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I got back from spending a week on holiday with the family in Knysna last week Tuesday, and got a message on my answering machine from my mate Allan, telling me he is thinking of doing a bike trip and wondering if I want to come along.
I eventually got round to calling him on Thursday afternoon. He said he was doing a Lesotho trip and they are leaving at 05h00 the next morning and do I want to come along. Now I had just got back from a week's holiday and I couldn't really afford to take any more time off work, but when he told me they were doing the trip up Sani, via Mokhotlong and Taung, over Mtebeng Pass to Sehlabathebe then down the pass at Ramatsilitso gate I told him I would be there as I have wanted to do this route for a while now, ever since our attempt at the route in 2006 when we had to abandon the trip when one of the guys fell off and broke his collar bone.
See the report here: https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=2630.0
So I had virtually no time for preparation, but I didn't need much, just a bag with some tools, a few bottles of water and some sandwiches was all I needed to carry.
The plan was to meet up with Allan, who rides a GS 800 and Kevin on his GS 1200 at the petrol station in Himeville at around 06h30. I decided to leave Hilton about half an hour before them, as I did not fancy trying to keep up with the two BM's on my KLR.
The plan was then to get through the border post at Sani by 07h00, as we knew we had a really long ride ahead of us. The route from Sani to rama gate does not look that far on the map, but believe me it takes a long time, the road is constantly twisting around mountains and through rivers, with no straight section longer than a couple of hundred meters.
So we filled up at Himeville and headed for the Sani border post, Allan on his 800 in front then me and Kevin taking up the rear.
I was enjoying the road works section and the bit before the border post, when suddenly up ahead I saw something on the road, something yellow and black. Oh shit it was Allan's GS 800 with Allan lying prone on the ground next to it. Fears of the worst scenario went through my head as I got off my bike and went to see what the damage was to Allan. Luckilly and to my great relief he was conscious and able to talk, but very groggy and could not really stand up.
He said his arm and shoulder were hellofa painful, so we helped him get his Leatt brace and camelbak and jacket off so we could check out what was wrong. We could not really see anything, but his arm was completely immobile and he obviously could not carry on with the trip.
The first thing we did was phone his wife in Howick and tell her what had happened, she said she would leave immediately with her sons and a trailer to come and fetch Allan. I then rode Allan's 800 back to the Sani Pass Hotel which was only about 4 km away as the accident had taken place just before the SA border post. At the hotel Ia sked for the manager and explained to him what had happened. He couldn't have been more helpful, immediately instructing a driver to take me back to where Allan was and to bring Allan back to the Hotel.
A big UP to Sani Pass Hotel and it's management, they could not have been more helpful and accommodating to us, even though we were not guests or even visitors to the hotel. When Allan got to the Hotel the manager insisted he lie down in a room at the hotel until his wife arrived an hour or so later to fetch him....no charge asked.
Allan assured kevin and I that there was no point in us hanging around until his wife arrived, so we had to decide what we were going to do, call off the trip, or maybe cut it short?
After a brief discussion we agreed that we would carry on with the trip, but we knew that time was against us at this stage, as by now we had lost a couple of hours, and the rest of the day would be rushed, no time for stopping and socializing, just riding.
Now I had been determined to take pics on this trip, as recently I had not taken any pics on the trips I had been on, but unfortunately due to the time pressure we were under i was not able to take as many as I would have liked.
I managed a couple of pics and so did kevin. I will post his in a day or two once I get them from him.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond his control, Allan left the trip before I could get a picture of him.
Here is Kevin letting down his tyre pressure at the Sani border post.
We made good time up the pass, half-way up we came across a group of bikers from East London, said they were mates with DeonS from Wilddogs.
Pass was in pretty decent shape, views were spectacular as always.
Obviously had to stop at the Lesotho border post for formalities, no time to stop at Sani Top Chalets for refreshments though.
Road to Mokhotlong was in great shape, made good time, but had to do the usual detour into Mokhotlong to go buy petrol. Petrol at Mokhotlong cost only around R6.20/liter.
After refuelling, doubled back to the Thabo-Tseka turn-off where we made pretty good time. The country-side was looking nice and green and the rivers were flowing strongly, obviously they have had good rain recently.
Unfortunately we were very pressed for time, so stopping was kept to a minimum, so very few pictures. The countryside was spectacular, but because of the pace we were riding at I did not really get the opportunity to soak in the scenery and enjoy it. We were so pushed for time that I did not even get a chance to stop and eat my sarmies which I had brought with, so ended up not eating the whole day.
After the turn-off to Sehlabathebe at Taung, the road leads down a rocky path to the river, and I was maybe pushing it a bit too hard, but I took the wrong line going a bit too fast and landed up falling in some big rocks on the road. Luckily I did not hurt myself and the KLR also suffered no damage apart from a mirror which I had previously broken and stuck back on with Pratley steel.
I decided that I better slow down a bit and ride within my comfort level, as we were really pushing it and I didn't feel like coming off again. I was very impressed with the way Kevin handled his big GS1200 on these bad roads and tight turns, proof that a skilled rider can take a GS1200 into some pretty gnarly places.
We were making good time now on some fairly bad roads
However as we were approaching Matebeng Pass there were ominous grey clouds looming with flashes of lightening across the sky.
Damn, i had believed the weather report of sun and no rain, so I had not packed any rain gear. Kevin however had done the sensible thing and brought his rain gear, so I would just have to put up with getting a good soaking.
We headed up the Matebeng Pass into the most unbelievable afternoon thunder shower, I was soaked within minutes. Visibility was shocking and the road was a gushing torrent of water that we had to ride through. Fortunately although I was wet I was reasonably warm, as it had been a scorcher of a day.
That trip up and down Matebeng Pass must count as some of the hairiest riding i have ever done. Half-way up, in addition to the torrents of water it looked at first like there was snow on the ground, until I realized it was a thick layer of hail. Luckily it must have stopped just before we got there.
The road down Matebeng Pass is crossed by a stream 5 or 6 times as it gets lower, and each time the stream crossed the road it got deeper and rougher, until the last crossing looked like quite a torrent. Luckily these river crossings are all cemented so we did not battle too much getting across, but any deeper and we would not have been able to get across.
The cloudburst then abated and we had steady rain past Sehlabatebi all the way to Rama gate. I was quite happy riding in the rain along here even though I was soaked, I was just so relieved that we had made it off the pass in that cloudburst.
Crossed back into SA at Rama gate at about 16h30, so we made good time considering the circumstances.
It rained all the way down Ramatsilitso Pass, it was quite a surreal experience not being able to see the road you are riding on, just picking your line according to the current of water you are following. Reminded me of my canoeing days.
At the bottom of the pass the rain eased off and eventually stopped. We were now feeling very chuffed with ourselves for surviving those horrendous conditions and making the border post in time. We decided to head for the Underberg - Swartberg road at the St Bernard's Peak turn off, where we would have to double back a few kilometers to Swartberg to get fuel for the GS as it was running low.
The dirt road was good, nothing at all rough, when I came up behind Kevin, stopped on his bike stationary in the middle of the road. he had apparently cut the side-wall of his fairly new Heidenau rear tyre on a rock embedded in the road. There was a gash in the side of the tyre about 3 inches long and he was going nowhere.
We spent about half an hour trying to jam ten or so plugs into the gash, to no avail.
Only one thing for it, phoned Kevin's wife to come and bring his spare rear wheel with a tyre on it and meet us at the St Bernard's Peak turn-off, which was about 50km away from where we were. Kevin managed to ride his GS at about 20km/h by standing on the pegs and putting most of his weight on the front wheel. I stuck around riding slowly with him until just before we got to the tar road where he was to meet his wife, when he told me I might as well head on home as we were still 2 hours from home, and once he got the wheel from his wife he would be much quicker than me.
So I headed off home to Hilton through Underberg by myself again. I enjoyed the ride back, nice warm wind to dry me off and no sign of rain. I got home just before nine that night, after a really long tiring day in the saddle. Next time I will do this trip over two days and stay over at the Lodge at Sehlabethebe.
Kevin got home safely about half an hour after me.
Allan's wife took him to hospital in Pietermaritzburg where it was discovered that he had dislocated his shoulder, so he was given a general anaesthetic to have his shoulder put back in place.
To those of you who read this report to the end, sorry for the lack of photos, I will post the pics taken by Kevin in a day or two.
Cheers.
I eventually got round to calling him on Thursday afternoon. He said he was doing a Lesotho trip and they are leaving at 05h00 the next morning and do I want to come along. Now I had just got back from a week's holiday and I couldn't really afford to take any more time off work, but when he told me they were doing the trip up Sani, via Mokhotlong and Taung, over Mtebeng Pass to Sehlabathebe then down the pass at Ramatsilitso gate I told him I would be there as I have wanted to do this route for a while now, ever since our attempt at the route in 2006 when we had to abandon the trip when one of the guys fell off and broke his collar bone.
See the report here: https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=2630.0
So I had virtually no time for preparation, but I didn't need much, just a bag with some tools, a few bottles of water and some sandwiches was all I needed to carry.
The plan was to meet up with Allan, who rides a GS 800 and Kevin on his GS 1200 at the petrol station in Himeville at around 06h30. I decided to leave Hilton about half an hour before them, as I did not fancy trying to keep up with the two BM's on my KLR.
The plan was then to get through the border post at Sani by 07h00, as we knew we had a really long ride ahead of us. The route from Sani to rama gate does not look that far on the map, but believe me it takes a long time, the road is constantly twisting around mountains and through rivers, with no straight section longer than a couple of hundred meters.
So we filled up at Himeville and headed for the Sani border post, Allan on his 800 in front then me and Kevin taking up the rear.
I was enjoying the road works section and the bit before the border post, when suddenly up ahead I saw something on the road, something yellow and black. Oh shit it was Allan's GS 800 with Allan lying prone on the ground next to it. Fears of the worst scenario went through my head as I got off my bike and went to see what the damage was to Allan. Luckilly and to my great relief he was conscious and able to talk, but very groggy and could not really stand up.
He said his arm and shoulder were hellofa painful, so we helped him get his Leatt brace and camelbak and jacket off so we could check out what was wrong. We could not really see anything, but his arm was completely immobile and he obviously could not carry on with the trip.
The first thing we did was phone his wife in Howick and tell her what had happened, she said she would leave immediately with her sons and a trailer to come and fetch Allan. I then rode Allan's 800 back to the Sani Pass Hotel which was only about 4 km away as the accident had taken place just before the SA border post. At the hotel Ia sked for the manager and explained to him what had happened. He couldn't have been more helpful, immediately instructing a driver to take me back to where Allan was and to bring Allan back to the Hotel.
A big UP to Sani Pass Hotel and it's management, they could not have been more helpful and accommodating to us, even though we were not guests or even visitors to the hotel. When Allan got to the Hotel the manager insisted he lie down in a room at the hotel until his wife arrived an hour or so later to fetch him....no charge asked.
Allan assured kevin and I that there was no point in us hanging around until his wife arrived, so we had to decide what we were going to do, call off the trip, or maybe cut it short?
After a brief discussion we agreed that we would carry on with the trip, but we knew that time was against us at this stage, as by now we had lost a couple of hours, and the rest of the day would be rushed, no time for stopping and socializing, just riding.
Now I had been determined to take pics on this trip, as recently I had not taken any pics on the trips I had been on, but unfortunately due to the time pressure we were under i was not able to take as many as I would have liked.
I managed a couple of pics and so did kevin. I will post his in a day or two once I get them from him.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond his control, Allan left the trip before I could get a picture of him.
Here is Kevin letting down his tyre pressure at the Sani border post.
We made good time up the pass, half-way up we came across a group of bikers from East London, said they were mates with DeonS from Wilddogs.
Pass was in pretty decent shape, views were spectacular as always.
Obviously had to stop at the Lesotho border post for formalities, no time to stop at Sani Top Chalets for refreshments though.
Road to Mokhotlong was in great shape, made good time, but had to do the usual detour into Mokhotlong to go buy petrol. Petrol at Mokhotlong cost only around R6.20/liter.
After refuelling, doubled back to the Thabo-Tseka turn-off where we made pretty good time. The country-side was looking nice and green and the rivers were flowing strongly, obviously they have had good rain recently.
Unfortunately we were very pressed for time, so stopping was kept to a minimum, so very few pictures. The countryside was spectacular, but because of the pace we were riding at I did not really get the opportunity to soak in the scenery and enjoy it. We were so pushed for time that I did not even get a chance to stop and eat my sarmies which I had brought with, so ended up not eating the whole day.
After the turn-off to Sehlabathebe at Taung, the road leads down a rocky path to the river, and I was maybe pushing it a bit too hard, but I took the wrong line going a bit too fast and landed up falling in some big rocks on the road. Luckily I did not hurt myself and the KLR also suffered no damage apart from a mirror which I had previously broken and stuck back on with Pratley steel.
I decided that I better slow down a bit and ride within my comfort level, as we were really pushing it and I didn't feel like coming off again. I was very impressed with the way Kevin handled his big GS1200 on these bad roads and tight turns, proof that a skilled rider can take a GS1200 into some pretty gnarly places.
We were making good time now on some fairly bad roads
However as we were approaching Matebeng Pass there were ominous grey clouds looming with flashes of lightening across the sky.
Damn, i had believed the weather report of sun and no rain, so I had not packed any rain gear. Kevin however had done the sensible thing and brought his rain gear, so I would just have to put up with getting a good soaking.
We headed up the Matebeng Pass into the most unbelievable afternoon thunder shower, I was soaked within minutes. Visibility was shocking and the road was a gushing torrent of water that we had to ride through. Fortunately although I was wet I was reasonably warm, as it had been a scorcher of a day.
That trip up and down Matebeng Pass must count as some of the hairiest riding i have ever done. Half-way up, in addition to the torrents of water it looked at first like there was snow on the ground, until I realized it was a thick layer of hail. Luckily it must have stopped just before we got there.
The road down Matebeng Pass is crossed by a stream 5 or 6 times as it gets lower, and each time the stream crossed the road it got deeper and rougher, until the last crossing looked like quite a torrent. Luckily these river crossings are all cemented so we did not battle too much getting across, but any deeper and we would not have been able to get across.
The cloudburst then abated and we had steady rain past Sehlabatebi all the way to Rama gate. I was quite happy riding in the rain along here even though I was soaked, I was just so relieved that we had made it off the pass in that cloudburst.
Crossed back into SA at Rama gate at about 16h30, so we made good time considering the circumstances.
It rained all the way down Ramatsilitso Pass, it was quite a surreal experience not being able to see the road you are riding on, just picking your line according to the current of water you are following. Reminded me of my canoeing days.
At the bottom of the pass the rain eased off and eventually stopped. We were now feeling very chuffed with ourselves for surviving those horrendous conditions and making the border post in time. We decided to head for the Underberg - Swartberg road at the St Bernard's Peak turn off, where we would have to double back a few kilometers to Swartberg to get fuel for the GS as it was running low.
The dirt road was good, nothing at all rough, when I came up behind Kevin, stopped on his bike stationary in the middle of the road. he had apparently cut the side-wall of his fairly new Heidenau rear tyre on a rock embedded in the road. There was a gash in the side of the tyre about 3 inches long and he was going nowhere.
We spent about half an hour trying to jam ten or so plugs into the gash, to no avail.
Only one thing for it, phoned Kevin's wife to come and bring his spare rear wheel with a tyre on it and meet us at the St Bernard's Peak turn-off, which was about 50km away from where we were. Kevin managed to ride his GS at about 20km/h by standing on the pegs and putting most of his weight on the front wheel. I stuck around riding slowly with him until just before we got to the tar road where he was to meet his wife, when he told me I might as well head on home as we were still 2 hours from home, and once he got the wheel from his wife he would be much quicker than me.
So I headed off home to Hilton through Underberg by myself again. I enjoyed the ride back, nice warm wind to dry me off and no sign of rain. I got home just before nine that night, after a really long tiring day in the saddle. Next time I will do this trip over two days and stay over at the Lodge at Sehlabethebe.
Kevin got home safely about half an hour after me.
Allan's wife took him to hospital in Pietermaritzburg where it was discovered that he had dislocated his shoulder, so he was given a general anaesthetic to have his shoulder put back in place.
To those of you who read this report to the end, sorry for the lack of photos, I will post the pics taken by Kevin in a day or two.
Cheers.
