Lesotho, the hard way.(Complete)

[Michiel]

hoew long the trip up "the mountain", and how long did you guys take? :thumleft:

It took us about 5 hours to ride up that mountain. Nearing the top I felt like crawling. A lot of time
was also devoted to the making of video, carrying of luggage and rolling away of the worst rocks.

 

[Michiel]

Bugger - Did you fix it with Pratleys Steel?
I would rather ride up that trail than down it!
Please post the rest.

Lesotho fixed it... If only temporary. Video to follow later. I'll let Dustdevil explain what "black top" is.

 

[Dustdevil]

After crossing the footbridge we gathered ourselves again and with a feeling of apprehension and Michiel in the lead we headed of into the unknown. We passed the village on it's left side and although I would love to stop and visit, the tension was just to big, I needed to find out if we will be able to survive the next 5 km of road. I have stared at Michiels old images and Google Earth for hours trying to figure out where the track is running between the myriad of Basotho footpaths. I needed to know what kind of obstacles will be in our way. It did not help as the longer you stared the more impossible it looked.

In no time we have reached a level much higher than the area where we camped the night before. I started to relax, it looks like its not that hard after all... the next moment the bike is on its side, the front washed away on the loose shale as I changed direction for a better line up a steep wall.

And suddenly we have arrived, from this point on we will have to pull out all the resources, skill and energy to get up this mountain.

 

[Kwis]

Lyk dit bekend?

 

[Dustdevil]

Lyk dit bekend?

Fantasties ;D vertel ons meer :mwink:

 

[Dustdevil]

This images shows parts of the road by which we came down the previous day.

This is the spot where I went down the first time and where the going suddenly got a whole lot tougher. One might be mistaken to believe that the camera was tilted to get the increased gradient but look at the mountain in the distance, the cliff top clearly shows the camera was perfectly horizontal.

Stefan tried a different line than mine but it proofed to be even more difficult.

We decided that it will be easier to remove our luggage and carry it up the worst sections to an area where it will be safe to stop the bikes. This although time consuming was working like a charm. with the additional weight of the back of the bikes it was just so much easier to handle. Stefan did not always followed my example and came short on two occasions where I manage to get through with no problem.

We needed to carry our luggage one last section of nearly 300 yards. Coming back down me and Michiel carefully planned our lines and reconstructed the road in the worse sections. We have collected some spectators that eventually were helping to throw the biggest rocks out of the road.

After all the climbing and road building we needed a good rest.

The next and longest leg waiting to pounce on us.

Finally we all made it but not with mishaps, I had a nasty crash, Michiel stalled in an awkward spot and fell over trying to turn his bike around to roll it some distance back for a restart and Stefan also came to a standstill in an awkward spot battling to get going again with me and Michiel to far up to go to his aid. The big 800GS spit rugby ball size rocks out from under the back-wheel but finally Stefan got it going and made it to the top of the leg without falling over.

We were exhausted after this and in need of another long rest.

Now one thing I need to mention is that you do not see many images of bikes on their wheels here and some of you might think what a bunch of losers, but the riding from both Michiel and Stefan "was uit die boeke". When ever the wheels were rolling so were the cameras to capture video, so if you want to see the type of riding you will have to look at the videos we made. Only once the action came to a standstill did we have the time to get out the stills cameras to shoot some pics.

Some more random images:

At this point we felt like we were so close to the top, but the Lesotho mountains were still not finished with us. Being in the lead passing next to the village on top of the hill, I approached a section that did not look to good, at the last second I decided to go for it but the large HPN cannot perform miracles as the wheels try and keep their grip on soccer ball size rocks rolling around underneath. The bike came down hard, crashing into a big pile of rocks but amazingly no real damage was done, only the oil-flow from the previously damaged valve covered have increased somewhat but still have not reached alarming proportions. For this I have a perfectly good solution, I carry a spare valve cover in my luggage. These are cut in half so I can make two repairs with one cover.

 

[Dustdevil]

So to proof a point I have converted some of the video footage into still frames. The quality is not great but it tells the story and is visual proof that we were not just lying around sleeping. : there were some serious riding being done by all three of us.

Stefan

Michiel

Myself

 

[h²]

Dustdevil,
Respect for traversing that piece of nightmare. Glad to see another LewensGevaarlik managed it.  ;D That stretch is built for plastic playbikes. I managed to roll my 800 on that section of road. We have done it from the opposite direction. On the way out I managed to burn the clutch of the 800    Stupidity - geen pille vir domgeid. Spent three days camping up that mountain waiting to be repatriated

 

[madmike999]

nice nice nice :thumleft:

 

[letsgofishing]

Awesome guys - respect  8)

 

[fat b]

Lekker lekker lekker ! This RR is getting some lekker momentum again . Thanx !  :thumleft:

 

[Michiel]

:wav:

 

[[email protected]]

Fok!!!! Brilliant guys!!! :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[Michiel]

Dustdevil,
Respect for traversing that piece of nightmare. Glad to see another LewensGevaarlik managed it.  ;D That stretch is built for plastic playbikes. I managed to roll my 800 on that section of road. We have done it from the opposite direction. On the way out I managed to burn the clutch of the 800    Stupidity - geen pille vir domgeid. Spent three days camping up that mountain waiting to be repatriated

Bloody hell! That must have been quite something. I think I would have bailed it if I was stranded for 3 days!

I'm dying to have a go riding this stretch the opposite way, as you did. Started nagging Dustdevil about going back.
So, hoesit? Sien jy kans Dusty?  :deal:  Sack?  eepwall:

 

[nreyneke]

Great photies!!!  :thumleft:

 

[Michiel]

Decreasing the overall weight of the bikes by carrying the luggage up the worst sections was a very good
strategy but it was bloody hard work. One so easily take for granted what the internal combustion engine
does for making our lives easier. All be it at the cost of our and the rest of the planet's future...

We are all just too unfit for this kind of thing. Dustdevil and I made some effort to get some exercise by
riding bicycles up Devil's Peak in Cape Town but to ride heavy bikes in this sort of terrain, and enjoy it,
one really have to be super fit. I should admit that today I'm glad it took us so long to get up that mountain
because I can remember so many precious moments. Just sitting there and looking at the landscape, the
sun kissing my cheeks, the lose Lesotho soil under my hands and feet, the presence of the kids intrigued
or amused by us. When I'm at work and at times hating it, I wish I could escape and just go sit on that
mountain again. Feel the lose soil and let the sun kiss my cheeks again...

All this exercise obviously made us drink lots of water and before w knew it we were out of water. I shared
my last reserves from those papsakke. Now Dusty and Sack didn't mind the taste of wine, we were just too
thirsty.

By the time we were 3/4 up the mountain some heavy clouds were gathering in the direction of Semonkong.
An urgency to get up this "God forsaken mountain" as Dustdevil called it, set in. Sack had a particular bad fall
and hurt his hand. We now felt like we had our fun fill for the day and a overnight break was in order.

We spent lots of time walking up and down some stretches in order to carry the luggage and roll out the worst
rocks. It was at one of these places where Dustdevil discovered a little fountain. It was shallow, muddy and the
water murky but after scooping out the worst residue it ran clear. It was evident that the animals drank from it.
All three of us filled our water containers at this little fountain. All three of us consumed it's water greedily. All
three of us didn't know what we were in for...

 

[Hitman]

.... All three of us filled our water containers at this little fountain. All three of us consumed it's water greedily. All
three of us didn't know what we were in for...
[/quote]

"These are the days of our lives"
Wish they were mine as well!!!  ;D

This RR really makes for great reading and plenty of (day)dreaming - THANKS!!! :thumleft:  :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[Michiel]

So, it was not in vein.    Thanks for the audience.

 

[Michiel]

We made it!

Dustdevil had one last crash on the rocks of this mountain, we rolled away some stones for the last
time and off we went. Those heavy clouds were closing in and starting to make threatening noises.
By now even I was too tired to want more challenge and Sack was looking forward to a beer.

The stretch from here to Semonkong looked pretty simple on Google Earth. We will cross between
some corn fields on small tweespoor before getting to the bigger roads and from there it should be
a piece of cake. +- 15km of piece of cake. Little did we know Lesotho had one last little skills challenge
waiting.

[flash=700,525]https://www.youtube.com/v/q2Wj-55Uokg[/flash]

 

[madmike999]

waht a trip guys,

+1000 0000 00000 000 :thumleft: