Shakedown ride, Stb-Cta-Stb (pic intensive)

[lonerider]

Got a windfall of a few extra days in SA, decided to go visit my parents in Christiana.

Not much of a written ride report, just some pictures of highlights during the trip. Sadly distance remaining and daylight remaining for the travel days just didn't allow for much dawdling...

The "clean" bike, two days before leaving. Top of Du Toit's Kloof Pass.

Hex River Valley - autumnal colours decked by storm clouds and a rainbow.

Hex River Valley again, this time with me ride.

Travalia Lodge, about 1-2km south of the Three Sisters Ultra-City. R190 for the room with a double bed.

Frosty morning! This was taken around 0745, few minutes before leaving Travalia Lodge toward Christiana...

{time passes....}

This little kid was so keen on the bike, just had to allow him on and take a picture! Taken in Griquatown, heading southward.

Start of gravel, Griquatown heading toward Niekerkshoop and Prieska.

Weaver nests en route to Prieska.

Derelict buildings, still en route to Prieska.

{time passes...}

Just outside of Carnarvon. Sunset lighting, a windmill, dam and moody clouds...

The Pig.

Tiervlei in the distance, where I would spend the night.

Heading to Fraserburg via some of the "back roads".

Shiny, dirty, happy.

A bridge over water, not dust!

Sutherland's observatories from afar.

Somewhere between Sutherland and Ceres.

Karoo flora.

Highway dirt roads - great cruising.

But is it art?

Bain's Kloof Pass

Wellington side of Bain's Kloof.



Will try and update/add text when I'm less tired...

 

[Zeff Cowboy]

Excellent. Thanks for postin.

 

[Ama ride ride]

Thanks for posting. The Karoo...my kingdom for the Karoo

 

[bmad]

Nice report Lonerider :thumleft:

Beautiful country out there, love the open spaces  ;D

 

[MrBig]

So thats where you've been hiding!

Some nice pics there lonerider..

 

[growweblaar]

Very cool!


Do you always ride alone...?  :laughing9:

 

[lonerider]

Beautiful country out there, love the open spaces  ;D

Yep, one of the reason I keep looking for gaps to head that way!

So thats where you've been hiding!

Happened suddenly, so I just upped and offed. Still don't know when I'm leaving for work (long story), so hoping for some more days to go playing.

Do you always ride alone...?  :laughing9:

Somehow it just seems to work out that way! Hopefully I'll soon be able to "plan a ride" a bit better and find some takers for long-distance Karoo touring.

 

[lonerider]

Sort of part of the trip, so thought I'd add the pics here... (Apologies for the blurred ones - handheld p&s not the best for what I was trying to do.)

In case you were wondering where all those lovely potatoes come from, here's a glimpse into the backstage potato production.

The potatoes come to the sorting setup in huge trailers, 10tons of spuds to a trailer. These are reversed to a conveyor belt, and slowly dumped.

Potatoes coming out of the trailer, into an aggregator before being picked up by the conveyor belt.

First step, everything gets washed. Here the spuds are covered in water whilst being moved along on brush rollers to remove the soil.

Here they're coming out of the drying station (basically huge hairdryers over the conveyor belt). Still being carried on brush rollers to "polish" them. This makes it easier for the sorters to spot defects, and polishes them nicely to make them look all pretty for the fussy housewives.

En route to the sorting table.

This just to show the size of the sorting operation - note the many different tables into the background. Grids separate the potatoes according to size, each size category then going onto a different sorting table.

Sorters pick out the damaged, odd-shaped, diseased potatoes, leaving the good ones to go through to the familiar paper packets. Unless a potato is badly damaged, whatever isn't chosen for first to third grade table potatoes goes to seed, for planting the next season.

The paper pockets are weighed (10kg), closed (with that twirl of wire that you love to hate), then packed onto pallets, 110 pockets to a pallet.

This farmer can deliver up to six truck loads of potatoes per day during the season - that's approximately 180 tons of potatoes per day (on a good day, usually it is less).

 

[David van Breda]

Lovely pics, what camera were u using?

 

[lonerider]

Lovely pics, what camera were u using?

Olympus u770 SW - 7MP point and shoot. Does a pretty good job for me, although mine doesn't do flash photos all that well.

(Blurriness above is from my shaky hands...)

 

[oo7]

The Pig.

Nice pics, I especially like the vivid colours of the storm clouds rolling over the Karoo.

What soft luggage pack did you use? (shown on the pic above)

 

[lonerider]

Nice pics, I especially like the vivid colours of the storm clouds rolling over the Karoo.

What soft luggage pack did you use? (shown on the pic above)

Thanks.

I got the bag from the previous owner when I bought the bike. Apparently it was custom-made for use as a luggage system on an HP2, but he was kind enough to add it in as I needed to get my gear down to Stellenbosch.

It's basically a canvas bag, U-shaped to fit over the saddle, with D-rings on the underside that I put cargo straps through to tie it down. Don't know the volume, but fit more than enough in for a week's normal living (with space to spare). Perfect for the shorter trips.

 

[BMWPE]

Nice pics
Thanks

 

[keithk]

Great RR and pics thanks for sharing, would like to do that route sometime ? See you when you get back from your next stint !

 

[oo7]

Nice pics, I especially like the vivid colours of the storm clouds rolling over the Karoo.

What soft luggage pack did you use? (shown on the pic above)

Thanks.

I got the bag from the previous owner when I bought the bike. Apparently it was custom-made for use as a luggage system on an HP2, but he was kind enough to add it in as I needed to get my gear down to Stellenbosch.

It's basically a canvas bag, U-shaped to fit over the saddle, with D-rings on the underside that I put cargo straps through to tie it down. Don't know the volume, but fit more than enough in for a week's normal living (with space to spare). Perfect for the shorter trips.

Seems like a really nice bag - especially if you compare its 'price' with similar products from well known manufacturers / online retailers :

 

[Lourens]

Beautiful pics!  Thanks for sharing.

 

[Fire Dragon]

Great Pics, looks like an awesome ride.

 

[superten]

Great pics, thanks for the ride and potato report. Reading a good report on a ride like this gives me itchy feet and makes me start planning the next trip!

 

[GO GIRL]

What a super trip...a trip like that is food for the soul

Grt RR and pics thanks for sharing....

Ooooh that cold seat : :