noble steed
Race Dog
Three years ago Tulip and I got married, with no thoughts or dreams of ever owning a bike. Or two. Now things have changed. And we had the chance to go on a third honeymoon and take Donkey and Dragon with us this time!
Day 1: (or 824 reasons to own good rain gear)
824km of rain! The night before we left it was raining. When we wonke up it was still raining. No worries, I told Tulip. The rain wonâ??t extend past Sasolburg, must be a highveld thing. And proudly sporting our new budget rainsuits from makro (not much else open to buy raingear on a Sunday), we where confident to set off. 2 hours late. So we hit nice Monday morning traffic on the N1S.
At this point I must add how proud I was of Tulip. Since we borrowed a bike for her to do her license in August last year (Donkey was been rebuilt at the time), she has not really done any riding. And now, first time with a loaded bike, she lane split on the N1 quite happily with fully expanded panniers! In the rain.
And now to add something elseâ?¦ Our rain pants split at the seams when we mounted the bikes. So we dumped them in the bin before even leaving home. And City trousers are NOT waterproof. Wet bum.
And to note a fault on the BMW website:
BMW Allround Gloves
- Waterproof due to an alternative membrane (similar to Biker gloves)
After about 300km they were unfortunately no longer waterproof. Wet cold fingers for the rest of the trip.
Weâ??re really disappointed with new wimpy coffee policy â?? insulated cups!! How you supposed to warm your hands up???
Back to the trip!
We had some nice gravel detours planned for the trip to EC. We didnâ??t take them. It rained until Aliwal North. And then it was dark for the last 60km of our trip. So sorry, photos where in short supply.
We did stop at a great diner in heilbron, make excellent food! Will go there again some day on an extended breakfast run Iâ??m sure.
My brie and cranberry chicken burger
The rest of the trip we focused on the next garage we could get to so we could warm our hands under the dryers. Rain varied from heavy to light drizzle. Very slow driving with all the stops.
Fortunately we could defrost in a lovely luke warm bath when we arrived at my aunts farm near Jamestown about 8:30.
Day 2: (or how much riding gear can you fit in a tumble dryer)
Answer is a lot. Though the leather gloves need quite a long spin!
While in a plaasdorp we went and brought proper raingear from the OVK. Also cheap, but actually kept us dry the rest of the trip! My makro jacket had disintergrated by the end of day one.
We had a slow morning with a late breakfast, eventually left Jamestown after 2pm. Sunny skies!!
Only 218km for the day, stuck to the tar until Cathgart, the EC drivers in that part of the world so friendly, even the taxis move over for you to overtake and say thank you!
Somewhere near queenstown
At last reached our first gravel for the trip with the turn off to Hogsback. Road beautiful and windy, unfortunately we wanted to get to the Inn before dark so also not much stopping for photos.
Arrived in the town of Hogsback at sunset, friendly staff at the Inn watched while we struggled with our luggage to our room. Same room we had on honeymoon 3 years ago! And enjoyed an excellent dinner of steak and duck before a long sleep!
Day 3: (why ride when you can walk)
We left our bikes parked outside the hotel, and set off for a quick morning stroll after breakfast, accompanied by the hotel bull terrier.
Started off down to swallowtail falls, where the Butch met some other hikers and decided that they where more interesting.
From there we carried on through the forest towards Madonna and Child. Got a bit lost and ended up doing a beautiful contour walk, before getting to Madonna about lunch time. Sun was falling on the waterfall for excellent photos!
Had some chocolate snacks and spent some time suntanning. Then headed off again for more strolling. Tulip demonstrated that only strong ladies can ride BMWs!
And I was getting quite peckish by that stage. Unfortunately the hog lacked necessary condimentsâ?¦
Went for a quick scramble up to Bridal veil falls, would not recommend for anyone considering a knee replacement. And we just missed the sunshine, waterfall in shadow AGAIN (we were a bit late 3 years ago too)
Some more strolling, now far past lunch, and we were very happy to see this sign!
Got back to hotel just before 5pm, somewhere over 10km of different exercise, happy to settle down to good dinner and hot bath. Sorry, no pics suitable for the forum!
Day 4: (or we go exploring)
We woke up and decided that since we where in Hogsback, and had brought 2 bikes, we might as well ride them. Heard the Seymour road was pretty and off we went. Nice to ride light bikes again!
Somewhere on the Seymour pass, which apart from 100m in the middle was actually quite good!
And then we got to the not so good section of road. First thought was to turn around and go back. But we realised we had stopped on quite a steep downhill and turning around was not an easy possibility. So we went on. Iâ??m still amazed that Dragon didnâ??t scrape her bashplate, the dongas where quite deep!
One by one we rode down, very tiring, but looking back was actually lots of fun, glad we couldnâ??t turn back.
Tulip still smiling as she helped Donkey down
The Seymour road had a nice bridge to stop on and play with the local cows. They were very curious, but didnâ??t appreciate me indicating their tastiest bits!
Tulip was a bit worried about punctures, as we tried a test run tire change before we left and couldnâ??t loosen Donkeyâ??s front axleâ?¦ Look at those nice thorns! No puntures thoughâ?¦
It was starting to rain when we got to Seymour, so we cut short our gravel explorations. Again. Headed back cathgart direction on tar. With a quick stop at view sights, well, for the views.
That heavy duty miniature tripod I bought before the trip proved to be quite useful!
We decided to take a different road back into hogsback. Turned out to be a very pretty trip through Happy Valley. Think that road was probably in better condition that the Hogsback main road!
The sign reads â?? remove dentures and hearing aids!
Few stops for photos, still bit worried about the weather which was drizzling most of the time. Keeps the dust at bay!
We ended the day in the sauna with a bottle of Champaign (it was our anniversary!!)
Day 1: (or 824 reasons to own good rain gear)
824km of rain! The night before we left it was raining. When we wonke up it was still raining. No worries, I told Tulip. The rain wonâ??t extend past Sasolburg, must be a highveld thing. And proudly sporting our new budget rainsuits from makro (not much else open to buy raingear on a Sunday), we where confident to set off. 2 hours late. So we hit nice Monday morning traffic on the N1S.
At this point I must add how proud I was of Tulip. Since we borrowed a bike for her to do her license in August last year (Donkey was been rebuilt at the time), she has not really done any riding. And now, first time with a loaded bike, she lane split on the N1 quite happily with fully expanded panniers! In the rain.
And now to add something elseâ?¦ Our rain pants split at the seams when we mounted the bikes. So we dumped them in the bin before even leaving home. And City trousers are NOT waterproof. Wet bum.
And to note a fault on the BMW website:
BMW Allround Gloves
- Waterproof due to an alternative membrane (similar to Biker gloves)
After about 300km they were unfortunately no longer waterproof. Wet cold fingers for the rest of the trip.
Weâ??re really disappointed with new wimpy coffee policy â?? insulated cups!! How you supposed to warm your hands up???
Back to the trip!
We had some nice gravel detours planned for the trip to EC. We didnâ??t take them. It rained until Aliwal North. And then it was dark for the last 60km of our trip. So sorry, photos where in short supply.
We did stop at a great diner in heilbron, make excellent food! Will go there again some day on an extended breakfast run Iâ??m sure.
My brie and cranberry chicken burger
The rest of the trip we focused on the next garage we could get to so we could warm our hands under the dryers. Rain varied from heavy to light drizzle. Very slow driving with all the stops.
Fortunately we could defrost in a lovely luke warm bath when we arrived at my aunts farm near Jamestown about 8:30.
Day 2: (or how much riding gear can you fit in a tumble dryer)
Answer is a lot. Though the leather gloves need quite a long spin!
While in a plaasdorp we went and brought proper raingear from the OVK. Also cheap, but actually kept us dry the rest of the trip! My makro jacket had disintergrated by the end of day one.
We had a slow morning with a late breakfast, eventually left Jamestown after 2pm. Sunny skies!!
Only 218km for the day, stuck to the tar until Cathgart, the EC drivers in that part of the world so friendly, even the taxis move over for you to overtake and say thank you!
Somewhere near queenstown
At last reached our first gravel for the trip with the turn off to Hogsback. Road beautiful and windy, unfortunately we wanted to get to the Inn before dark so also not much stopping for photos.
Arrived in the town of Hogsback at sunset, friendly staff at the Inn watched while we struggled with our luggage to our room. Same room we had on honeymoon 3 years ago! And enjoyed an excellent dinner of steak and duck before a long sleep!
Day 3: (why ride when you can walk)
We left our bikes parked outside the hotel, and set off for a quick morning stroll after breakfast, accompanied by the hotel bull terrier.
Started off down to swallowtail falls, where the Butch met some other hikers and decided that they where more interesting.
From there we carried on through the forest towards Madonna and Child. Got a bit lost and ended up doing a beautiful contour walk, before getting to Madonna about lunch time. Sun was falling on the waterfall for excellent photos!
Had some chocolate snacks and spent some time suntanning. Then headed off again for more strolling. Tulip demonstrated that only strong ladies can ride BMWs!
And I was getting quite peckish by that stage. Unfortunately the hog lacked necessary condimentsâ?¦
Went for a quick scramble up to Bridal veil falls, would not recommend for anyone considering a knee replacement. And we just missed the sunshine, waterfall in shadow AGAIN (we were a bit late 3 years ago too)
Some more strolling, now far past lunch, and we were very happy to see this sign!
Got back to hotel just before 5pm, somewhere over 10km of different exercise, happy to settle down to good dinner and hot bath. Sorry, no pics suitable for the forum!
Day 4: (or we go exploring)
We woke up and decided that since we where in Hogsback, and had brought 2 bikes, we might as well ride them. Heard the Seymour road was pretty and off we went. Nice to ride light bikes again!
Somewhere on the Seymour pass, which apart from 100m in the middle was actually quite good!
And then we got to the not so good section of road. First thought was to turn around and go back. But we realised we had stopped on quite a steep downhill and turning around was not an easy possibility. So we went on. Iâ??m still amazed that Dragon didnâ??t scrape her bashplate, the dongas where quite deep!
One by one we rode down, very tiring, but looking back was actually lots of fun, glad we couldnâ??t turn back.
Tulip still smiling as she helped Donkey down
The Seymour road had a nice bridge to stop on and play with the local cows. They were very curious, but didnâ??t appreciate me indicating their tastiest bits!
Tulip was a bit worried about punctures, as we tried a test run tire change before we left and couldnâ??t loosen Donkeyâ??s front axleâ?¦ Look at those nice thorns! No puntures thoughâ?¦
It was starting to rain when we got to Seymour, so we cut short our gravel explorations. Again. Headed back cathgart direction on tar. With a quick stop at view sights, well, for the views.
That heavy duty miniature tripod I bought before the trip proved to be quite useful!
We decided to take a different road back into hogsback. Turned out to be a very pretty trip through Happy Valley. Think that road was probably in better condition that the Hogsback main road!
The sign reads â?? remove dentures and hearing aids!
Few stops for photos, still bit worried about the weather which was drizzling most of the time. Keeps the dust at bay!
We ended the day in the sauna with a bottle of Champaign (it was our anniversary!!)
)
