MTB_XC60
Pack Dog
So on Saturday I decided that I'm going to look the the fork to Steytlerville again. This time I knew the route, and I knew that the fork was 36km from the Sandrivier dam. Lucky for me I took my Camelback and a few eats with.
The wind was terrible, but I was not going to let that get me down. So I left home just after 12:00. Getting to the fork was, once again, quite scenic.
The route:
The gravel highway:
The clear sky:
Blue mountians far away:
Eventually I reached the fork. I took a break for 10 minutes or so, and then set off again. The going was very rough and very technical (for a n00b with skillz like me). So, seeing that I was riding alone, I thought it best to rather turn around. Self preservation, you know.
What to do now? So I decided to head down to Patensie again and off to see the Kouga dam. By this time, though, the wind was REALLY pumping, but I was riding down wind, so it was not that noticable. I got a bit of a scare in the last 500m to tar road outside Patensie. I cannot remember this from my previous ride through this route, but I hit sand at a more than resonable speed. Correction, it think it was talcum powder. There was what appeared to be a lime (kalk) mine next to the road.
That stuff just flew up as if you were driving through water. And it just gave way under the wheels - no resistance and nothing to bite into. For some reason I could only see Charlie Boorman (!!!) in my head, and he kept on shouting "give it gas". So I did. I was brave...
The tar road was a nice break, and a couple of kilometres later I got to the Kouga dam turn-off, and appreciated the 7km of gravel road again. Damage due to the recent flooding is still evident. The dam is still quite full, though. Not the biggest of dams, but still big enough to make you feel small.
Where's my boat?
Dam wall:
The steed:
Giving it horns through the tunnel was awesome!
Then came the return route home via Thornhill. Into the wind, which was pretty much gale force at this stage. When I hit Patensie, the OBC said I could still do 110km with the fuel in the tank. This should have been enough to comfortably get my home. The wind, however, forced my to have to refuel at Rocklands, which is about 60km away from Patensie.
All in all it was, once again, quite an enjoyable outing. 250km and 4 hours later I got home. Knackered.
Took a shower and headed off to Fushin for some awesome sushi, and then off to the Boardwalk for a movie. What a wonderful day...
The wind was terrible, but I was not going to let that get me down. So I left home just after 12:00. Getting to the fork was, once again, quite scenic.
The route:
The gravel highway:
The clear sky:
Blue mountians far away:
Eventually I reached the fork. I took a break for 10 minutes or so, and then set off again. The going was very rough and very technical (for a n00b with skillz like me). So, seeing that I was riding alone, I thought it best to rather turn around. Self preservation, you know.
What to do now? So I decided to head down to Patensie again and off to see the Kouga dam. By this time, though, the wind was REALLY pumping, but I was riding down wind, so it was not that noticable. I got a bit of a scare in the last 500m to tar road outside Patensie. I cannot remember this from my previous ride through this route, but I hit sand at a more than resonable speed. Correction, it think it was talcum powder. There was what appeared to be a lime (kalk) mine next to the road.
That stuff just flew up as if you were driving through water. And it just gave way under the wheels - no resistance and nothing to bite into. For some reason I could only see Charlie Boorman (!!!) in my head, and he kept on shouting "give it gas". So I did. I was brave...
The tar road was a nice break, and a couple of kilometres later I got to the Kouga dam turn-off, and appreciated the 7km of gravel road again. Damage due to the recent flooding is still evident. The dam is still quite full, though. Not the biggest of dams, but still big enough to make you feel small.
Where's my boat?
Dam wall:
The steed:
Giving it horns through the tunnel was awesome!
Then came the return route home via Thornhill. Into the wind, which was pretty much gale force at this stage. When I hit Patensie, the OBC said I could still do 110km with the fuel in the tank. This should have been enough to comfortably get my home. The wind, however, forced my to have to refuel at Rocklands, which is about 60km away from Patensie.
All in all it was, once again, quite an enjoyable outing. 250km and 4 hours later I got home. Knackered.
Took a shower and headed off to Fushin for some awesome sushi, and then off to the Boardwalk for a movie. What a wonderful day...
