Epic Easter Ride – Wildcoast, Sani, Rhodes and Hogsback (with pics & vid).

[Oetie]

Thanks for the effort in sharing guys!

I loved the video clip od the Sani Ascending.

:thumleft:

and these pic's are just wow!!

Rhodes is a beautiful little old world town. It was clothed in autumn colours:

I particularly like this photo

 

[LanceSA]

The next morning was cold. Very cold. Very,very cold.

By the way, did I mention it was cold? This is the first time I’ve ever wanted those girly heated grips. I had brought waterproof snow ski-ing gloves but even those did not work. My bag was almost empty I was wearing almost everything I had. Now I start off looking like the Michelin man and then it just got worse.

We left Rhodes and headed off for Elliot (hi Glen-ink, sorry it was a whistle stop) and on to Queenstown. Now if you haven’t seen what they are busy doing to Queenstown’s main street don’t go and look. I have never experienced such utter chaos.

I have wanted to ride down Katberg Pass coming from the Whittlesea side for a long time now. On the maps is something called Devil’s Bellows. So we fed all of this into the gps and off we went. Well I’m not sure if we found Devil’s Bellows but we found a track that ran around a dam that just got more and more technical until we were riding in a rock garden with loose boulders and step ups like I have never ridden on the se before. The section would not have been out of place on an endure loop. The saddest part is we have no photos or video. We were concentrating too much to remember to turn the things on! What a ride.

These photos were taken just before we turned to go down Katberg Pass. Yet again the scenery was mind-blowingly beautiful.

Katberg Pass is very rough at the top. A normal sedan could get some of the way up but not do the last section. I think even some 4x4’s would battle at the top. There was candy tape all over the Pass so it was about to be used for dome sort of event . I think there was a mountain bike race happening there soon.

It sounds trite but yet again the views were to die for as we finished the Pass and stopped at a point overlooking the Katberg Golf Estate.

 

[pops]

Looks awsome. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Vis Arend]

Lekka Lance, Rhodes area is a gem.

Nice RR. :thumleft:

 

[spoedvark]

Awesome RR! One of the, if not THE, best I have read. !!!

JMOL. we need the routes for December!!!!

 

[blaauw]

Devils Bellows and Katberg pass were indeed breathtaking. Here are a few vidcaps:
Coming from the Devils Bellows side, the pass ranges from an exposed and rocky road, to damp and sometimes muddy sections where the road winds through the  forrested areas.

This is part of the forrested section:

 

[blaauw]

Lance looking happy at the end of Katberg Pass

 

[LanceSA]

Nice jacket!
Last post of RR to come shortly. Maybe I will wake up early tomorrow (as usual).

 

[JACOVV]

Last post of RR to come shortly. Maybe I will wake up early tomorrow (as usual).

Hi Lance - seems to me you didn't  :mwink:

Cannot wait for the rest

 

[LanceSA]

I had one of my most enjoyable ‘squirts’ from Seymour to Hogsback via Mitchell’s Pass. It’s not often that I get ‘a hurry up going’ but the day had just been sublime and the ride so good. And I went for it. Unfortunately I could not shake Gerald. He stuck to me like glue. There was so much dust that I don’t think he could see anything but the boy can ride.

At the top of Mitchell’s Pass at the turn off to Hogsback we suffered our one and only mechanical failure. I stopped and kicked out my side stand but it didn’t feel right. Luckily Gerald pulled in next to me and saw that my side stand was lying on the ground. Somewhere along the road the side stand bolt had fallen out! Luckily I had not lost the side stand. We picked it up and put it in a bag but when I wanted to pull off the bike just died – side stand kill switch. So we cable tied the side stand in place and we were away again. Unfortunately no photos.

Whenever I’m in Hogsback I try and stay at a backpackers called Away with the Fairies. It is an awesome place. Neat and clean with stunning views and a great bar. They also make the best pizzas in the world!

They have a bath perched on the on the very edge of the cliff, fed by hot water from an old fashioned wood fired donkey. Sublime!

Paul from the back packers found me a bolt for my side stand and we were in business again. Unfortunately no photos of this.

We had a great evening at the bar but, as had become our norm, were very tired and went off to bed quite early.

The next morning we had a great breakfast and then took the Wolfridge Road from Hogsback down to Sandile Dam  then through Keiskamahoek, past Gubu Dam and into Stutterheim. It was wonderful to see all the dams overflowing. Indeed all over the Eastern Cape the dams were full and the grasslands lush and green.

I think this is one of my favorite photos, taken in the forests of Hogsback.

 

[blaauw]

Here is the TenAhead to Tiffendel Video. Its a bit long but has most of the good bits.

[flash=600,400]https://www.youtube.com/v/8VQTcZ6bcWU?hl=en&fs=1[/flash]

 

[LanceSA]

What an awesome video. Thanks for posting Mark!
Just in case anyone is unsure, that white stuff you see from time to time is ice. It actually looks far worse in the video than I remember.
What a ride!

 

[Orangeswifty]

Thanks Lance for the RR!
Lekke ride that!
I enjoy it the rougher the better
Seems like those roads up to Tiffendell is just the medicine for the SE!
Lekke man :thumleft:
Must say Blaauw likes to go over the biggest rocks
Has he got an avoidance problem? Hehehehehe!

Would love to go there myself someday
Would be interrested if you go again to go with bro
Lemme know!
I'm sure i can get some more SE riders to join!

It could be the epic superenduro trip!

 

[blaauw]

:laughing4:
I prefer rocks to mud...

 

[Orangeswifty]

:laughing4:
I prefer rocks to mud...

Hehehe
rock +

 

[blaauw]

Another from the Backpackers

Viewpoint on the Wolfridge Road (I think)

Lance was cursing the cows..  ;D

Sandile Dam

 

[DRAZIL]

very nice and thanks :thumleft:

 

[Spore]

Very nice & excellent pics! Thanks for sharing! :thumleft:

 

[LanceSA]

Ride statistics.

Total distance: 1730 km
Fuel used: About 120l for Katie – she’s a thirsty girl. The Gs 800 and the Xt 660 were between 1/3 to ¼ better.
Accommodation and food (and drinks): approximately R 2 400 for 7 days.

We took our own porridge for breakfast but didn’t use it all up. The rest of the time was hotel or restaurant food. Three nights were in ‘back packer’ style accommodation at between R 150 – R 175pp. The rest was in hotels or chalets. Most expensive was Rhodes at R 525 but that was D,B &B. In general we tried to each have our own room due to snoring and space considerations but often we got 2 rooms with one guy by himself and the other 2 sharing. We had absolutely no fights or problems on the ride. The route was outstanding. There was no pre-booked accommodation and the only time this was a small problem was in Rhodes.


The bikes handled flawlessly. The performance of the Xt 660 is quite amazing. Never was it overshadowed by the bigger bikes (it does have a couple of mods). The Xt and the Gs were on a par fuel consumption wise. I think it would be fair to say that Mark learned something about luggage systems and I doubt he will use the topbox for a trip like this again. But having said that it was not really a problem. I had to pack a bit lighter and do some washing along the way but I have found that this is also not a problem and an opportunity always presents itself.

As I started off saying, I have been privileged to have done quite a few rides over the years. This was by far the best, most scenic ride I’ve ever done with something for everybody. We had wind, rain, freezing cold, mud, rocks,ice, technical riding and some fantastic tar twisties. There was a minimum of tar riding. Some of the places and gravel passes we rode were just breathtaking. As good as the photos are (and Blaau/Mark really is good) there still can’t do justice to what the eye saw. It was chicken soup for the soul!

I would do it all again tomorrow!

 

[blaauw]

Nice summary Lance.
Let me just say again "I HATE CEREAL FOR BREAKFAST"
Now that Ive gotten that out of the way..

I must say that I still like my topbox. Its waterproof and self-contained and I can leave the bike in a parking lot when traveling and not worry about it being slit open and the contents pilfered. Will just take less with if I am going to do really technical stuff. It got damaged in the off I had on the TenAhead route and I will need to replace it. Aren't cargo nets just great!