KZN ride- Carnage on rocky hill

[XTZCharlie]

Busy on the ride at the moment. Ride report to follow!!

 

[Mr Zog]

Fookit Donkey! 

I hope the rider is ok... Will wait for the RR later when you get home and have a few Brufens  :ricky:

 

[frankmac]

Looks very rough. Hope all the guys got home safely.

Thought it may be very tough to take the KLRs' on the same tracks as the XRRs'

 

[trevorwb]

**** ,and to think my mates moan when I plan a ride.My kind of Donkey

 

[XTZCharlie]

All right then. I am back home at last!! Had a great day out!! I didnt take too many photos, so I hope that the other guys who were on the ride will post their pics here or do a RR for the day!!

We met bright... or should I say, misty as hell and early at the Hilton BP, and after quick introductions and a bit of a chat, we headed out on the sweetwaters road, and turned of a few short kms later up towards Swartkops mountain. The dirt roads were quite at that time of the day, with only one or two cars parked under the tree while the owners were out walking the dogs or whatever. We made our way up the hill to the base of swartkops. There is a small steep dip that we had to ride through to get up to the track which would take us to the base of the mountain, but sadly we didnt all make it through. Andie decided that he was going to head back. Sad to see the DR go at this point, but I guess we all ride only what we are comfortable with. So good call Andie, you did the right thing!! :thumleft:

So we headed on towards the mountain along some very slick tracks, and about 200 meters before you ride out of the foresty into the open, we hit a bit of a snag. two small trees had blown over in the storm arlier in the week. Out came the small handsaw, and in a few short minutes, we had enough room to squeeze the bikes under one and over the other.

Once we were all through the obstacle, we headed off to the right of Swartkops along the small logging track, and a left through the treeline along a smaller goat track. again we came across a tree across the track, but we all managed to get over without any dramas. took no photos here :-[

Eventually we were all safley over the tree, and as luck would have it, there was a short descent down a somewhat slick track, where our first  "Binned it" victim was claimed!!  a bit too fast and too much brake perhaps saw James have a quick lie down (to check the bash plate for firmness and oil leaks  :lol8

For the rest of the way, before we ended up on a district road, we wound our way along small forestry roads and tracks. a small detour down a bank and up the other side to avoid a tree obstacle, was probably the only deviation from the tracks we were on.  A few smoke breaks and tyre kicking sessions were in order and fun was had by all, judging from the all the grinning faces.  :ricky:

Although JonW was having a bit of trouble with his bike. It was getting hard to start and just simply not behaving itself properly. As we all know, that can be a serious pain in the arse when you just want to be enjoying the ride.  :dousing:

Jimmie going for a bit of a dunk  :lol8:

Out of the forestry tracks saw us onto a gravel road. we headed up the hill towards the village, and veered off for a bit of a hill climb into the thick mist. Once at the top, we said farewell to three of the group who had to head back home for family commitments. (Hope you guys had a great mornings ride. :thumleft

With just James, JonW, Jimme and myself, we rode off into the unknown. I had done a bit of a recce a few weeks before in good weather up to this point. But the track we were hoping to follow, I ended up missing the previos ride, so it was anyones guess which way was the right way. A bit off faffing about and going down the wrong hill, then back again, we eventually found the way we were aiming for. A fantastic rocky downhill was our next challenge. Here JonW ended up being attacked by a wayward Kawasaki, and highsided over his bike and down the hill. Jimmie and james both dropped their bikes to lend him a hand and with a bit of effort, got the XR back on its feet and wheels rolling. I was across the hill on the other side, so all I could do was take a few pics and offer a chuckle or two of encouragement eepwall:

we crested the hill and found ourselves hacking our way through the rocky section for the day. JonW deserves a medal here for his perseverance nursing his bike through that lot. He was completely buggered by the end of it though!! I doubt I would have been able to get my bike through that if it was as sick as his bike has been today!! Awesome effort Jon!!  :thumleft:

Again, with the mist been a bit of a hinderance with navigation, we rode in circles for a bit, but eventually found our way down the hill and met up with a tar road, which I am guessing is the road to Henley Dam? At the tar road, we bid Jon farewell as he had to get to the airport by the afternoon.

And then there were three!!

James, Jimmie and myself, headed along the tar for a km or two, to go and have a scout at a steep hill I had found on the previous ride, and was very keen to have a bash to see if I could ride down it without alling off. Jimmie and I pulled out out trusty silky saws and cut the small tree that was lying across the track. Once that was cleared and we started to have a proper look at how this was going to be done, I cam to realize that it was way steeper than I remebered from my last visit. After much deliberation we decided that it was better to come back another day and give it a go. By now we were hungry and a bit low on energy, so caution was called for! No need for a broken bike or a broken body for the sake of a 50 meter slide down the hill. We decided to head back to the tar road and just get to Boston, where we would stop off at the Boston Tea Party for a bit of grub.


Some day I will ride this!! :deal:

We got to Boston only to discover that the Tea Party no longer has a restuarant :eek7: We sat under the tree in the shade with ice cold cokes and made a plan to head back to my house for a bit of a nosh. Either head back along the tar to Howick.... BORING... Or head along the dirt roads to Hilton via Elandskop.... Naah... So we headed past the Everglades hotel and along the Dargle road.... The scenic route :ricky:

A great lunch and a good cuppa tea saw the end to a fantastic days ride. I hope you guys had as much fun as I did!!

Hope to see some other photos from today.  :thumleft:

 

[Mr Zog]

Bloody lekker ride by the looks of it!  :ricky:  :ricky:  :ricky:

 

[ianhogg]

haha Jimmie Nel's bought a new bike! Enjoying the electric start Jimmie? 

 

[777]

Lekka ride that.

 

[Schalk Oets]

Nice one thanks for sharing !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[edgy]

That looks proper! :thumleft:

 

[ALLEN I]

Cool thanks for the share.  :ricky:

 

[Dirty Boy]

A brilliant ride, despite my 50/50 tyres and bike being a bit heavy for the snotty, slippery conditions. Thanks Swamp Donkey for leading the way and having patience with us slower guys.
I have some good GoPro pics but I have some meetings to get out the way and then I can do some resizing and posting.

 

[JonW]

Thanks for organizing the ride Charlie, great fun in the misty muddy Hilton forests.

A few of the participants:

 

[JonW]

Plenty rain and wind lately meant snotty conditions and fallen trees

 

[JonW]

Even with the wet misty conditions it was humid as anything, but great riding

 

[JonW]

Some slippery descents

 

[COLES]

great photo,s to rough for the toppies from P E

 

[JonW]

Then out of the forests and onto the grassy hills

 

[JonW]

And finally

 

[frankmac]

Hats off to you guys. Much easier being a spectator