Casting from Turd
Grey Hound
:sip:
My annual leave. The hell , Baviaans and some more.
- Thread starter hando
- Start date
Mev Vis Arend
Race Dog
Jis, Hando, jy neem darem mooi fotos. :thumleft:
Dankie vir die deel.
Dankie vir die deel.
Dankie Mevrou Vis Arend. Komende van jou is dit n groot kompliment.
DAY 4
Day 4 saw me up bright and early. I made a (semi)lekker cup of coffee, had a shower and proceeded to pack up all my goodies.
In the past I used to take along my little coffee filter and some filter coffee , but for this trip I reverted to Nescafe Cappuccino in sachets. I have to be honest - I think next time I will go back to proper filter coffee. Whilst the sachets are an easy all in one solution it just does not do the trick for that proper early morning coffee.
I had to wait for the sun to dry my tent before I could pack it away. In the mean time I had to keep my eyes on a little monkey who was intent on raiding whatever he could find.
I plugged my battery charger into a power outlet to make sure that I had sufficient battery power to keep my camera going.
With everything packed and sorted I made my way back to the road.
At first I stopped and photographed every single water crossing I came to , but somewhere along the road I gave up as there were just too many.
Jemima was still acting up with her Neutral light flashing and flickering after every water crossing.
I saw some Kudu
And more water crossings
This was adventure bike heaven. The road surface was a bit loose but nothing that me and Jemima could not handle.
At some point we crossed some loose river rocks but even this was not too bad.
And another long water crossing.
and another
Slowly we started to climb out of the valley and I started to wonder where the (in)famous Smitskraal water crossing was. For a moment I considered that it was the dry rocky section I crossed earlier.
The views were spectacular
I met my first fellow 4x4 traveler for the morning. He was also going nowhere slowly.
And then I happened onto Smitskraal. For all of the trip I knew that if I was going to drop Jemima then this would be the place. I also knew that dropping her in the water would be a bad plan that could result in some tedious spanner swinging to get her going again.
Ahh well. This was it. As the English say , in for a penny , in for a pound.
"This is it Bossie."
"This is it Savage."
On the pegs and off I went. In the next few meters I learnt a few things. Chief of these was that loose river rocks covered in a thick layer of frog snot did not create a good road surface. I had thought that sand and mud was bad , but this was in a whole new league ! As one of the loose rocks changed my direction for me and knocked me off line I managed to come to a stop with Jemima still in an upright position. Whilst this was no mean feat , the thought was overshadowed by a new fact. My feet were reporting in no uncertain terms that my boots , whilst being very supportive and comfortable , were not at all waterproof. This report was rated and considered irrelevant at the time as I had more pressing matters to attend to. Like getting Jemima going forwards again. With boots and wheels slipping on above mentioned frog snot I had a real fight on my hands to get Jemima out of hole that her back wheel had dug for itself and to keep her upright at the same time. Eventually I got her back on line and before I knew it I was out and across. I can only imagine what Smitskraal must be like when the water level is high. I am hoping that then at least there would be less frog snot.
Anyway - I was across and although a little out of breath and sweaty with feet sloshing in my boots I had made it.
And I was hungry.
Ahh well - Breakfast it would be then. And so I ate what was probably the most expensive tin of Viennas I have ever bought.
I even had some pudding.
Feeling less hungry and quite happy with life I set of down what for me would be the prettiest part of Baviaans.
The rock formations and valleys are just spectacular.
This was breathtaking. A thought that did cross my mind was that should one find yourself on this road with a riding partner that is scared of heights and not 100% confident in his or her riding abilities , one might be in for a tough time getting that person through the mountainous section of Baviaans.
I stopped for a few more pics and every time I stopped I could smell coolant. This was slowly getting on my nerves as I would not want to overheat the bike's motor.
I came out of the Baviaans Conservancy and took one or two more pics on the road to Patensie.
At 10:45 I stopped where the gravel turns to tar and phoned my friend Neville who lives and works in Uitenhage to find out when he had lunch. Lunch was at twelve. This left me with just more than an hour to refuel in Patensie and make my way to Uitenhage. I fueled in Patensie and then did some low flying (for a loaded 650) and stopped in Uitenhage at 11:55.
Neville and I had a quick kuier in his lunch time before I set off towards Alexandria where my brother lived. I stopped in Alex around 15:30 and the kuier began in earnest.
Day 4 saw me up bright and early. I made a (semi)lekker cup of coffee, had a shower and proceeded to pack up all my goodies.
In the past I used to take along my little coffee filter and some filter coffee , but for this trip I reverted to Nescafe Cappuccino in sachets. I have to be honest - I think next time I will go back to proper filter coffee. Whilst the sachets are an easy all in one solution it just does not do the trick for that proper early morning coffee.
I had to wait for the sun to dry my tent before I could pack it away. In the mean time I had to keep my eyes on a little monkey who was intent on raiding whatever he could find.
I plugged my battery charger into a power outlet to make sure that I had sufficient battery power to keep my camera going.
With everything packed and sorted I made my way back to the road.
At first I stopped and photographed every single water crossing I came to , but somewhere along the road I gave up as there were just too many.
Jemima was still acting up with her Neutral light flashing and flickering after every water crossing.
I saw some Kudu
And more water crossings
This was adventure bike heaven. The road surface was a bit loose but nothing that me and Jemima could not handle.
At some point we crossed some loose river rocks but even this was not too bad.
And another long water crossing.
and another
Slowly we started to climb out of the valley and I started to wonder where the (in)famous Smitskraal water crossing was. For a moment I considered that it was the dry rocky section I crossed earlier.
The views were spectacular
I met my first fellow 4x4 traveler for the morning. He was also going nowhere slowly.
And then I happened onto Smitskraal. For all of the trip I knew that if I was going to drop Jemima then this would be the place. I also knew that dropping her in the water would be a bad plan that could result in some tedious spanner swinging to get her going again.
Ahh well. This was it. As the English say , in for a penny , in for a pound.
"This is it Bossie."
"This is it Savage."
On the pegs and off I went. In the next few meters I learnt a few things. Chief of these was that loose river rocks covered in a thick layer of frog snot did not create a good road surface. I had thought that sand and mud was bad , but this was in a whole new league ! As one of the loose rocks changed my direction for me and knocked me off line I managed to come to a stop with Jemima still in an upright position. Whilst this was no mean feat , the thought was overshadowed by a new fact. My feet were reporting in no uncertain terms that my boots , whilst being very supportive and comfortable , were not at all waterproof. This report was rated and considered irrelevant at the time as I had more pressing matters to attend to. Like getting Jemima going forwards again. With boots and wheels slipping on above mentioned frog snot I had a real fight on my hands to get Jemima out of hole that her back wheel had dug for itself and to keep her upright at the same time. Eventually I got her back on line and before I knew it I was out and across. I can only imagine what Smitskraal must be like when the water level is high. I am hoping that then at least there would be less frog snot.
Anyway - I was across and although a little out of breath and sweaty with feet sloshing in my boots I had made it.
And I was hungry.
Ahh well - Breakfast it would be then. And so I ate what was probably the most expensive tin of Viennas I have ever bought.
I even had some pudding.
Feeling less hungry and quite happy with life I set of down what for me would be the prettiest part of Baviaans.
The rock formations and valleys are just spectacular.
This was breathtaking. A thought that did cross my mind was that should one find yourself on this road with a riding partner that is scared of heights and not 100% confident in his or her riding abilities , one might be in for a tough time getting that person through the mountainous section of Baviaans.
I stopped for a few more pics and every time I stopped I could smell coolant. This was slowly getting on my nerves as I would not want to overheat the bike's motor.
I came out of the Baviaans Conservancy and took one or two more pics on the road to Patensie.
At 10:45 I stopped where the gravel turns to tar and phoned my friend Neville who lives and works in Uitenhage to find out when he had lunch. Lunch was at twelve. This left me with just more than an hour to refuel in Patensie and make my way to Uitenhage. I fueled in Patensie and then did some low flying (for a loaded 650) and stopped in Uitenhage at 11:55.
Neville and I had a quick kuier in his lunch time before I set off towards Alexandria where my brother lived. I stopped in Alex around 15:30 and the kuier began in earnest.
Great ride report :thumleft:viennas and mints for breakfast 
?.that's a new combo :biggrin:.hope there is more to come?
?.that's a new combo :biggrin:.hope there is more to come?
Day 5and 6
My brother, Jaco, Works as a professional hunter. He was asked by one of the lodge owners to shoot some animals for meat for the lodge. So on Saturday morning we set of to shoot a Blue Wildebeast Bull, an Impala ewe and a Blesbok ewe for the lodge.
Because this was a hunting farm we knew that the animals would be skittish and that walk and stalk would be the order of the day.
We spotted a few Wilde beast who saw us and started running away , but one lone bull did not follow the others and presented Jaco with a shot. Because we were shooting for the pot only head or upper neck shots would do. Jaco shot the Wildebeast between the eyes at about 250m and the bull dropped in its tracks. Jaco gutted the bull but when the time came to load the bull onto the bakkie we realized that the winch had gotten damaged in one of his last trips. This meant that between the two of us we needed to load about 240kg of dead animal onto the back of 4x4. What a mission !
With the Wildebeast loaded eventually it was time to look for the other two animals we needed. With the wind , and some luck, on our side we managed to locate a few Impala ewes. Now I had never shot a buck before and Jaco gave me the .300 Winmag and pointed out the ewe he wanted. I was presented with a nice clean shot from about 120m and I shot the Impala between the eyes. A good quick and clean kill.
We managed to locate and shoot a Blesbuck ewe as well and with all three animals slaughtered and dropped in the cold room we headed for home. The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent relaxing and chatting about life and telling jokes and stories.
The plan was for me to leave around midday on Monday and make my way back to Neville and Sandy where I would sleep over on Monday night.
So with a little time on my hands on Monday morning I decided to check Jemima's water level see if I can sort out the neutral light issue. With the side panels off I added some water to the radiator and overflow bottle that was both a little low.
With that done I turned my attention to the neutral switch. I turned on the ignition to see what the little light was doing and all that happened was that the dash clock died. The battery was dead. Not flat or low on charge. DEAD.
We took the battery out and took it to the local bike guru , Sergio, whom I hoped but doubted would have another battery for me. My luck was out and Sergio had nothing to help me with so we asked him if he could just place the old battery on charge for a while. He did, but the charger did not even show any charge current. That battery was beyond salvation.
I put the battery back and buttoned Jemima up in the hopes that I would be able to jump start her from Jaco's bakkie and then ride her to PE where I knew that Jughead was keeping a new battery for me.
Jemima flatly refused to start. She would crank and cough , but no joy. Those in the know , knows that once an F650's battery goes the little bike will not run. Period.
Eventually there was nothing for it but to load Jemima on the back of Jaco's bakkie and drive her through to PE in order to fit a new battery.
At Jughead's he replaced the battery and also showed me where the wire harness has chaffed through causing the neutral light issue and some other little gremlins I experienced.
With Jemima up and running again I made quick time to Uitenhage where Sandy gave us a lovely supper.
I was feeling very down and depressed with my bike not being in tip top shape and to add to my troubles the weather service was promising rain for the next couple of days.
My brother, Jaco, Works as a professional hunter. He was asked by one of the lodge owners to shoot some animals for meat for the lodge. So on Saturday morning we set of to shoot a Blue Wildebeast Bull, an Impala ewe and a Blesbok ewe for the lodge.
Because this was a hunting farm we knew that the animals would be skittish and that walk and stalk would be the order of the day.
We spotted a few Wilde beast who saw us and started running away , but one lone bull did not follow the others and presented Jaco with a shot. Because we were shooting for the pot only head or upper neck shots would do. Jaco shot the Wildebeast between the eyes at about 250m and the bull dropped in its tracks. Jaco gutted the bull but when the time came to load the bull onto the bakkie we realized that the winch had gotten damaged in one of his last trips. This meant that between the two of us we needed to load about 240kg of dead animal onto the back of 4x4. What a mission !
With the Wildebeast loaded eventually it was time to look for the other two animals we needed. With the wind , and some luck, on our side we managed to locate a few Impala ewes. Now I had never shot a buck before and Jaco gave me the .300 Winmag and pointed out the ewe he wanted. I was presented with a nice clean shot from about 120m and I shot the Impala between the eyes. A good quick and clean kill.
We managed to locate and shoot a Blesbuck ewe as well and with all three animals slaughtered and dropped in the cold room we headed for home. The rest of Saturday and Sunday was spent relaxing and chatting about life and telling jokes and stories.
The plan was for me to leave around midday on Monday and make my way back to Neville and Sandy where I would sleep over on Monday night.
So with a little time on my hands on Monday morning I decided to check Jemima's water level see if I can sort out the neutral light issue. With the side panels off I added some water to the radiator and overflow bottle that was both a little low.
With that done I turned my attention to the neutral switch. I turned on the ignition to see what the little light was doing and all that happened was that the dash clock died. The battery was dead. Not flat or low on charge. DEAD.
We took the battery out and took it to the local bike guru , Sergio, whom I hoped but doubted would have another battery for me. My luck was out and Sergio had nothing to help me with so we asked him if he could just place the old battery on charge for a while. He did, but the charger did not even show any charge current. That battery was beyond salvation.
I put the battery back and buttoned Jemima up in the hopes that I would be able to jump start her from Jaco's bakkie and then ride her to PE where I knew that Jughead was keeping a new battery for me.
Jemima flatly refused to start. She would crank and cough , but no joy. Those in the know , knows that once an F650's battery goes the little bike will not run. Period.
Eventually there was nothing for it but to load Jemima on the back of Jaco's bakkie and drive her through to PE in order to fit a new battery.
At Jughead's he replaced the battery and also showed me where the wire harness has chaffed through causing the neutral light issue and some other little gremlins I experienced.
With Jemima up and running again I made quick time to Uitenhage where Sandy gave us a lovely supper.
I was feeling very down and depressed with my bike not being in tip top shape and to add to my troubles the weather service was promising rain for the next couple of days.
BLK
Race Dog
- Joined
- May 29, 2013
- Messages
- 2,081
- Reaction score
- 34
- Location
- Rembrandt Park
- Bike
- KTM 1290 Adventure R
Great RR,awesome pics
thks
thks
Day 7
With rain predicted I was not in the mood to set up tent and strike a wet tent in the morning and so I contacted Veldbrand who confirmed that he did have a room for me at Koedoeskloof.
And so feeling quite depressed about riding in the rain and having a sick bike I hit the road towards Ladismith.
I decided to make the most of it and instead of sitting on the N2 I chose the Van Stadens pass.
I had not yet put on my rain gear and I was hoping that I would be lucky enough not to get rained on , but alas that was not to be.
Eventually, with rain clouds looming on the horizon, just before the Humansdorp turnoff I pulled off the road and got into my rain suit.
I went past a heck of a lot of fans and suddenly understood where all of PE's wind was coming from. I am sure with all of those fans running they can create quite a serious amount of wind.
The road towards Kareedouw lay to my right
And I was happy to get of the busy N2 and point Jemima up the R62
I did not stop for many photos and made good time towards the N9 sticking to around 100 to 110 km/h.
Shortly after turning left onto the N9 from the R62 I saw a road sign to the right pointing towards Kykoe. I figured it was going in the right direction and I was not in the mood to sit on the tar roads all day and so right I went.
A little way up the road I was starting to feel the heat and so stopped in a shady spot to get out of the rain suit.
Back onto the N9 I decided that was not going to sit on the tar all the time and started looking for a dirt road to the right that would take me to Oudtshoorn.
At about this time Jemima's fuel light came on a quick bit of mental calculations said that I would make it to Oudtshoorn for fuel. Just.
The road to Daskop appeared on my right and figured it was as good a road as any.
A friendly sign asking not to scare the daylights out of the local Ostriches.
I took that and my glowing fuel light to heart and chilled keeping my speed around 70km/h
What followed was quite a pleasant piece of road
I made it to Oudtshoorn and stopped at the fuel station to fill up my 17liter tank. I filled it with 16.15 liters. This means that at best I had another 18 or 20 kms to go before I would have had to test the walking ability of my Gearne Boots.
I was getting hungry and knew exactly where I wanted to go to solve that problem.
R60 provided me with all you see in the photo.
My tipe of place.
From Smitswinkel I went through Calitzdorp and on through the Huis Rivier pass again.
I turned off the main road and followed the scenic road past South African Author CJ Langenhoven's birthplace.
I stopped at Koedoeskloof where I was confronted with another one of Jemima's little niggles.
I stripped Jemima's side panel down and refilled the radiator and overflow bottle. With all the little niggles starting to work on my nerves I decided to cut my trip short and head home the next day.
The cloud was building up and I was very glad for the room with hot shower that Debi showed me to. I can not recommend Koedoeskloof enough. If you have not been there yet - get on your bike and go.
If you need anymore convincing then maybe the photo of their famous Koedoe burger will clinch the deal.
With rain predicted I was not in the mood to set up tent and strike a wet tent in the morning and so I contacted Veldbrand who confirmed that he did have a room for me at Koedoeskloof.
And so feeling quite depressed about riding in the rain and having a sick bike I hit the road towards Ladismith.
I decided to make the most of it and instead of sitting on the N2 I chose the Van Stadens pass.
I had not yet put on my rain gear and I was hoping that I would be lucky enough not to get rained on , but alas that was not to be.
Eventually, with rain clouds looming on the horizon, just before the Humansdorp turnoff I pulled off the road and got into my rain suit.
I went past a heck of a lot of fans and suddenly understood where all of PE's wind was coming from. I am sure with all of those fans running they can create quite a serious amount of wind.
The road towards Kareedouw lay to my right
And I was happy to get of the busy N2 and point Jemima up the R62
I did not stop for many photos and made good time towards the N9 sticking to around 100 to 110 km/h.
Shortly after turning left onto the N9 from the R62 I saw a road sign to the right pointing towards Kykoe. I figured it was going in the right direction and I was not in the mood to sit on the tar roads all day and so right I went.
A little way up the road I was starting to feel the heat and so stopped in a shady spot to get out of the rain suit.
Back onto the N9 I decided that was not going to sit on the tar all the time and started looking for a dirt road to the right that would take me to Oudtshoorn.
At about this time Jemima's fuel light came on a quick bit of mental calculations said that I would make it to Oudtshoorn for fuel. Just.
The road to Daskop appeared on my right and figured it was as good a road as any.
A friendly sign asking not to scare the daylights out of the local Ostriches.
I took that and my glowing fuel light to heart and chilled keeping my speed around 70km/h
What followed was quite a pleasant piece of road
I made it to Oudtshoorn and stopped at the fuel station to fill up my 17liter tank. I filled it with 16.15 liters. This means that at best I had another 18 or 20 kms to go before I would have had to test the walking ability of my Gearne Boots.
I was getting hungry and knew exactly where I wanted to go to solve that problem.
R60 provided me with all you see in the photo.
My tipe of place.
From Smitswinkel I went through Calitzdorp and on through the Huis Rivier pass again.
I turned off the main road and followed the scenic road past South African Author CJ Langenhoven's birthplace.
I stopped at Koedoeskloof where I was confronted with another one of Jemima's little niggles.
I stripped Jemima's side panel down and refilled the radiator and overflow bottle. With all the little niggles starting to work on my nerves I decided to cut my trip short and head home the next day.
The cloud was building up and I was very glad for the room with hot shower that Debi showed me to. I can not recommend Koedoeskloof enough. If you have not been there yet - get on your bike and go.
If you need anymore convincing then maybe the photo of their famous Koedoe burger will clinch the deal.
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2007
- Messages
- 8,451
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- Bike
- BMW R1200GS Adventure
hey man - your story-writing and picture taking abilities are amazing........ thoroughly enjoyable!
.... some seriaas memories for me with that pic you have of the "Oudtshoorn via Langkloof" board! During the early 80's I slept in that ditch next to the board in my Browns while hiking from PE to Cape Town ..... (based at EP Cmd) ........ sherbet - long time ago!
.... some seriaas memories for me with that pic you have of the "Oudtshoorn via Langkloof" board! During the early 80's I slept in that ditch next to the board in my Browns while hiking from PE to Cape Town ..... (based at EP Cmd) ........ sherbet - long time ago!
Day 8
I awoke around 5o clock to the sound of rain falling on the roof. I lay under my warm and cosy duvet listening to the owl hooting on the roof , happy in the knowledge that I was not outside in a wet tent that needed to be packed away later.
I slumbered in again and awoke a bit later feeling happy and refreshed. If I have not done so before then I can seriously recommend Koedoeskloof. Thank you Debi and (Eugene) Veldbrand for your hospitality and friendliness and kind service. May Koedoeskloof go from Strength to strength.
I had a leisurely hot shower and packed my goodies onto Jemima. I decided to leave the rain kit as it looked as if I might be lucky and not get rained on again. Sadly that was not to be. But I am getting ahead of myself.
I sat outside where I left my boots for the night and put on my right boot. As I put on my left boot it croaked and I tried to figure out why I had left my socks bundled inside the boot. Then it dawned on me that dirty socks , even if you hard worn them for a week would not evolve into a croaking life form so quickly. And as it was I put on new socks every day , so it had absolutely no reason to croak . Closer investigation revealed not one , but two bullfrogs inside my boot.
With the frog relocated , my bill paid and everyone greeted I set off down the road. At the Tjunction where the dirt road meets the tar I had my first close call for the day. With the tar being shiny and wet from the rain I ended up in a serious rear wheel slide as I made the turn onto the tar. By a lot more luck than skill I managed to change the slide into a slightly more controlled power slide and kept Jemima rubber side down. I did make a mental note to inspect my underpants for some skidmarks as well.
I turned left to go past Bufflesdrift on a dirt road that I knew would spit me out on the R62 again.
The early morning light made for some nice photos.
Doing between 60 and 80km/h I made my way down the dirt road , taking it easy on the muddy sections. I came around a bend and promptly ran into my second very close call for the day. As I crossed a long low water cement bridge I noticed to farm workers setting up new fence wire along the bridge. What I did not see was the piece of old discarded wire lying on the road way. And so at about 80km/h I hit the wire lying across the road. As soon as I heard the wire twanging on the road and hitting against my bike I realized that I was in for a rough ride. A piece of the wire caught around my Front wheel shaft while the rest got rolled up around the rear wheel. This yanked me off line and caused the rear wheel to lock up for about 4 meters or so before the wire broke. How managed to keep Jemima upright trough all of this I still do not know but once again with more luck than skill I managed to stop on the left side of the bridge.
I turned Jemima off and taking off my hydrapack and jacket I assessed the situation. The farm worker came running towards me with big eyes apologizing profusely and claiming ignorance at the same time. Strangely I was very calm and just told him that I was ok.
While he went back to fetch a pair of pliers I took out my Gerber multi tool and by the time he got back to me I had the remove the wire from around Jemima's Sprocket carrier.
Looking back where I came from I could see a 4m skid mark. The camera does not show it too clearly.
The view back from the skid mark to where I stopped Jemima. I also made a mental note to discard the underpants I was wearing , because now I was sure that it would contain some adrenalin skidmarks.
With all wire removed and my blood presure and adrenalin levels back to normal I resumed my journey turning onto the R62 towards Barrydale.
I was still hoping against hope that I would not need my rain kit.
But the further along I went the less likely it seemed.
Eventually I had no choice but to pull off and don my rain gear.
I stopped at the Country Pumpkin in Barrydale for my favorite meal of the day.
Do not be deceived into believing that I only eat bacon and eggs at breakfast time. I would happily eat bacon and eggs any time of the day night.
By the way all you see in that photo cost a total of R59. The waitress also brought me small complimentary tumbler of port as I stopped , but not being one for alcohol on the bike I sent it back.
I had decided that in order to minimize vibration and so try to limit the damage being caused to Jemima's Radiator that I would stick to tar roads for the last day of my journey.
After Montagu I stopped at the old English fort for a pic.
I stand amazed at the way the old folk could stack rocks so neatly and precisely.
Outside Villiersdorp I stopped to take of my rain jacket. And I grabbed these photos.
And I stopped in Franshoek pass for this one.
And so I arrived home on Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday saw me stripping Jemima's radiator out and locating the little leak caused by the fan shroud rubbing against the radiator core. I trust that I have fixed it.
whilst she was unbuttoned she also had a good bath.
The fork seal seems to have been a little piece of dirt lodged inside the seal cause after the bath I have no found any new evidence of a fork seal leak.
And so , 8 days later I found myself back home. Happy with another lovely trip , even if it was not all plain sailing.
24 years after some bright spark thought of having something called the internet I can now use it to share my experiences and adventures with lots of other people. Many of whom I will never meet. But also some whom I have had the honor to meet and share some of these experiences with. Thank you to one and all who played a part in this little adventure. Even just for you reading this here. By reading and sharing this report you make the effort of typing it up worth while.
God bless.
I awoke around 5o clock to the sound of rain falling on the roof. I lay under my warm and cosy duvet listening to the owl hooting on the roof , happy in the knowledge that I was not outside in a wet tent that needed to be packed away later.
I slumbered in again and awoke a bit later feeling happy and refreshed. If I have not done so before then I can seriously recommend Koedoeskloof. Thank you Debi and (Eugene) Veldbrand for your hospitality and friendliness and kind service. May Koedoeskloof go from Strength to strength.
I had a leisurely hot shower and packed my goodies onto Jemima. I decided to leave the rain kit as it looked as if I might be lucky and not get rained on again. Sadly that was not to be. But I am getting ahead of myself.
I sat outside where I left my boots for the night and put on my right boot. As I put on my left boot it croaked and I tried to figure out why I had left my socks bundled inside the boot. Then it dawned on me that dirty socks , even if you hard worn them for a week would not evolve into a croaking life form so quickly. And as it was I put on new socks every day , so it had absolutely no reason to croak . Closer investigation revealed not one , but two bullfrogs inside my boot.
With the frog relocated , my bill paid and everyone greeted I set off down the road. At the Tjunction where the dirt road meets the tar I had my first close call for the day. With the tar being shiny and wet from the rain I ended up in a serious rear wheel slide as I made the turn onto the tar. By a lot more luck than skill I managed to change the slide into a slightly more controlled power slide and kept Jemima rubber side down. I did make a mental note to inspect my underpants for some skidmarks as well.
I turned left to go past Bufflesdrift on a dirt road that I knew would spit me out on the R62 again.
The early morning light made for some nice photos.
Doing between 60 and 80km/h I made my way down the dirt road , taking it easy on the muddy sections. I came around a bend and promptly ran into my second very close call for the day. As I crossed a long low water cement bridge I noticed to farm workers setting up new fence wire along the bridge. What I did not see was the piece of old discarded wire lying on the road way. And so at about 80km/h I hit the wire lying across the road. As soon as I heard the wire twanging on the road and hitting against my bike I realized that I was in for a rough ride. A piece of the wire caught around my Front wheel shaft while the rest got rolled up around the rear wheel. This yanked me off line and caused the rear wheel to lock up for about 4 meters or so before the wire broke. How managed to keep Jemima upright trough all of this I still do not know but once again with more luck than skill I managed to stop on the left side of the bridge.
I turned Jemima off and taking off my hydrapack and jacket I assessed the situation. The farm worker came running towards me with big eyes apologizing profusely and claiming ignorance at the same time. Strangely I was very calm and just told him that I was ok.
While he went back to fetch a pair of pliers I took out my Gerber multi tool and by the time he got back to me I had the remove the wire from around Jemima's Sprocket carrier.
Looking back where I came from I could see a 4m skid mark. The camera does not show it too clearly.
The view back from the skid mark to where I stopped Jemima. I also made a mental note to discard the underpants I was wearing , because now I was sure that it would contain some adrenalin skidmarks.
With all wire removed and my blood presure and adrenalin levels back to normal I resumed my journey turning onto the R62 towards Barrydale.
I was still hoping against hope that I would not need my rain kit.
But the further along I went the less likely it seemed.
Eventually I had no choice but to pull off and don my rain gear.
I stopped at the Country Pumpkin in Barrydale for my favorite meal of the day.
Do not be deceived into believing that I only eat bacon and eggs at breakfast time. I would happily eat bacon and eggs any time of the day night.
By the way all you see in that photo cost a total of R59. The waitress also brought me small complimentary tumbler of port as I stopped , but not being one for alcohol on the bike I sent it back.
I had decided that in order to minimize vibration and so try to limit the damage being caused to Jemima's Radiator that I would stick to tar roads for the last day of my journey.
After Montagu I stopped at the old English fort for a pic.
I stand amazed at the way the old folk could stack rocks so neatly and precisely.
Outside Villiersdorp I stopped to take of my rain jacket. And I grabbed these photos.
And I stopped in Franshoek pass for this one.
And so I arrived home on Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday saw me stripping Jemima's radiator out and locating the little leak caused by the fan shroud rubbing against the radiator core. I trust that I have fixed it.
whilst she was unbuttoned she also had a good bath.
The fork seal seems to have been a little piece of dirt lodged inside the seal cause after the bath I have no found any new evidence of a fork seal leak.
And so , 8 days later I found myself back home. Happy with another lovely trip , even if it was not all plain sailing.
24 years after some bright spark thought of having something called the internet I can now use it to share my experiences and adventures with lots of other people. Many of whom I will never meet. But also some whom I have had the honor to meet and share some of these experiences with. Thank you to one and all who played a part in this little adventure. Even just for you reading this here. By reading and sharing this report you make the effort of typing it up worth while.
God bless.
Some stats for you.
Kilos done 2186
Fuel used 101 Liter
That gives 21.6 km/l
My budget was R400 a day for fuel , food and camping. Some days I went a little over and some days I went under. The days I stayed with my boet was very low on my budget as his maths and mine never correlated when it came to who pays how much for the food we ate.
I had to buy a new battery and mirror lug (R780) from Jughead , that was not included in the original budget. But total cost for the trip was about R3800 over the nine days. My sincerest thanks to Sonja, Jaco and Neville and Sandy who fed me and put me up for the night taking some strain of my budget. Also for Koedoeskloof for your fair pricing on rooms that I am sure are worth a lot more.
If you have read this report front to back you would have now viewed 194 photographs of the 300 plus that I took on this trip.
Kilos done 2186
Fuel used 101 Liter
That gives 21.6 km/l
My budget was R400 a day for fuel , food and camping. Some days I went a little over and some days I went under. The days I stayed with my boet was very low on my budget as his maths and mine never correlated when it came to who pays how much for the food we ate.
I had to buy a new battery and mirror lug (R780) from Jughead , that was not included in the original budget. But total cost for the trip was about R3800 over the nine days. My sincerest thanks to Sonja, Jaco and Neville and Sandy who fed me and put me up for the night taking some strain of my budget. Also for Koedoeskloof for your fair pricing on rooms that I am sure are worth a lot more.
If you have read this report front to back you would have now viewed 194 photographs of the 300 plus that I took on this trip.
arno
Race Dog
Soos altyd Hando wel gedaan !
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2010
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Wow, lekker ride!
I will now re-read it all as I think I missed something somewhere.
8)
I will now re-read it all as I think I missed something somewhere.
8)
Lem
Grey Hound
great ride report met 'n legend bike, Hanno
bly jys veilig na al die noue ontkomings :thumleft:
bly jys veilig na al die noue ontkomings :thumleft:
trevorwb
Race Dog
Thanks for a great read.I really need to get down to the eastern & western Cape.
Man from Nam
Race Dog
Lekka RR Hando :thumleft:
Your photos are fantastic
Your photos are fantastic
Hentie bm
Race Dog
Nice en bly jy het lekker trip gehad en nou le daar vir ons baie werk voor en nuwe ventures :deal: :thumleft:
:deal: :thumleft:
Mev Vis Arend
Race Dog
Fantasties, Hando.
Ek dood natuurlik 10 dode as ek 'n padda in my skoen kry. Het jy gesien hoe kyk daai een vir jou?
Ek het die anderdag op die forum gelees van iemand wat saans ou sykous oor hulle boots trek. Ek sal dit beslis van nouaf doen.
Ek dood natuurlik 10 dode as ek 'n padda in my skoen kry.
Het jy gesien hoe kyk daai een vir jou? Ek het die anderdag op die forum gelees van iemand wat saans ou sykous oor hulle boots trek. Ek sal dit beslis van nouaf doen.
