A ride that started out with some snags, but ended out great.
I now wish to notify all that I am officially entering the competition for top reservoir dog
I am down in KZN for a project and trailered the bike down.
I had arranged to meet a friend I used to ride with during my ten years down here at the Steers at 07:00, and posted a plan, but held out no hope that anyone would pitch as there had been no nibbles on the fred.
A few minutes after seven I get a SMS to say that he cant get his KLR started, but no problem, he is going to jump his girlfriend, or rather jump-start from her car, and he will be there. No problem Ill have another coffee, but then a few SMSs and calls and we discover the battery is not flat, but terminally dead and hes not going to make it.
Now I have a track in my GPS, a full tank, and the weather is seriously nice and I am not going to waste a riding day sulking at the B&B. The plan, although not rigid, was to start at Hazelmere dam, drop into the Mgeni valley, ride a bit and see where we ended up. So at least Ill visit Hazelmere, which I had never been to, and then see what I feel like doing from there.
So light the fires. Kick the tyres Hazelmere, here I come.
Pretty dam. Nestled down low, with a nice clean beach and pleasant amenities and lawns for visitors and well worth the R28 entrance fee.
Some PajamaDonkies on the lawn
But now I have really got into the riding mood and I am not thinking of going home, so I weigh up the options, and although some people have had problems in the Valley, I never have, so off I head for the hill overlooking Inanda Dam.
Road starts with a bit of tar, and then onto the gravel. The rains during the week had been just enough to settle the dust, bind the sand, and the roads are like a freeway.
Stop for a drink and to watch some soccer at the shabeen.
. . .and up onto one of the most spectacular viewsites I know for solo-cappuccino.
Now what to do? I am alone. Possibly not a good I idea to venture too far in the Valley, but hey I am a WD and ons skrik vir niks and I have visited two dams, what about a third, so I set the GPS for Nagle and off I go.
This part of the Valley is great. The huts are spaced far from each other, and there are some nice gneiss koppies (try say that pished)
Stop to chat up the local ladies and snap a few pics.
First view of Nagle Dam and the spectacular table mountain that guards it
On the way I find a boulder that I think would decorate the garden, but cant get it into the top-box.
Couple more shots of Nagle and area.
By now I am really into the riding, and although the plan was to head up out of the valley at that point, I am not yet damd out so set a course for Albert Falls dam number four
Stop on the way at the Amble Inn a nice place on the Mgeni, just bellw the dam wall.
After Marico, who is scared of flat-dogs ? Not me.
Some shots of Albert Falls dam a huge dam
At this stage I was really on a dam roll and decided to take the tally to five with a detour via Midmar on the way home. I would have liked to take the gravel road via Karkloof to Howick, but I was a bit low on fuel, and decided to rather take the tar via Maritzburg and then up the hill to Midmar.
No Midmar I know well. I have swum a mile across the edge for each of the last 21 years, but I have never been there just for a visit when the Midmar Mile is not on, so I decide to see if I can sneak in the back door to avoid the entry fee. I find a chain over the road, but a bit of ditch-riding and I am in.
Ride about a bit and make the compulsory tourist stop at the Howick Falls.
I was not in the mood for the N3, so took the Comrades Route back to Durban via a pub or two.
I don't think I will ever get tired of the Valley of a thousand hills. I never found the locals anything other than friendly, and it is a happy place. Compared with other tribal areas there seems to be a bit of money about, and evryone seems to be comparatively well fed and clothed - sure it is not milionaires row, but it is not Diepkloof either.
The track is well worth a ride.
The route
The track I rode as a zipped GPX is attached
I now wish to notify all that I am officially entering the competition for top reservoir dog
I am down in KZN for a project and trailered the bike down.
I had arranged to meet a friend I used to ride with during my ten years down here at the Steers at 07:00, and posted a plan, but held out no hope that anyone would pitch as there had been no nibbles on the fred.
A few minutes after seven I get a SMS to say that he cant get his KLR started, but no problem, he is going to jump his girlfriend, or rather jump-start from her car, and he will be there. No problem Ill have another coffee, but then a few SMSs and calls and we discover the battery is not flat, but terminally dead and hes not going to make it.
Now I have a track in my GPS, a full tank, and the weather is seriously nice and I am not going to waste a riding day sulking at the B&B. The plan, although not rigid, was to start at Hazelmere dam, drop into the Mgeni valley, ride a bit and see where we ended up. So at least Ill visit Hazelmere, which I had never been to, and then see what I feel like doing from there.
So light the fires. Kick the tyres Hazelmere, here I come.
Pretty dam. Nestled down low, with a nice clean beach and pleasant amenities and lawns for visitors and well worth the R28 entrance fee.
Some PajamaDonkies on the lawn
But now I have really got into the riding mood and I am not thinking of going home, so I weigh up the options, and although some people have had problems in the Valley, I never have, so off I head for the hill overlooking Inanda Dam.
Road starts with a bit of tar, and then onto the gravel. The rains during the week had been just enough to settle the dust, bind the sand, and the roads are like a freeway.
Stop for a drink and to watch some soccer at the shabeen.
. . .and up onto one of the most spectacular viewsites I know for solo-cappuccino.
Now what to do? I am alone. Possibly not a good I idea to venture too far in the Valley, but hey I am a WD and ons skrik vir niks and I have visited two dams, what about a third, so I set the GPS for Nagle and off I go.
This part of the Valley is great. The huts are spaced far from each other, and there are some nice gneiss koppies (try say that pished)
Stop to chat up the local ladies and snap a few pics.
First view of Nagle Dam and the spectacular table mountain that guards it
On the way I find a boulder that I think would decorate the garden, but cant get it into the top-box.
Couple more shots of Nagle and area.
By now I am really into the riding, and although the plan was to head up out of the valley at that point, I am not yet damd out so set a course for Albert Falls dam number four
Stop on the way at the Amble Inn a nice place on the Mgeni, just bellw the dam wall.
After Marico, who is scared of flat-dogs ? Not me.
Some shots of Albert Falls dam a huge dam
At this stage I was really on a dam roll and decided to take the tally to five with a detour via Midmar on the way home. I would have liked to take the gravel road via Karkloof to Howick, but I was a bit low on fuel, and decided to rather take the tar via Maritzburg and then up the hill to Midmar.
No Midmar I know well. I have swum a mile across the edge for each of the last 21 years, but I have never been there just for a visit when the Midmar Mile is not on, so I decide to see if I can sneak in the back door to avoid the entry fee. I find a chain over the road, but a bit of ditch-riding and I am in.
Ride about a bit and make the compulsory tourist stop at the Howick Falls.
I was not in the mood for the N3, so took the Comrades Route back to Durban via a pub or two.
I don't think I will ever get tired of the Valley of a thousand hills. I never found the locals anything other than friendly, and it is a happy place. Compared with other tribal areas there seems to be a bit of money about, and evryone seems to be comparatively well fed and clothed - sure it is not milionaires row, but it is not Diepkloof either.
The track is well worth a ride.
The route
The track I rode as a zipped GPX is attached
