Day 8 part II
This is the route up the hill that we already could see the day before. Might be fun with a trials or plastic bike but is definitely not suitable for a +200kg bike. It put a shiver down my spine when I saw it.
After Gery put his tappet cover back on we were ready to try our luck with the track, we already knew that we will struggle at one stage. We were just hoping for flatter spots that we could accelerate our heavy bikes, to tackle the steeper section with a bit of speed. Little did we know how much sweat we had to lose.
The donkeys showed us the way the first couple of meters.
The beginning was rather gentle and we were making good progress. It was just a matter of time until we would get to the first challenging section. It didn’t take long at all.
I was glad once Gery told me that we should get rid of our luggage to make our bikes more manageable. We had already 3 willing Sherpas to lend us some extra manpower. It felt like cheating when I disconnected my rear luggage. I any case, there was no price to be won for good looks. We had to get up that mountain, no matter what.
The first 3 guys to offer their assistance.
It felt a lot better with the lighter bike. I sure did not have to worry about the rear brake anymore, however, the coughing engine did give me a bit of a headache. Whenever I needed power, the engine was acting up. It was absolutely unpredictable how much power I would get at my rear wheel once I opened the throttle. Sometimes the motor was just coughing and sometimes it would kick in a lot more than I was expecting.
So far Gery looked smooth and fluid as he always does on his GS.
Call it cheating, this was the only way we could get our heavy bikes up this mountain, sans luggage.
In the beginning we could always find a few flat spots to recover again.
Not much further and even Gery stalled his bike a couple of times. Now the fun was about to start.
Gery had his nose bleeding for a little while but recovered quickly.
Our helpers did rise in numbers by the minute. It was sometimes a bit out of control who did what when we got stuck. Some of the okes started to push our bikes sideways and we lost a lot of energy to fight the unsynchronized forces when the guys pushed or pulled.
I managed to get my bike half up the climb and then it was Gery’s turn. There was no chance to put the bike on the side stand and we only leaned it against the mountain.
Meter by meter we fought our way forward and the exhaustion was setting in, slowly but surely.
I had a lot of fun with the kids. These buggers are real characters and it is so easy to make them happy or make them laugh, it was really heartwarming. It was also providing me with some welcomed distraction from this bloody road.
Some sections were so steep, I could hardly stand on my feet without sliding down or sideways.
Despite our exhaustion, I did not hear one bad word from Gery. He was just losing it at times when the helpers started to push his bike sideways.
It was getting so hot, it was almost unbearable to wear a jacket & helmet. I did tackle some distance without my protection gear and promptly did fall off my bike and landed on my already damaged right elbow. That was a good lesion and I put my jacket back on after that. I had no desire to break my bones on this rock invested track.
I started the day with about 1 liter of water in my Camelback. That water was gone only after the first hr and I was looking out to find a mountain stream to top up. Only another hr later we did find some water. My mouth was so dry by that time, I could hardly swallow the water. To have some water again gave us a big moral boost and higher we went up the mountain. Not in one fluid motion as you might think, it was a fight for every meter. Sometimes the rear wheel found some traction and you could fly up 5 meter in a steep section. Most of the time the heavy bikes of ours were not even able to get the necessary momentum to get over the big boulders or steps along our way.
When the rear wheel could not find enough traction we needed a push of our helpers to get over the next obstruction. I have got no idea what we would have done without the helping hand of the locals.
Even the kids started to carry some of our stuff and even had some fun doing it.
The whole time I was hoping that Gerys would not fall on his left tappet cover again. He tipped over once or twice but so far the cover was still intact.
After I mastered the steepest part of the track and I could see that Gery was also catching up, I jumped on my bike and rode the last 500m in pure desperation. I just wanted to get over with it before my energy would be completely depleted.
Closer to the village more and more kids came looking for us.
When I arrived at the village, I was surrounded from young and old. I was so happy to be there I could have kissed the whole villagers. Instead of hugging the people, I was only asking for water. I must have put at least one liter of water in my dehydrated body and the people could not believe when I asked for more.
Once I recovered slightly, I was walking down the hill to see how Gery would be doing. I could not hear the sound of his engine, which was not very promising. Then I saw Gery walking up the mountain without his bike. I knew exactly what this would mean. He had a fall on his tappet cover and it was leaking too much oil. We had to push his bike the last 300m to the village. This was not an easy task and was depleting once more our fading energy.
In the village we paid the most helpful guys their wages. In total we handed out R 250 – 300 and a lot of small change to the little guys who obviously also wanted their “salary”.
Then the kids wanted to get a lot more pictures done. They really got the hang of posing for us and already figured out how to scroll through the pictures.
After we had all the water our bodies could take and paid all outstanding wages, we both sat down with the last two apples in our hand and looked down the mountain. We did not speak a lot but we did not have to. The villagers showed some respect and left us alone during these couple of minutes.
Except for a cup of coffee in the morning we had nothing to eat the whole day.
Gratitude and a big sense of achievement was what I felt at this moment of time and I am sure Gery was feeling the same. It was just a great moment of quietness and appreciation that we had.
Then Gery had to attend to his cover again and applied the last Pratley steel that we had left.
Since there was one more steep section to get out of the village and on top of this mountain, I started to examine what would still lie ahead of us. It was 4pm at this time and after looking on my map, I did realize that it would not be a great idea to try to make it to Semonkong the same day, even if it was only about 20km away from where we were. On top of the mountain was another small village and I was asking around if we could pitch our tents for the night. One of the locals told me that he would make some space in his newly built house for us and I accepted wholeheartedly. I was also successful to negotiated a basic meal for us. That sounded so sweet that I almost run back to Gery to tell him the news.
As he was still busy with his repair, I was starting my bike to get up the final climb of the day. The prosperity of a warm meal gave me some extra energy and I made it up there without any cockups.
Then I walked back to get some of our luggage. None of our Sherpas were interested to help after they received their money. Since I was surrounded from a lot of kids, I told them that they would get one biscuit each if they would help to carry something. I was giving one of the older kids the small packet of biscuits and told him he should share with his brothers and sisters. He wanted to take the whole package back to his house and I had to force him to open up the package to share with the other kids. In the end all the kids received a bite of something they normally don’t get.
After the Pratley hardened it was Gery’s task to get his bike on top. He only needed a little push in one section and he was up as well.
The kids followed us to our accommodation for the night and wanted more and more pictures taken. It was good fun to say the least.
After we put all our belongings in the house, we went for a little walk once the sun started setting.
What a day, what a mountain. We could not get enough of it.
Two Shepherds were also enjoying the sunset.
The father from our host, which was also the chief of the village, came looking for us. Even if we could not speak the same language there was a connection to all these people we have met along the way. The same with this old man.
When it was dark, we were going back to our accommodation. Our host Johan brought us a big plate of food. Millie and cabbage. It was so tasteful and filling, we were truly in heaven.
He was even able to organize a mattress for me. What a luxury.
Gery was using his ATG field bed, which proved to be quite a good investment for his back.
After our dinner we were chatting a little bit and got cramps at the same time and in the same place in our legs. The day was taking his toll on our body as it seemed.
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