Riding the Desert Run

[Kykdaar]

Stopping next to the road to watch the sun set that night on the way to Kang I was again reminded of why I love long distance riding so much. Twist the throttle long enough and the rewards are moments like this â?? the opportunity to momentarily experience absolute peace and quiet in beautiful surroundings.

A few days ago Terrier (XT 660) and I (Transalp 650) had set off together from Pretoria to do what we had both wanted to do for so long â?? ride the Desert Run unassisted on our bikes. In Sannies Hof we met up with Eksteen on his brand new KTM 990 who travelled up the day before from Amanzimtoti. 

During a smoke break next to the road on the way to Kuruman a white double â?? cab bakkie came flying past with the occupants hooting and waving at us. It turned around and we were promptly joined by Simon Fourie and his lovely wife Sharon as well as the medic Donovan for an impromptu chat next to the road. It was nice of Simon to stop and turn all the way around (he was really motoring) to come to talk to three perfect strangers. Later I was to learn that that was pretty much in the nature of the man.

Carrying on we rode into a hell of a crosswind and I had the opportunity to really bed the left hand side of my tyres in from all the leaning into the wind  A few kmâ??s from Kuruman with the sun setting in our eyes, mules and people everywhere and the wind doing itâ??s best to blow us off our bikes, the Transalp started to pick up an irritating and sometimes downright dangerous (try overtaking a truck in a crosswind with only intermittent throttle and a car coming from the front) mid-range stutter and surging. At that time I put it down to dirt in the carbs or fuel starvation caused by the angle of lean, but the problem was to remain throughout the trip and as I am writing this, the bike is in pieces in the garage while I am still trying to track down the problem.

Anyway, just after eight we cruised into Kuruman and then the Red Sands Country Lodge a few klicks further down the road. Being tired and hungry we took a chance and asked for a chalet. In what was to become a string of similar lucky circumstances, one was indeed available and soon we were lying around enjoying the air conditioning and the end of the dayâ??s riding â?? approximately 550kmâ??s  :ricky:

Some photoâ??s of the first day â??

Ready to leave Pretoria

Joining up with the KTM

Simon chatting to Terrier

Outside Red Sands (photo taken the Saturday morning) 

 

[The TRANSPORTER]

Nice man nice,keep it coming........lots of pics toooooo.... :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[Kykdaar]

The next day (Friday) was spent pretty much lounging around the bar and pool and meeting the other participants.

With only 100-150 people or so on the December run, the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed than during the hectic April run. In fact I think we got to meet most of the other people in the campsite that day, including a remarkable couple from Germany â?? Jurgen and Esther.

Nine months into a 12 month Africa adventure they had sold everything in Germany to fulfil their dream ride. They have also timed their arrival in South Africa so that they could meet up with the Desert Run for the ride up to Swakop (They came down the East coast of Africa so they have not been to Namibia yet).

When we met them they were busy with some much needed maintenance to their bikes and somehow I felt like a d@@s standing there with my gleaming new bike claiming to be an adventure rider.

Earlier that morning at least I had the opportunity to laugh at someone else  ;D After a cold night when we were getting ready to start up the bikes I chirped â??This is how a Honda startsâ? One touch of the button and she roared into life â?? no choke required. Next was Terrier's turn and he said â??Ja, but you still needed to open the throttleâ? and proceeded to start the fuel-injected XT by only pushing the button. â??Thatâ??s f-allâ? says Eksteen, â??This is how you start a KTMâ? and he presses the button â?? CLICK. We hosed ourselves. Turns out he left the GPS on overnight, but it was still very satisfying to see him having to jump start that new bike.

After another restful night for me and a frustrating one for my companions â??they claim I snore but I told them I didnâ??t hear a thing  ;D â?? we fuelled up and headed out for the start of the dirt about 70 klicks out of Kuruman.

This is where the run really starts and everyone was exited to get underway. All sorts of bakkies, bikes and quads were on display with some guys pulling some amazing rigs.

 

[JourneyMan]

Good stuff Eksteen! That must have been funny as hell!  :biggrin:

Bring the rest!  8)

 

[FortyZA]

Very nice, brings back memories of 2001 December run. Lots of funs, lots of beer and nice team spirit. Keep it coming.

 

[Kykdaar]

After a quick coffee we left in a cloud of dust for a relatively relaxed ride to VanZylsrust. The road was not too bad, but a few loose sections kept the concentration high. I noticed the Germans rode carefully at around 60-70km/h and thought that appropriate given their circumstances and the need to preserve their bikes.

The hotel in VanZylrust has had a nice makeover and after Terrier spent some time being a hooligan on a friendâ??s quad we relaxed on the hotel stoep for a while with a toasted sandwich and a cold coke. What more can you ask of life?

Turning off on the alternative good gravel road, we were quickly brought back to reality when the road, far from being the gravel highway we anticipated, turned out to be covered with quite deep and very loose sand for long distances at a time

On the heavily laden Transalp I had a few seriously scary moments and nearly took a dive a few times. Only my sense of self-preservation  ;D and the realisation that the bike must stay undamaged for me to complete my trip kept me on two wheels (personally I thanked the new TKC 80 on the front). Binning the bike on the first day of the trip would have been seriously uncool.

Through experimentation I later learned that it was better to increase speed to about 80-90km/h and to ignore previously made tracks â?? it is better to make your own. You would still be all over the place, but at least you were calling the shots  :ricky:

Nevertheless, with the temperature soaring and the body becoming slowly dehydrated it was getting tough out there when I passed Eksteen standing next to the road chatting to a lady back-up driver in a Land Rover. Knowing that he is a sociable guy I paid no further attention and pressed on.

A little while later I spotted a home-made signboard saying â??waterâ? and amazingly a little distance up the road there stood a table next to a fence with glasses neatly stacked on it. Turns out the resident friendly farmer heard from someone that we were coming by that way and decided to help and offer his borehole water to us. I tell you, water never tasted that sweet before and I had to restrain myself from taking a shower under his tap. He came out and talked to me and again I was amazed at the kindness and unselfishness of this person. Whilst there a quad rider came by and while we stood there talking he told me what has become of my friend Eksteen

On hearing the news I saddled up and rode on to catch up with Terrier who I guessed (correctly) would be waiting further up the road (he in turn has bought some cold water off a local) and I told him to get his camera ready because he is not going to believe this.

A few minutes later the Land Rover I previously passed rumbled past with our friend Eksteen comfortably lounging in the air conditioned comfort of itâ??s cabin with his bike on the trailer behind. I gave him the finger and managed to capture the shot for prosperity.

On later reflection, I could not blame him. The conditions were difficult, he was tired and not yet fully used to the bike and he was not comfortable to continue. I think he did the right thing â?? donâ??t be a hero but rather ride within your comfort zone. 

Me, I am to dumb to feel pain so Terrier and I saddled up and rode the rest of the way to Molopo but making a point of it to catch up with the Land Rover along the way and roost it.

Again we got a chalet by chance so the camping gear remained unused on the bikes while we jumped into the shower and switched on the air conditioner. Life in Africa is indeed good  :thumleft:

The next morning my riding buddies looked exhausted. They blamed it on a lack of sleep despite drinking sleeping tablets and claimed that I was the first guy they have ever come accross that could snore lying on his stomach  atch: I put their ramblings down to over active imaginations and eating too much braaivleis before going to sleep  ;D

 

[Kykdaar]

So having pointed out to Eksteen that the reason why his chain is making such a clanging sound is because his chain slider is MIA and that his chain is eating into the aluminium swingarm, and after hearing that there is no unleaded fuel available at Gochas we decided the thing to do was to proceed to Windhoek as quickly as possible to get things sorted.

We will miss out on the camping at Gochas  :imaposer:, but we will get to Windhoek with a full day to do what we could.  I did not complain because by this time the surging of the Transalp was also getting worse and I could not wait to tear those carbs out and send a tsunami of carb cleaner through it.

After crossing the border at Rietfontein we filled up in Aroab and headed for Keetmanshoop on the C 16 which turned out to be a lovely fast dirt highway.

From Keetmanshoop it was time for the iron butt ride to Windhoek along the boring B1. As the hours ticked by I discovered that keeping the Transalp at full throttle helped with the surging and mentally I was preparing my defence for an unbelieving traffic officer when that moment should come.

Stopping just to fill up in Mariental  we pressed on for the next fuel stop at Rehoboth. As we cruised into the fuel station we were greeted with the sad news that the whole town is still awaiting delivery off petrol and that the tanker should be there the following day .

We assessed the situation. It was only 90kmâ??s to go, but our fuel situation was desperate. It has been 268kmâ??s since our last refuel and Terrierâ??s light has already come on. The transalp is not exactly renowned for its frugality and to top matters off my fuel gauge has decided to stop working. Eksteen has never run his bike dry before and had no idea how far it could go which did not help much either.

I have done that experiment to run the bike dry  prior to this trip (my economy run ;D) and got 329 kmâ??s, but that was without luggage and at speeds far lower than we were currently going. Obviously it also started to rain just then  atch:

With no choice but to press on we reduced our speed to 80km/h and tried to keep on the road with cars screaming past in the rain. We reached Windhoek at 8.30 that evening with the XT taking as near as dammit to itâ??s full capacity on re-fill. As I still had to remove my tank the next morning for maintenance I did not fill it and thus do not know how close I came to running out, but it must have been running on fumes. Eksteen I think had about half a litre left.

Total kmâ??s for the day was 806 kmâ??s.

To say that I slept like a log that night was an understatement :

The next morning is what is for me (and may other) the highlight of the trip â?? the C28 Khomas Hochland route to Swakopmund.

If you have not yet ridden this road, but it on your list of things to do before you die. Pictures simply does it no justice.

The road this time around was washed out a lot because of recent good rains in the area and was a lot more rocky than I remembered from before. Again the TKC saved me from a smiley on the rim after hitting a rock ledge  full on.

Amongst the road littered with broken bikes and trailers we managed to reach the lunch stop on the mountain without any incident and promptly got stuck into the lekker sosaties on offer. 

Going down the mountain the road becomes nice and hard and you can get up to high speed only to encounter a very sandy strech near the end that has caught many people (myself included) by surprise. I just closed my eyes and yanked the throttle wide open, but a change in shorts was later in order ;D

As you enter the national park the whole landscape changes into what I always think off as a moonscape.

Just as you start boiling in your pimpsuit a sudden unexpected cold breeze hits you and you know that you have reached the desert oasis that is Swakopmund.

 

[Kykdaar]

Swakop is a real holiday town and I am definitely taking the missus there next year.

Unfortunately we could not get into the holiday feeling ourselves  Eksteen had to turn back the morning after we arrived and despite performing open heart surgery  on the Transalp (twice) I could not cure the surging. As for Terrier, he was flattened by some bug on the second day there and could keep nothing down for two days.

On the positive side there were, however, the lovely dinner we shared with Simon, Sharon and Donovan on our first night in Swakop at the Tugboat restaurant on the beach when we were all younger, fitter and healthier.

Simon must have taken a liking to us (our paths crossed a number of times on the trip) to invite us personally to dine with him, and I was a bit unsure of what to expect so I wore my Wilddog shirt for support (and because it was my only remaining clean shirt)  ;D

Let me just say that it turned out to be a great evening spent with very good company in a fine restaurant and that I walked away a somewhat changed person. Why? Because I have up until that night never had the pleasure of spending an evening in the company of a person with such a positive and infectiously happy outlook on life. Not once did he utter a single negative word or did the conversation turned to any of the many depressing topics of this world â?? it was truly refreshing.

Now, I do not claim to know the man backwards after only spending a few hours in his company, but when he now says on TV that it is all about happiness â?? I believe him  :thumleft:

 

[Kykdaar]

Terrier believed that he would not get better in time to make the complete journey back and arranged for his wife to meet us with the bakkie and trailer at the Buitepos border post with Botswana.

On the Friday we left on tar for Windhoek, Gobabis and Botswana.

I felt good riding and I decided that I will continue to Kang to spend the night there and from there complete the journey as I started it â?? on my bike.

Just after the border I filled the tank to the brim as well as my two 5lt jerry cans for the ride into Botswana although, according to the road signs, the next town (Ghanzi) was only two hundred and something clicks away - within easy range of my bike. It was now past four oâ??clock and I still had a total of 496kmâ??s to go to Kang. Time to motor.

It, however, soon became clear to me that I was not going to reach Kang in daylight and with the amount of mules, cows and other assorted animals wondering along and over the road, the chances of a collision increased significantly at night time.

To add to my woes, I came to a T-junction whith Ghanzi to the left and Kang to the right which meant that I would not have the opportunity of filling up at Ghanzi as planned. Just about at that time the Transalp also began stuttering in all earnest again â?? things were looking a tad bleak.

As the sun set I began to run out of fuel and coasted to the side of the road. It was at that moment that I experienced that peace and tranquillity that I talked about at the start of my report and which I now took a moment to saviour before opening the first jerry can and emptying it into the Transalpâ??s tank.

Time to make a choice. Make camp somewhere next to the road and see out the night, or take my chances on the road and continue onwards. I decided to carry on, but at a greatly reduced speed for the night was pitch black. If you have a death wish then ride that road at speed with a bike at night.

Not only did I have to deal with the domestic animals, but now the wild buck species also joined the fray. It seems the sweetest grass must grow at the side of the road.

I ran out of petrol again forty klicks or so from Kang and this time it was so dark I had to scratch around and find my headlamp to see what I was doing.

On reaching Kang I booked into an overnighter, put the aircon on, showered and fell into a relaxed sleep.

Total distance travelled that day â?? 1070Km.

The next day I was up early and soon left Botswana behind. At Groot Marico I turned off into the dirt to avoid the Swartruggens tollgate and to experience a last bit of dirt knowing that it will soon be all over. It was here that I ran into Shark, Poppipants and Funacide on their way to Zeerust and stopped for a quick chat.

When I finally switched off the bike at home I had covered some 3900km and loved every minute of it.

Thanks for reading

 

[The TRANSPORTER]

Very well done.........nice report,will be going to Nam through Botswana then up to Grootfontein early March.... :thumleft: :thumleft:

 

[Kykdaar]

Very well done.........nice report,will be going to Nam through Botswana then up to Grootfontein early March.... :thumleft: :thumleft:

Thanks and I hope you have a great time riding in those beautiful countries :thumleft:

 

[Runner]

:drif:

 

[Gee eS]

Very nice report. The desert run has on my absolutely must do list for years but still have not managed to do it.

 

[wino]

:thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:
hope you get the ta sorted out  ???

 

[briv]

Lekker ride there KD  :thumleft:

 

[GIDEON]

wow baie nice

 

[blazes]

Nice one" A " makes me lus to get on my bike and go and ride some more. Glad you all came home safely and in one piece :thumleft: Pity i missed out on this one. Super RR

 

[Zeff Cowboy]

Nice

Ek sien daai TA is so skoon hy lyk nie eers vuil op die trip nie... :thumleft:

 

[Lootch67]

I thought I recognised those German's bikes. I saw them is Swakop. Great report!

 

[Kykdaar]

Hi Lootch,

They seem like a remarkable couple. Esther is very petite, yet she handles her heavily laden bike like an old pro. Does all her own work on the bike as well.

She told me that she has owned that bike for many years and has learned to handle it over time.

I take it you were holidaying in Swakop? If you took part in the run, apologies for not getting to meet you.