Our Story of the Honda Quest 2017

[GRyPH]

Day 3 My toughest day at Quest


From the bad came good. We got to assist Philip and Andrew with a flat just as we turned back. It was hot. There was no shade and Andrew weren’t his cheerful self. I vividly remember him saying to Philip as he started to remove the front wheel - this is obviously your first time. Thinking to myself. Jassas this poor guy’s got it tough.

:imaposer: :imaposer:

I remember this clearly.    This was actually a little light hearted snipe between me and Kamanya.  When I started to loosen the pinch bolts I , for some unknown reason, turned them in the wrong direction
This prompted Kamanya's response of " Is this your first time" and the laughs afterward as I repeated to myself " Leftie loosie righty tighty"  :imaposer: :imaposer:
It was all in good humour  :thumleft:

 

[GRyPH]

With all the pictures of Spitzkoppe on the thread, I am sure that nobody expected it to be a 5 star lodge. When Hardy planned the route, he wanted Quest to be a true adventure, that said.

The Kaokoland is untouched, and exactly as God made it. In order to experience Namibia’s wonders, you have to give up certain luxuries, or travel on the gravel highways and follow the tourist busses, as they lead you to air conditioners and icy cocktails.

If you want to ride an Africa Twin through remote and vast places, sleep under the stars in a riverbed, and boil your own coffee on an open fire.. Then Yes! you might have to give up your shower for a night.

PS : There are clean ablution facilities at the entrance gate with toilets and warm water showers.

I couldnt agree more.

Spitzkoppe might not be 5 star lodging but that is not what we were after, and it is without a doubt the most majestic place I have ever had the pleasure of visiting, anywhere in the world. 
It is well worth a visit and definitely one of my highlight-camps. in fact I am planning on taking my family there soon.  :thumleft:

 

[GRyPH]

Ok...  it seems I fell a lot more behind than I thought, and the others are doing such awesome write-ups that I do not have a lot to add. So im just adding a little bit to catch up quickly with the flow of the story

Day 3 Palmwag to Opuwo

Andrew pretty much covered this day in his report.  It was gravel highway all the way to Opuwo. 
During the day Tau decided to stop every now and again in hard to see places to allow him to judge the riding capabilities of the 20 contestants. Something he obviously wasn't able to do while leading the group.
Myself and Kamanya thought that this might also be a test in observation, in other words, how many riders will not spot him and just keep going without checking who the "unknown" rider next to the road is and whether he needed help. So this then became our game for the day,  spot Tau...  sort of  like "wheres wally" but with a Namibian biking twist. and every time that we found him, and after we made sure he saw that we saw him and checked up on him, we would move on.  I still wonder if this was a test to see whether we would spot him because his "hiding places" became harder to spot as the day went on.

It was during one of these searches for him that I kind of misread the turn in the road.  The road goes over a slight blind rise, but the road was visible further on to the left of the turn giving the impression of a slight left turn. However just behind the blind rise the road first twists to the right before taking a sharper turn to the left to tie up with the part of the road that was visible from before the blind rise.
As I came over the rise, fully prepared to take the slight left, the road suddenly turned right and I quickly had to correct, almost running of the left of the road but keeping it together and then eventually sliding  in the sharper left .. It felt like a silly mistake and I was sure I heard Andrew laughing at me in his helmet but when we stopped for the first time again, he couldn't stop talking about how in sync we were around that corner. Although I couldn't see him at that stage, he had apparently misread the turn exactly as I had and we both corrected exactly the same at the same time. I wish there was video of this  :ricky:

A little later on we turned around to check on the team behind us and it seemed they got a flat. Tau told us to turn around again to prevent the guys in front from turning around as well. Riding away Kamanya and I  shared a High5 because we felt that we couldn't have caught the puncture of the team behind us any better and we were sure it would reflect good on us. Later on we learned however that this was not the case though.

When we caught up to the others, we got a bit "tangled" with a tourist. It was  a lady with a Polo that traveled Namibia on her own  and we struggled to get pass her as she was driving on the wrong side of the road. It felt like it took forever to pass this polo and once I finally got my chance and passed her I just had to stop again because my front wheel was flat.    (This lady popped up again on the road between Epupa and van zyls camp  :)

It was here that  Minxy showed us that its not required to remove the one caliper and this saved us a lot of time. :thumleft: After patching the tube, we headed out again only to notice that I still had a slow puncture. (later on we fixed that as well, it was a second puncture that we missed next to the road but we were able to pick it up when we finally in camp could hold the tube under water)
These were my only punctures for the whole trip.


That afternoon in Opuwo we had the timed wheel change challenge where we had to remove the rear wheel, and put it back.  Kamanya and I put up the second best time of the challenge, but I suspect we were penalised a little, because we were told I didn't tighten the wheel quite enough.

It was our turn on kitchen duty, which meant we were responsible for the night's supper, breakfast the next morning as well as the lunch pack for the next day.
The ladies on the crew however made things a bit easier on us when they decided that they would make us a pasta dish and that we would only need to worry about washing up afterwards, and breakfast the next morning.



Photos:

Me and Andrew on the road

Andrew and SP having their supper on the best seat in the house.

 

[GRyPH]

Day 4  Opuwo to Epupa

early morning, we woke up and prepared breakfast for everyone. This was a easy task, especially compared to the washing up afterwards  :imaposer: Its like the washing just multplies.  vuil borde en koppies kry kleintjies.  :imaposer:

After the usual PRIs and packing the vehicles we set off to what would be the hottest day of the trip. ( temperatures reached 47 deg Celsius on my bike at a stage, this was while moving, when standing still the temperatures would read higher and all bikes indicated 50 deg Celsius at a stage.

We made a quick stop at a old military base where Jacko was stationed at a stage, This is now a school, but the infrastructure of a base can still clearly be seen.
From there we stopped at the Dorsland Trekkers memorial for lunch. Kobus allready gave more info on this.

Although this was the hottest day, it was also one of the best days. We expected the road from here on to be a lot harder, but it seems that a gravel highway was made here not too long ago.  We all said however that in another year or so, that road will most likely be as bad as we anticipated again.

The scenery was something to behold, coming out of the arid Kaokoland to find the Kunene river flowing strong, its more water than I have seen since flying over the ocean when I left George.
The road snakes steadily next to the Kunene right to Epupa Falls Camp where we would spend the night.

That aftenoon in camp, after we had our jacuzzi in the river,  Ockie offered us all a vitamin b complex injection. I remember asking him what this would do, as I have never had one before. His reply was that it will give me a bit of a boost.
After the injection I crashed! I was so tired I could not keep my eyes open.  I told Andrew that I was going to take a nap, and that he should please wake me if something important was happening.
And so it happened, he woke me for the presentations whereafter I went back to sleep again, then he woke me again for supper, perfectly braaied steak (thanks to whoever manned the braai that night  :thumleft with salads and more!  food fit for a king!    And once again after supper I went back to sleep.  I cant even remember if we scored the presentations that night, if we did, I was asleep while doing it. (Luckily I kept a notebook about the presentations, so I would have given the correct score atleast)  That night I slept like a rock. I was out completely and woke up the next morning feeling better than ever.


Photos:
1-4                some sceenshots from my gopro. 
5                  a small holdup in a riverbed.  Someone (Mcsack perhaps?) fell over, Kamanya and Throttle Jockey went over to assist.
6,7                some scenery shots
8,9                Welcome to Epupa
10                  Having a cold one on the deck overlooking Epupa falls

 

[GRyPH]

Just a few more pics taken there.

 

[Bwana]

Brilliant keep it coming. It has now become like my morning newspaper.

 

[Kobus Myburgh]

After our rest at the bottom of Van Zyl’s we set off into the Marienfluss.  From the one extreme to the other.  Rocks were replaced with sand, and lots of it!  I was still on the manual for the second day in a row and Gerrit on the DCT. 

Like Andrew mentioned, it was only a couple of kilometres before we hit a really soft sandy sections, with a sharp left, then right and then through the river bed.  For a good period of time it was carnage, dust and sand flying all over the place.  Everyone pitched in to assist where necessary and then the convoy got going again. 

Soon after that, Gerrit and I (now back together as a team again) could not see the team behind us.  We waited for a while and then saw the Patrol of Garron and Ian coming in the distance.  They stopped and told us everything is ok behind us and the next team should be coming soon.  We used the time to investigate the fairy circles and Gerrit still made one of those snow angels in one of them.  Pity we never took some pics during this stretch. 

We saw the next team coming and quickly got going, passing the Patrol and then realised there was a huge gap now between us and the team in front of us.  As if reading each other’s mind, Gerrit, leading, started opening the throttle, with me sitting slightly back to his right.  I have no idea how fast we ended up going but that little twee spoor sand track was one of the most amazing sections we rode.  I could see Gerrit’s smile right through the back of his helmet!  If we have to be honest, we were probably somewhat disappointed when all of a sudden we caught up with the convoy again.  That stretch of the Marienfluss, riding with Gerrit, will be a fond memory for the rest of my life.  Sort of one of those moments that for those couple of kilometres you really feel like a Dakar star!

This was the first long stretch of sand and the AT really instilled confidence very quickly.  We were having an absolute blast. 

The stop at rooi drom has already been described and I can’t add much to that.  This is what I found on the well-known landmark but really cannot vouch for it being the truth.

Rooi Drom had its start as a 45 gallon Caltex drum put there by Ben van Zyl as a way of storing petrol till when next he would pass there and need it. Its purpose however changed to that of being a road marker and this is when it got its name. After being stolen by the Herero tribes, Chris Eyre replaced it, but after having it stolen again it was filled with gravel to ensure its safety.

Rooi drom pass followed and it was just inspiring to see every rider conquering what is most certainly no easy climb.  I can only subscribe this feat to the challenge set before the time.  This was one of those groups of 20 people that, if told that there was doubt that we’ll reach camp before dark and that this pass was going to take us a long time, well ………….. challenge accepted!  See you shortly in camp and let’s have an hour or two of daylight to spare while at it.

And that is exactly what this group achieved ………..

We rode into camp and the spirit amongst the group was simply indescribable.  We all congratulated each other and then set off to pitch camp right on the bank of the river.

It was teams 9 & 10 that was on kitchen duty for the night and we had the privilege to braai some of the best steaks I had in my life.  Between Gené, Chantal and Bernadine they concocted the most delicious sauce and spice that made for a feast of a meal. 

Clinton generously shared the rum and we had a fantastic evening.  I think I fell asleep before my head reached the pillow.

 

[KarooKid]

I would do this trip again just for the pap and sous!! The crew ladies have obviously made this before. I / we just could not get enough of it.

 

[Kamanya]

Ahh, this photo reminded me. This is Grant getting his go-faster meds for the day. Ockie is giving him some performance enhancing drugs so that he can forget about his lovely tenderized ribs. What ever it was, was industrial grade.

It wasn't pretty seeing him getting out of bed and trying to put his kit on, but once those drugs were in, he was right as rain.

 

[McSack]

Day 6 - Van Zyl camp - Marble camp

[youtube]https://youtu.be/jGNRVr_AC1U[/youtube]

This rates as one of the toughest and at the same time most awesomest (is that even a word?) days I have spent on a motorcycle …. there were more tough days to come but day 6 will forever be one of those rides I’ll still be telling great grandchildren about one day when I’m 90

1st challenge for the day: Get out of sleeping bag, off stretcher and into kit
Combination of industrial strength meds from The Medicine Man , a very kind donation of a high-end sleeping tablet and pain-killer from two of the other contestants (you know who you are … I owe you big time. Beers are on me at the re-union) meant that I had not moved from my position flat on my back the whole night. Anyone who has cracked ribs before will know the feeling of dread the morning after your first sleep of having to get into a sitting position and then stand up … well that dread is justified
To make things more exciting, the only light sleeping bag I have is one of those goddamn coffin/mummy things . You know what I’m talking about … skinny around the feet , tapering up to a shoulder width designed for midgets and with a cowl on top that always seems to find its way around to your face … not designed for course-boned okes like me
Must’ve sounded like a dyspeptic one-man heavy metal concert with all the moaning, groaning, creaking and swearing that went on

2nd challenge for the day: get back on the bike and exit camp across the soft sand of the river-bed we had camped in
My Sack! When I first saw that beach (pronounced “bietsth ) I nearly crawled back into my sleeping back. For me, biggest problem with sand is that it gets between your ears ….and once it is in there that “lady of questionable morals” she is not so easy to get rid of. With plenty advice and encouragement from Throttle Jockey that first crossing was managed without a hitch and we were picking our way over to van Zyl’s

Challenge #3: Getting through van Zyl’s
2nd day in a row I could honestly not believe where I was riding a big adventure bike but there was no going back. Other guys have described this section way better than I ever could. Steps down, steps up, avo sized rocky channels, boulders, pot holes, dongas… “Relax, Ek is jou toer gids, ek is hier om te help” ….choose your line and go for it! What an experience! What a rush! Accounts of the tough riding just the other side of the big step of van Zyl’s are not an exaggeration
And then all of a sudden we were down the other side with a section through Marienfluss to rooi-drom ahead

Challenge #4: Sandy twee-spoor of the Marienfluss
I spite of my apprehension this started off OK … then we started hitting some of the sharper bends. I just didn’t seem to be able to help myself looking down at where my front wheel was going instead of where I wanted it to go. This resulted in crossing over the middle-mannetjie (middle-man – there was definitely no “tjie” about it) and then immediately over-correcting…. gunning the throttle to get the bike to straighten out…. pushing my arse so far back it was hanging out over the back of the luggage rack… and hanging on for dear life.
Mostly I got away with it, but on a particularly deep sandy bend it eventually caught up with me and I landed up high-sided it. Came down partly on my head, partly on my left shoulder, partly on my back …. properly winded … again. Discovered right there why a neck brace is an essential piece of kit and was really grateful that it was compulsory for this trip. I’ll never ride without it again.
Ribs were complaining big time at this stage. Big thanks to Hardy, Glenn and Stoffel for the calm approach, advice and encouraging “coaching” that got me through to Rooidrom

Challenge #5: Jouberts / Rooidrom pas
So van Zyl’s was tough, but we all helped eachother over the really challenging bits and there were launch pads where you could stop to get an idea of which line to take. This steep, rocky, narrow, twisty  couple of 100m’s track however was going to need to be a “one and done” kind of thing,  bottom to top. No-one else’s lines or mistakes to learn from, nowhere to stop to catch your breath and plan the next line . The briefing we got from Tau at the bottom about Hardy’s expectation of a 2 ½ hour traverse got the adrenaline pumping big time. As it turned out we all made it without incident even though (IMHO) this was a really technical section that we had no business riding litre-bikes up. There is a vid of Minxy expressing her delight when she hit the top which I think is the epitome of the way we all felt

When we rode into Marble camp I remember dropping my head to my tank in disbelief, immense relief and at the same time no small amount of regret that the ride was actually done and dusted. It think I had a private little drizz in my helmet while the rest of the entourage arrived . You could literally reach out and touch the buzz as people came in, took off kit, shook hands, back slapped and even hugged 
… and then it was time for the best beer (and rum  ) I’ve ever had

A day stamped hard in my memory forever

 

[McSack]

..

 

[JC]

This ride report would make a nice Coffee Table book  :thumleft:

 

[Bwana]

I agree JC some one must just put all the reports in the right order and Photos. It must be published into a big Coffee Table Book I would be the first buyer. It has wonderful descriptions and emotions. Plus awesome pictures.

 

[Minxy]

Sorry for barging in here with some earlier days report, but I've only now had a bit of time to catch up!

Day 1

I woke up feeling super excited! We'd finally be introduced to our new best friend for the trip, the Honda Africa Twin. But first! We have to pack the mighty Iveco. Now packing the Iveco is basically a game of tetris which has to be executed with precise precision or the bags simply will not fit. We'd get really good at it eventually...

Look at how fresh we all still looked in this photo. This was the first group photo taken just before we left for Honda Pupkewitz.

I was in the second transport bus going to Honda. "Dammit, the guys getting there before us would hog all the pretty bikes" I thought to myself. When we got to Honda I immediately went straight for the DCT, and to my surprise the one that was open was the black one, my favourite! It also had a little sticker with #19 on it, my lucky number! Now this was really meant to be.

Something Schalk Burger (Pupkewitz Honda Dealer Principal) told us during the welcoming ceremony really stuck with me. He spoke about not just riding through Namibia, but interacting with her people as well. I liked that idea and set out to speak to different people we'd meet on the way and listen to their stories. After the welcoming ceremony we were seen off like celebrities with people cheering and waving at us as we started the first leg of our journey to the Spitzkoppe. I spent a great deal of time thinking about what lay ahead, who'd I be partnered with and what challenges this trip would bring. I also rehearsed my presentation in my head (this would really be the bane of my existence for a while).

We arrive at Spitzkoppe after a pretty easy going ride all through the back roads of the Khomas Hochland. Well there were a few surprise sand patches just when you thought you could let your guard down, but nothing like this could have prepared us for what was still to come haha  ;D Anyway it was good to just take in the scenery. I'm here to ride my bike after all, that for me is 1st prize and come hell or high water I'm going to have fun doing it. *Smile and wave*  :ricky:

After setting up camp and listening to Charl P's and Glen's presentations (dammit Charl, why'd you have to set the bar so high ) ,the moment we've all been waiting for arrives, the announcement of our other best friend for the trip.

I hold my breath...

Barbara Muszynski and Charl du Plessis. Mmmmmm... Well my first thought was, "I'm not sure if it's the best, but it isn't exactly a poopie combination either now is it?" I only met Charl once before at Bootcamp. He did let me use his space blanket so I wouldn't freeze to death in the Koue Bokkeveld, I guess he had that going for him. My other thoughts were, "shit I hope we get along, he seems so serious. I could never have been more wrong though, and as the days went on and the ice was broken completely, me and Charl ended up being absolute BTF's, that is; Best Teamies Forever! I would go to war with this guy any day

Now for the 2nd announcement. We'd be riding the manual and dct bikes allotted to our team numbers. Poo! And after all that effort to grab the perfect bike at Pupkewitz... I reluctantly took my toolbaggie off bike #19 and sadly walked over to number 7. Hey, wait a minute, number 7 is also a black dct!!! I think there were only 3 black bikes in total and it was pure luck we got another black dct to use in our team. Yay!!! I promptly named him Attie.
That evening Charl and I did some minor adjustments to our bikes, removing the rubbers from the footpegs, adjusting our handlebars and most importantly, adjusting our suspension. All the way right, and 5 clicks back. We both prefer riding with a stiffer suspension and this worked brilliantly for us.

It was time to crawl into the tent. As I'm pretty useless in the mornings, I'd get all my things ready for the next day before I went to bed. A system that worked very well for me. GSer on the forum gave me some good advice before this trip. He said get your things organized properly and you will not waste energy or precious time looking for things, even if you save a few minutes, a few minutes extra sleep always comes in handy. A simple tip, but one that helped me a lot. This would be one of the coldest nights of the trip, with only 2 people brave enough to sleep on stretchers outside.I promptly curled into a little ball and fell asleep.

Day 2

We still had some distance to cover before we could get to the good stuff we were all waiting for. Charl and I decided to ride next to each other with me sticking to the left. A lot of the riding that day was on fairly busy dirt highways with many km's to kill. We bumped into some tourists who had destroyed the rear tyre of their rental car. Jaco and Hardy helped them to patch their spare wheel (which was also flat) and sent them on their way with a compressor in case they ran into trouble again on the way to their lodge.

We stopped in Uis to fuel up and were met by a very interesting character named Bazil, it sounds like he's one crazy Namibian adventure rider who's tackled everything we've set out to do on the classic Africa Twin and won! What a pleasure to meet him.

Here we have Charl and Bazil posing with the new and the old Africa Twins.

While we were waiting around the local law enforcement officer stopped past. He was the top detective in town and has been investigating some donkey theft before he bumped into our convoy. He was more than happy to sit on the bike and pose for some photos with us. "As long as you don't get the policevan in the background" he said! Oh well, oops

The first "Beware of Elephants" sign. Things are getting real now...

Lunch break. We'd get little lunch packs with energy bars, winegums, some salty nuts (lol!) and other assorted items to get us through the day. I remember getting slightly stuck in the sand when turning my bike around after lunch, a really silly thing to do and so not like me to fail like that (I blame nerves!!!).  I think it was Christoffel (Hingsding) who told me I shouldn't turn around in the thick sand or I'll get stuck. Being a woman I didn't listen and proceeded to get stuck. Oh well, that's probably -10 points or something, but whatever, a quick stoot and I was on my way again  :

A truck, long abandoned.

We finally got to Palmwag after a long days ride and I was more than happy when I saw they have hot showers and real toilets. Now the one thing you'll never catch me using is a longdrop (the only toilet at our Spitzkoppe campsite was a longdrop), that is just nasty and sies!!! This campsite felt like absolute 5* luxury compared to what we had the previous night and we even got to relax with some alcoholic beverages, which Andrew (Kamanya) offered to fetch. We did our evening routine, unloading the Iveco, pitching our tents and making camp, listening to the evenings presentations, then getting our things ready for the next day.

I nearly forgot to mention, we also did some interviews with the camera crew that evening. It was absolutely terrifying... The first dumb thing that came out of your mouth would be recorded, no second chances were given. It was really stressful and Oom Jan was relentless with his questions. "What is your partners worst quality (or something like that)?", "Heck I don't know I've only really met this guy recently!!!". "No you can't answer with that, you have to give us a a quality". "Ok, ok", then I proceeded to tell them I think he comes across as being a bit too serious, it's literally the only "negative" thing I could think of. That turned out to be false anyway, as I think Charl turned out to be one of the least serious guys with an awesome sense of humour The only interviews I think I didn't fail too epicly on were the ones that were actually on the Quest program on Supersport, not my best, but pretty ok. If I had to redo this trip all over again I would focus on thinking through the questions at the interviews a bit better before answering them.

I think what a lot of people looking at Quest from a spectators point of view forget is, that though it seems like we were having a complete jol, we really did have a lot of pressure on us from all sides, all the time. Presentations to remember, interviews to do, judges constantly watching our every move, difficult terrain to ride, late nights, early mornings and many chores. Over time these things all add up! All I could do is listen to my babcia's (grandmothers) advice; no matter what happens, don't let anything get you down, always smile and be positive. Her great advice also pulled me through many tough days, but more on that later

Anyway, I had a great nights sleep thanks to the Stillnox sleeping tablets I took along, a product I would highly recommend (they don't make you groggy) and guarantee a good nights rest. Laters everyone, Zzzzzzz

Day 3 and 4 coming soon

 

[2StrokeDan]

This was a class event. I do not know anything about the possible "geskarrel" behind the scenes, but for me as an outsider it seems like this ran as a well-oiled machine.

Just a note on Van Zyl's pass. I found that if you have too many riders around the bike, it seems to restrict air to the engine. It seems to go better if you are rider alone. eepwall:

 

[GRyPH]

Day 5  Epupa – van Zyl's Camp

So as I said in my report of day 4, after my vitamin B injection I completely crashed out, and had the best nights sleep I had in a very long time.
The next morning I woke up refreshed and feeling better than ever!

The previous night, Will from the content crew (Kalon films) approached me and asked if I would be willing to do a video shoot early morning before we head out. I agreed, but was so tired that I almost forgot about it. So that morning Will came to me and said that as soon as the light permits it we need to do the shoot, and this is where he took the video of me you can see in the professional video of day 5 linked in by Kobus. The part where I “kit up” basically.  I felt awkward “posing” for the camera and thought to myself, this is definitely not a way I would like to earn money  :imaposer:

So as soon as first light hit us, and we had our briefing by Hardy and the crew we set out.

The route for today was not a particularly long day, but we soon realized that as the total kms for the day come down, the difficulty goes up.

The first part of the day was gravel highway all the way to Okangwati, and it was the best sunrise of the whole trip. Just feeling free, riding your bike, with this amazing red ball of a sun on your left, and in the most spectacular landscape you can think of.

I am however not sure what was brighter,  the red sun to my left, or the shocking yellow sun to my right  :imaposer: :imaposer:

After the first leg the real fun started.

trying to sort out the DCT bike that got stuck in gear,

after this first hard lesson, we were able to fix the “problem” when it occurred again by rocking the bike back and forth.

As I said, the previous day up to Epupa was the hottest day of the whole event, however this seemed to be getting close when I recorded this temperature of 31 at 9:23 in the morning.
I think it was Karookid that mentioned above that the photos does not quite show the heat but I can tell you it was cooking!


Before the event we were warned that this particular road could be more difficult than the infamous van Zyl's pass, and I have to say that as far as technical riding goes, I have to agree. Van Zyl's has one or two (maybe three) really bad sections that are very intimidating, however this road is pretty much constantly technical.
It was the toughest day yet , and at the same time the best day yet. This seemed to happen regularly from here on, every day becoming the best day yet and trumping the awesomeness of the previous day.

Everyone still nice and fresh.  Tau looking very happy on the right.  ;D

As per any of the days on the trip, most of our stops were dictated by punctures. The TKC tyres were  awesome, but the standard tubes made for a lot of stops.

Minxy and Karookid getting the job done.

Some sandy bits

followed by some rocky bits

now it doesnt show clearly on the photo but that was one tricky decent. Quite steep and all the loose rocks made it ….. interesting.


as someone said before this was the norm for this day,  sand, rock, inclines, declines,  repeat.
It was technically the most difficult day, and I was having the absolute time of my life!
I might be less confident when it comes to riding sand, but this was very very enjoyable. I love this type of terrain, and this day is easily one of my highlight days of the entire Quest.
I had so much energy, which I blame on a combination of  the vitamin B injection I got the previous night, the GU Energy Gel that Kamanya gave me and the absolutely awesome route that we were riding.


Some more photos of  rocky decents, this particular piece was basically a riverbed as all the stormwater would flood down the , lets call it a road.

Once again the pictures dont do the gradient or difficulty any justice. I have some video of the cruisers coming down this part at near crawl speed.


As we neared the end of the days ride, I suddenly became aware that there was no-one behind me.
Because it was technical road, and there was a lot of guys behind me, I thought that I would wait a moment before I turn around to look for them.
It was at this stage that I took some photos of the surrounding trees that had me intrigued.

This one looked like it was gold plated  It actually seemed to glitter

and then there was this one that looked like it was covered in mud

note the contrast from the other "regular" trees next to them

Can someone perhaps identify the trees?  Where is the encyclopaedia that is Johannes when you need him? I still wanted to ask him in camp but I never got around to it.


Just as I thought, the guys were taking a bit too long behind me and I need to turn around, I heard a bike coming on and I decided to wait and hear what happened. And low and behold, the rider approaching was none other than Hardy?  He quickly explained that McSack had taken a fall in a riverbed and introduced his ribs to the only rock in the sand. So he put McSack in one of the cruisers and took the bike.  I was worried that McSack was seriously injured but Hardy assured me that he should be ok, and that we just needed to get to camp (which was only about 5kms away at that stage) Luckily Ockie, the medicine man was there to assist, and he had McSack sorted out soon afterwards.

Coming into the campsite, you cross the dry riverbed, and camp right next to it on what is pretty much still part of the riverbed. Spectacularly beautifull!

Another task that everyone forgot to mention up until now was fixing the day's punctures.
We had a couple of spare tubes that was transported by Ockie in the medical truck and to save time we would only swop tubes when there was a puncture. This meant that by the time the day was done, we had a bunch of punctured tubes, and it was the responsibility of each person that got a puncture, to patch his tube for the next day's ride.

Tubes waiting for repair:

For the purposes of the video footage (shot by the drone) we were asked to make a fire pit in the riverbed for the nights presentations

I do not know from where it came from, but someone chose this moment to present a soccer ball.
The ball was kicked around a couple of times, but it was soon decided that the ball didnt bounce like it should (like a rugby ball) and we settled down for the presentations with this beautifull backdrop.

 

[Hardy de Kock]

I waited for the others to mention an incident that happened at Epupa but no one did, so here goes.

Koos Verwey (Ex - Recce) and the custodian of the Epupa Falls Camp was building a swimming pool at the camp when we arrived at Epupa. The pool was 99% completed and from the looks of it he was busy with the sealing of the outer walls.
During that evening SP Dreyer and Johannes Haasbroek had to conduct their presentations (Lord Derby Eland and the Kunene River) respectively.

Christoffel took a shower while the rest of the instructors was listening to the presentations with the rest of the contestants.
After his shower Hingsding wanted to take his towel etc back to his camp spot. The problem was that he had to walk through the area where the presentations was done.
From what I understand he decided to walk around the back of the group, to avoid disturbing the session.


:imaposer: :imaposer: From what I understand he forgot about the 2m deep pool (empty) that was built and walked straight into it. Afterwards when I asked him what happened, he told me that "when he realised he was falling, he pulled his legs in, and held his breath, knowing that he was going to hit the water any moment."

 

[Kamanya]

A favourite photo I found. SP has a great eye. I think I stole this off of his facebook page. Me looking back down Rooidrom Pass where none of the expected carnage happened and we all cleaned it.

 

[Kamanya]

Day 7 Marble Camp to Puros

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wzv0kDzrLw

I can’t remember if we had presentations the previous evening? I’m pretty sure we didn’t. I suspect after such a big day and the expectation that we would not make camp by nightfall as a result of the last pass, that it was not planned for.

What an evening, or should I say what a sleep! I slept out under the full moon. Whatever the scientifically defined parameters for a good night’s sleep are, I was certainly experiencing them.

It was an easy swing into action. Patterns had been established, the routine was familiar and the anticipation of the day big! Also, the competition that officially had been suspended for the previous 2 days riding bits was now back on.



See that glove that Kobus was using? The answer to world tension and an excellent gift for people who enjoy braaing are welding gloves. I knew we would be doing the cooking and that most of it would be on fire so I brought mine along. Because I thought we’d have space issues, I stupidly only brought the one, but on the first night when I pulled it out everyone who’s not used one before loved it. You can easily reach right into a blazing fire and re-arrange anything without having to use useless tongs or pieces of wood. They were used every day from then on. I’m still pissed off that Phil and I didn’t received a massive bunch of bonus points for that bit of group help!



Pre-ride checks done



Time to saddle up



And bonus of all bonuses, it was our turn to be the first pair in the convoy sequence. This is a massive thing as it means dust is minimal, also there is no concertina effect. Apart from John ahead, it is a clear path and our only worries were Marcel and SP behind.

From time to time, we had to do the rockstar thing for the cameras; this morning as we left, we were to ride at a slow pace, really close behind each other as we were leaving so that the drone could get us all in. On the official YouTube video, you can see we do it a number of times. It’s dramatic and with a suitable backdrop, very effective visually, but as we all know, it’s not how adventure riders in convoy typically ride. I wondered as we were doing it that morning, if this too was also marked in some way? 



Anyway, that stopped once out of drone range and the morning opened up a fresh route. This part of the world is starkly beautiful. The bare mountains are constantly changing their hues and shades. It’s a geologists dream as there’s nothing to hide the formations and signs of this momentous land.





And, not forgetting, it’s still a wildlife sanctuary





There are these enigmatic and curious bits of art scattered throughout the Kaokoveld and in particular along our route. They are called, The Lone Men. They are substantial half-size rock and steel men in various poses, left in not that easy to get to or reach places. Somehow, in this exceptionally stark, beautiful and relatively unscathed wilderness, they seem to be appropriate, non-intrusive and complimentary. I can appreciate the art and loved the effect but they also had me wondering about the logistics of building them, getting them there and then bolting of them into the ground.



This one today was no 27



Silly buggers





Apparently, though they are unsigned or claimed, the artist is highly suspected to be the resident who lives above Marble Camp - Trevor Nott. Also, what adds to the mystery and gives it a bit of drama is that each are numbered. The highest numbered creation is 27 I think and far less have been found.

The one at van Zyls


Photo Marcel Vlader/SP Dreyer


Photo Marcel Vlader/SP Dreyer


In doing a bit of research, they do divide opinion as there are some who see them as disfiguring as graffiti and sacrilegious in such a place. I disagree, think they’re tasteful and in the spirit of the place. But isn’t that one of arts gifts; it makes us think?

Not much later we hit the first sand for the day. It was on some plains that had a few parallel tracks running across it for many kilometres.

In places is was serious with big middlemannetjies and deep tracks. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with people who are not comfortable in sand. It was surprising that many in the group coped so well being essentially novices to the stuff. Sand is often more in the head than the anywhere else, much like life really and it was a testament to the bunch that they were, if not having as much fun as some of us, they at least were not being beaten by it.



I still can’t quite believe that Phil had only had 2 experiences in sand, he was starting to have fun too. He’s a very quick learner.

About halfway through the morning, at an innocuous smallish looking dry river bed crossing, John took a right and headed off downstream.




There are very few things for me on a bike that are more fun than this kind of riding. There was a set of jeep tracks but unless forced to by the rocks or river features, it’s best to stay out of them. Riding on virgin riverbed sand is a bit like skiing. It’s far easier, huge fun and of course, zero environmental impact. It took one pretty good tumble, a few minutes of pointing out what to look out for and how to approach things before Phil too was getting into a zone and starting to have fun.

The main things that I was telling him were;
Try to stay out of the tracks unless forced too – Virgin sand needs less effort but more vigilance. Tracks have traction issues, are less smooth and mostly are less predicable.
Be picky about where you stop, getting going again can be tricky. In riverbeds, there is always sandy or pebbled areas, pick the pebbled harder ones to stop.
Crossing middlemannetjie’s has very little effect and far less effect than expected, but the mind can over-anticipate and the fear causes issues. It is critical to get comfortable playing with repeated crossing of tracks and middlemannetjies
Conserve energy! 100km of riverbed is impossible if not comfortable, in a neutral stance and very little effort in the hands and legs. Death grips and being tense will end your ride within 2km… or less.
Slow is much much harder. Speed is good… but it has a limit. Constantly opening the throttle when in doubt although often used in training does not end well over kilometres of sand. Enough to stay on the plane is the objective – slower than 40 is the about the limit.
If you have to stop in softer stuff to get off, just bury the rear slightly to keep the bike up. Side stands don’t work so well.

We would ride for about 5km, then stop and wait for the group to catch up.





In the beginning, I’d guess about a third of us were having fun, the other third were coping and the last third were surviving.

 

[Kamanya]

As the morning wore on, the stops became longer as the last third were making heavy weather of it. We  weren’t getting very far. You can see, as I’m talking to my video, someone in the background goes farming again. I think that's Gerrit and Kobus walking back to help... and/or laugh and take photo's.



We did about an hour of this, Grant and Stoffel had already taken to the road as his ribs were just not up to it when John called a halt to the fun.

It was option time. We were given 2 minutes to make a choice; to stay in the riverbed or ride the escape route road that tracked the river off to the left. It was made clear that choosing either would not affect the scores, but if we chose to stay in the river and then did have issues as a result, then we’d lose points for not coping. We were also told that we didn’t have to stay as a pair and that not doing so wouldn’t count against us. One partner could take the easier route whilst the other took the river.

Phil and I had a good chat. It wasn’t as easy to decide as it was for some; It was clear that I could easily cope with the river option. But what was not so easy, was that Phillip had started to really get into it and would have probably been fine. However, there were two considerations; firstly, the pace would go up markedly – till then it was mostly high second gear speeds. What was actually more appropriate for this stuff (and what I anticipated would probably happen) was 3rd and 4th gear speeds. Both he and I didn’t think he was up to that yet. Secondly, our competition was at stake. Phil had to swallow some fun potential for the sake of our competition. But on my side, I felt it a little unfair that I’d be off having “fun” and not doing the sensible thing by taking one for the team and playing it safe.

Above this was the feeling of being in a unique and rare place where the opportunity to do this again is not great. Both he and I could feel this strongly.

What was also a factor was, what were the other teams doing? It seemed that most of the guys who seemed reasonably ok in our opinion on sand took the safer option. We had a very good heart to heart to make sure both were ok with the decision we’d come to and parted ways. He took the road, I took the river. I had the responsibility to not fuck up. Many other teams I think could have done the same but chose to play it safe. It was a wise choice. 5 of us then set off after John. Marcel and SP, Pieter, Gerrit and myself. Marcel and SP were the only team that both went in. I think they took a slight gamble as both are confident but not expert in sand. I think their decision was slightly more influenced than ours by the “will we ever get to do this again” factor.



The pace was immediately much higher. I think we did about 40km. It was huge fun! Some of the best riding I’ve ever done.

For those that haven’t done it, most of the fun is in route choice. Depending on features in a river and where the bends are, there are optimum routes to take that make a big difference to how fast and easily/safely you can get down them. A rule of thumb is get to the lowest part of the riverbed soonest.

In a riverbed that is sometimes 100 meters wide, this is not all that obvious. The sectet is in reading the telltale signs that the water left. The outside of bends often has the deeper spots and for a brief section the harder stuff to ride – there are higher drop offs, bigger rocks and difficult to see trenches as the water funnels in, but immediately after that, very long clean clear sand where the flow was deep and slow. Taking the inner bend is at first easier but soon runs into rougher smaller rocks and the route ultimately fades to rubbish and difficult stuff. Staying in the middle doesn’t always work because theres always islands and trees in the riverbed. So the game is crossing soon enough and taking a bit of short lived pain past the "funnels" to reap the rewards of the long stretches of pleasure that come after it. Crossing too soon and the river bed can sometimes be impassable with the biggest rocks and debris. Most people (and the 4x4 track) swing over too late to take advantage of the long stretches.

It wasn’t long before SP was sticking to my tail. He’d seen me leaving the seemingly obvious route only to pop out farther ahead not much further down. Out of curiosity, he started to follow and worked out the game. At one of our stops, I showed him how this changes if riding upstream.

Interestingly, there’s also a very big difference in traction, stability and puncture potential going down vs upstream. It has to do with the way the rocks and sand are “laid” down by the water. Like roof tiles, the sand, pebbles and stones all layered to face downstream. It’s harder going up than down.

Finally, we pulled out of the river and waited under a cool tree for what seemed quite a while for the group taking the road to catch up. It was a fabulous morning!











I could see that Phil was a bit philosophical about his luck and I tried my best not to carry on about how excellent the ride was. I don’t think I did a good job of it. The best I could do was console him that we were in 3rd and 4th most of the time.

Sadly, we all left that bit of paradise and headed off up the road. It was a dreadful gravel road with the worst corrugations and erosion I’ve ever seen in Namibia. One highlight though, was this great lookout



A favourite photo up there, from a wonderful day

Photo Charl Du Plessis

The mood had lost a bit of zing when we had to leave the riverbed. Fortunately, the best part of the day was still ahead. The leaving the river was only to get us to the next one! This time was for the next 70km!





We’d dance down for 15k’s or so and then stop for all to catch up



By now, the river was wider and mostly easier, but also, everyone was getting the hang of it. All were into 3rd at least. Phil was on occasion hooking 4th. Once or twice, I struggled to catch him! He was confidently reading the river and making his own tracks. I wish I had my helmet cam, it would have made for fabulous video.





It was now definitely one of my best days riding I’ve ever done!




For hours, 22 bikes flowed down the river, seeking out their own routes. There weren’t many falls and all of them were had no consequence. Ockie was never far behind, but I think he was having to do his own mini-Dakar type driving to keep us at least in sight. He carried water and spare tubes along with all the meds.



Filling up



For those who’ve even done anything remotely similar, I’m sure you can appreciate what an utter privilege it was to not have to carry our own kit and have water and medical less than 10 minutes away!



Phil for a moment back there thought he’d missed out big time on the fun, but this was on another level. He too had waxed the sand. I think he REALLY likes it now



And then, after an orgy of sand and river bed, we met Hardy and the gang



…and they’d rustled up THIS!!!!!



There in 45 degree heat was the best padkos I’ve ever had





I think they were just showing off… because they could.

We didn’t have far to go to Puros, there was a long stretch of gravel that I could just sit and digest the day. From time to time, I’d look over at Phil, we’d done good. I was so very glad that he’d not missed out and what’s more had tamed sand.







All too soon, we hit Puros. A magical camp with a special energy…. And a ton of elephants

Parking our tired arses



Hardy couldn’t wait to show us the river and the elephant tracks. I think this is one of his favoured spots.



We still had some admin to do, things to unpack refresh and refill



But Man! That one beer tasted good. Many tales of fun and near misses.



We also had spotty cell connection and limited charging outlets.



After presentations, it wasn’t long and all were snoring.

I won’t forget that day in a hurry