SGB
Race Dog
It was "Roof" time again and after missing last year I was going to make a plan. Things slotted into place and although I had to cover a bit of distance, I was happy that I could make it. I am in the process of moving, changing "professions" and stuff, but hey there are priorities too. 8) So it worked out that I did a quick trip to Pretoria from Durban on Wednesday morning, did some business and attended a function in the evening, got to bed at 1 AM and left at 5 AM from Johannesburg to Maseru. That is all of no value to this, so no pics until the Ficksburg Wimpy where I waited for my good friend Roger Kane-Berman (Ryder Motorrad), who was joining me for the weekend.
Roger soon arrived from Durban and we were off to Maseru via Peka bridge. Always a good option, arrived there with nobody else around, and we cleared both borderposts in less than 10 minutes.
Arrived in Maseru for the last few heats of the "Round the Houses".
We then went along to the DSP at Roma where a festive atmosphere greeted us. Everybody was in high spirits, and riders were coming and going continuously. We chatted to some old friends and found shelter in their bus from some rain showers passing intermittently. Did some watching and chatting in between and forgot to take pics here. As soon as the rain gave us a chance we were off to the pits in Maseru as Roger wanted to go and see how Gerhard Forster on the 450 BMW was doing. His dealership was involved with Gerhard's effort. And I had a new back tyre waiting in the Alfie Cox pit area. I figured that my previous one was still OK for the 1000 km tar to get there and it would be nice to have a new one fitted in Maseru.
I arrived and changed my tyre and chatted to Alex, William and Philip - the KLR team from Durban. This team is worth their KLR's combined mass in gold, what they do not know about a motorbike is not worth knowing and it is always nice to have them around. Real gentlemen too. They rode from Durban, had breakfast in Mooiriver, Tea at Little Switzerland, Scones at Clarens, and chugged into Maseru late afternoon on Wednesday.
You don't see them in this condition in Lesotho very often....
Wayne and the boys always put in huge effort, and proivide champion service at the pits.
The BMW team was also there and in the top 10 at this point. They had some starter problems but got sorted and were ready to go the next morning.
After having a hamburger we set off for Ramabanta where we had booked in at the Trading Post with Edgy. We met him and Dom and Pierre - real nice guys who also enjoy their riding. Was great to meet you and thank you for letting us stay with you. It was way better than camping, and I was especially greatful for a bed listening to the symphony of rain on the tin roof of our room.
On the way to Ramabanta - Beauty and the Beast
We spent a relaxed evening at Ramabanta, in bed early - had a few late nights and early mornings during the week and it was good to have an early one.
Friday morning we left for Roma early to go and check the start. Was good to be part of this and see some more old maatjies. Roma was also a lot easier to get to than Matsieng where it used to be, so all good.
The new kid from New Zealand - Chris Birch - He gave our local boys a riding lesson in the mountains. Felt like playing the All Blacks....
Some other respected faces:
Spent a while watching guys pulling off and getting the show on the road. The atmosphere was festive again and we just had a great time here!
Now we were ready for some spectating, and I saw that the time trial route from the Thursday was the short cut to the first DSP and crossed the racing route a few times. What I did not fully appreciate is how slippery that black mud is after that tin symphony I referred to earlier. It was still early and the sun was not out to dry things up, so we were in the mud very quickly. Poor Roger was on a 1200 Adv with road tyres, which made things really challenging for him. My brand new TKC was not even up to this task. Roger handled the pig very competently.
Start of the black stuff....
Air out the tyres
Noways you can stay on this off camber and in the rut in no time. Could not believe how slippery it was, we could not even walk on the stuff! Pics do not do justice to slopes.... :mwink:
Some help arrived as usual, and we did some man handling to get back on track.
A little further along the rocks started, and they were also wet with red clay in between - some more fighting followed.
Halfway up and a place to rest a bit. Well deserved.... :
Round the next corner things really became interesting. "This is crazy" Roger said and all our helpers started saying the same as they pulled - gave us a good laugh.
How to get a GS up a steep-red-clay-and-loose-boulder-hill.
At the top we needed another rest, and found some spring water - well deserved once again. This stuff makes an old man work hard.
Back on the "road", having thanked our helpers appropriately, we could admire the scenery again.
Marshal point and some Roof action, and DSP 1.
Found Fast Bud Turner and Kevin who were using Roger's Ryder demo X-Challenges for the trip.
Some more of the Roof route
Back at the Ramabanta DSP. Interesting to see all the different service crew, all from very posh dealer support to friend with a bakkie and camping chair stuff. Respect!
Leading rider - he looked like he has been to the news cafe - amazing!
Yamaha support
Found these at the DSP too - from George. Nice....
WD parking - Edgy and team and also Orange an his mate. Great meeting you all!
We had a busy afternoon at the DSP, catching up with friends and having tea with the KLR team.
Roger and I took a late afternoon ride, just for fun.
Got back just before dark. Another great evening at Ramabanta followed. Bumped into Ashley Thorn in the pub and it was nice to share some old memories and listen to some new stories. The food and accommodation was excellent and we were looked after extremely well by Peter and the team. Can recommend Ramabanta any time! :thumleft:
We sadly had to leave on Saturday morning after breakfast (We decided tostay for brekkie, seeing we missed the previous morning) - I had to get back to Durban and Roger had a wedding in Ermelo, so we packed up, said goodbye and headed for the border. On the way we saw some of the action at "Pressure Cooker" - lots of 2-smoke revving.
Tried to find a pump in Roma - but the fridge works better than the compressor at this facility - pumped in Maseru....
Left Lesotho again via Peka and Roger decided to test the GS fuel range. At Fouriesburg he filled the 33l tank, with the computer saying 0 km left....
We parted ways here and I was on my own for the ride back to Durbs. Uneventful - 2 fuel stops and some tea in Clarens.
A work of art at the Artists Cafe.
So this was our Roof experience 2008. I really enjoyed being out there, and it was great to ride with Roger - Thanks buddy!
We will be back.....
Roger soon arrived from Durban and we were off to Maseru via Peka bridge. Always a good option, arrived there with nobody else around, and we cleared both borderposts in less than 10 minutes.
Arrived in Maseru for the last few heats of the "Round the Houses".
We then went along to the DSP at Roma where a festive atmosphere greeted us. Everybody was in high spirits, and riders were coming and going continuously. We chatted to some old friends and found shelter in their bus from some rain showers passing intermittently. Did some watching and chatting in between and forgot to take pics here. As soon as the rain gave us a chance we were off to the pits in Maseru as Roger wanted to go and see how Gerhard Forster on the 450 BMW was doing. His dealership was involved with Gerhard's effort. And I had a new back tyre waiting in the Alfie Cox pit area. I figured that my previous one was still OK for the 1000 km tar to get there and it would be nice to have a new one fitted in Maseru.
I arrived and changed my tyre and chatted to Alex, William and Philip - the KLR team from Durban. This team is worth their KLR's combined mass in gold, what they do not know about a motorbike is not worth knowing and it is always nice to have them around. Real gentlemen too. They rode from Durban, had breakfast in Mooiriver, Tea at Little Switzerland, Scones at Clarens, and chugged into Maseru late afternoon on Wednesday.
You don't see them in this condition in Lesotho very often....
Wayne and the boys always put in huge effort, and proivide champion service at the pits.
The BMW team was also there and in the top 10 at this point. They had some starter problems but got sorted and were ready to go the next morning.
After having a hamburger we set off for Ramabanta where we had booked in at the Trading Post with Edgy. We met him and Dom and Pierre - real nice guys who also enjoy their riding. Was great to meet you and thank you for letting us stay with you. It was way better than camping, and I was especially greatful for a bed listening to the symphony of rain on the tin roof of our room.
On the way to Ramabanta - Beauty and the Beast
We spent a relaxed evening at Ramabanta, in bed early - had a few late nights and early mornings during the week and it was good to have an early one.
Friday morning we left for Roma early to go and check the start. Was good to be part of this and see some more old maatjies. Roma was also a lot easier to get to than Matsieng where it used to be, so all good.
The new kid from New Zealand - Chris Birch - He gave our local boys a riding lesson in the mountains. Felt like playing the All Blacks....
Some other respected faces:
Spent a while watching guys pulling off and getting the show on the road. The atmosphere was festive again and we just had a great time here!
Now we were ready for some spectating, and I saw that the time trial route from the Thursday was the short cut to the first DSP and crossed the racing route a few times. What I did not fully appreciate is how slippery that black mud is after that tin symphony I referred to earlier. It was still early and the sun was not out to dry things up, so we were in the mud very quickly. Poor Roger was on a 1200 Adv with road tyres, which made things really challenging for him. My brand new TKC was not even up to this task. Roger handled the pig very competently.
Start of the black stuff....
Air out the tyres
Noways you can stay on this off camber and in the rut in no time. Could not believe how slippery it was, we could not even walk on the stuff! Pics do not do justice to slopes.... :mwink:
Some help arrived as usual, and we did some man handling to get back on track.
A little further along the rocks started, and they were also wet with red clay in between - some more fighting followed.
Halfway up and a place to rest a bit. Well deserved.... :
Round the next corner things really became interesting. "This is crazy" Roger said and all our helpers started saying the same as they pulled - gave us a good laugh.
How to get a GS up a steep-red-clay-and-loose-boulder-hill.
At the top we needed another rest, and found some spring water - well deserved once again. This stuff makes an old man work hard.
Back on the "road", having thanked our helpers appropriately, we could admire the scenery again.
Marshal point and some Roof action, and DSP 1.
Found Fast Bud Turner and Kevin who were using Roger's Ryder demo X-Challenges for the trip.
Some more of the Roof route
Back at the Ramabanta DSP. Interesting to see all the different service crew, all from very posh dealer support to friend with a bakkie and camping chair stuff. Respect!
Leading rider - he looked like he has been to the news cafe - amazing!
Yamaha support
Found these at the DSP too - from George. Nice....
WD parking - Edgy and team and also Orange an his mate. Great meeting you all!
We had a busy afternoon at the DSP, catching up with friends and having tea with the KLR team.
Roger and I took a late afternoon ride, just for fun.
Got back just before dark. Another great evening at Ramabanta followed. Bumped into Ashley Thorn in the pub and it was nice to share some old memories and listen to some new stories. The food and accommodation was excellent and we were looked after extremely well by Peter and the team. Can recommend Ramabanta any time! :thumleft:
We sadly had to leave on Saturday morning after breakfast (We decided tostay for brekkie, seeing we missed the previous morning) - I had to get back to Durban and Roger had a wedding in Ermelo, so we packed up, said goodbye and headed for the border. On the way we saw some of the action at "Pressure Cooker" - lots of 2-smoke revving.
Tried to find a pump in Roma - but the fridge works better than the compressor at this facility - pumped in Maseru....
Left Lesotho again via Peka and Roger decided to test the GS fuel range. At Fouriesburg he filled the 33l tank, with the computer saying 0 km left....
We parted ways here and I was on my own for the ride back to Durbs. Uneventful - 2 fuel stops and some tea in Clarens.
A work of art at the Artists Cafe.
So this was our Roof experience 2008. I really enjoyed being out there, and it was great to ride with Roger - Thanks buddy!
We will be back.....
