Exploring the Klein Karoo 5-7 Sep

[bobnob]

hope this weekend we'll have some good weather

thinking i need to have a nice day ride into the karoo

 

[letsgofishing]

After hitting the Cango caves/Swartberg pass junction, I turned right and headed for Oudtshoorn via Schoemanspoort. If you've got road/dual purpose tyres and the road isn't busy, you can have a LOT of fun through the twisties! I thought of taking the turn off to De Rust but decided instead to take the road to Vergelegen which comes out at Dysselsdorp. Another great little road with some interesting red rock formations along the way. At Dysselsdorp, I found out that there's no petrol station - I reckoned I had about 100 k's left in the tank, but wasn't exactly sure. So discretion being the better part of valour, I headed back to Oudtshoorn - I hadn't refilled the 5l Addis as I thought I wouldn't need it!

Schoemanspoort

The turn off to Vergelegen

These little angora kids were so sweet, bouncing all over the place following their moms

So now I head out of Oudtshoorn for the experimental farm and the dirt roads that eventually lead to Perdepoort. By now it was lunch time, so I stopped alongside the road for a bite to eat. While resting, I heard the unmistakeable beat of a thumper and another bike - 2 guys come past - one on a Honda plastic, followed by a guy on a Transalp. These 2 were the only DS riders I saw over the three days! I saddled up again and continued through Perdepoort to where the road hits the tar that then takes you either over the Montague Pass or the Outeniqua pass. Having ridden Montague so many times, I decided to take the Outeniqua pass back to George. Descending into George the weather turned cold - quite a change from the lovely warm tempeartures of the karoo.

An old farmstead on the way to Perdepoort

The little river that flows through Perdepoort

The Montague pass as seen from the Outeniqua pass

From George I took the tar home, as I wanted to watch either Massa or Raikonnen beat that cocky (though very competent) Hamilton fellow! I arrived home at 1:30 looking forward to a nice hot shower and the GP - well, guess what, no electricity! I go inside, have a shower, get changed, get back on the bike a go down to the nearby pub and watch the hugely entertaining fiasco that followed. What a great weekend!

Did I enjoy myself? - thousands!. Would I do a solo trip again? - definitely, though I did miss sharing the spectacular beauty that this country offers with my wife.

The DRZ never skipped a beat, was tremendous fun on the gravel - especially the bad bits, and consumed 39.38l of petrol over the 908kms I rode - 23.06km/l. If you're travelling solo, DO take spare petrol with you, as well as a COMPREHENSIVE set of all the tools,tubes, spares you might need. I know it's a pain and a lot of guys think, ag I'll be fine, but there was no cell phone reception in a lot of areas I rode through.

An aside:
It's obvious I enjoy taking photos - I took 158 on this trip! Allowing 1.5 minutes to take a pic - that's slowing down when you see something interesting, stopping the bike, switching off, taking off your your gloves, sunglasses (and sometimes helmet), opening the tank bag, taking out the camera, getting off the bike (sometimes), looking for the best shot and then reversing the whole procedure, added nearly 4 hours to the trip! I don't begrudge this time at all - for me, it's what the trip is all about - capturing images of this beautiful country we live in. So i'm not really that slow a rider, it just seems that way!

Hope you enjoyed the ride,
LGF

 

[Trailrider]

Good report!

 

[Operator]

Good reading.

Thanks for the effort.  :thumleft:

 

[Eisbein]

Thanks for doing the writeup!

Excellent ride and report.

There's something very cool about being on your own schedule on a ride like this.

And after the fact you'll only have memories and photos - so time taken to set up (and snap) a photo is NEVER wasted.
Besides - it's always fun to make up for lost time by pushing it a little bit...

;D ;D ;D


Thanks again - it was a good read (as always) and very good photos (as always)

:thumbsup:

 

[wolweseun]

Very nice
Thanks LGF

 

[Mark Hardy]

Thanks for sharing your trip, that area, well the Karoo, is my favorite region of SA.

Stunny photos,  :thumleft:

 

[BMWPE]

Great pics
Thanks for sharing
:thumleft:

 

[Beagle Boy]

Fantastic ride LGF, good Photo's, thanks for sharing  :thumleft:

 

[Ektoknbike]

Baie mooi foto's Mike, ek wil ook weer eendag as my bike reg is deur die Karoo ry en heel by die huis aan kom ;D ;D

Karoo is mooi die tyd van die jaar :thumleft:

 

[Geoff]

Shot LGF , great read and some stunning photo's there .

 

[Zeff Cowboy]

Blerrie nice, ek wil ook so 'n trip doen.

Nou kom Desember saam met my dan ry ons hom :thumleft:

 

[Zeff Cowboy]

Excellent report LGF

Ek verlang sommer huistoe :'(

 

[Beserker]

LGF

Great RR...solo is the way to go... for me, captures the essence of biking.

One lesson learnt, stop and take the pictures, something I never do, probably for two reasons: The bike is standing still and there is no "action", also, not being a great photographer, my panaramas, vistas, nature shots never does justice what I see right there, but I suppose practice makes perfect.

One question: what is the soft luggage you are using...looking for something similar, not to high in the back, not slung to low on the side. If it is a particular brand, your experiance of it please. I am looking at something similar.

Thanks for the motivation.

 

[TerrorSA]

Awesome pictures and great RR
thanks  :thumleft:

 

[BigEd]

Naaais, very naais :thumleft: Good one fine sir. Great foudies too.

 

[BigEd]

Baie mooi foto's Mike, ek wil ook weer eendag as my bike reg is deur die Karoo ry en heel by die huis aan kom ;D ;D

Karoo is mooi die tyd van die jaar :thumleft:

Dit kan dalk sukkel... :imaposer:

 

[GreenMachine]

Just one word.

[size=10pt][size=10pt]Awesome[/size][/size]

 

[Beserker]

So GreenMachine...you post awesome, animated comments this time of the morning.

 

[JJred]

Aplause Aplause !!!!

Yet another route to put on my "Must Ride' list ....