NIMMO
Race Dog
Molopo BASH 2014
That time of the year again and as usual I could not get to planning my route in advance. :-[
The week I was supposed to leave I started fiddling with Basecamp and as usual ran into some issues (most of them due to ignorance ;D), for some reason the 660 just always has some little niggles. I phoned Garmin and had to reload all the TOPO maps and this did not make for a good start to a long trip. The route I decided on was as much gravel as I could possibly muster with only short tar distances in between.
Loading the maps became a huge pain in the ass, again I tried Garmin support but to no avail despite a lot of promises and, and, and... In the end I phoned Pauli and after some explaining he managed to find a way to get the maps loaded. It’s too bad he works for himself he would be useful at Garmin support. Thanks for that Pauli :thumleft: as usual you came through - https://www.gps4africa.co.za/ .
I was hesitant on marking just any routes – I think a lot of us had thought about that dreaded word SAND
atch: eepwall:.
And in the Kalahari there would be a lot of that. I plotted the route with some reassurance as Transporter would be riding with me and at least I would have a buddy on this trip.
The Route:
I was looking forward to travelling this part of the country, you always hear about these places and never get around to seeing it. That in a nutshell is what the bashes have become for me personally – a “reason” to see some place I would otherwise not get to see. Wednesday I heard Transporter was out and it was a blow as the route included Kenhardt roads and I still remembered Pote hitting that gate on route to the BASH at Noordoewer and breaking his arm. A riding buddy just makes sense. I had no option but to make peace with the fact that it would be a solo trip yet again.
I packed Wednesday night and set off just before 08H00 on Thursday morning. It was a clear cold morning and not much wind to speak of. I have long wanted to take the road that led from Colesberg to De Aar this was my chance.
Why have a GPS you ask well:
The road to De Aar turned into a 2 spoor road and had some nice humps – what a way to start a day.
De Aar has a huge power distribution point (Hydra), it amazes me what infrastructure we have in this country
From De Aar headed to Britstown and from there to Vosburg and then on to Van Wyksvlei
Wonder how much rain it took to make these pools in this barren landscape?
I filled up at Van Wyksvlei – what an eerie experience the whole town seemed to be as drunk as can be. I promptly thought of it as Bacchustown from now on.
While paying for the fuel an old oomie asked if I was heading for Kenhardt and sighed – Jy gan ma taai ry die eerste 40km ou seun :eek7:.
I sat on the stoep of the Coop till the shade gave way and headed off to Kenhardt – thinking of Pote in a not so good way...
After the “rough” part of the road was over I flew past a monument on the side of the road – made a U turn and went to have a look.
I was in awe at how much Lucas must have loved her...
By now it was HOT
I reached Kenhardt where I had booked and was contemplating pushing through to Kakemas, while waiting for Suzette (help me out Heimer) I heard some all too familiar voices from the bar. Fender, Mapsource, Louwtjie and Blinkes were already out of bike clothes – I decided to call it a day and rather push early the next day.
That time of the year again and as usual I could not get to planning my route in advance. :-[
The week I was supposed to leave I started fiddling with Basecamp and as usual ran into some issues (most of them due to ignorance ;D), for some reason the 660 just always has some little niggles. I phoned Garmin and had to reload all the TOPO maps and this did not make for a good start to a long trip. The route I decided on was as much gravel as I could possibly muster with only short tar distances in between.
Loading the maps became a huge pain in the ass, again I tried Garmin support but to no avail despite a lot of promises and, and, and... In the end I phoned Pauli and after some explaining he managed to find a way to get the maps loaded. It’s too bad he works for himself he would be useful at Garmin support. Thanks for that Pauli :thumleft: as usual you came through - https://www.gps4africa.co.za/ .
I was hesitant on marking just any routes – I think a lot of us had thought about that dreaded word SAND
atch: eepwall:.And in the Kalahari there would be a lot of that. I plotted the route with some reassurance as Transporter would be riding with me and at least I would have a buddy on this trip.
The Route:
I was looking forward to travelling this part of the country, you always hear about these places and never get around to seeing it. That in a nutshell is what the bashes have become for me personally – a “reason” to see some place I would otherwise not get to see. Wednesday I heard Transporter was out and it was a blow as the route included Kenhardt roads and I still remembered Pote hitting that gate on route to the BASH at Noordoewer and breaking his arm. A riding buddy just makes sense. I had no option but to make peace with the fact that it would be a solo trip yet again.
I packed Wednesday night and set off just before 08H00 on Thursday morning. It was a clear cold morning and not much wind to speak of. I have long wanted to take the road that led from Colesberg to De Aar this was my chance.
Why have a GPS you ask well:
The road to De Aar turned into a 2 spoor road and had some nice humps – what a way to start a day.
De Aar has a huge power distribution point (Hydra), it amazes me what infrastructure we have in this country
From De Aar headed to Britstown and from there to Vosburg and then on to Van Wyksvlei
Wonder how much rain it took to make these pools in this barren landscape?
I filled up at Van Wyksvlei – what an eerie experience the whole town seemed to be as drunk as can be. I promptly thought of it as Bacchustown from now on.
While paying for the fuel an old oomie asked if I was heading for Kenhardt and sighed – Jy gan ma taai ry die eerste 40km ou seun :eek7:.
I sat on the stoep of the Coop till the shade gave way and headed off to Kenhardt – thinking of Pote in a not so good way...
After the “rough” part of the road was over I flew past a monument on the side of the road – made a U turn and went to have a look.
I was in awe at how much Lucas must have loved her...
By now it was HOT
I reached Kenhardt where I had booked and was contemplating pushing through to Kakemas, while waiting for Suzette (help me out Heimer) I heard some all too familiar voices from the bar. Fender, Mapsource, Louwtjie and Blinkes were already out of bike clothes – I decided to call it a day and rather push early the next day.
