Popping the Lesotho cherry

[machanicmike]

Greetings All

"So what we doing for December holidays" Was the question from the Misses

So There i went looking at routes  booking accommodation and chatting to people about  routes and more routes and road conditions

The Route was  Clarens  Afriski  Ha Lejone  Underberg Winterton and back to Clarens

Bikes Would be the trusty Honda tornado 250  and My 2011 KTM 690 enduro R .Same as what we used earlier in the year

SO  26 Dec  was D day  bikes loaded and with a slight head cold we headed to Clarens
The weather had been planning up in the lead up to our trip . I had been speaking to a contact at Afriski about weather and road conditions and there was some uncertainty if the route was ridable due to rain 

So Day of 27 Dec had arrived  and we set off in a bit of a misty day    Off to Forriesberg and then CaladonsPoort and then off to Afriski
Yes We could have gone via Motsnana Pass  I was looking for an easy ride for the Misses as it was here first time on a bike in Lesotho

So off we went stopping for Pics Here and there    that MoTeng Pass is amazing when there is no Snow or Ice on it . But the Altitude was starting to take a toll on the honda    Its Not happy at that height but it made it to Afriski .
Pics , a walk around and sorting out a sim card was what we did for the rest of the day  And That Head cold started to cause isues ....
A Chat with our contact at afriski  assured us that the route we had chosen was Ridable The mention of 3 river crossings  Got the Misses attention
( newbie this type of stuff  )

28 Dec 

 

[roxenz]

This looks like a real hit and Misses adventure! Roll on with the story.  :thumleft:

 

[machanicmike]

So  28 Dec was to be a long day for a short distance .

The night of the 27th it rained and we had a good lighting show 

So Off to Ha Lejone we aimed after what felt like a very little sleep due the head cold i mentioned earlier . But we stuck to our guns and decided to continue  :
So 20 Km of tar road then off the A! to Kao Mine and then Lejone  The sand road was  in good  condition because the area had received a lot of rain a couple of days before making the river crossing very scary for the Misses  . The temps were not to bad but the wind up on the top part was really nasty .

The first few kms  we passed a 3 cars in the first 15km on the route but the Views got better better as we rode on . 
Our first view of the decent into the valley was at the catchment dam at the top of the valley 

The road is used by the Kao mine so  we did come across some taxis coming out of the valley

So the big mistake happened earlier  Not filling up fuel at Afriski  . (R20 a liter)  range was good for the Misses Bike Clarens afriski lejone is 190 odd so i was in full confidence that the honda would make it ..  Wrong  Just after the  Kao Mine  we had to turn to onto reserver  for the Honda . Altitude is harsh on fuel economy.    So we  transferred  fuel from My Bike to hers  just before  the last and biggest water crossing. While there  we watched a Landy come past and we could see how deep the water was . The Misses just jumped from rock to rock to get to the other side and waited  :xxbah: . But it wasnt too bad  (I have a short clip but not sure how to upload it to the site)

So rivers  done now to get to Lejone  it was A long day for the misses she fell twice  . First time its happened while we were just out of site of each other . We have a set of SENA SHM 10 s  so We were in contact .  I was  up head to see the next section and All i Hear of the ear piece is " **** **** **** ''    I turn around and race down the hill to find a Very unhappy Lady with a bike on its side but luckly no damage .  With me having a good sigh of relief  Nobody Hurt and nothing broken ...    Put a foot down on the wrong side and lost balance .

It happened again later that day  again Misses ok and Bike ok ....About 5 km from the accommodation  on a rather steep section

Motebong lodge  for the evening    We arrived at about 13H00 in the afternoon after leaving afriski  at 8 am  Google says 80 km 
IT was slow going  for the Misses

So heres the problem We had to back track the route the following day to get to the A1 again .  Fun and interesting discussion  was had later that day .  Fuel was now needed for the bike  Not to difficult  but its the first time ive ever filled up a 9 liters tank with 10 liters of fuel  :

Drinks and diner were prompted by a thunder storm and a early night with some route discussions was had  . I stuck to my guns    ride back the route we had just done the following morning 
A rather worried Misses accepted the verdict  So
The following Morning  We left at 6;30  as we had to make Sani by 12:30 for lunch with friends and then underberg

29 DEC

 

 

[NoRush]

:sip: Do also speak you mind over the Sena headset or just ride it out ?? The headset help with comms but man i have to bite my tongue sometimes.... Following this RR.

 

[machanicmike]

:sip: Do also speak you mind over the Sena headset or just ride it out ?? The headset help with comms but man i have to bite my tongue sometimes.... Following this RR.

I have been told not too scream at people      So I do let her know about road conditions or a car coming the other way    But yes Holding ones tongue is sometimes hard and the best thing to do

 

[machanicmike]

So were was I  .... Lejone on the banks of Katse Dam at a lodge called Motebong Lodge

So the follwing day was back up the road we had just come down the day before  and The Misses nerves had kicked in  so she was affraid of the same river crossing and 1 or 2 of the steep hills that we had to over come ..

So the 29 Dec  we left early  and made our way back to the A1 .

Sun in the eyes does not  help with confidence .. So a bit of encouragement was needed to get up the first steep hill. From then it would slow start to go down hill from there

3 river crossing in the opposite direction and a few pic stops I discovered  i had broken my right hand side Subframe bolt that holds the `tank on  ??? :eek7  And ythe Misses was out of range to tell her what had happened .

So i stopped to fix it .no Pics of this as i was quite annoyed from kids asking for sweeties  at 7 in the morning    So panniers to the front of the Bike and some tie downs to lift and support the Seat and Tank    (now for a stand up ride for the rest of the day)    Get that sorted and then chase to catch up to The Misses 

  A few kms down the road trouble was about to strike


Then about 2 Km away from the main A! the Misses slides the front into a ditch  Braking the Screen and a rear view Mirrow . .. I was ahead of her and didnt see it happen    I was trying to take pic of Stork Birds .  Waited some more    .... See a  Sheep herder start running in the direction of where i thought The misses was    ........  turn the bike around and haul *** a 1 km down the road and find a Very Shaken Misses Next to the Bike

First check the Misses for and injuries  Saw wrist and a small graze on the Knee  She was only doing about 20 kph  ;D  Glad shes not a speed demon
This could have been much worse if she was going faster


Pic up  Bike    sort out mirrow bits and clean up the Bike  get it started ...  quite hard for a small motor to run  at altitude  HICK en Sluck splutter splutter
again no PIcs 
 
Our desitnation for that day was SANI/ Underberg  So tar road it was for the rest of the day  exept for going down Sani ... 

SO Mokhotlong for Fuel  Then Sani for Lunch t

That Road from Mokhotlong to Sani  50 km of amazing Chinse Road building  The Misses was Happy about the tar for the rest of the Day  But Later during lunch sHe told me she was worried about going down the pass ....    She has ridden a bicycle up and down Sani    i tried to convince her it would be easier on the Motorcycle .... Thankfully She Mastered it no issues . Back on SA   

Underberg  Saw us staying with some family friends    I managed to get the end of the subframe bolt out and made a plan using a M8 bolt and a nylock nut  sorted  Adventure to continue ....

The following Day was the lower letani road to Kamberg then past white mountain resort to Winterton 
The rest of the route was mostly tar 
 
The follow day was Winterton back to Clarens via Golden gate

 

[machanicmike]

The route  Pics in the wrong order

 

[Scalpel]

Mike you probably missed your downhill bicycle at Afriski!!

 

[bartman]

:thumleft: