2wdrift
Race Dog
I am hanging up the riding gear and selling my last bike, but I would like one last ride and I really love this route. Probably this weekend but it depends on interest and if people ask to move it to another date, I want to meet up at the garage across from sable hills at 08:00 and leave at 08:30 on sunday. If there is no interest I will ride alone, no problem.
A few people have shown interest in riding this route with me but I never got the chance to take others along, now is the last chance I have so if you are interested keep on reading.
Please bear in mind that I was on this route about a year ago the last time so I am not sure about the condition of the road and there may be a lot of dust. Some of the route runs on farms that were claimed by the natives, I have seen them often and a wave and a wheelie is normally all it takes to have them cheer you along. But if the route is closed we turn around.
The route starts at the garage opposite the entrance to sable hills estate, it then runs through a dirt road called mamba weg to the boekenhoutskloof dirt road, 16.3km mostly dirt with a little bit of (easy) sand in the mix. Then its boring tarmac to the de tweede spruit dirt road, 5.4km. Following the de tweede spruit road which is fast flowing gravel with nice scenery (14km) we end up at another bit of tar. Although here we have the option of a technical dirt road (13.6km) with (decent) sand and rocks or the tar road (9.6km) to the dirt road leading into moloto. Will make the choice on the day or we could split up and meet at the dirt road to moloto. The dirt road to moloto is easy gravel(6.3km), but with animals and moloto residents on the road you need to be focussed. From moloto to the start of Lood se pad its 21.3km of mostly straight tar, but its quite scenic and you may see some game in the farms next to the road. Now we get to the fun bit, lood se pad itself. Its around 22-25km (guestimate) of semi tweespoor road with bits of sand, various holes and jumps. Its slightly technical riding but you can haul on certain bits of the road, and it becomes great fun when you are in the zone. There road is scenic and has beautiful nature all around. At the end of it we get on a short (4km) stretch of tar before turning left towards rust de winter, the road to rust de winter is mostly easy corrugated gravel (17.5km) and from the "town" of rust de winter we head to the nearest fuel station for petrol and something to drink. I enjoy having a cold drink there and cooling down before heading back. On the way back I want to do a different version of lood se pad (quite a bit shorter) that has some of the canal roads from rust de winter dam in it, its technical tweespoor but nothing difficult (my 1190 was happy there) and then its basically the same route back to sable hills. On the way back you can hit the tar and ride through the dinokeng game reserve, get to pienaarsrivier and use the N1 or follow me back the way we came.
The total distance for my route will be somewhere between 270-300km with a fuel stop half way. I have a 25 liter tank on my XR and will help with fuel if needed.
Full disclosure, this is my last ride on my trusty XR650R and probably my last proper dirt ride for my life (health issues), so I will be riding at my pace on dirt (I think its fast but skilled riders will laugh at me). I prefer riding at 100ish on good gravel and on the technical roads I will ride quite quickly. On the tar sections I tend to cruise at 100-120, I have knobbies fitted and dont want to go much faster than that on tar. I dont mind waiting for people at each of the turns we need to take so slower riders are welcome to join. If you are a fast rider you are more than welcome to overtake me and ride at your own pace, just wait at intersections or ask for the route before hand. I havent been on a bike for quite a while so I dont know how my fitness and thus pace will be exactly. I am also riding without any tools, puncture repair kits or a first aid kit as I want to travel light and just enjoy the experience. If something goes wrong I have someone who wont mind coming to pick me up, or if someone does come with and does have tools it would be cool as well.
Seeing as I stutter here are the basic rules I tend to ride by, the guy in front of you is not responsible for keeping out of your way its on you to not endanger him, if you get roosted with rocks or mud its your own fault so keep your distance or accept the risk. The rider behind you is your responsibility, but I check only once every now and then and will stop if there is no one behind me. Just dont be a dumbass and be careful.
Anybody is welcome and any bike is welcome as long as you understand its not graded gravel all the way and newbies might have a hard time in the sandy sections. I rode it with my 1190R and felt perfectly fine on all these routes, I wouldnt mind trying it on a GSA but at a much more controlled pace. I can complete this ride in around 3 hours when fit and healthy so I suspect we will be on the route about 5 hours or more depending on waiting times for others and how long we spend chilling at the fuel stop.
If you want to come along please let me know. :thumleft:
Moved to next weekend :thumleft:
A few people have shown interest in riding this route with me but I never got the chance to take others along, now is the last chance I have so if you are interested keep on reading.
Please bear in mind that I was on this route about a year ago the last time so I am not sure about the condition of the road and there may be a lot of dust. Some of the route runs on farms that were claimed by the natives, I have seen them often and a wave and a wheelie is normally all it takes to have them cheer you along. But if the route is closed we turn around.
The route starts at the garage opposite the entrance to sable hills estate, it then runs through a dirt road called mamba weg to the boekenhoutskloof dirt road, 16.3km mostly dirt with a little bit of (easy) sand in the mix. Then its boring tarmac to the de tweede spruit dirt road, 5.4km. Following the de tweede spruit road which is fast flowing gravel with nice scenery (14km) we end up at another bit of tar. Although here we have the option of a technical dirt road (13.6km) with (decent) sand and rocks or the tar road (9.6km) to the dirt road leading into moloto. Will make the choice on the day or we could split up and meet at the dirt road to moloto. The dirt road to moloto is easy gravel(6.3km), but with animals and moloto residents on the road you need to be focussed. From moloto to the start of Lood se pad its 21.3km of mostly straight tar, but its quite scenic and you may see some game in the farms next to the road. Now we get to the fun bit, lood se pad itself. Its around 22-25km (guestimate) of semi tweespoor road with bits of sand, various holes and jumps. Its slightly technical riding but you can haul on certain bits of the road, and it becomes great fun when you are in the zone. There road is scenic and has beautiful nature all around. At the end of it we get on a short (4km) stretch of tar before turning left towards rust de winter, the road to rust de winter is mostly easy corrugated gravel (17.5km) and from the "town" of rust de winter we head to the nearest fuel station for petrol and something to drink. I enjoy having a cold drink there and cooling down before heading back. On the way back I want to do a different version of lood se pad (quite a bit shorter) that has some of the canal roads from rust de winter dam in it, its technical tweespoor but nothing difficult (my 1190 was happy there) and then its basically the same route back to sable hills. On the way back you can hit the tar and ride through the dinokeng game reserve, get to pienaarsrivier and use the N1 or follow me back the way we came.
The total distance for my route will be somewhere between 270-300km with a fuel stop half way. I have a 25 liter tank on my XR and will help with fuel if needed.
Full disclosure, this is my last ride on my trusty XR650R and probably my last proper dirt ride for my life (health issues), so I will be riding at my pace on dirt (I think its fast but skilled riders will laugh at me). I prefer riding at 100ish on good gravel and on the technical roads I will ride quite quickly. On the tar sections I tend to cruise at 100-120, I have knobbies fitted and dont want to go much faster than that on tar. I dont mind waiting for people at each of the turns we need to take so slower riders are welcome to join. If you are a fast rider you are more than welcome to overtake me and ride at your own pace, just wait at intersections or ask for the route before hand. I havent been on a bike for quite a while so I dont know how my fitness and thus pace will be exactly. I am also riding without any tools, puncture repair kits or a first aid kit as I want to travel light and just enjoy the experience. If something goes wrong I have someone who wont mind coming to pick me up, or if someone does come with and does have tools it would be cool as well.
Seeing as I stutter here are the basic rules I tend to ride by, the guy in front of you is not responsible for keeping out of your way its on you to not endanger him, if you get roosted with rocks or mud its your own fault so keep your distance or accept the risk. The rider behind you is your responsibility, but I check only once every now and then and will stop if there is no one behind me. Just dont be a dumbass and be careful.
Anybody is welcome and any bike is welcome as long as you understand its not graded gravel all the way and newbies might have a hard time in the sandy sections. I rode it with my 1190R and felt perfectly fine on all these routes, I wouldnt mind trying it on a GSA but at a much more controlled pace. I can complete this ride in around 3 hours when fit and healthy so I suspect we will be on the route about 5 hours or more depending on waiting times for others and how long we spend chilling at the fuel stop.
If you want to come along please let me know. :thumleft:
Moved to next weekend :thumleft:
