Perdepoort - Zuurberg.

[hando]

This morning I finaly got to do a ride I have been wanting to do for a long time. After 5 pages of back and forth discussions in Wilddog's plannig a ride thread we got together this morning to go and ride the route from Uitenhage to Glenconnor to Darlington dam via Perdepoort and then on to Anne's villa to Zuurberg .

Now normally I type lots of words to acompany my ride reports. Today , I am going to do it differently. I am going to post a lot of pics and very few words for now.

I did not get to take any more pics as the rest of our afternoon was spent repairing Simon's rear wheel that went flat - and then riding to get home before dark.

Thanks to all who joined in the very lekker trip.

 

[Knucklhead/knuckey]

hando, was very lekka , even i only did the last portion. was nice to be able to put a face to the "name" from the forum.good one

 

[NevMcGyver]

Great ride!

Despite some of us not having taken part in the full trip, we did the half-trip, running from Uitenhage, via Colchester and Addo up to Zuurberg - to meet up with the "full-trippers" there for a really good cup of coffee.
The "half-trippers" were Drazil, Knucklhead, Simon & myself.

Simon wasn't having the best of days... starting off with his bike dying for no apparent reason before we even got to Colchester, then springing what seemed to be an insignificant oil leak, followed by over-shooting a corner on the dirt alongside the Sundays River (fortunately not dumping his bike, but just visiting the grass alongside the fence for a while), and then ending the day picking up probably the only nail in the road for miles as we headed back down the pass.
Nice going Simon!

A couple of pics follow depicting the following: Waiting patiently for Drazil whilst Simon carries out some quick repairs; cows delaying progress before Addo; stopped for a look over the valley; and a final coffee together for the day.

I'm adding this in as part of Hando's ride report seeing as it all blended together.

Again... from my side... very much enjoyed. Thanks for initiating it Hanno!

 

[GlenInk (R.I.P)]

Nice pics ! Hando how did you enjoy Zuurberg ? Was it as bad as you thought ?

Thanks for the great pictures !  :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[hando]

Glen - the road from Anne's villa to Zuurberg hotel was KARK !!!! but the views made it worthwhile !!

I had a view moments where I had a big rock rolling under my bashplate with loud clangs. Not nice. Ended up doing most of that part of the route in 2nd gear.

The rest of the route and roads were very nice. In fact , I am going to do them again just so I can record some more footage with the camera of the mind.

 

[JERINOMO]

Thanks Hando for a nice trip. I always wanted to do the "Anne's Villa to Zuurberg”.

This trip was on very short notice. I phone Jupiter and wanted to know if he has any riding planned for this weekend. It turned out to be a good call as I enjoyed it thoroughly.

It started off with me and Jupiter from the Caltex garage in Lorraine

On our way to Perde Poort, I saw a shade over the road that looked suspect.

Just as well, it turned out to be a ditch in the shade. If I remember correctly this “shade” almost caught Hando out.

I saw this sign so many times I tend to ignore them after a while, but the last time I went through this crossing way too fast. This time I anticipated the crossing.

 

[flash=854,480]https://www.youtube.com/v/Tv3zNXjNeDQ[/flash]




The Eastern Cape is as green as I ever saw it.

The now famous "Bie's braai" was awesome. Bie chose the perfect spot for a braai. The braai was right in the Perde Poort.

The road from Darlington Dam to Anne’s Villa was rather boring.

Anne’s Villa. Wonder if it’s still operating?

Typical road surface from Anne’s Villa to Zuurberg Inn.  Although scenic, Anne's Villa to Zuurberg was very rocky, a real wrist breaker but I suppose it's just for the okes with the 19" front wheels.

Me returning the favour to Hando. Won’t argue, Hando is a wizard with that camera.

Some pictures of the route to zuurberg.

A couple of dudes joined us at the Zuurberg Inn, one with a puncture.

As we left Zuurberg Inn, I came across Simon that went off road with his deflated back wheel. When I went through my Video clips I saw that I've captured it, but not much detail. Having a flat on a corner can be tricky I suppose.


[flash=854,480]https://www.youtube.com/v/Xm9LU9vjkBA[/flash]


Hando helps Simon  out of the ditch.

After leaving the place where Simon went off, I tried to catch up with the rest of the group. Big mistake! I went way too fast into a corner but turned out well as I manage to save it. It was a bit of breaking releasing but by grace I manage to keep the GSA under control. I don’t have to mention that I almost karked myself.

[flash=854,480]https://www.youtube.com/v/lo9kiiNuX6s[/flash]


Myself, Jupiter, Drazil , Kaalvoet and Knuckle Head waited for Simon and helpers at a Coffee Shop to finish up . Kaalvoet decided to skip the Coffee and had to get home. A nice lil 250 Honda that.

On our way back myself and Jupiter  hit the tar back to PE leaving Knuckle Head and Drazil at the Coffee shop. The tar was boring and I was sitting about 200m behind Jupiter listening to the purring of the 600 Tenere when all of a sudden I was rudely awakened by a Thumper without a exhaust. Jupiter lost his exhaust. I was glad my following distance was 200m and not 20m as that piece of tailpipe flew all over the place.


[flash=854,480]https://www.youtube.com/v/LhkDAtmCDVM[/flash]



It was nice meeting the other dawks like Knuckle head, Kaalvoet and others.  PCD, it was nice meeting you as well.

 

[kaalvoet]

Thanks for the ride and the day out. I was my first ride and not the last.
My little xr went well.
Hando and I got a bit worried o te little bike's range. Filled up the 250cc in addo and took only 7litre's for the 210km.

Thanks I will see you all on the next ride again.

 

[hando]

hey Kaalvoet. Glad you joyned us. And 30 ks per litre is very nice !!!! 

I got  26.4 km/l that I am vey happy with for this trip.

 

[Gerard]

Thanks for the trip all and the RR. Good as always. Had a lekker ride on the XT.

 

[Bie]

Wish I could do the complete trip with you guys, but that would have landed me too far out of the way. Hope we can combine the early choker and the latter joiners on another trip sometime soon.

Anne’s Villa. Wonder if it’s still operating?

Anne's villa is still operating as accommodation facility. That place oozes with history. Some time ago the current owners wanted to sell and I did the marketing, but in the end it was withdrawn. The Villa is part of a 450ha farm and also houses the intact shop and smithy's shop as it was operated in yesteryear. It was built in the early 1800's to serve the users of the then newly constructed Zuurberg pass as place of accommodation, bakery, bar as well as blacksmith workshop where repairs could be made to wagons etc requiring repairs, horses requiring shoes etc. Blacksmith shop was apparently kept quite busy with repairs to the KTM'S of the time.  ;D

Some pictures:

View from road

Old shop

Blacksmith shop

Spooky passage on top storey

One of the bedrooms

 

[JERINOMO]

Very interesting thanks Bie. It just looked a bit rustic, that's why I was wondering if it still operated. :thumleft:

 

[DRAZIL]

glad everyone still had their dentures :thumleft:, after my last trip through Elephant back safaris to Zuurberg I vowed to avoid that rocky stretch as it has become a schlep to ride it and look at the scenery at the same time. :deal:
While I was chilling on the old Barkly bridge I get a call from NevMcGyver where am I,needless to say there was a bit of a comms problem and they raced up to find me further up stream.
We all said our hellos when Knucklehead heared the cold refreshments calling him at Zuurberg where I met more new faces. :thumleft:
It was great to find there are more EC dogs that actually ride and not squat in front of a keyboard and talk shit and showed that I can actually mingle with others.
Thanks all :thumleft:

 

[JERINOMO]

glad everyone still had their dentures :thumleft:, after my last trip through Elephant back safaris to Zuurberg I vowed to avoid that rocky stretch as it has become a schlep to ride it and look at the scenery at the same time. :deal:
While I was chilling on the old Barkly bridge I get a call from NevMcGyver where am I,needless to say there was a bit of a comms problem and they raced up to find me further up stream.
We all said our hellos when Knucklehead heared the cold refreshments calling him at Zuurberg where I met more new faces. :thumleft:
It was great to find there are more EC dogs that actually ride and not squat in front of a keyboard and talk shit and showed that I can actually mingle with others.
Thanks all :thumleft:

Nice chating with you Drazil. :thumleft:

 

[Gerard]

glad everyone still had their dentures :thumleft:, after my last trip through Elephant back safaris to Zuurberg I vowed to avoid that rocky stretch as it has become a schlep to ride it and look at the scenery at the same time. :deal:
While I was chilling on the old Barkly bridge I get a call from NevMcGyver where am I,needless to say there was a bit of a comms problem and they raced up to find me further up stream.
We all said our hellos when Knucklehead heared the cold refreshments calling him at Zuurberg where I met more new faces. :thumleft:
It was great to find there are more EC dogs that actually ride and not squat in front of a keyboard and talk shit and showed that I can actually mingle with others.Thanks all :thumleft:

Its was not easy, but we did our best  >

 

[hando]

Nice to meet you DRAZIL.

next time you go on one of your scenic rides and you are looking for someone to ride shotgun , please keep me in mind.

As long as I will get to meet up with you and not end up some 300 kms away . 

 

[firecoast]

well THAT'S IT!!!!!! eastern cape for december!!!!!

 

[Bie]

Speak to us, we will join you if we may. Just a friendly warning, the Karoo section gets farkin hot during Summer, so plan your days with a midday stopover.

 

[firecoast]

Speak to us, we will join you if we may. Just a friendly warning, the Karoo section gets farkin hot during Summer, so plan your days with a midday stopover.

i know

 

[hando]

I should also be around in December.

Shout if you want a riding partner when in my area.

 

[Gerard]

well THAT'S IT!!!!!! eastern cape for december!!!!!

What is you timing for the ride ? I could do a bit of a ride around on the long weekend of the 16th. Lyn and I will be leaving on our end of year tour around the 23rd. Going north and east.