iamgigglz
Grey Hound
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2011
- Messages
- 5,622
- Reaction score
- 173
- Location
- North Yorkshire
- Bike
- KTM 990 Adventure
Dullstroom and the surrounding countryside have always held an appeal, and visiting there was high on the priority list when I got my bike.
The N4 is a very boring way of getting to and from Mpumalanga, so I studied Google Maps and plotted out a route involving as little tar as possible. There are ways of getting to Dullstroom avoiding tar altogether, but some of the tracks & trails are highly unpredictable, and the recent heavy rains turned me off that idea.
I posted the planned trip on the Think Bike and Wild Dogs forums, and immediately had a positive response. The trip was on, but my bike wasn't ready. The trip prompted a number of modifications I had been meaning to make for a while. I repaced my 11000km old Trail Wing ("Fail Wing") rear tyre with a shiny new Heidenau Scout K60, fitted bar raisers, proper foot pegs, and a "Pooratech" tank bag. I thanked my lucky stars for all those items - they all made a serious difference.
I packed up the bike and was ready to roll.
7:30am on Saturday we met up at Que Sera on the R25 30km south of Bronkhorstspruit. R55 bought us a brilliant breakfast with coffee. Apparently the place is packed on a Sunday morning, but when we arrived it was empty.
Bikes:
Honda Transalp 700
Suzuki DR650
Yamaha Super Tenere
BMW F800GS
BMW F650GS Single
BMW F650GS Twin x 2
BMW R1200GSA x 2
KTM 640 Adventure
From Que Sera we then headed through to Bronkhorstspruit for a fuel up. On the way we had our first 7km taste of dirt, which was a very simple section.
17km of tar lead us through Bronkies and to a lekker 17km section of gravel. It's a brilliant section of road, with a varying surface, wide open corners, and humps & dips. At then end, we decided a smoke break was in order.
Takashi
Brendon
AntonD69 & Luv2Ride (I think)
Me!
The end of the first dirt section
Bikermom, Foxkid, and Jakkie/Dwerg
All ten bikes - smoke break time.
Another 10km of tar lead us to a 21km section of gravel, half way along which we crossed a nice river - time for another break.
The Heidenau K60 Scout in all it's glory. I was loving this tyre on the gravel.
We grabbed any shade we could find. There was a cool breeze, but the sun was viscous.
Yes, that's a cage in the background. As we arrived at the river, somebody was being baptised. :-\ We politely maintained our distance for a bit.
A quick 4.8km tar section took us to the longest single section of gravel - 36km along the border of Loskop Dam nature reserve. We spotted the odd random buck through the fence, but there were cattle all over the place. Brendon will probably post pics/videos - we were sure the cattle were out to get us.
It's a beautiful road though - great scenery, great surface. We stopped for a break half way through.
Feeling the heat, and with the Que Sera breakfast a distant memory, we pulled into the Bospot restaurant for a really good burger. We wanted to to the scenic ride around the mountains surrounding Loskop Dam, but a quick chat with a local revealed that bikes aren't allowed. :xxbah:
We then made an obligatory stop at the dam wall. The water level was lower than I expected, but it was nice sight nonetheless.
The stone sculpture at the dam wall, covered in graffiti - nothing's sacred.
Leaving Loskop, 10km of tar, 33km of dirt, and another 27km of tar led us to "Mellow Stream" pub, a planned stop. As it turns out they were closed, apparently permanently. A spaniel and a boerbul were the only signs of life, so we chilled under the trees for a bit. There was also an amazing church nearby.
The closet any of us got to falling over? This gravel area :
Takashi making friends.
We then hit the last 29km section of gravel to Dullstroom. Up until this pint, the roads had been fantastic, often allowing speeds of 100kph+. This last section got tricky, with lots of rocks and ruts, and steep gradients. All the bikes ploughed through without much trouble. I'm still kicking myself for not taking pictures of this section, but again, Brendon's on-board camera should come to the rescue.
We arrived in Dullstroom, hit the butchery & bottle store, and headed through to Elandskloof. The last section of dirt between Dullstroom and Elandskloof was bumpy, but ok because it was dry. We could see that if it was wet, we would never have made it through.
We pulled in to Elandskloof and settled in for the night.
Some in the chalet...
...and some camping.
Elandskloof is a beautiful place to stay, and very well priced too.
The local friendly ostrich.
Plenty dew in the morning.
A final salute, and we were on our way.
The group split up into two groups of four. Brendon, SpeedyV and the other OMBs took the N4 back, the more adventurous types took the back roads. Part of the back road trip was the R104 from the N4 to Middelburg. This road was beautiful, and then suddenly horrific. I think they've left the road to deteriorate into a dirt road. There were more pot holes than tar - we had a little breather/celebration at the end of that.
All in all, a fantastic trip that I would recommend to anyone. The gravel roads from Que Sera to Laersdrif could be done on just about any bike, but after that it gets rocky.
Till next time. :salut:
The N4 is a very boring way of getting to and from Mpumalanga, so I studied Google Maps and plotted out a route involving as little tar as possible. There are ways of getting to Dullstroom avoiding tar altogether, but some of the tracks & trails are highly unpredictable, and the recent heavy rains turned me off that idea.
I posted the planned trip on the Think Bike and Wild Dogs forums, and immediately had a positive response. The trip was on, but my bike wasn't ready. The trip prompted a number of modifications I had been meaning to make for a while. I repaced my 11000km old Trail Wing ("Fail Wing") rear tyre with a shiny new Heidenau Scout K60, fitted bar raisers, proper foot pegs, and a "Pooratech" tank bag. I thanked my lucky stars for all those items - they all made a serious difference.
I packed up the bike and was ready to roll.
7:30am on Saturday we met up at Que Sera on the R25 30km south of Bronkhorstspruit. R55 bought us a brilliant breakfast with coffee. Apparently the place is packed on a Sunday morning, but when we arrived it was empty.
Bikes:
Honda Transalp 700
Suzuki DR650
Yamaha Super Tenere
BMW F800GS
BMW F650GS Single
BMW F650GS Twin x 2
BMW R1200GSA x 2
KTM 640 Adventure
From Que Sera we then headed through to Bronkhorstspruit for a fuel up. On the way we had our first 7km taste of dirt, which was a very simple section.
17km of tar lead us through Bronkies and to a lekker 17km section of gravel. It's a brilliant section of road, with a varying surface, wide open corners, and humps & dips. At then end, we decided a smoke break was in order.
Takashi
Brendon
AntonD69 & Luv2Ride (I think)
Me!
The end of the first dirt section
Bikermom, Foxkid, and Jakkie/Dwerg
All ten bikes - smoke break time.
Another 10km of tar lead us to a 21km section of gravel, half way along which we crossed a nice river - time for another break.
The Heidenau K60 Scout in all it's glory. I was loving this tyre on the gravel.
We grabbed any shade we could find. There was a cool breeze, but the sun was viscous.
Yes, that's a cage in the background. As we arrived at the river, somebody was being baptised. :-\ We politely maintained our distance for a bit.
A quick 4.8km tar section took us to the longest single section of gravel - 36km along the border of Loskop Dam nature reserve. We spotted the odd random buck through the fence, but there were cattle all over the place. Brendon will probably post pics/videos - we were sure the cattle were out to get us.
It's a beautiful road though - great scenery, great surface. We stopped for a break half way through.
Feeling the heat, and with the Que Sera breakfast a distant memory, we pulled into the Bospot restaurant for a really good burger. We wanted to to the scenic ride around the mountains surrounding Loskop Dam, but a quick chat with a local revealed that bikes aren't allowed. :xxbah:
We then made an obligatory stop at the dam wall. The water level was lower than I expected, but it was nice sight nonetheless.
The stone sculpture at the dam wall, covered in graffiti - nothing's sacred.
Leaving Loskop, 10km of tar, 33km of dirt, and another 27km of tar led us to "Mellow Stream" pub, a planned stop. As it turns out they were closed, apparently permanently. A spaniel and a boerbul were the only signs of life, so we chilled under the trees for a bit. There was also an amazing church nearby.
The closet any of us got to falling over? This gravel area :
Takashi making friends.
We then hit the last 29km section of gravel to Dullstroom. Up until this pint, the roads had been fantastic, often allowing speeds of 100kph+. This last section got tricky, with lots of rocks and ruts, and steep gradients. All the bikes ploughed through without much trouble. I'm still kicking myself for not taking pictures of this section, but again, Brendon's on-board camera should come to the rescue.
We arrived in Dullstroom, hit the butchery & bottle store, and headed through to Elandskloof. The last section of dirt between Dullstroom and Elandskloof was bumpy, but ok because it was dry. We could see that if it was wet, we would never have made it through.
We pulled in to Elandskloof and settled in for the night.
Some in the chalet...
...and some camping.
Elandskloof is a beautiful place to stay, and very well priced too.
The local friendly ostrich.
Plenty dew in the morning.
A final salute, and we were on our way.
The group split up into two groups of four. Brendon, SpeedyV and the other OMBs took the N4 back, the more adventurous types took the back roads. Part of the back road trip was the R104 from the N4 to Middelburg. This road was beautiful, and then suddenly horrific. I think they've left the road to deteriorate into a dirt road. There were more pot holes than tar - we had a little breather/celebration at the end of that.
All in all, a fantastic trip that I would recommend to anyone. The gravel roads from Que Sera to Laersdrif could be done on just about any bike, but after that it gets rocky.
Till next time. :salut:
