THE ROAD TO HELL TRILOGY - FINAL CHAPTER (Videos start on page 5)
- Thread starter JustBendIt
- Start date
Kenisis
Race Dog
Justin, Nice one Bud!
I dont know what you guys are bleating about. Maybe the video will spread some more light on your ordeal!...............................................
Cant wait for the Video!
I dont know what you guys are bleating about. Maybe the video will spread some more light on your ordeal!...............................................
Cant wait for the Video!
JustBendIt
Grey Hound
Kenisis said:
I realised on this trip how fat and unfit I have become - 3 years of virtually no exercise, too much food and booze have made me soft. I use to mountain bike competitively and would think nothing of doing a 50 km bicycle ride in the mountains before work - now I can barely stay awake for a full working day. The RTH f*&ked me up and gave me a serious wake up call.
Please excuse the bleating - I felt like I was running on empty (and still do - almost a week later)
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There was no b,eating Justin, just an honest report of how you felt at the time. I like that. Only someone who has done or attempted to do the RTH will be able to tell what it is like.
At least you guys walked down to the river, Gideon and myself ware so unfit we had to ride down. :imaposer:
At least you guys walked down to the river, Gideon and myself ware so unfit we had to ride down. :imaposer:
oo7
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Nice report Justin - Respect for taking the road to hell and back!
Andy660
Grey Hound
Jip ,
Well done to the three of you .The Richtersveld isnt for sissies , but its a good place for the soul.
And you can ride two spoor tracks that you know that few people have done recently
Well done to the three of you .The Richtersveld isnt for sissies , but its a good place for the soul.
And you can ride two spoor tracks that you know that few people have done recently
G
Ganjora
Guest
excellent report Justin, thanks.
JustBendIt
Grey Hound
Stay tuned - there is more to come
I hope to have the next and final Part up before work tomorrow morning
Expect some stunning pics and more tales of afkak ...
I hope to have the next and final Part up before work tomorrow morning
Expect some stunning pics and more tales of afkak ...
Grantve
Pack Dog
Heddles said:Grantve said:Well done guys great pics.
I think this is the Grant I know... Welcome bud... Nice to see you taking a peek at our antics... Welcome..
Howzit Heddles, yes it's me. I read a lot, post little, but I see everything. I wish I had mates up here with the balls to go on trips with me off road. Keeping fit on the MountainBike really helps. I am looking at buying a bike in CT for my trips down there. Glad to see u enjoying life old man!
JustBendIt
Grey Hound
Part 6
We had all the best laid plans to get up bright and early and do 2 epic rides today – a challenging and rocky loop known as “route 69” because it is 69 km long and an awesome 100 km ride along the sandy banks of the Orange River and then through the Richtersveld Conservancy to Eksteenfontein and back to the campsite via Helskloof. The first route should take about 3 hours and the longer ride about 5 hours – it would be another big day in the saddle.
We were tired. We slept late. Oupa Heddles could not find his false teeth because he could not remember where he had put his spectacles –
Old Timer’s Disease is a real bitch!
I made some coffee to get the boys going
And soon we were ready to roll
At 9 AM sharp we were still not ready – another 25 min of fannying about and Gareth and Heddles finally mounted their scoots to follow me out the camp.
I was chuckling silently to myself – the last time I was here with Metaljockey I was aboard my SE and kakked off big time. Gareth was already licking his wounds from the last 2 days and had no idea what was in store.
The start of the ride is quite easy and takes you through a piece of the beautiful and haunting Richtersveld – I have always imagined that this must be what it is like to ride on Mars.
But the sand monster soon reared its head
To be followed by its friend Rocky Sand
The boys were working up a sweat – again
I took a break and watched while Gareth picked his bike up, again and again. 20 minutes into the ride and he was as pap as a snoek that
has been lying on a roadside bakkie in the sun for the past 2 days – he also smelt as bad and had the same toothy grin from ear to ear – we were all having fun – life was good
And then the sand was gone, just as fast as it had come
We rode and rode some more – we felt like we were the only people in the whole world – there is nobody else out there – it is absolutely awesome – wonderful medicine for the mind and the soul.
About halfway into this ride we pull into Eksteenfontein – a teeny tiny little Northern Cape dorp consisting of a few gravel roads, 200 metres of brick paving in the town square, a church and a bottle store.
About 1 km before town we stop at the scrapyard – an open piece of ground atop a hill, baking in the Namakwa sun.
There are some seriously damaged vehicles here – the newest being at least 30 years old. There is no ways people got out of these alive – some of them still have empty old liquor bottles inside – a lethal cocktail I call “Throttle and Bottle”. It never ceases to amaze me how filthy and dirty us human beings are – why do we have to make and leave a mess everywhere we go?
It is lunchtime on Sunday – everything is closed – damn! I was so looking forward to another ice cold red ambulance.
But wait – somebody points over there and Heddles turns around – we get shown to a house that is also a spaza shop.
This place is owned by David Farmer – cousin of Andrew Farmer, the man who rescued me a few years ago in the red dunes nearby when I burnt out the clutch on my 800GS. Andrew Farmer is the local “fixer” in these parts and will organise and deliver anything – no matter what.
A good oke to have on speed dial.
Heddles spots an old Kawa 2 smoke under an afdakkie and the kakpraat is stepped up a notch
We buy a round of cold Cokes and take a few moments to chat and connect with these good people.
We bid everyone farewell and hit the gravel highway out of town – Helskloof awaits
We ride a wonderful winding path, up and down some steep rocky climbs, through thick sandy river beds and landscapes only seen in coffee table books. This place is truly magical.
We pull back into camp just before 3 pm. We realise we will never have enough time to do Route 69 today and we have to leave at sparrows tomorrow morning. The guys look a little sad – I tell them to cheer up because this means we will have to come back here again to ride this route, and literally hundreds of others – Rome was not built in a day.
We are all very soft and take a Sunday afternoon nap.
Does anybody know what a “tea-bagging” is?
Heddles mentioned over and over on the weekend that he was craving some tea.
Gareth and I wake up first – Oupa Heddles is still snoring. We simply could not resist – I crept up to Heddles and Gareth took the photo. This is a “family site” so I will not post it here., but I will tell you it is kak funny.
The bush TV was switched on.
Heddles dreaming of some tea.
The coals were soon ready.
And once again we were forced to eat rump steak, chicken, lamb, wors, potatoes, sweetcorn and beans and wash it down with litres of Tassies.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end – another good night’s sleep was had by all and before we knew it we had to come back to the real world and leave this magical and mystical place
A completely uneventful drive home followed, each oke taking turns to drive while the co-driver played DJ and the 3rd oke slept in the back of the bakkie, until we met this crazy kraut
Alex is a “poor” 20 year old German – so “poor” he is travelling around the world on his bicycle with all his kak strapped on. He left Berlin over a year ago, rode through Europe to the Med, caught a ferry to Cairo, and has spent all of this year in the saddle – he told us he can do about 150 km a day ! – I told you he was crazy.
We met him on the road between Bitterfontein and Vanrhynsdorp – all he could talk about was wanting to see “Tafelberg” – I pointed down the N7 and told him he still had a few hundred clicks to go – maybe another 3 or 4 days!
We gave him some water and hit the road again. A few hours passed and we were greeted by the “Tafelberg”
We were home – I was both sad and happy at the same time.
What an awesome trip – 2 long days of towing and less than 200 km of gravel road riding but an awesome trip – one I would do again in a heartbeat. Those 200 km were harder and more eventful than the previous 20 000 km of trip riding.
Everything was good – in fact it was amazing. The company, the bikes, the riding, the food, the wine, the jokes and the good (and sometimes bad) times – all of it was memorable.
Thank you Gareth and Heddles for joining me – I will let you use my inside toilet at home the next time you come to visit.
THE END
We had all the best laid plans to get up bright and early and do 2 epic rides today – a challenging and rocky loop known as “route 69” because it is 69 km long and an awesome 100 km ride along the sandy banks of the Orange River and then through the Richtersveld Conservancy to Eksteenfontein and back to the campsite via Helskloof. The first route should take about 3 hours and the longer ride about 5 hours – it would be another big day in the saddle.
We were tired. We slept late. Oupa Heddles could not find his false teeth because he could not remember where he had put his spectacles –
Old Timer’s Disease is a real bitch!
I made some coffee to get the boys going
And soon we were ready to roll
At 9 AM sharp we were still not ready – another 25 min of fannying about and Gareth and Heddles finally mounted their scoots to follow me out the camp.
I was chuckling silently to myself – the last time I was here with Metaljockey I was aboard my SE and kakked off big time. Gareth was already licking his wounds from the last 2 days and had no idea what was in store.
The start of the ride is quite easy and takes you through a piece of the beautiful and haunting Richtersveld – I have always imagined that this must be what it is like to ride on Mars.
But the sand monster soon reared its head
To be followed by its friend Rocky Sand
The boys were working up a sweat – again
I took a break and watched while Gareth picked his bike up, again and again. 20 minutes into the ride and he was as pap as a snoek that
has been lying on a roadside bakkie in the sun for the past 2 days – he also smelt as bad and had the same toothy grin from ear to ear – we were all having fun – life was good
And then the sand was gone, just as fast as it had come
We rode and rode some more – we felt like we were the only people in the whole world – there is nobody else out there – it is absolutely awesome – wonderful medicine for the mind and the soul.
About halfway into this ride we pull into Eksteenfontein – a teeny tiny little Northern Cape dorp consisting of a few gravel roads, 200 metres of brick paving in the town square, a church and a bottle store.
About 1 km before town we stop at the scrapyard – an open piece of ground atop a hill, baking in the Namakwa sun.
There are some seriously damaged vehicles here – the newest being at least 30 years old. There is no ways people got out of these alive – some of them still have empty old liquor bottles inside – a lethal cocktail I call “Throttle and Bottle”. It never ceases to amaze me how filthy and dirty us human beings are – why do we have to make and leave a mess everywhere we go?
It is lunchtime on Sunday – everything is closed – damn! I was so looking forward to another ice cold red ambulance.
But wait – somebody points over there and Heddles turns around – we get shown to a house that is also a spaza shop.
This place is owned by David Farmer – cousin of Andrew Farmer, the man who rescued me a few years ago in the red dunes nearby when I burnt out the clutch on my 800GS. Andrew Farmer is the local “fixer” in these parts and will organise and deliver anything – no matter what.
A good oke to have on speed dial.
Heddles spots an old Kawa 2 smoke under an afdakkie and the kakpraat is stepped up a notch
We buy a round of cold Cokes and take a few moments to chat and connect with these good people.
We bid everyone farewell and hit the gravel highway out of town – Helskloof awaits
We ride a wonderful winding path, up and down some steep rocky climbs, through thick sandy river beds and landscapes only seen in coffee table books. This place is truly magical.
We pull back into camp just before 3 pm. We realise we will never have enough time to do Route 69 today and we have to leave at sparrows tomorrow morning. The guys look a little sad – I tell them to cheer up because this means we will have to come back here again to ride this route, and literally hundreds of others – Rome was not built in a day.
We are all very soft and take a Sunday afternoon nap.
Does anybody know what a “tea-bagging” is?
Heddles mentioned over and over on the weekend that he was craving some tea.
Gareth and I wake up first – Oupa Heddles is still snoring. We simply could not resist – I crept up to Heddles and Gareth took the photo. This is a “family site” so I will not post it here., but I will tell you it is kak funny.
The bush TV was switched on.
Heddles dreaming of some tea.
The coals were soon ready.
And once again we were forced to eat rump steak, chicken, lamb, wors, potatoes, sweetcorn and beans and wash it down with litres of Tassies.
Unfortunately all good things must come to an end – another good night’s sleep was had by all and before we knew it we had to come back to the real world and leave this magical and mystical place
A completely uneventful drive home followed, each oke taking turns to drive while the co-driver played DJ and the 3rd oke slept in the back of the bakkie, until we met this crazy kraut
Alex is a “poor” 20 year old German – so “poor” he is travelling around the world on his bicycle with all his kak strapped on. He left Berlin over a year ago, rode through Europe to the Med, caught a ferry to Cairo, and has spent all of this year in the saddle – he told us he can do about 150 km a day ! – I told you he was crazy.
We met him on the road between Bitterfontein and Vanrhynsdorp – all he could talk about was wanting to see “Tafelberg” – I pointed down the N7 and told him he still had a few hundred clicks to go – maybe another 3 or 4 days!
We gave him some water and hit the road again. A few hours passed and we were greeted by the “Tafelberg”
We were home – I was both sad and happy at the same time.
What an awesome trip – 2 long days of towing and less than 200 km of gravel road riding but an awesome trip – one I would do again in a heartbeat. Those 200 km were harder and more eventful than the previous 20 000 km of trip riding.
Everything was good – in fact it was amazing. The company, the bikes, the riding, the food, the wine, the jokes and the good (and sometimes bad) times – all of it was memorable.
Thank you Gareth and Heddles for joining me – I will let you use my inside toilet at home the next time you come to visit.
THE END
White Rhino
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Shot Justin :thumright:
Nice to read a proper adventure that has challenges that will stick with you forever!
Nice to read a proper adventure that has challenges that will stick with you forever!
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Carrots said:Fanks guys.....was a very enjoyable read.......everything besides the pic in your underpants and crocs.......somehow related to ETS?
:imaposer: :imaposer:
Ek het die selfde gedink. Hy sê die ou op die fiets is mal maar mean time staan daai ou in sy onnies en crocs langs die pad :eek7: :eek7:
JustBendIt
Grey Hound
Dwerg said:Carrots said:Fanks guys.....was a very enjoyable read.......everything besides the pic in your underpants and crocs.......somehow related to ETS?
:imaposer: :imaposer:
Ek het die selfde gedink. Hy sê die ou op die fiets is mal maar mean time staan daai ou in sy onnies en crocs langs die pad :eek7: :eek7:
Please excuse that pic - it was very hot in the back of the bakkie
Try and delete that image from your brain
Pistol
Race Dog
Great RR, thanks for sharing :thumleft:
Orangeswifty
Race Dog
You should mix with the right crowd bud! The Pta Rebels always welcome a new mate who want to join us on rides that require balls! :thumleft:Grantve said:Heddles said:Grantve said:Well done guys great pics.
I think this is the Grant I know... Welcome bud... Nice to see you taking a peek at our antics... Welcome..
Howzit Heddles, yes it's me. I read a lot, post little, but I see everything. I wish I had mates up here with the balls to go on trips with me off road. Keeping fit on the MountainBike really helps. I am looking at buying a bike in CT for my trips down there. Glad to see u enjoying life old man!
Orangeswifty
Race Dog
IMPOSSIBLE!Powerflow Justin said:Dwerg said:Carrots said:Fanks guys.....was a very enjoyable read.......everything besides the pic in your underpants and crocs.......somehow related to ETS?
:imaposer: :imaposer:
Ek het die selfde gedink. Hy sê die ou op die fiets is mal maar mean time staan daai ou in sy onnies en crocs langs die pad :eek7: :eek7:
Please excuse that pic - it was very hot in the back of the bakkie
Try and delete that image from your brain
It has been etched into my brain!
thankfully children have not seen - can cause nightmares!
:imaposer: :imaposer: :imaposer: :imaposer:
Well done manne :thumleft:
bud500 (R.I.P)
Grey Hound
Nice report and some good riding.
Was a video mentioned, did I miss it?
Was a video mentioned, did I miss it?
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