Ever since I got my license earlier this year i have always had a small solo trip in the back of my head, just a couple of days in the klein karoo or something like that.
So at the beginning of the school holiday I finally got the chance to do this.
Today I was going to ride to Bonnievale via back roads
All packed and ready I left a very wet and rainy Cape Town
1st stop to get the rain suite out, little did I know i was going to be wearing it for the rest of the day :
I had a nice ride to Franshoek(in the rain) and stopped at this monument, have know idea what it is for?
I stopped just before the pass to take the rain suit jacket off, as the rain had stopped by now,but it was still very cold my supposed "anti fog" goggles were fogging up like crazy :eek7:
Here Im at the top of the pass,its quite steep and the gearbox got thoroughly worked on the way up.
And then it started to rain again, time to get the rain suit out again,the fog was also coming in and you could not see a thing on the way down,quite scary
I stopped a bit as I could not ride in this rain it was just to dangerous for my capabilities
The rain lifted a bit and i set off again, towards Theewaterskloof dam,here you can see how full it was.
Leaving Villiersdorp the rain finally stopped.
I had HUGE crosswinds on this roads was lucky to not get the wind from the front, the wind blew me out of the lane on one time and onto the side of the road, luckily there was no oncoming traffic.
Onto this road,which name I cannot pronounce, this was going to be the first bit of gravel for the day,whoop whoop :drif:
I stopped here and had a snack,stretched my legs a bit and set off again.
The road had tar sections in between, although the maps clearly stated its gravel? Ah well still beats highways!
I think this sign is in the wrong place,there was not a drop of water on the whole road.
Ah sweet sweet gravel
Came across this absolute gem on the road to Robertson, man I like this car!! Looks like a 38 Chevy
The entrance of Binnievale, its quite a feeling to get to your destination even though it wasn't that far.
Err. there is no way Im getting across this water crossing ???
Ah I made the 1st day,the bike held up the luggage worked and I was happy.
The next day was going to be to Ladismith, I left a sunny Bonnievale on route to Ladismith via the Oubergpass,today was going to be all gravel!!
Going through ashton.
Filled up and I only used 6l of petrol the whole of yesterday ;D
Going through Montagu
Here the gravel starts, the turnoff to Oubergpas, I got a call from operator giving me the heads up on the weather and road condition, there was a concern that the roads to come were closed due to flooding.
The 1st river crossing, sadly didnt have any water in, you should really come ride this road after it has rained, theres like 50 crossings like these.
The start of the pass, this sign is really old, note that the maximum speed is in mph ;D
This pass was beautiful, the roads winding to the top and still no rain
I stopped abit next to the road to have a break and let the bike cool down, it is only air cooled and wasn't built for this type of riding. But it had no problem doing it.
Riding along,lots of dirt highways here the road is in great condition, i didnt even see one car the whole way.
Here I rejoined another road leading to ladismith some nice scenery
Almost there just about 20km to the end of the days riding, although i didnt want it to end yet
Destination reached I took the luggage of, this is where i was going to stay the rest of the week, doing rides in the area.
Day 3 Seweweekspoort.
Today I was going to do the very scenic seweweekspoort and gamkapoort dam route.
Into the poort i found a turn off, Hmm... where does this lead i wonder?
Going through 5 small water crossings it led to this HUGE dam that no one seems to know of
Thats my bike down there :biggrin:
Definitely black bass territoryatch:
The exit of the poort, I didnt feel like taking the route back yet, so i took this turnoff to the Gamkapoort dam
There are gates at the front, but you are allowed in
Real nice roads these, but they do have a steep drop to the right so no slip ups allowed I take it very easy through here.
A came past a turn and on the other side there were 3 klipspringers in the road, by the time a got the camera out only one was left,but hey I got the pic so it counts! ;D
Some more of these roads, if you are wondering where you can ride to ,come try these routes its really beautiful and fun to ride.
The road narrows and you start heading down again
Another gate just before the dam, wonder what they are keeping inside all these gates?atch:
And here it is, the klein karoo is at its driest in many years and the dam was very empty
I found a route that led to the water
.
Time to head back with more gravel roads, the bike was still going strong even though i was stopping allot less to let it cool of.
Day 4 Trail Ride
Today I was going to do a trail ride through a couple of farms, a sort of recce ride fro the last day of the December "Forum small bike trip"
It was very technical and i loved it, it did cross through 4 farms so you got to respect the area when riding here.
Lekker trails
Most of these roads were last ridden in 1999 and were very overgrown
Yep the road goes through there
Anyone who likes trails will enjoy this trail,one the campsite at our farm opens I can take the dogs that come camping on this route.
There grass rocks water,everything that you like, i didnt take allot of pics here as the riding was waaay to much fun.
Some of the rocky roads
The trail ended and i went back.
All in all I covered about 900km's the past days on my 125 riding through rain wind and sunshine it was great fun, I cant wait to do this again in December. Not even a puncture nor a single problem with the bike.
That concludes my 1st solo
So at the beginning of the school holiday I finally got the chance to do this.
Today I was going to ride to Bonnievale via back roads
All packed and ready I left a very wet and rainy Cape Town
1st stop to get the rain suite out, little did I know i was going to be wearing it for the rest of the day :
I had a nice ride to Franshoek(in the rain) and stopped at this monument, have know idea what it is for?
I stopped just before the pass to take the rain suit jacket off, as the rain had stopped by now,but it was still very cold my supposed "anti fog" goggles were fogging up like crazy :eek7:
Here Im at the top of the pass,its quite steep and the gearbox got thoroughly worked on the way up.
And then it started to rain again, time to get the rain suit out again,the fog was also coming in and you could not see a thing on the way down,quite scary
I stopped a bit as I could not ride in this rain it was just to dangerous for my capabilities
The rain lifted a bit and i set off again, towards Theewaterskloof dam,here you can see how full it was.
Leaving Villiersdorp the rain finally stopped.
I had HUGE crosswinds on this roads was lucky to not get the wind from the front, the wind blew me out of the lane on one time and onto the side of the road, luckily there was no oncoming traffic.
Onto this road,which name I cannot pronounce, this was going to be the first bit of gravel for the day,whoop whoop :drif:
I stopped here and had a snack,stretched my legs a bit and set off again.
The road had tar sections in between, although the maps clearly stated its gravel? Ah well still beats highways!
I think this sign is in the wrong place,there was not a drop of water on the whole road.
Ah sweet sweet gravel
Came across this absolute gem on the road to Robertson, man I like this car!! Looks like a 38 Chevy
The entrance of Binnievale, its quite a feeling to get to your destination even though it wasn't that far.
Err. there is no way Im getting across this water crossing ???
Ah I made the 1st day,the bike held up the luggage worked and I was happy.
The next day was going to be to Ladismith, I left a sunny Bonnievale on route to Ladismith via the Oubergpass,today was going to be all gravel!!
Going through ashton.
Filled up and I only used 6l of petrol the whole of yesterday
;DGoing through Montagu
Here the gravel starts, the turnoff to Oubergpas, I got a call from operator giving me the heads up on the weather and road condition, there was a concern that the roads to come were closed due to flooding.
The 1st river crossing, sadly didnt have any water in, you should really come ride this road after it has rained, theres like 50 crossings like these.
The start of the pass, this sign is really old, note that the maximum speed is in mph ;D
This pass was beautiful, the roads winding to the top and still no rain
I stopped abit next to the road to have a break and let the bike cool down, it is only air cooled and wasn't built for this type of riding. But it had no problem doing it.
Riding along,lots of dirt highways here the road is in great condition, i didnt even see one car the whole way.
Here I rejoined another road leading to ladismith some nice scenery
Almost there just about 20km to the end of the days riding, although i didnt want it to end yet
Destination reached I took the luggage of, this is where i was going to stay the rest of the week, doing rides in the area.
Day 3 Seweweekspoort.
Today I was going to do the very scenic seweweekspoort and gamkapoort dam route.
Into the poort i found a turn off, Hmm... where does this lead i wonder?
Going through 5 small water crossings it led to this HUGE dam that no one seems to know of
Thats my bike down there :biggrin:
Definitely black bass territory
atch:
The exit of the poort, I didnt feel like taking the route back yet, so i took this turnoff to the Gamkapoort dam
There are gates at the front, but you are allowed in
Real nice roads these, but they do have a steep drop to the right so no slip ups allowed I take it very easy through here.
A came past a turn and on the other side there were 3 klipspringers in the road, by the time a got the camera out only one was left,but hey I got the pic so it counts! ;D
Some more of these roads, if you are wondering where you can ride to ,come try these routes its really beautiful and fun to ride.
The road narrows and you start heading down again
Another gate just before the dam, wonder what they are keeping inside all these gates?
atch:And here it is, the klein karoo is at its driest in many years and the dam was very empty
I found a route that led to the water
Time to head back with more gravel roads, the bike was still going strong even though i was stopping allot less to let it cool of.
Day 4 Trail Ride
Today I was going to do a trail ride through a couple of farms, a sort of recce ride fro the last day of the December "Forum small bike trip"
It was very technical and i loved it, it did cross through 4 farms so you got to respect the area when riding here.
Lekker trails
Most of these roads were last ridden in 1999 and were very overgrown
Yep the road goes through there
Anyone who likes trails will enjoy this trail,one the campsite at our farm opens I can take the dogs that come camping on this route.
There grass rocks water,everything that you like, i didnt take allot of pics here as the riding was waaay to much fun.
Some of the rocky roads
The trail ended and i went back.
All in all I covered about 900km's the past days on my 125 riding through rain wind and sunshine it was great fun, I cant wait to do this again in December. Not even a puncture nor a single problem with the bike.
That concludes my 1st solo
