Thabazimbi short trips

[DE]

I have been a WD member for almost 10 years and have not been posting a lot, but reading posts almost daily. A new year’s plan for me is to start a ride report of my rides around my town of Thabazimbi. I will add details as it happens. Especially now that I have a “new” bike in my shed.

I like to read ride reports and I think it’s time to add my bit. Thanks to all the WD’s who post their experiences through ride reports. 

 

[DE]

Me and Johan went for a dirt road ride on Sunday the 22nd. We left the local Engen at about 6am and had to make a 1 hour stop at Johan’s place of work for him to do his production logs at the mine. 

We started by taking the Rooiberg turnoff from the R511 about 15km out of Thabazimbi and headed in the direction of Verdrag, the police training facility. The road was slightly damp from a bit of rain the previous few days which helped with limiting the dust and compacting the loose sand  :ricky:.

After passing Verdrag we headed towards Alma. Before reaching Alma we turned left in the direction of Vaalwater. We found numerous animals along the roads on the farms. In this section we even saw a large herd of buffalo. We reached the Vaalwater / Nylstroom tar road about 14km from Vaalwater. By this time, we were quite hungry and stopped for the hamburger & chips. Unfortunately I did not take a pic of the hamburger as the WD custom is for ride reports.

From Vaalwater we took the tar road towards Lephalale. We took the Schoongelegen dirt road. Johan calls it the snake road as he had numerous encounters previously with black mambas on this road. Even once he witnessed his brother jumping from his KLR and landing with the KLR on the mamba :eek7: :imaposer:.  Therefore, Johan kindly allowed me to take the lead on this road .
The security guard at the anti-poaching boom gate told as that the road is closed as a bridge collapsed after the rains. He said that we had a slight possibility to pass through with the bikes.
Challenge accepted :thumleft:. I have always enjoyed this section of road between the mountains with a number of mountain stream crossings. We were able to cross the stream where the brige was washed away without too much of effort. By this time, it was time to head home as the temperatures were between 37 and 40 degc.
The total round trip for the day was about 320km of which about 280km was scenic dirt roads between the mountains and local game farms.

 

[TVB]

Lekker, not too far from Brits and I would love to explore a bit in the rooiberg area  :sip:

 

[DE]

Lekker, not too far from Brits and I would love to explore a bit in the rooiberg area  :sip:

I passed through Rooiberg bit more that a month ago with the bike. It was a Saturday and I did a solo dirt road trip towards Brits and returned through Rooiberg. I was pleasantly suppressed with the food stalls on the local shop stoep. I was told that it is a standing arrangement for every Saturday morning. I enjoyed a "few" pancakes there under the tree next to my bike before continuing.

 

[Welsh]

Lekker, not too far from Brits and I would love to explore a bit in the rooiberg area  :sip:

I passed through Rooiberg bit more that a month ago with the bike. It was a Saturday and I did a solo dirt road trip towards Brits and returned through Rooiberg. I was pleasantly suppressed with the food stalls on the local shop stoep. I was told that it is a standing arrangement for every Saturday morning. I enjoyed a "few" pancakes there under the tree next to my bike before continuing.

A few years ago, we passed through Pofadder on a Friday morning, looking for a Cafe/Wimpy for breakfast, outside the local Spar the farmers were holding a monthly (I think) street Braai raising money for the local school, pic what you want and pay per piece, breads sosaties chops etc, it was magic.  :biggrin: 

 

[eberhard]

This pitcha says it al  :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft:

(as in a picture says a thousand words, and more)

 

[Edgar]

Best looking colour scheme for the AT.  :thumleft:

 

[DE]

Time for a quick ride again. I still need to feel the freedom of holiday before I open shop again on the 7th. I sent a whatsapp Friday evening to ask Johan join me. His reply was that he needs to be back home Saturday morning between 9h00 and 10h00 as they need to travel to Brits to attend a wedding.

We met yesterday morning 6h00 at the local Engen. There were still a few thunder roars in the distance from the rain during the night. It was a crisp fresh morning. Ideal weather for bike riding. :ricky: :ricky:
We left Thabazimbi on the tar road towards Dwaalboom and took the second Northam turnoff. This dirt road is a nice quite road running over a small mountain with a nice view over the area and lots of game on the farms. This road runs directly into Northam.

From Northam we took the R510 back to Thabazimbi. We were still safely on time to be back home at 9h00 so I took a dirt road turning right about 5km from Northam. It started as a very nice dirt high way, but after a few km’s the road turned black. Black, like in wet “turf” (black slippery clay). We both progressed about 200m into this turf section and got to a complete stop. Both the bikes front wheels were completely blocked between the tire and mudguards. The front wheel were stuck with zero movement.

The GSA has a small short mudguard with a bit of space to clean out the turf to such a point where the wheel could move a bit. We decided to rather turn around and fight the 200m back as we could not see the road condition ahead. Johan was able to walk / ride his bike back out of the turf.

My AT was a different story. Bigger mudguard with a very small clearance especially on the engine side. No fingers or tools could fit between the tire and mudguard to clean it out. The wheel was stuck! I walked beside the bike with the bike in first gear with Johan in front lifting the mudguard a bit. The front wheel was turning a bit together with sliding on the turf. We struggled it out like that for the complete 200m. When we reached the GSA on the hard ground we found a puddle of rain water. We scooped up some water in a bottle. I laid the AT on its side to work on the wheel. By adding water to the turf we were able to slowly free the wheel to the point of some turning. The tire was still rubbing against the turf in the mudguard, but I could ride the bike again. The turf in the mudguard was quite hard and solid at this stage. I rode the bike a few times through the water to free up more clearance.

Now we really had to move as time ran out on us. While riding I could smell burning rubber as the Tyre was still nut 100% clear from the hardened turf. I stopped a few times to examine if there was any smoke or flames. Luckily no damage. Back on the tar road we had to makeup time again for the wedding appointment.

We arrived safely back home at 10h05.  After a swim to cool off I started to clean my bike. The cleaning took longer than the ride.

What did I learn?
- Stay away from the black stuff!!!
- If it happens again - water is your friend
- Invest in a high mudguard conversion for the AT

 

[skydiver]

You have the black mud there and we must face the red "snot" here in Magoebaskloof area  :lol8: