Saturday morning came.
I'm usually up by 5 and because my phone was still in Hingsdings bakkie I had no idea what time it was when I woke up but it was still dark. I could hear people scratching themselves in their tents and the cacophony of snoring have stepped down a notch. so I estimated around 5:30.
Firstly I was surprised with the cold. Or rather the lack thereoff. I wasn't cold and assumed it was my clever plan to bring a stretcher to keep me off the cold ground that saved my bacon. But it turned out most people had a nice sleep and it wasn't as cold as everyone expected.
Word around the camp, however was "Vannaand op die pan gaan ons k@k..."
Look, with WD's they can party hard and ride hard. Even after all the festivities the previous night, it was still early when everyone was packed and ready to roll. Bikes were packed and no-one was dragging his feet - all seemed ready to roll. Before to long Hingsding called us together and told us what to expect and where to turn. I got my phone back and was ready.
The little tweespoor back to the spoorpad had one or two places where it looked like people had unscheduled lie-downs and I was glad to see the end of it and get onto the spoorpad. My bike was still very heavily packed and I struggled, but made it through without falling over or tearing a muscle.
The Spoorpad.
It's a very well maintained road. I wish the people where I come from could maintain a gravel road like the transnet contractors. It was wide, level and recently graded. It had two problems however. The minimum road signs and Transnet obviously didn't see the need to bulldoze through the koppies which made for quite steep inclines and declines. You had to be careful because you couldn't see which way the road went on the other side if the incline. It was also impossible to tell if there was a vehicle coming from the other side. I enjoyed these inclines and declines as it felt a bit like a roller coaster going over them.
We quickly settled into some sort of a convoy once the fast lot got away from us and the groups with similar speeds formed. I really enjoyed the spoorpad. The scenery was awesome and if you picked your speed right it was a very easy, relaxed ride.
I had no idea how long the spoorpad is but I know the railway line is the Sishen Saldanha. Before too long a train pulled by a huge diesel came past. There were two more groups of locomotives in the middle and another huge diesel at the back. That train was the longest I've ever seen - I was riding in the opposite direction at say 80 km/h and it took minutes for it too pass. Awesome!
Hinksie never told us how long before the Brandvlei turn off. Or maybe he did I just didn't hear it. But I knew there would be food first and had to look out for a bakkie. This I found and had some lekker boerewors rolls. At this stage we were spread our quite thinly and people came and went more or less at will. By the amount of sausage still in the pot I judged I must be among the front guys and it later turned out to be right.
Anyway, here I made another crucial mistake. I hung around to take some photos after eating. I was having a ball and drinking all this in. Then I got on the bike and continued along the spoorpad, alone.
I knew we were supposed to turn off along the Brandvlei road next but didn't know where. I did remember Hinksie saying something about a bridge and a tower. Bridges were plenty full so I looked for a tower. The mistake I made was to not at least go with someone who listened to Hinksies briefing for this part of the route.
To make a long story short I missed the turn off. I felt uneasy for a while before I realized my mistake. It finally dawned on me when I reached a station called Halfway (the locals called it something else can't remember). On the other side of the station, on the horison I could see another mast and headed for that hoping to see the turn off but there was nothing.
I decided to wait a while and see if anyone else comes along and sat there for about 30 minutes. My bikes fuel range is about 320 km's and it was already over 200km's, so I didn't want to backtrack unnecessarily. After I gave up I decided to ride back and see if I can spot other bikes. I went about 15 km's back and then spotted the bike tracks where everyone turned off. I have no idea how I missed it the first time and were delighted to run into some more riders waiting on the bridge. One knew the area and said it's about another 60 km's to Brandvlei and petrol so it seemed my fuel would just make it.
I rode with these guys for a while, keeping their dust in my sights until we got to the fork in the road and I couldn't get lost anymore. Someone came past and made gestures at me. I didn't realise what he was on about until I saw something flapping in my shadow. My right hand pannier was open. I stopped and saw it was the one where my sleeping bag was in. I had to squeeze the lid quite hard that morning and it obviously popped open. But more alarming my sleeping bag was gone.
I had no petrol to go and look for it. Was going to be an interesting night. And another thing I lost.
Also along this road my bar end weight fell out all of a sudden. I stopped and went looking for it and found it but it wouldn't go back in the bolt didn't catch. I put it in an old sock and chucked it in the pannier which now had lots of space. However the bar end also served as a mounting point for my hand protectors and the wind pushed them back onto the clutch lever.
So finally I limped into Brandvlei, almost out of fuel, minus a sleeping bag and a flapping hand protector. I was soon re-united with my sleeping bag, some kind soul picked it up for me. It was full of dust from rolling down the road but it would keep me warm.
Thanks I think it was Blinkes? that retrieved it for me.
