Today, ladies and gentleman, the real fun starts. Today is the day that the level of difficulty increases exponentially. Our destination is Van Zyl’s, but to get there we leave behind all semblances of civilisation and encounter some very technical routes (ja, okay Andries & @hartebees , maybe not for you, but for most of the rest of us, okay!).
After another hearty breakfast we jump onto a well-maintained gravel road to regroup just before Okangwati. But…, appearances can be deceptive. I am one of the last to leave camp that morning and our ever-patient, ever-present sweeper, @hartebees , ends up riding with me. The road is good and wide, and we are riding at a decent pace. I am riding in front, Jaco a few 100m’s behind me. As I crest a hill, the road descends into riverbed of sorts, but it has been washed away properly and there is a drop-off of a meter into the wash away with a steep incline to manage not 2 meters later. I don’t know how I managed to stop, but I did with my front wheel teasing the lip of the drop off. I am still trying to re-balance and get off the embankment when Jaco comes hurtling over the crest, tries to brake, realises he is not going to make it, and like a champ opens up and flies through that driffie pretty violently. I still don’t know how he made it through, it was spectacular to see from 2 meters away. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos. I believe a couple of the other members of the group did get caught out and had spills. If you guys and girls have photos of that driffie, please add.
With that out of the way, we continue and regroup as planned, all accounted for and in one piece. From here on the road deteriorates rapidly and I start wondering if I am going to fall short, if I have bitten of more than I can chew. Whichever way, there is no turning back now.
The couple in this video is a treat. I met @Striggs last year at Honda Quest Bootcamp and immediately liked him. It was also clear that he can ride a bike! It was therefore great to meet up with him again in Windhoek at the beginning of the tour, and then also meeting his beautiful wife, Patty. Ellio, being the rider he is, decided to come and show Patty what this trip was all about, and did it on nothing less than his R1250GS. I started calling him captain Piccard, as he deftly piloted the Starship Enterprise through northern Namibia with Patty in total sync as a pillion. On this specific piece of road, I had stopped for a break and could hear the boxer engine screaming in the riverbed a few hundred meters back. (Also, incidentally, where I had my first fall for the trip, in front of a bunch of laughing children, nogal). Anyway, I can hear that the BMW is working hard to get through the riverbed and just in front of me is a nice sandy patch - perfect opportunity to get a look at Ellio piloting the beast through the thick sand. My disappointment was real when Ellio expertly spotted the little cattle track next to the sandy section and slipped by unfazed, dodging the sand for this would-be award-winning video.
Right behind him is (I think), @NIMMO . Please correct me if I am wrong.
Another legend on the forum and on the trip, @P.K. , was doing this trip on his terms. Here you can see him gliding through the track, I can almost feel his euphoria.
After another hearty breakfast we jump onto a well-maintained gravel road to regroup just before Okangwati. But…, appearances can be deceptive. I am one of the last to leave camp that morning and our ever-patient, ever-present sweeper, @hartebees , ends up riding with me. The road is good and wide, and we are riding at a decent pace. I am riding in front, Jaco a few 100m’s behind me. As I crest a hill, the road descends into riverbed of sorts, but it has been washed away properly and there is a drop-off of a meter into the wash away with a steep incline to manage not 2 meters later. I don’t know how I managed to stop, but I did with my front wheel teasing the lip of the drop off. I am still trying to re-balance and get off the embankment when Jaco comes hurtling over the crest, tries to brake, realises he is not going to make it, and like a champ opens up and flies through that driffie pretty violently. I still don’t know how he made it through, it was spectacular to see from 2 meters away. Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos. I believe a couple of the other members of the group did get caught out and had spills. If you guys and girls have photos of that driffie, please add.
With that out of the way, we continue and regroup as planned, all accounted for and in one piece. From here on the road deteriorates rapidly and I start wondering if I am going to fall short, if I have bitten of more than I can chew. Whichever way, there is no turning back now.
The couple in this video is a treat. I met @Striggs last year at Honda Quest Bootcamp and immediately liked him. It was also clear that he can ride a bike! It was therefore great to meet up with him again in Windhoek at the beginning of the tour, and then also meeting his beautiful wife, Patty. Ellio, being the rider he is, decided to come and show Patty what this trip was all about, and did it on nothing less than his R1250GS. I started calling him captain Piccard, as he deftly piloted the Starship Enterprise through northern Namibia with Patty in total sync as a pillion. On this specific piece of road, I had stopped for a break and could hear the boxer engine screaming in the riverbed a few hundred meters back. (Also, incidentally, where I had my first fall for the trip, in front of a bunch of laughing children, nogal). Anyway, I can hear that the BMW is working hard to get through the riverbed and just in front of me is a nice sandy patch - perfect opportunity to get a look at Ellio piloting the beast through the thick sand. My disappointment was real when Ellio expertly spotted the little cattle track next to the sandy section and slipped by unfazed, dodging the sand for this would-be award-winning video.
Right behind him is (I think), @NIMMO . Please correct me if I am wrong.
Another legend on the forum and on the trip, @P.K. , was doing this trip on his terms. Here you can see him gliding through the track, I can almost feel his euphoria.
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, I was chasing mere ghosts!
