Rat racer's weekend getaways
- Thread starter Xpat
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dirtWarp said:
I can only image the words used at this point :imaposer: :imaposer:
You should have recorded the audio, would have been priceless
The Priceless bit here is the willingness of [member=614]Runner[/member] to come save a client & bike in such a remote spot I think!
Having someone on SpeedDial takes another meaning here, just saying.....
:thumleft:(PS: I know at least [member=9492]Xpat[/member] knows this )
Osadabwa
Race Dog
Very cool pics of that pass. You're doing it right... sort of... if you insist on riding that giant tub of metal up rocky passes you might want to bring your sleeping bag at least!
BuRP said:The Priceless bit here is the willingness of [member=614]Runner[/member] to come save a client & bike in such a remote spot I think!
Having someone on SpeedDial takes another meaning here, just saying.....
(PS: I know at least [member=9492]Xpat[/member] knows this )
Yes, indeed very nice of him. Though his wife is starting to suspect more serious relationship given this was the second time in half a year he had to drop everything, load the gun and come fetch me... >
Oliphant river run & 'Little Kaokoland' - Oct 2020
Last weekend I wanted to do another Bots fence run, but the work intervened and I couldn't leave on Friday afternoon. So in a spur of a moment I changed the plans and decided to head early morning Saturday to Limpopo again. Few days before I have spotted on satellite images some potentially very primising tracks following Oliphant river past Roedtan and in the mountains north of Steelpoort.
I do not have problem to wake up early, but I have problem to go to bed on time. So early morning turned out to be 9:00 am departure, which wasn't ideal as the temperatures were already high and going to get much worse later on. I gunned it on N1 up past Modimolle and then got off highway illegaly on some dirt track when the planned turn off turned out to be overpass with no offramp. I filled up in Roedtan while there was long procession of bikes passing by helmetless (I guess some kind of rally) and pushed on another 40 or so km to the start of the Oliphant river track, which was at the spot where R579 crosses the river.
By that time it was properly hot and I started sweating bullets as soon as I got off tar as the sand was uneven and thorns sharp:
Last weekend I wanted to do another Bots fence run, but the work intervened and I couldn't leave on Friday afternoon. So in a spur of a moment I changed the plans and decided to head early morning Saturday to Limpopo again. Few days before I have spotted on satellite images some potentially very primising tracks following Oliphant river past Roedtan and in the mountains north of Steelpoort.
I do not have problem to wake up early, but I have problem to go to bed on time. So early morning turned out to be 9:00 am departure, which wasn't ideal as the temperatures were already high and going to get much worse later on. I gunned it on N1 up past Modimolle and then got off highway illegaly on some dirt track when the planned turn off turned out to be overpass with no offramp. I filled up in Roedtan while there was long procession of bikes passing by helmetless (I guess some kind of rally) and pushed on another 40 or so km to the start of the Oliphant river track, which was at the spot where R579 crosses the river.
By that time it was properly hot and I started sweating bullets as soon as I got off tar as the sand was uneven and thorns sharp:
The track after km or few turned away from the river and I went bundu bashing hoping to reconnect to another one in km or so. It was there, but too much work to crash through the bushes (I walked to find it), so I returned to the original track which took me to a village about 4 km away and there I connected to the right one.
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Nice pics!
Once back to the river, the vegetation got greener and more rivery. It was bloody hot, but as long as I stayed out of experimental forrays into the thorns and hence was able to keep up 40 kmh or more, bearable. I was also getting closer to the mountains I wanted to explore next. Originally I thought I will do both river and mountains in one day, but late start and inevitable dead ends encountered on free form exploration made sure that it will be only river on Saturday:
I have managed to wipe out for the first time on this 990 on completely innocent bump and of course dropped the bike into the thorny bush, so the recovery was a bit delicate affair:
I have managed to wipe out for the first time on this 990 on completely innocent bump and of course dropped the bike into the thorny bush, so the recovery was a bit delicate affair:
By now it was late - way past 4 pm, so I decided to finish the last 10 km or so where the river entered into the mountains - followed by dirt track - and at the dam on the other side hit tar and gun it down to Steelpoort for overnight. The track running through the mountains was a welcome change to the flat plains I was mostly riding before:
Right at that last spot KTM true to its labels plastered generously all over by the prior owner decided to turn this into real adventure, and refused to start. The pump was pumping and the engine would turn, butl always only twice and the bike would not start. After a bit of headscratching I called the gentleman Koedoespoort, who is by now sufficiently habituated to accept my calls during his family time without too much fuzz. He diagnosed it - as it turns out correctly - as low batter voltage. It looked like my idiotic habit - against which he warned me strongly before - of switching off the engine by killswitch while leaving the key on (and therefore lights and whatever else was hooked up to that batter) finally caught up with me. I was stopping frequently for pictures, and the fan was running overtime during my stops will engine off, which I'm sure didn't help. So I got finally caught.
I let it sit for a bit and tried few more times, but no luck, so I packed up backpack, stashed my gear behind a tree and walked half an hour to the dam and water treatment plant at the end of that mountain range. There I found local security guards off duty chilling with beer and managed after lengthy and frustrating exchange persuade one of them to go back with me in their car. He was all the time looking for funny excuses, saying it is company car and he might damage it yada yada. Eventually I managed to persuade him to try at least. He didn't have jumper cables, but the agreement was that if the car will make it to the bike then he will drive back to nearby village where we will try to make a plan. Yes it was retarted, but that was what I was able to accomplish via gentle perseverance (I wasn't in position to bully him).
We made it all the way to the bike through some gnarly sections (it was Tazz) where I thought he would turn back. Once at the bike in the complete darkness he confirmed that the road is too hard and he is not coming back. Luckily for me, the KTM have rested a bit and did start on its own. So I gave the guys some beer money and send them on their way, while I geared up and made it out of the gully to tar without further incident. On the tar I gunned it to the local metropolis Ga-Nkoana, where I filled up at Total garage and contemplated my plans for the night. Google found number of places to stay nearby, but they were all of the 'African' variety - i.e. owned by locals, with the corresponding standards of hospitality. The gastrotourist in me was baying for a proper chow and naturally none of the establishments around offerent such a luxury as restaurant. I felt an urge to gun it to Steelpoort, but I would be there only past 9 - if I would manage to dodge all the local donkeys and drunk local population, so eventually I just bought few packets of biltong and peanuts and headed to one of the local guesthouses - Mohalapitsi guesthouse - to sleep over. At least I wouldn't have to commute back 80- 100 km back in the morning.
The guesthouse was fine, except with zero amenities, for example working fridge in the bar. I took three lukewarm beers anway and after delicious biltong / peanuts / Heineken combo, headed to bed early.
Right at that last spot KTM true to its labels plastered generously all over by the prior owner decided to turn this into real adventure, and refused to start. The pump was pumping and the engine would turn, butl always only twice and the bike would not start. After a bit of headscratching I called the gentleman Koedoespoort, who is by now sufficiently habituated to accept my calls during his family time without too much fuzz. He diagnosed it - as it turns out correctly - as low batter voltage. It looked like my idiotic habit - against which he warned me strongly before - of switching off the engine by killswitch while leaving the key on (and therefore lights and whatever else was hooked up to that batter) finally caught up with me. I was stopping frequently for pictures, and the fan was running overtime during my stops will engine off, which I'm sure didn't help. So I got finally caught.
I let it sit for a bit and tried few more times, but no luck, so I packed up backpack, stashed my gear behind a tree and walked half an hour to the dam and water treatment plant at the end of that mountain range. There I found local security guards off duty chilling with beer and managed after lengthy and frustrating exchange persuade one of them to go back with me in their car. He was all the time looking for funny excuses, saying it is company car and he might damage it yada yada. Eventually I managed to persuade him to try at least. He didn't have jumper cables, but the agreement was that if the car will make it to the bike then he will drive back to nearby village where we will try to make a plan. Yes it was retarted, but that was what I was able to accomplish via gentle perseverance (I wasn't in position to bully him).
We made it all the way to the bike through some gnarly sections (it was Tazz) where I thought he would turn back. Once at the bike in the complete darkness he confirmed that the road is too hard and he is not coming back. Luckily for me, the KTM have rested a bit and did start on its own. So I gave the guys some beer money and send them on their way, while I geared up and made it out of the gully to tar without further incident. On the tar I gunned it to the local metropolis Ga-Nkoana, where I filled up at Total garage and contemplated my plans for the night. Google found number of places to stay nearby, but they were all of the 'African' variety - i.e. owned by locals, with the corresponding standards of hospitality. The gastrotourist in me was baying for a proper chow and naturally none of the establishments around offerent such a luxury as restaurant. I felt an urge to gun it to Steelpoort, but I would be there only past 9 - if I would manage to dodge all the local donkeys and drunk local population, so eventually I just bought few packets of biltong and peanuts and headed to one of the local guesthouses - Mohalapitsi guesthouse - to sleep over. At least I wouldn't have to commute back 80- 100 km back in the morning.
The guesthouse was fine, except with zero amenities, for example working fridge in the bar. I took three lukewarm beers anway and after delicious biltong / peanuts / Heineken combo, headed to bed early.
DR BIG 750
Race Dog
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also been caught out with the kill swich, key scenario, the positive thing about it is it should only catch u once. fortunatly mine was not such an isolated space, but still took a while :thumleft:
'Little Kaokoland', Limpopo edition
On Sunday I woke up to overcast sky. I packed up and headed back to the place where I left the track yesterday. It was in the village Pelangwe about 20km away where I turned on the side road and headed for the mountains running all the way to Steelpoort about 60 km away. The tar side road after few km morphed into sandy dirt road and I left the village behind heading into heavily overcast mountains. The riding and scenery turned out to be fantastic, despite the unpleasant weather. The scenery reminded me of northern Kaokoland around Van Zyl's Pass with rugged mountains framing horizon on both sides, and track alternating between sand (wet after the heavy rain prior night) and rocks.
On Sunday I woke up to overcast sky. I packed up and headed back to the place where I left the track yesterday. It was in the village Pelangwe about 20km away where I turned on the side road and headed for the mountains running all the way to Steelpoort about 60 km away. The tar side road after few km morphed into sandy dirt road and I left the village behind heading into heavily overcast mountains. The riding and scenery turned out to be fantastic, despite the unpleasant weather. The scenery reminded me of northern Kaokoland around Van Zyl's Pass with rugged mountains framing horizon on both sides, and track alternating between sand (wet after the heavy rain prior night) and rocks.
And deeper I went. Eventually i came to koppies where I had no chance to get over. I looked around and found another track, that took me up in the wrong direction but up the mountains on increasingly rocky path.
Just when I thought I'm out of the woods after few quite gnarly ascents, I hit the proper one and eventualy got stuck on couple of big rocks. By now I could hear thunder, so went to explore km or so further on foot to see what is in the store for me. It was getting gnarlier and gnarlier and the rain started, so I decided that retreat was the right action. I will be back though as the area offers some fantastic riding.
