- Joined
- Jan 18, 2011
- Messages
- 15,339
- Reaction score
- 3,362
- Location
- Overberg
- Bike
- Triumph (all models)
Day 4: Margate to PTA
Distance Covered: +- 920km
Had a crap load of distance to cover today and I was up and ready to roll at around 6. I headed NE on the secondary road to iXopo. It was again a really tight and twisty tar road and was fantastic fun. About 10km of it was dirt but only because of road works.
From there I got onto the R56 towards Richmond. Again tar, but fantastic riding. The rises and drops through the clouds, changes in smells and temperature, it was peg scraping riding heaven.
Just after Richmond, the bike started cutting out. I’d been having trouble with the battery since the day before and it finally went for good. Luckily I made it into ‘Maritzburg where, on my way to BMW on the GPS, I happened to take a wrong turn (man I love my GPS!) and drive past the Battery Centre. They had one last battery in stock and gave it to me at a discounted price. Unfortunately I lost an hour and a half.
From Maritzburg I went onto Greytown and took some dirt through the plantations towards St Cathryn’s.
At Kranskop I started heading north. The first section of the road was tar and I was quite disappointed because I expected gravel but it soon changed and again, the riding was spectacular and the views breathtaking. I can recommend this road for sure.
I had one incedent where a teenager ran to pick up a rock but at the sight of this, I whacked the throttle and headed directly for him. He dropped the rock and bolted for the hills. Also, watch out for traffic coming from the opposite direction, although I think I was there on pension day which made it worse. In Kranskop, the queue at the Africa bank was almost longer than the towns’ main street.
By now my back brake had also reached its’ end so the going was really slow and I lost even more time.
Tugela River
The road just kept winding and climbing, dropping and climbing again. It was truly spectacular.
I then seemed to crest the mountain and the scenery changed dramatically. From lush green forests and valleys to almost sub desert. The temperature suddenly jumped to 34 degrees. Clearly the winter does not apply in these areas. The roads opened up and I decided to hammer it a bit and try and make up time.
About 40km before Vryheid, I came over a slight blind rise and hit a low water bridge with a big dip at about 160. The bike bottomed out and I just heard loud bangs and scaping sounds. There was no time to stop though. When I got to Vryheid I saw this
I had a bit of a panic when I saw the oil on my leg but luckily it was just the fork seal and not something more serious. It did however mean that any further dirt would be out of the question. Not that it would have made a difference because I lost so much time with the battery and the mountain road with no back brake that I only got out of Vryheid at 2:15 pm. At that stage I still had well over 400km left to do. I had to be home for a party before 6 so some serious low flying took place on the N2, N11 and N4 and I finally reached home at 17:45, stiff, dirty and a bit gatvol! I am however impressed that I was able to do 900km plus with such relative ease. I love my bike and I’ve taken a serious liking to solo riding!!
Distance Covered: +- 920km
Had a crap load of distance to cover today and I was up and ready to roll at around 6. I headed NE on the secondary road to iXopo. It was again a really tight and twisty tar road and was fantastic fun. About 10km of it was dirt but only because of road works.
From there I got onto the R56 towards Richmond. Again tar, but fantastic riding. The rises and drops through the clouds, changes in smells and temperature, it was peg scraping riding heaven.
Just after Richmond, the bike started cutting out. I’d been having trouble with the battery since the day before and it finally went for good. Luckily I made it into ‘Maritzburg where, on my way to BMW on the GPS, I happened to take a wrong turn (man I love my GPS!) and drive past the Battery Centre. They had one last battery in stock and gave it to me at a discounted price. Unfortunately I lost an hour and a half.
From Maritzburg I went onto Greytown and took some dirt through the plantations towards St Cathryn’s.
At Kranskop I started heading north. The first section of the road was tar and I was quite disappointed because I expected gravel but it soon changed and again, the riding was spectacular and the views breathtaking. I can recommend this road for sure.
I had one incedent where a teenager ran to pick up a rock but at the sight of this, I whacked the throttle and headed directly for him. He dropped the rock and bolted for the hills. Also, watch out for traffic coming from the opposite direction, although I think I was there on pension day which made it worse. In Kranskop, the queue at the Africa bank was almost longer than the towns’ main street.
By now my back brake had also reached its’ end so the going was really slow and I lost even more time.
Tugela River
The road just kept winding and climbing, dropping and climbing again. It was truly spectacular.
I then seemed to crest the mountain and the scenery changed dramatically. From lush green forests and valleys to almost sub desert. The temperature suddenly jumped to 34 degrees. Clearly the winter does not apply in these areas. The roads opened up and I decided to hammer it a bit and try and make up time.
About 40km before Vryheid, I came over a slight blind rise and hit a low water bridge with a big dip at about 160. The bike bottomed out and I just heard loud bangs and scaping sounds. There was no time to stop though. When I got to Vryheid I saw this
I had a bit of a panic when I saw the oil on my leg but luckily it was just the fork seal and not something more serious. It did however mean that any further dirt would be out of the question. Not that it would have made a difference because I lost so much time with the battery and the mountain road with no back brake that I only got out of Vryheid at 2:15 pm. At that stage I still had well over 400km left to do. I had to be home for a party before 6 so some serious low flying took place on the N2, N11 and N4 and I finally reached home at 17:45, stiff, dirty and a bit gatvol! I am however impressed that I was able to do 900km plus with such relative ease. I love my bike and I’ve taken a serious liking to solo riding!!
eepwall:
