Simpson Desert - Kalahari Edition
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JonW said:
May I suggest this Jon (not exactly the same, but much closer to you and not bad either, if you haven't seen it yet): https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=233639.0.
Or just head west... 8)
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This is great stuff :thumleft:
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Xpat said:
Hey Martin, followed your Moz ride report closely.
One of the first rides I ever did was to Moz, https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=2513.0
closer than Botswana but still a full day's ride to get there
Our closest sand riding is here: https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=233075.0
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Vis Arend said:
Yes this does look very attractive. Will plan to do this soon. This must get stinking hot in summer so probably July/August/September should be a good time for this? In the very hot months the sand probably also gets a bit more energy sapping to ride.
I am pleasantly surprised not to read about endless punctures. I would have imagined that there are lots of thorns around there. You are not using moose, are you?
[member=19655]WildWood[/member] [member=2869]JAmBer[/member] - can you guys tear yourselves away from your day jobs for a bit?
It can get very cold at night in winter, so come prepared for that. Good insulation mattress and good sleeping bag is must - unless you plan to sleep only in prearranged accommodation (there is very poor choice of accommodation in Bots west of Tsabong though, and camping is probably preferred in that area).
Edit: and for the most ride-able sand I would look to months when it rains - now it seems to be pretty good.
Edit: and for the most ride-able sand I would look to months when it rains - now it seems to be pretty good.
Forgot to answer - no I don't use mousses. I use Tubeliss. Worked fine. I think I have slow puncture on front wheel, but as the inner tube holds the tyre on the rim its no biggie and I didn't bother to fix it, just pumped up the tyre once I got back to car.
There aren't actually that many thorns, with big exception of some plains which are overgrown with this hard bushes with thorns. It is less of a problem if you stick to tracks, but I went off piste for dozens of kms and sometimes I couldn't avoid these plains, so it is a bit of a luck that I didn't get flat.
Without trying to start the whole tube/tubeless/Tubeliss discussion, I'd rather take the risk of puncture, than not be able to alter the tyre pressure. When you are tired and the sand is very soft, being able to ride at basically 0 pressure as you can with Tubeliss is great asset, compared to fixed pressure of mousse. And puncture with Tubeliss is easy to fix with plug. Unless the inner fails of course. And I now carry spare inners (as well as spare tubes for last resort), so this doesn't bother me.
I understand the attraction of comfort of mousses, but I think they also give false sense of security. Both, Chopperpilot's as well as Straatkat's mousses failed in Kaokoland after less than 2000 km of riding. And if you are on your own and don't have spare tube and tools to put it in in the middle of those dunes, you're quite screwed. You can try the cable ties trick, but I have seen that fail as well.
That is my take at answering Amsterdam's question - please let's not hi-jack this thread with tubed/tubeless discussion. I'm sure there are dedicated threads for that.
There aren't actually that many thorns, with big exception of some plains which are overgrown with this hard bushes with thorns. It is less of a problem if you stick to tracks, but I went off piste for dozens of kms and sometimes I couldn't avoid these plains, so it is a bit of a luck that I didn't get flat.
Without trying to start the whole tube/tubeless/Tubeliss discussion, I'd rather take the risk of puncture, than not be able to alter the tyre pressure. When you are tired and the sand is very soft, being able to ride at basically 0 pressure as you can with Tubeliss is great asset, compared to fixed pressure of mousse. And puncture with Tubeliss is easy to fix with plug. Unless the inner fails of course. And I now carry spare inners (as well as spare tubes for last resort), so this doesn't bother me.
I understand the attraction of comfort of mousses, but I think they also give false sense of security. Both, Chopperpilot's as well as Straatkat's mousses failed in Kaokoland after less than 2000 km of riding. And if you are on your own and don't have spare tube and tools to put it in in the middle of those dunes, you're quite screwed. You can try the cable ties trick, but I have seen that fail as well.
That is my take at answering Amsterdam's question - please let's not hi-jack this thread with tubed/tubeless discussion. I'm sure there are dedicated threads for that.
Xpat said:
Yes please.....slow on Bertie!
exkdx
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Wow Martin!
Awesome riding terrain :ricky:
and your photos is just plain stunning!
Your ride certainly added another "must do trip" to most of our lists :biggrin:
Thanks for sharing your ride :thumleft:
Awesome riding terrain :ricky:
and your photos is just plain stunning!
Your ride certainly added another "must do trip" to most of our lists :biggrin:
Thanks for sharing your ride :thumleft:
With only about 15 km to Khawa to go, I somehow managed to lose the track after that last cattle post. As said, the tracks often disappeared in the sandy islands the posts were usually located at, or there were too many disapearing in many directions. I didn't spent too long looking for the track, but rather picked the easternly direction and drifted over the dunes free style for few km until I bumped into the track by luck again. The scenery was more or less the same all the way to Khawa:
Eventually after 130 km of the most spectacular dunes one can wish for, I arrived at Khawa and stopped at the first house that had car parked next to it. I asked if I can get petrol anywhere in Khawa, but got the negative answer. Tried once more at anothe house with car, but the owners just confirmed that there is no petrol to be had in the village. I had a bit of a dilema. I was keen to try for Tsabong through the bush, but it was at least 140 km away - if I don't run into any fences, which was unlikely as those ranches were sitting between me and Tsabong somewhere. Or I could just ride down to Middelputs about 70 km away, fill up from the jerry cans in my car, sleep over somewhere in the bush (there is no accommodation in Middelputs) and try again next day.
The problem was that I didn't have a clue how much petrol I actually had. The 19 liter tank I have is transculent, so one can see level of petrol, but the problem is that the tank is pretty uneve in its volume with majority sitting up above the engine and only smaller portion sitting in the narrow side pockets. So just looking at the level is quite misleading, as while the tank may look half full from outside, by that stage it is probably already way past that mark. I was a bit pissed of that I didn't mark the levels for different volume on the tank as Justin (JustBendIt) did on his - would come handy now. I still had 2 liter Coke bottle of petrol so I poured that one in and it looked like I may be about half full, so I decided to give Tsabong a bash.
Here is the shebeen in Khawa which I didn't have good memories about since my last visit, when I layed there in the shade badly heatstroked, while being pestered by drunken local bushmen. This time, there was no such a problem as unlike last time I was in a top form ready to take on anybody, but alas it wasn't necessary. The drunks were nowhere to be seen (strange as it was weekend) and I used up only about 1 liter of my water, so there was no need for refill, so this time I gave this upmarked establishment a miss.
Eventually after 130 km of the most spectacular dunes one can wish for, I arrived at Khawa and stopped at the first house that had car parked next to it. I asked if I can get petrol anywhere in Khawa, but got the negative answer. Tried once more at anothe house with car, but the owners just confirmed that there is no petrol to be had in the village. I had a bit of a dilema. I was keen to try for Tsabong through the bush, but it was at least 140 km away - if I don't run into any fences, which was unlikely as those ranches were sitting between me and Tsabong somewhere. Or I could just ride down to Middelputs about 70 km away, fill up from the jerry cans in my car, sleep over somewhere in the bush (there is no accommodation in Middelputs) and try again next day.
The problem was that I didn't have a clue how much petrol I actually had. The 19 liter tank I have is transculent, so one can see level of petrol, but the problem is that the tank is pretty uneve in its volume with majority sitting up above the engine and only smaller portion sitting in the narrow side pockets. So just looking at the level is quite misleading, as while the tank may look half full from outside, by that stage it is probably already way past that mark. I was a bit pissed of that I didn't mark the levels for different volume on the tank as Justin (JustBendIt) did on his - would come handy now. I still had 2 liter Coke bottle of petrol so I poured that one in and it looked like I may be about half full, so I decided to give Tsabong a bash.
Here is the shebeen in Khawa which I didn't have good memories about since my last visit, when I layed there in the shade badly heatstroked, while being pestered by drunken local bushmen. This time, there was no such a problem as unlike last time I was in a top form ready to take on anybody, but alas it wasn't necessary. The drunks were nowhere to be seen (strange as it was weekend) and I used up only about 1 liter of my water, so there was no need for refill, so this time I gave this upmarked establishment a miss.
chopperpilot said:Xpat said:
Yes please.....slow on Bertie!
Henk, I was talking to Tony, referring to his unhealthy obsession with plumbing... :biggrin:
But yes, Bertie slowing down a bit would definitely be a good thing :thumleft:
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This maybe a stupid question
But considering you were alone how fast were you riding - because I would l could only imagine riding this flat flat out with a few mates [emoji109][emoji110][emoji110][emoji110]
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But considering you were alone how fast were you riding - because I would l could only imagine riding this flat flat out with a few mates [emoji109][emoji110][emoji110][emoji110]
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Xpat said:There aren't actually that many thorns, with big exception of some plains which are overgrown with this hard bushes with thorns. It is less of a problem if you stick to tracks, but I went off piste for dozens of kms and sometimes I couldn't avoid these plains, so it is a bit of a luck that I didn't get flat.
That is my take at answering Amsterdam's question - please let's not hi-jack this thread with tubed/tubeless discussion. I'm sure there are dedicated threads for that.
Thanks for this. Definitely not trying to resurrect the old debate but just trying to get some info, as you gave above, to make sure I am correctly prepared for when I try this.
gmac said:
Probably between 50 - 70 kmh - sometimes a bit less, sometimes a bit more. IMO when people don't know the area they are usualy much more hesitant to ride flat out - the unknown makes one much more tentative. This is different riding from your weekend enduro loop - you don't know what is behind each dune - be it bush, massive dugout, or a lion, so - at least with normal people - that plays on ones mind and keeps them a bit more conservative.
