Redrider and an orange rider head west

[sidetrack]

Day 3 - Vanderkloof

Spent the day chilling and catching up with other WD's. Some wanted to go to Orania but this was the rest day. The furthest we went was the dam wall. I walked around and checked out all the boneys. WHS really like your Lucky Strike DR Big ! Home away from home

Redrider lost a bashplate bolt, actually the head sheared off. Inspecting the situation

Vanderkloof dam wall -

The Vanderkloof Dam (originally the P.K. Le Roux Dam) is situated approximately 130km down stream from Gariep Dam and is fed by the Orange River, South Africa's largest river. Vanderkloof Dam is the second largest dam in South Africa, boasting the highest dam wall in the country at 108m. The dam was commissioned in 1977, has a capacity of 3,200,000,000 cubic metres (1.1×1011 cu ft), a surface area of 133,402 square kilometres (51,507 sq mi), and the dam wall is 108 metres (354 ft) high. However the Orange is not the only river flowing into this giant dam: there are the Berg River, 2 unnamed streams come in fron the direction of Reebokrand, the Knapsak River, Paaiskloofspruit, Orange River, Seekoei River, Kattegarspruit and the Hondeblaf River, in a clockwise direction

Beer buddies  ccasion14: , Groenie and Redrider checking out the engineering feat

Talking about engineering, Groenies trailer. Very cool indeed

Now that is a proper chain, sure it can handle a couple of horsepower

I rode a bit around town and went down to the launching site. People making the most of the great weather. Vanderkloof is a laid back town, just what you need to get away from the city

Later watched the CC final and had some killer braaivleis, chatted to Michnus about his trip. Reminisced about the "wrong way round" with Leo, Excalibur and Funacide. Couple of Ricky Louws later we got our stuff ready for the next day. We would have to get to Fouriesburg to minimise the last day's ride home which included the old Mill route and Golden Gate

-To follow-

 

[sidetrack]

Nice ride!  we did some of the same tracks on the way back, stayed over at Koranna Berg, back pack!  next bonus, invest in Gaint Loop Coyote,  Ihad one on my bike (30 lt).  Worked 100%.

Yes, they work quite well on the 525  :thumleft:

 

[ROOI]

Great thanks J and all the bash organizers what a nice event and to all the okes we met for the first time ,and all the old friends from afar see u next year  :sunny: just some pics of the first 2 days ,spot the dog on the dirt as this was our first dirt for the trip .

 

[dirtWarp]

Nice ride!  we did some of the same tracks on the way back, stayed over at Koranna Berg, back pack!  next bonus, invest in Gaint Loop Coyote,  Ihad one on my bike (30 lt).  Worked 100%.

Yes, they work quite well on the 525  :thumleft:

I like!!

 

[nreyneke]

Lekker manne!!!    :thumleft:

 

[sidetrack]

Nice ride!  we did some of the same tracks on the way back, stayed over at Koranna Berg, back pack!  next bonus, invest in Gaint Loop Coyote,  Ihad one on my bike (30 lt).  Worked 100%.

Yes, they work quite well on the 525  :thumleft:

I like!!

8)

 

[sidetrack]

Day 4 - Vanderkloof to Fouriesburg 655 km

We got going pretty early, 6:30 we were rolling for a refuel at Luckhoff. Unfortunetly they were closed but Hentie got hold of the owner and he opened early

Playing around with the camera to distract me from the tar  :sleepy1:

Luckhoff our refuel point, rode up and down the main street

The garage owner had a workshop, inside a Vespa 200

The two thumpers running side by side heading for Phillipolis, cool clear morning made for some good riding

Occasional little dry riverbed made for some photo oppertunities

Phillipolis, what a nice little town. It's residents did a good job of keeping this little town looking it's best. All the buildings were well cared for, I reckon this will make a good stopover on a trip

Philippolis is a small town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was founded as a missionary outpost for the Bushman in 1823, making it the oldest settlement in the Free State. It was named after John Philip of the London Missionary Society. Adam Kok II, a Griqua leader, settled here with his people in 1826 and was made the protector of the mission. However, Kok and his followers killed all the Bushmen at the Mission Station.[citation needed]

Kok's son Adam Kok III and his followers later migrated across the Drakensberg mountains to settle in Kokstad. The writer and intellectual Sir Laurens van der Post was born in Philippolis. Today the town is becoming a popular tourist destination because of its historical value, architecture and rural lifestyle.

The next stretch from Phillipolis to Smithfield was just awesome riding. Little bit of everything from rocky sections to small water crossings and some nice jumps. In general much more greery in the valley than we had before. We made turns opening gates so we could keep the pace up

Wat kyk jy

Smithfield - a brandy never tasted this good ! We stopped over at the Pig Out and were treated to a much desrved lunch and drink !

-To follow-

 

[Brakenjan]

Lekker RR julle twee!  :thumleft: Gooi nog!

 

[Beserker]

You have to admit that there is something about doing it on thumpers... :ricky:

 

[LeonDude]

Great, love the report!  :thumleft:

 

[sidetrack]

Self portrait on our way to Fouriesburg

De ja vu, crossing the bridge on the Caledon river. The 2008 bash went down here just a couple of miles upstream

Getting closer to the Maluti mountains. Fouriesburg and Clarens both lie at the feet of this mountain range

The Maloti Mountains (also spelled Maluti), are a mountain range found in the highlands of Lesotho and named the Drakensberg in South Africa. They form a high alpine basalt plateau up to 3400m in height. The highest point is Thabana Ntlenyana 3482m in the north-east. Snow and frost may be found even in summer on the highest peaks.

The sources of two of the principal rivers in South Africa, the Orange River [called Senqu in Lesotho] and the Tugela River, are in these mountains. Tributaries of the Caledon River [called Mohokare in Lesotho], which forms the country's western border, also rise here.

We skirted the Lesotho border, Maseru could clearly be seen in the distance. Did not keep an eye on the height above sea level but both bikes ran just fine. It had been a long day in the saddle and Fouriesburg would be our stopover before the last day home. The Fouriesburg Inn is the place to be as there is not much else in town. The facilities are fantastic and the owners really make you feel at home. Well worth a visit

Fouriesburg is a small town situated near the Maluti Mountains in the Free State province of South Africa just 9 km from Lesotho. The land was given by Rooi Stoffel Fourie to be used as a temporary seat of the Free State government during the Boer War.

Fouriesburg is a 30 minute drive from the picturesque town of Clarens and 45 minutes from the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. The route from Golden Gate to Ficksburg through Clarens and Fouriesburg features one of the most picturesque drives in the whole of South Africa.

Church in town

Local dual sport

My room, getting ready for a good rest before our trip home

 

[johang]

Day 4 - Vanderkloof to Fouriesburg 655 km

We got going pretty early, 6:30 we were rolling for a refuel at Luckhoff. Unfortunetly they were closed but Hentie got hold of the owner and he opened early

The garage owner had a workshop, inside a Vespa 200

Phillipolis, what a nice little town. It's residents did a good job of keeping this little town looking it's best. All the buildings were well cared for, I reckon this will make a good stopover on a trip

-To follow-

Thnxs for sharing.  I grew up in the little town of Luckhoff many moons ago.  The Lombaard's owns the garage from the day that I can remember.  As a kid I learned to ride at the showgrounds, using the Vespa.  They maintain their vehicle very good.

Philippolis is also the town where I had my first real job, in Barclays Bank, just after I finished my contribution to PW & sons.

Ride safe!

 

[Varadero]

Freakin awesome  :thumleft:

 

[ROOI]

OK some more pics from me

 

[Beserker]

Awesome...how many times have I stood and checked out the track ahead, thinking to myself: "You lucky sod.."

 

[ROOI]

Yip this was just after we unlocked this gate   :xxbah: we were really lucky  :ricky:

 

[ThomTom]

Question on route; Jagerfontein to Luckhoff, Googe Maps showed a "short cut", avoiding the tar strip via Luckhoff.  Map Source did not show the "short cut"?  we did not look hard enough and travelled via Luckhoff,

and Hoofseun, I also spend some time there at school, it was however before your time.

 

[LouisXander]

Eish, hoekom het ek die trippie gemis!!!!!!!!

 

[sidetrack]

Day 5 - Fouriesburg - Pretoria

The last day of the trip. We left Fouriesburg after a proper breakfast. Outside our overnight stop

the trip home would take us via the Old Mill route on the Lesotho border, it promised for good riding. Old Case tractor in Fouriesburg

Now we all know the XR is a tractor but Redrider was taking it a bit too far !

All along the route the mountain scenery became more prominent, soon we would have some nice hills to play in

We were trying to find a trail that led from the Lesotho border to the Mill route to bypass some tar. Unfortunetly although fun we made no real headway and ended up riding up and down the mountain side

Because of time contstraints we decided to keep to the orginal route and soon we were at the beginning of the Old Mill route. I can't find alot of info on it but it's basicly a 4x4 track that leads from the Lesotho side over the mountain and leads you into Clarens. Sure is purty around here

Nice and scenic, easy riding

And so it begins

A little more interesting

And then some proper riding, not too difficult but just enough obstacles to make for a great ride. Both bikes handled it with ease. I would say that riding from the Clarens side would make it more challenging as it has numerous steep rocky climbs

Nice views over the valley, Lesotho in the distance

The long way down

Up and up we go

-To follow-

 

[sidetrack]

After a tricky decent on the Clarens side we headed into town for a refuel. I filled up in town and rode all the way to Pretoria and I still have around 50 km worth of fuel left, the Acerbis tank will give you around 500 km range  :thumleft:

Clarens refuel

From here we went through Golden Gate National park, a nice scenic winding tar road before getting back on the gravel as we headed back towards Villiers. In the National park, spot the zebras in the distance

After Tweeling it was mostly tar back home as we headed via Villiers, Heidelberg to Pretoria. All in all a great trip, thanks to all involved for a memorable bash  :thumleft: Dirtwarp and Redrider for the routes. I reckom Phillipolis and surrounds will see us again in the near future. As for the new to me KTM well it did a wonderfull job. Taking into account I did 2200 odd km on 1.2 L of oil is no mean feat. It was solid on the whole trip and it just idled up Old Mill route like it was nothing and did 160 km/h on the open dirt next to the BRP. I will try a 14/45 setup next, currently I'm running 14/48. Fuel consumption was around 22 km/l.

Thanks for reading  :ricky: