- Joined
- Jul 19, 2014
- Messages
- 721
- Reaction score
- 165
- Location
- Table View, Cape Town
- Bike
- Honda CRF-250 Rally
Lance and I headed to the biannual Cederberg Oasis spitbraai, but unfortunately never reached it. We explored two little roads off Nuwekloof Pass. One was easy-going and pretty.
The other was rougher, but fun, until it suddenly became incredibly steep and rocky. I lost the plot and bought a plot. Lance heard me fall, through the headset, but couldn’t stop to check if I was ok. He was stuck on a downward trend until the road allowed him otherwise. I told him I was fine, but my left-hand side mirror (whatever) and clutch lever (oh noes!) were both past tense. The photos, as usual, don’t do the slope any justice.
This is where Lance managed to stop:
Lance walked back up to me. He was still in two minds on whether he’d be able to get out; never mind trying to get my bike out. We first tried pushing my bike up the hill. The gradient and loose stones put paid to that idea. An easier stretch of road was not too far away, but it may as well have been a million miles.
Lance decided to ride my bike out. I had to push from behind. I’m still in awe that my legs aren’t purple and blue. For some reason, while standing in a cloud of kicked-up rocks, the real big chunks missed my legs. With my bike out, we focused on Lance’s bike. He just managed most of the stretch; needing a push on the very bad bits. I also spent quite a bit of time clearing the very big loose rocks. No wonder my back aches.
This is what Lance’s tyre looks like after being wheel-spun up a very loose and rocky hill:
The remaining gravel track was easier, which meant that I could ride my bike out the rest of the way. The one sandy patch was “interesting”. Up/down-shifting is ok without a clutch, once you get the hang of it, and starting on gravel is fine, but starting on tar is a bit tricky.
In Malmesbury, on the way home, I did some “slow-races” to try to catch robots when they’re green, but I had to execute two stalls at intersections (finding neutral when you can’t gently move the gear lever in a very clunky gearbox is not that easy). To start, I had to get the revs up, rock the bike forward in neutral and then hit it into first. According to Lance, who viewed everything from behind, apparently you can wheel-spin on tar…
A video:
[flash=800,450]https://www.youtube.com/v/U6AI7RRrJAo[/flash]
The other was rougher, but fun, until it suddenly became incredibly steep and rocky. I lost the plot and bought a plot. Lance heard me fall, through the headset, but couldn’t stop to check if I was ok. He was stuck on a downward trend until the road allowed him otherwise. I told him I was fine, but my left-hand side mirror (whatever) and clutch lever (oh noes!) were both past tense. The photos, as usual, don’t do the slope any justice.
This is where Lance managed to stop:
Lance walked back up to me. He was still in two minds on whether he’d be able to get out; never mind trying to get my bike out. We first tried pushing my bike up the hill. The gradient and loose stones put paid to that idea. An easier stretch of road was not too far away, but it may as well have been a million miles.
Lance decided to ride my bike out. I had to push from behind. I’m still in awe that my legs aren’t purple and blue. For some reason, while standing in a cloud of kicked-up rocks, the real big chunks missed my legs. With my bike out, we focused on Lance’s bike. He just managed most of the stretch; needing a push on the very bad bits. I also spent quite a bit of time clearing the very big loose rocks. No wonder my back aches.
This is what Lance’s tyre looks like after being wheel-spun up a very loose and rocky hill:
The remaining gravel track was easier, which meant that I could ride my bike out the rest of the way. The one sandy patch was “interesting”. Up/down-shifting is ok without a clutch, once you get the hang of it, and starting on gravel is fine, but starting on tar is a bit tricky.
In Malmesbury, on the way home, I did some “slow-races” to try to catch robots when they’re green, but I had to execute two stalls at intersections (finding neutral when you can’t gently move the gear lever in a very clunky gearbox is not that easy). To start, I had to get the revs up, rock the bike forward in neutral and then hit it into first. According to Lance, who viewed everything from behind, apparently you can wheel-spin on tar…
A video:
[flash=800,450]https://www.youtube.com/v/U6AI7RRrJAo[/flash]
