rubiblue
Race Dog
Our new family member arrives in 2-4 weeks.
A mate of mine working in Tzaneen is leaving his job at Letaba Estates (citrus farming) in December - he has asked me several times to come up for a visit but battled to find the time.
I had been working like a Slave of late, so thought a Friday off was deserved.
After permission from my, ever understanding, wife - this allowed me to take the pony for a spin. Plan was simple get to him on the Friday and be back by Staurday afternoon.
DAY 1
I have done quite a few of the roads up towards Sabie, but thereafter it was all new terrain. Took one of my favourite outrides around Loskop toward Dullstroom. From there I tried to take as many diffrent roads as possible to get to Tzaneen. It was a long day, around 650kms, so left just after 5am to avoid the traffic.
I love this area...
After a hearty breakfast at Charlie C's in Dullstroom and catching up on the emails that had already started that morning, I set sail once again. Turning off onto dirt about 2 kms outside the sleepy town - I orginally went past the turn off and thought, ah damn tar all the way to Lydenburg. Checked my GPS a minute later and noticed i had missed the turn off. Was a very nice section that took me about 20 kms short of Lydenburg before my favourite Long Tom Pass.
I love Long Tom Pass, not sure why, maybe its pure beauty as you go over toward Sabie. I filled up as Sabie, hit some tar to the turn off to Pilgrims Rest and Graskop, just after the spilt was a gravel turn off to get to Pilgrims rest through the plantations. Again I missed it and had to double back - I try not to look at the GPS too often, otherwise you following it and missing out on the scenery - Also I tend to focus very heavily whilst riding so often miss turn offs.
Ended out through a small settlement opposite the Pilgrims Rest buildings, after Pilgrims I head north onto more Gravel towards Orighstad. Lovely routes, I was setting excellent pace for the day to hopefully get to my mate Al with enough time for him to show me around the farm. Seems like I was destined to get there around 2pm.
Went up Abel's pass (not sure on spelling), again this is a very close second to Long Tom Pass. Through the tunnel, think it is called Erasmus Tunnel or something, and headed down the other side towards the trun off to Tzaneen.
A further 20km's I turned off hugging game reserves instead of opting for the tar route through to Tzaneen. Fast Gravel, reminds me of Namibia, but more undulated and slightly rougher. Passwed through a HUGE township just before Letsitele. Found Al's place with not much hassle, and we immediatly headed up the hill to the Guest Lodge where we would be stationed for the evening.
Did some nice gravel near gravel capital, Gravilotte...
We spent the rest of the afternoon fishing for Bass, drinking beer, touring the farm (it is apparently the largest farm, in terms of hectare's, in SA). It i massive, and I have been to a few Citrus farms in the Kirkwood area. There were about 10 Dams on the property and we visited most of them. Al caught a nice little 1.1Kg Bass within the first 5 minutes so I was very excited to catch one, as i have never Bass fished before (caught a lot of Leevis, Kob, Romans, cant remember the other names, in the St Francis Area). THis is different kind of fishing - I saw a certain greedy bass take my line about 4 times in the exact same area - however my ego took a knock and I never landed the litle punk. He also managed to steal a worm or 2 (the rubber kind).
The View on Arrival, can't beat it:
We fed his pooches and then headed to our place for a chilled braai, a few beers and kak talk. What an day, my soul was almost full.
DAY 2:
I was a little tired, the heat from yesterday had taken it out of me. The way home was a bit shorter, so I felt good knowing this, around 450kms.
It was HOT! I definately saw 39 on the temp gauge, but couldnt manage to get a picture of it. It was actually a little weird, the temperature dropped and spiked constantly the entire day, ranging from 32 to brief patches of 39 - When it spiked I could feel it penetrating my head. I basically went from Tzaneen, through to Haernetsburg and then onto BelaBela, mostly on Gravel. Again there was a fantastic pass into Haernetsburg, after Al mentioned to me that it was a great road. No Lies, Passed minimal cars, set my own pace.
Was trying to get the 39 on record, but whenver I slowed down to snap a pic, the temperature dropped - Serious okes, I dont lie :-[
After Belabela i headed South West all the way to Brits, again mostly Gravel, from Brits it was onto the dark stuff all the way home.
Cooling Down:
Got so much energy at the moment, I t must mean my soul is fully fed and raring to go to meet our new Daughter shortly.
Thanks Al for a fantastic break, I am really glad I made a plan to get there, very well worth it.
My Bike again handled beautifully. I cannot explain how much I love this thing - it is a fantastic DS bike, and I believe it is in the top 2 of long touring bikes with some tricky stuff in the Mix. There are a few niggles, every bike has them, but it is a great package. Thanks for reading.
Rear tire tired...
The Stats:
A mate of mine working in Tzaneen is leaving his job at Letaba Estates (citrus farming) in December - he has asked me several times to come up for a visit but battled to find the time.
I had been working like a Slave of late, so thought a Friday off was deserved.
After permission from my, ever understanding, wife - this allowed me to take the pony for a spin. Plan was simple get to him on the Friday and be back by Staurday afternoon.
DAY 1
I have done quite a few of the roads up towards Sabie, but thereafter it was all new terrain. Took one of my favourite outrides around Loskop toward Dullstroom. From there I tried to take as many diffrent roads as possible to get to Tzaneen. It was a long day, around 650kms, so left just after 5am to avoid the traffic.
I love this area...
After a hearty breakfast at Charlie C's in Dullstroom and catching up on the emails that had already started that morning, I set sail once again. Turning off onto dirt about 2 kms outside the sleepy town - I orginally went past the turn off and thought, ah damn tar all the way to Lydenburg. Checked my GPS a minute later and noticed i had missed the turn off. Was a very nice section that took me about 20 kms short of Lydenburg before my favourite Long Tom Pass.
I love Long Tom Pass, not sure why, maybe its pure beauty as you go over toward Sabie. I filled up as Sabie, hit some tar to the turn off to Pilgrims Rest and Graskop, just after the spilt was a gravel turn off to get to Pilgrims rest through the plantations. Again I missed it and had to double back - I try not to look at the GPS too often, otherwise you following it and missing out on the scenery - Also I tend to focus very heavily whilst riding so often miss turn offs.
Ended out through a small settlement opposite the Pilgrims Rest buildings, after Pilgrims I head north onto more Gravel towards Orighstad. Lovely routes, I was setting excellent pace for the day to hopefully get to my mate Al with enough time for him to show me around the farm. Seems like I was destined to get there around 2pm.
Went up Abel's pass (not sure on spelling), again this is a very close second to Long Tom Pass. Through the tunnel, think it is called Erasmus Tunnel or something, and headed down the other side towards the trun off to Tzaneen.
A further 20km's I turned off hugging game reserves instead of opting for the tar route through to Tzaneen. Fast Gravel, reminds me of Namibia, but more undulated and slightly rougher. Passwed through a HUGE township just before Letsitele. Found Al's place with not much hassle, and we immediatly headed up the hill to the Guest Lodge where we would be stationed for the evening.
Did some nice gravel near gravel capital, Gravilotte...
We spent the rest of the afternoon fishing for Bass, drinking beer, touring the farm (it is apparently the largest farm, in terms of hectare's, in SA). It i massive, and I have been to a few Citrus farms in the Kirkwood area. There were about 10 Dams on the property and we visited most of them. Al caught a nice little 1.1Kg Bass within the first 5 minutes so I was very excited to catch one, as i have never Bass fished before (caught a lot of Leevis, Kob, Romans, cant remember the other names, in the St Francis Area). THis is different kind of fishing - I saw a certain greedy bass take my line about 4 times in the exact same area - however my ego took a knock and I never landed the litle punk. He also managed to steal a worm or 2 (the rubber kind).
The View on Arrival, can't beat it:
We fed his pooches and then headed to our place for a chilled braai, a few beers and kak talk. What an day, my soul was almost full.
DAY 2:
I was a little tired, the heat from yesterday had taken it out of me. The way home was a bit shorter, so I felt good knowing this, around 450kms.
It was HOT! I definately saw 39 on the temp gauge, but couldnt manage to get a picture of it. It was actually a little weird, the temperature dropped and spiked constantly the entire day, ranging from 32 to brief patches of 39 - When it spiked I could feel it penetrating my head. I basically went from Tzaneen, through to Haernetsburg and then onto BelaBela, mostly on Gravel. Again there was a fantastic pass into Haernetsburg, after Al mentioned to me that it was a great road. No Lies, Passed minimal cars, set my own pace.
Was trying to get the 39 on record, but whenver I slowed down to snap a pic, the temperature dropped - Serious okes, I dont lie :-[
After Belabela i headed South West all the way to Brits, again mostly Gravel, from Brits it was onto the dark stuff all the way home.
Cooling Down:
Got so much energy at the moment, I t must mean my soul is fully fed and raring to go to meet our new Daughter shortly.
Thanks Al for a fantastic break, I am really glad I made a plan to get there, very well worth it.
My Bike again handled beautifully. I cannot explain how much I love this thing - it is a fantastic DS bike, and I believe it is in the top 2 of long touring bikes with some tricky stuff in the Mix. There are a few niggles, every bike has them, but it is a great package. Thanks for reading.
Rear tire tired...
The Stats:
, just be patient, or maybe its your ISP.
