BIGMAC
Pack Dog
"Da Beers Boys" riding group from PMB under took their annual adventure ride from PMB - Sani Pass - Kaste - Matabeng - Ramas Gate - PMB over 3 days. The ride was done over the period 27 to 29 April 2017. We started out with 20 riders and finished with 18 riders. Total distance was 797km with no back up vehicle. A big thanks to my friend Alfie Cox for sponsoring our T Shirts for the trip. The weather was great with no rain just very dusty.
Day One - PMB / Merivale - Himeville - Sani - Black Mountain - Village Chief Rd North - Kaste Lodge: 313km. We left Merrivale Sasol at 6am and proceeded to Himeville in some very cold weather through the Midlands, we arrived at Himeville for some hot coffee and toasted sandwiches, was a great treat. We then proceed up Sani where we had our first casualty, Fred Ellis crashing twice up Sani and damaging his bike, resulting in him having to turn back. So we were down to 19. The rest of the ride to Village Chief turn off, is all tar and was easy going besides the speed humps. We refueled here and this is when I noticed I had popped both fork seals on my 1190 R, resulting in oil leaking onto the front brakes, made for an interesting next three days. We left it like that and I rode the rest of the trip with out any incidents. Just before the North and South split on the village chief road one of our boys, John Struckman had a lapse in concentration, resulting in a massive crash, hitting some rocks and doing more damage to his body, ribs and back - minimal damage to his HONDA 650. Luckily there was a guy from Bloemfontein there in a 4x4 who assisted in transporting John and his bike back to Katse Lodge where we made arrangements for his wife to collect him the next day. We proceeded on the Village Chief North road to Katse with no major incidents besides the odd fall on the rocky sections. The last 30kms of this road is definitely a challenge on a big bike and is ideally suited for a KTM 690. We all arrived at the Katse Lodge where we had a great meal, some humour in the bar with some tequila fines and a great breakfast the next day. Some pics of Day One follow. Note we had the pleasure of Rod Gray former 7 time SA Superbike Champ who rode with us and is always a character with some great stories to tell.
Pics to follow,
Day One - PMB / Merivale - Himeville - Sani - Black Mountain - Village Chief Rd North - Kaste Lodge: 313km. We left Merrivale Sasol at 6am and proceeded to Himeville in some very cold weather through the Midlands, we arrived at Himeville for some hot coffee and toasted sandwiches, was a great treat. We then proceed up Sani where we had our first casualty, Fred Ellis crashing twice up Sani and damaging his bike, resulting in him having to turn back. So we were down to 19. The rest of the ride to Village Chief turn off, is all tar and was easy going besides the speed humps. We refueled here and this is when I noticed I had popped both fork seals on my 1190 R, resulting in oil leaking onto the front brakes, made for an interesting next three days. We left it like that and I rode the rest of the trip with out any incidents. Just before the North and South split on the village chief road one of our boys, John Struckman had a lapse in concentration, resulting in a massive crash, hitting some rocks and doing more damage to his body, ribs and back - minimal damage to his HONDA 650. Luckily there was a guy from Bloemfontein there in a 4x4 who assisted in transporting John and his bike back to Katse Lodge where we made arrangements for his wife to collect him the next day. We proceeded on the Village Chief North road to Katse with no major incidents besides the odd fall on the rocky sections. The last 30kms of this road is definitely a challenge on a big bike and is ideally suited for a KTM 690. We all arrived at the Katse Lodge where we had a great meal, some humour in the bar with some tequila fines and a great breakfast the next day. Some pics of Day One follow. Note we had the pleasure of Rod Gray former 7 time SA Superbike Champ who rode with us and is always a character with some great stories to tell.
Pics to follow,
