Nam4x4 and Richtersveld, ala Losper special

[m0lt3n]

Yes I put Losper in the heading, it sums up the type of ride the best.

IOW, epic.

Normally I join Henk for Lesotho rides, but it was his turn to come to my valley for a ride, and see what the Northern Cape had to offer. I had to plan the route and was a little worried that it will not deliver. Our standards in Lesotho have been pretty high. But then I called Losper for some tips and him being him, he send us sommer a completely worked out route.

Henk drove through from Bethlehem Thursday morning, hooked the trailer here in Kathu and we slept that night at Pofadder Hotel. Original plan was to sleep at Klein Pella guest house but they were still covid closed. This added 50km ride per bike to the first day which was already to much for the poor range on these bikes. So this was our biggest worry pre trip, fuel. We ended up taking 2 litres of petrol with in bottles.

Friday came and by 7am we were on the road. My first proper trip on the 990 and I was really enjoying it already!
The road surface was good and the scenery soon turned epic. I managed some awesome pics!

That Last pic is always an awesome spot. You ride and relax and then just have this great scene suddenly unfold in front of you

 

[Crankshaft]

awesome  :thumleft:

 

[m0lt3n]

The first little detour came and finally I could really experience the 990 on some 2 spoor twisties. Its a lot more nimble to what I am used to and the suspension felt bottomless, especially after Bill the Bong serviced it, it was slightly hard, a lot like a racing setup and perfect for this ride. Henk used to be a lot faster than me on the bike in Lesotho, but he was struggling to keep up with his suspension setup being a lot more plush.

 

[subie]

Oo! Verlang ek sommer. Meeste van daardie paaie n paar keer gery. My favourite. Noordkaap en Kalahari paaie gewees.
Sal graag weer die oggend lug daar wil ruik  :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[throttle jockey]

Lovely area. Look forward to the read here. Pic's too.  :sip:

 

[m0lt3n]

These two pics looked particularly good (to me at least)! Crazy what a cellphone can manage sometimes

 

[Edgar]

Wow, that looks like some awesome riding!  :drif:

 

[m0lt3n]

Soon after we got to our first obstacle. Not one foreseen actually. With the recent rains the normal roads near the river wasn't normal roads anymore but flooded. This meant we had to go up the sides of the hills/mountains to pass the deeper sections. Something which would normally not be an issue, but sand is aplenty here. And sand needs momentum to be fun.

So we had to work hard, and it was hot. IF the river wasnt there the heat would have been an issue. I drenched myself constantly to try to cool down while we were man-handling the bikes through.

Check second to last pic...not many lines to ride here. I was glad for the proper ground clearance on the 990

If I am not lazy/busy later, I will add some vids to this post later

 

[subie]

If you perhaps got a track file gpx or something. Please post it as I would like to follow with mapsource on the map

 

[Rooi Wolf]

These two pics looked particularly good (to me at least)! Crazy what a cellphone can manage sometimes

Dis nou fokken mooi!

 

[Lem]

ek subscribe maar solank  :drif:

 

[Chrisl]

Sub!! :thumleft: :drif:

 

[m0lt3n]

so after the struggle in the sand/rocks we were a little tired. Especially myself. Fortunately we could manage a good tempo after this break again.

Groot Melkhoutboom was up next. Always a nice stop, its not always in the middle of the river though. We had a quick swim and were off again.
Close to Witbank we wanted to ride to the river to relax but it wasnt a nice spot. We did find an old guy possibly homeless. Said hallo and Henk asked him where is Windhoek, we are lost.
He did not laugh or anything, just looked like he felt sorry for us and said no but Witbank is near by.

Next stretch next to the river did not have issues and we had a great ride, and managed some jumps as well. It was cooler as well riding that close to the water so we enjoyed it a lot, enough to never stop for a pic.

Finished the river loop, got on main road, made good time and then continued straight where one normally turns right to Goodhouse. I dont know if Losper was cognisant that we will struggle with fuel range and put a short cut in, or gave us sand because I told him Henk wants sand, but sand is what we got and it was great. This piece was really nice and one of those stretches of road one will cherish. The sand was virgin, the easy type.... and we also came across some horses. Took some pics, but riding off said horses decided they had to galop off in same direction as us. I never really stop for animals so didnt now either and tried to speed up and push past them and force them to the side which worked, but I did get a good pelting with rocks from their hoofs. They make good speed in the sand!

Soon after Henk had his fuel light come on and we decided to shoot through to Steinkopf for fuel. Nice fast gravel with Henk practising getting his front wheel up at 140kmph. Rather successfully I have to add. No pics though. I also practice this but much more half heartedly, plus my feet were sloshing in my boots in water that felt like it was boiling.

I hate waterproof boots, all they are good at is holding water in boots.

We refueled, ate, wondered whether we should do the morning part of day two in reverse, called Losper, and he said most definitely not. (It was 3pm at the time) and said we should go back and go to Kamgab. There will be fuel at Oewerbos no need to worry (There was)
so no pics, and we said back on the good fast gravel direction Kamgab

 

[Vis Arend]

:sip: :thumleft:

 

[m0lt3n]

Stupid phone struggling to post pics. I need to resubmit all the time! Bloody agent

 

[m0lt3n]

.

 

[Ri]

MAGIC!!!  :ricky:

 

[Hollywood]

Hoennervleisbikerywêreld!!!!! I'm following with huge nostalgia

 

[m0lt3n]

Rough day at work. I will get on the report as soon as I can. Lots of drama still due...

 

[Pietsjiet]

Epic ride!
Sub