Rain in the Richtersveld Two.0 - Desolation & Dunes

[51Mobile]

A wheelie is better attempted there where noone is watching you.
Use it, don't .....

if only there was a spectacular reason for having my face planted in the tar. Regrettably the reason is infinitely more prosaic.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Im heading up to Oewerbos from CT tomorrow on a wild camp trip.. Ill catch up on your RR whan im back

Ive moved away from the E07 Dakar to the MotoZ for this trip as we will be doing some rough stuff, I hope I have made the right decision, I havent had a puncture with a E07 in years now I read you get a puncture

 

[51Mobile]

With a HUGE sigh of relief, I found Suzuki Worcester . With the proper kit to change the tube, i was on my way far sooner than if I had tried to do it myself. But only after i was prepared to admit, on video that the V-Strom was a GREAT bike!

Back on the road, passing through Ceres the road was a a stipple line of stop-go's.

Tik Tok......

I need to get to Springbok with enough time to offload and swap out my wheels. I had sent a set of wheels with better tyres ahead.

Passing through Citrusdal, i had seen a nice windy road on the East side of the Oliphants river, which was fun riding - until....

There was no bridge to get over, just a causeway. The rains had added significant negotiating power to the river. Do i walk it and get REALLY wet? Do i turn around? where is the next point to cross? Will it be any better?

Just then a water bowser came past and plunged into the river. I watched carefully. It looked like the water only went 3/4 of the way up his wheels. Ok, how hard can this be?

The moment i realised i had F*&$ked Up came very quickly. There was no turning back, so i wrestled the river all the way across and with great relief popped out the other side. Right next to a sign saying the causeway was closed due to flooding! Nice - where was the one on the side i had come from?

The long straight flat road to Springbok was a relief after this, for about 30 min.

 

[Surfking]

i know - i used to sit behind you on at least 1 trip

 

[51Mobile]

Im heading up to Oewerbos from CT tomorrow on a wild camp trip.. Ill catch up on your RR whan im back

Ive moved away from the E07 Dakar to the MotoZ for this trip as we will be doing some rough stuff, I hope I have made the right decision, I havent had a puncture with a E07 in years now I read you get a puncture

Motoz Desert are the way to go for Richtersveld- in my humble opinion. The puncture was due to a bead lock that had been damaged when the last tyre was fitted.

Have fun. I am extremely envious!

 

[51Mobile]

i know - i used to sit behind you on at least 1 trip

I do have a recollection of you terrorizing a Beetle full of innocent young ladies on Blue Route from the back of the RS in 87.

Going to a braai at Scarborough with the UCT MCC, you suffered a Viking delusion. Once all the bikes had surrounded the Beetle and you decided to start waving an axe at them from the back of my bike.

Their faces looked like they had just driving into a Mad Max parallel universe.

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

Motoz Desert are the way to go for Richtersveld- in my humble opinion. The puncture was due to a bead lock that had been damaged when the last tyre was fitted.

Have fun. I am extremely envious!

Ahh ok, thanks for that , tyre choice is always a hit and miss sometimes when changing brands, The desert looked a bit 'scoopy' for a big bike loaded so I went with the Tractionator Adventure. Im eager to test it out, we going to head up into Namibia through Nakop and backout through Vioolsdrift then be at Project x from the 20th - 29th then head home through the Rictersveld down the West Coast

Oh and right at that river crossing .. if you going up from Citrusdal that road continues all the way up to Clan William along the Oliphants Rivier. Some epic wild camping along that route

 

[Surfking]

I do have a recollection of you terrorizing a Beetle full of innocent young ladies on Blue Route from the back of the RS in 87.

Going to a braai at Scarborough with the UCT MCC, you suffered a Viking delusion. Once all the bikes had surrounded the Beetle and you decided to start waving an axe at them from the back of my bike.

Their faces looked like they had just driving into a Mad Max parallel universe.

I admit, i was a bit ahead of myself I'm so bloody envious of your trip. Give it horns.

 

[51Mobile]

Ahh ok, thanks for that , tyre choice is always a hit and miss sometimes when changing brands, The desert looked a bit 'scoopy' for a big bike loaded so I went with the Tractionator Adventure. Im eager to test it out, we going to head up into Namibia through Nakop and backout through Vioolsdrift then be at Project x from the 20th - 29th then head home through the Rictersveld down the West Coast

Oh and right at that river crossing .. if you going up from Citrusdal that road continues all the way up to Clan William along the Oliphants Rivier. Some epic wild camping along that route

Excellent! I am going to have to explore that area some more.

The Motoz are great. I did this trip with the Desert's running 1.6 Bar upfront and 1.4 Bar at the back. I was a little worried in the really rocky sections, but placated when rocks turned to deep sand. The tyres performed flawlessly. I think you are in good hands.

Have a safe ride. I look forward to your ride report when you are done.

 

[51Mobile]

I rolled into Springbok just after 3pm. This gave me enough time to complete my chores before the chaos descended.

The Heyl brothers were already in Springbok but not anywhere to be seen, they had quickly honed in on some of the other pleasures Springbok had to offer.

...yes, they are brothers - jy vra my?!

 

[51Mobile]

Stephan, aka Claudio van Planta, on this trip he was our master of anything photographic.

Lohan, born on a bike and the only person i know who carries torque wrenches in his tool roll (and knows the torque settings for each and every bolt).

 

[51Mobile]

Next to make their appearance, bikes loaded onto the back of a new intimidating Ford Raptor, Craig and Marc.

Craig is a Roof Podium finisher, but even more impressive are his antics at the Rallye Raid Hogsback, where he had girlfriend Version XII + plenty, as a pillion on the BLACK route! I could not help myself but keep checking if any of the previous versions had fallen off and were littered on the route.

Craig taught the Ibex's their rock climbing skills. Every time there was a sheer rock face near where we stopped, he would scuttle off and be on top in a heartbeat. He did this with such skill and confidence inspiring smoothness that our own Muffin Man felt sufficiently emboldened to follow him up, thankfully one of the lessor rock faces.

 

[51Mobile]

Craig's daytime partner in crime was Marc aka Dong147

Eish! oops - finger trouble, wrong picture.

Though we will get back to this later.

Marc is the most remarkable fellow, he has a sense of humour that needs just the slightest prompt to reach side splitting levels, he has uithouvermoe on a different level and an ability to have a conversation with absolutely anyone.

 

[51Mobile]

Next in were the trailers and crew of Gus and Mike.

Our Fearless leader Gus - ADV Rider. Gus put huge effort and his relentless attention to detail into ensuring we had a trip for the record books.

Thanks Gus

Jarod. The Care Giver for the 9 Pensioners. Jarod generally rode many of the sections we were not entirely sure of to check that a bike could get through, this was not always proof that we could get through.

 

[51Mobile]

Paul, a Botswana resident who has ridden all over the world with a special delight for long treacherous sand.

At night, he and Craig did their utmost to deplete whatever place we found ourselves in of red wine. Often camping below one of our windows until the very early hours of the morning.

Paul has another unique talent, he is able to transfer from helmet on, to cigarette in his mouth faster than Brett Tkacs can get his cap on while taking off his helmet.

 

[51Mobile]

Mike, my long time comrade in crime. Now rolling out his brand new Kove 450. At this point he had yet to start it. He would go on to conquer pretty much all the tour would throw at him.

We were not to have one Kove, but 2x

The Muffin Man grew tired of his strong man performance with is trusty 990 and gone for something a little lighter. His practice at the EDBA showed, with his riding worthy of a Dakar racer.

 

[51Mobile]

The Kove's were a revelation. There was careful design evident in the bike's build, which had a high level of finish. They performed impeccably throughout our ride. The only niggle was a very sensitive throttle, for which there is a workaround. If the 800 is anything like these, the major brands will have their hands full.

 

[51Mobile]

That evening we walked down the hill and into a hole under the road masquerading as a steakhouse. It was full wall to wall, no point even asking for a table for 10. They offered to serve us in the bar. The food was terrific, the time it took to get to us somewhat longer than my hunger was comfortable with. Clearly the food is able to keep it full regardless of the day - in Springbok nog al.

 

[51Mobile]

At last Day 1 dawned. Gus had allowed us an easy day to limber up in and for Craig and Paul to clear the vineyard they had quenched the early hours of the morning with.

Gus' plan was to ease us into some sand riding with the temptation of Kreef for lunch on the beach.

Breakfast - copious great coffee, fresh cut fruit and omelettes. Weight loss would not be on the menu.

 

[51Mobile]

We rolled out of Springbok heading for Kleinzee on a cool and overcast morning.

Perfect for sand riding.