dakar racing started to cloud my judgement.........i was riding a bit on the edge when............i suddenly started having problems focusing on the road ahead..........everything was kinda blurry.......this had me puzzeld for a while........then it struck me.........tire pressures!!!

I kid you not the combination of rock hard tyres (somewhere around 3 bar) and the stony road i was on, was vibrating my eyeballs outa their sockets. My excitement had got thee better of me and id forgotten eveen the basics. Aa quick air down to more normal pressures and eeverything was clear as mud again....lol

Some pics if that stretch of road.

 

[advwannabe]

No i must also mention this went on, like this all day, around every corner , over every hill, a sight more beautifull then the last, this was riding nirvana!!

I also had not come across another vehicle, or person for easily 4 hrs .....life just couldnt get better .....or so i thought.

Just check out this road!!
As you can see in the third pic......im just a hair taller than the bike.....lol, a constant point of amusement to all who ride with me.....lol.......now i must also mention here, that this was a standard adventure.....thats been raised to the s specs of 2004......friggen tall........i have all the goodies to bring her back down........but neever in a million years.......i feel like a general on the biggest horse on the battlefeild....lol......not to mention the ground clearance for my technical riding is perfect.........so what if i have to adjust my ridding style.....stoppingg has to be a well plannec manouver .......small price to pay in my eyes.....lol.......short cowboys didnt use shetland ponies did they?

 

[advwannabe]

And so it went on, one mountain after another, faster and faster, till i reached Rhodes, at about midday, still no cars!
I was running low on fuel, and as it was a scheduled fuel stop, i started looking for the garage.......i drovee past a wierd old fashioned pump looking thingy, no one around so thought.....this cant be it and drove on.......litterally 2 mins later id got to the eend of town.........so that musta been it?..........went back stopped next to the pump.........no one in sight???..........walked to the nearby store, and made some enquirys..............disaster.!!!!
There was no fuel !!!
But if i went down the roadvto the b&b, the owner might be able to sell me a few litres!!,!!

Thiss i duely did, and managed to pry 9L from the freindly proprietors lawnmower stock......brilliant!!......back on plan, now off to tiffendell the ski resort high in the mountains. ;D

As you take tthe road out of town to the resort you come accross this sign..........music to my eyes.......action at last

 

[advwannabe]

Now this was getting interesting........came accross my first drift, it was so picturesque, i decided another pic in order......it turned out tto be one of my favourites of tthe trip........fitting backdrop for the beast  ;D

 

[advwannabe]

The sign wasnt kidding either, some sections were close to 45 degrees, and were concreted to help traction.........now dont be silly.......how could i possibly take aa pic of tthat  :biggrin:

Once at the top it flattend out a bit, and the topography changed.........not a tree in sight.........just scrub.

Check out the pics

You caan just make out the ski resort in the left corner of the one pic..........take note of the mountain behind it

 

[advwannabe]

Now some one in Rhodes said they serve lunches at the resort, so thats where i headed.........and ig was while waiting for lunch.......starring at the ski slope thaat i hatched another plan.......

 

[VaalBaas]

Nice so far- keep typing

Thanks

 

[advwannabe]

Dearly wanting some technical action, i wonderd if i could ride up to the top of the mountain, the topography wasnt too rocky, the grass was kinda short, i spoted what looked like a parth of sorts......i do have a KTM.....lol.....hmmmmmm.....tempting........
Then i was thinking........remember the last fall......you dont want to be doing something silly and ruin your trip on the first day do you.........you know you cant just stop anywhere......bka bla bla.....

Then it hit me..........the quintisential question!!!............when are you going to get the chaance again???.........whats life worth if its not excitting??


Well tthe rest is history as they say in the classics........fully stomach......energy returned.....off i set.....gingerly at first as there were a few tricky obstacles right past the parking lot.....lol.......to cut a long story short.......a few heart in the mouth moments later, ther i was........atop this mountain.......no roads......just a fence marking the border between Lesotho and South Africa........whaat a thrill.........definatly the higlight of the day.....i had my adventure at last.......the beast proved her worth.........look at the pics you can almost see her grinning

All this and it was only about 2 o clock!!,!

 

[advwannabe]

Nice so far- keep typing

Thanks

Glad you enjoying.......trying my best......its almost as if im re riding ig again  ;D

 

[advwannabe]

This is what the veiw from the top looks like.......towards the direction i was heading.........i just wanted to ride off in a straight line.........i was so full of confidence.......bring on the war trail ......

I think id better leave that for tomorrow.......look at the time ...lol

 

[Casting from Turd]

Bout blerry time you get going going

 

[advwannabe]

Bout blerry time you get going going

Lol.....yeah sorry about that, some would say im a late bloomer.....just wish id hurry up and grow taller now...lol

 

[Casting from Turd]

Bout blerry time you get going going

Lol.....yeah sorry about that, some would say im a late bloomer.....just wish id hurry up and grow taller now...lol

Then we would miss the hop, skip and jump mount and dismount

 

[Gerard]

This day's route would have been Matat, Over Pitseng pass, The Heights, Naudesnek to Rhodes  :thumleft: