The Unforgiven Trail - and the legends that tamed it
- Thread starter Hardy de Kock
- Start date
hartebees
Pack Dog
The other repair work for the day was Fanus fixing his BMW boots with a drill, wire and cable ties.
Looking forward to good trip report with plenty pics !!
Chantal Burger
Pack Dog
And winegums Elio?I am still addicted to Nik-Naks... Chantal should offer free counselling with those
I already had that problem before the trips…
It was truly epic and hard. But!!!! Not enough can be said and thanked about the backup crew. Especially the 2 ladies, Greg and Alan. The food was justunbelievable. And we never had to wash a dish. I am truly humbled by the service of the crew.
Most amazing was- NO mozzies on this trip!I most definitely will!!
your riding skills make all riverbeds easy..
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- Kathu (NC)
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my contribution to day 1...
its been shared already that I fell with the 990. The fall also broke my phone and I just send that off for repairs...with my pictures. So it will be great if someone else can share my Spitskoppe pics I shared on whatsapp. The lighting at Spitskoppe was great.
Day 0 began very early for me, I was on the road by 4am to join Ets in Upington where I transferred my bike to his supercab. This was my first learning from the trip, a supercab is great for transporting bikes. We loaded a 990 and 500 easily, the bikes are more solid on the bakkie than on a trailer and the rear bench of the supercab is great for kit.
We got to Windhoek in no time and it was great meeting everyone there.
Day 1 we had a calm morning, ate and rode to Usakos where we left the vehicles.
The short stretch to Spitskoppe had me quickly realise it will be mostly a calm trip. There is no egos, the guys ride calmly to a destination of the day. Luckily Fred was there, seems like the mooses he uses is better or immune to common opinion. he did 110 to 130 with me where roads allowed and never had issues. Rest of the guys were conservative at around 90 I think. Either way, I was happy to have a riding buddy, even though he left me for dead/the lions/in his dust whenever the going got tougher!
It was asked earlier which bike is the best choice, i do think anything around a 500 is. Most kilometres were perfect for 990, but there was difficult stretches that was very tough on the big bike. Tiring. And as has been explained by our resident xpat...the heavier bikes are fine, but fatigue builds up and then after a few days in the saddle you struggle to keep up with the smaller bikes, this after you had to work hard to get motivated to kit up for the day.
Oh, and 25km in a river bed or in very rocky terrain with a big bike is no joke.
The other thing is when you overshoot the track or get lost, going of track with the 990 is crisis, you need to focus not to screw up or get stuck, on a smaller bike its a non event. More on this later.
Fred and myself was at Spitskoppe first, waited a while for the next group and savoured the scenery and a cold drink. Throughout the day so far I spend a lot of time thinking or planning the best time for a drone flight. I was very excited to use my drone, it was expensive, bought for the trip and the perfect setup for a trip like this being capable, small and compact.
But Hardy had a strong opinion on drones, seems like they have had something like 11 drones on the tours already, none survived.
But I was determined and sure I will set a new record.
which I did
first flight at Spitskoppe I crashed it, must be the fastest end of a drone on a Specialized adventure tour!
it was 100% operator error, I flew to fast and did not focus, I could recover it but there was no fixing it mid trip. It may sound weird also, but I did enjoy the rest of the trip more without the drone, not thinking or planning drone stuff. I could focus on the trip. I did not put to much effort into fixing it.
so, anyone know where one can send a drone for repairs?
its been shared already that I fell with the 990. The fall also broke my phone and I just send that off for repairs...with my pictures. So it will be great if someone else can share my Spitskoppe pics I shared on whatsapp. The lighting at Spitskoppe was great.
Day 0 began very early for me, I was on the road by 4am to join Ets in Upington where I transferred my bike to his supercab. This was my first learning from the trip, a supercab is great for transporting bikes. We loaded a 990 and 500 easily, the bikes are more solid on the bakkie than on a trailer and the rear bench of the supercab is great for kit.
We got to Windhoek in no time and it was great meeting everyone there.
Day 1 we had a calm morning, ate and rode to Usakos where we left the vehicles.
The short stretch to Spitskoppe had me quickly realise it will be mostly a calm trip. There is no egos, the guys ride calmly to a destination of the day. Luckily Fred was there, seems like the mooses he uses is better or immune to common opinion. he did 110 to 130 with me where roads allowed and never had issues. Rest of the guys were conservative at around 90 I think. Either way, I was happy to have a riding buddy, even though he left me for dead/the lions/in his dust whenever the going got tougher!
It was asked earlier which bike is the best choice, i do think anything around a 500 is. Most kilometres were perfect for 990, but there was difficult stretches that was very tough on the big bike. Tiring. And as has been explained by our resident xpat...the heavier bikes are fine, but fatigue builds up and then after a few days in the saddle you struggle to keep up with the smaller bikes, this after you had to work hard to get motivated to kit up for the day.
Oh, and 25km in a river bed or in very rocky terrain with a big bike is no joke.
The other thing is when you overshoot the track or get lost, going of track with the 990 is crisis, you need to focus not to screw up or get stuck, on a smaller bike its a non event. More on this later.
Fred and myself was at Spitskoppe first, waited a while for the next group and savoured the scenery and a cold drink. Throughout the day so far I spend a lot of time thinking or planning the best time for a drone flight. I was very excited to use my drone, it was expensive, bought for the trip and the perfect setup for a trip like this being capable, small and compact.
But Hardy had a strong opinion on drones, seems like they have had something like 11 drones on the tours already, none survived.
But I was determined and sure I will set a new record.
which I did
first flight at Spitskoppe I crashed it, must be the fastest end of a drone on a Specialized adventure tour!
it was 100% operator error, I flew to fast and did not focus, I could recover it but there was no fixing it mid trip. It may sound weird also, but I did enjoy the rest of the trip more without the drone, not thinking or planning drone stuff. I could focus on the trip. I did not put to much effort into fixing it.
so, anyone know where one can send a drone for repairs?
And that bit set the trend for this tour, or it proved to be a dice with @dirtWarp ..... was good to see this
No, of course it was not a race, we're all adults here ..... but also bikers, so some dicing went on everywhere possible
For instance, most turned a certain riverbed into a dragrace-piste, absolutely kinderagtig yes - and I'll plead guilty too in the same breath, man was that fun!
Oh, yeah, my little 300 came last everywhere on the long stretches, so it must have been the wrong bike then?
Nope, contrary even, I only regret not putting a +1-tooth front sprocket on it beforehand
- Joined
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Aah mr dirtWarp...
Pierre reminds me of a book about Sarel van der Merwe I read. He mentioned how that turbo Audi was so fast, he sometimes allowed himself to be a full lap behind before gunning it to see if he could still win, which he could. Pierre is rof vinnig.
Pierre reminds me of a book about Sarel van der Merwe I read. He mentioned how that turbo Audi was so fast, he sometimes allowed himself to be a full lap behind before gunning it to see if he could still win, which he could. Pierre is rof vinnig.
Mr dirtWarp and sharp edges. He does not attack rocks, he glides ! !
Thanks for riding with/ next to and sharing some guidance ! ! !
And for that story about the yellow merc and the glass eye !
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Julle het niks gedrink die aand nie??????
Geen wonder Pierre is effens omgekrap nie.......
Ek bedoel, kan nie sy bike wees nie, amper die mooiste vanni lot!
dirtWarp
Grey Hound
dirtWarp
Grey Hound
Big thanks to @BuRP for lending me his awesome 500. It was my 1st experience with mousses and it opened up a whole new world of not giving a fark about riding over anything.
I never got comfortable with the raised handlebars, but for the rest, it was the perfect bike for this trip.
Wow Spitskoppe was epic scenery allround.
Before heading to the campsite, we had to make a very necessary pitstop:
After a couple beers, we headed to the campsite and it was better than i had ever imagined
My suite:
Runner and Olaf:
Fred adjusting rebound
I never got comfortable with the raised handlebars, but for the rest, it was the perfect bike for this trip.
Wow Spitskoppe was epic scenery allround.
Before heading to the campsite, we had to make a very necessary pitstop:
After a couple beers, we headed to the campsite and it was better than i had ever imagined
My suite:
Runner and Olaf:
Fred adjusting rebound
hartebees
Pack Dog
Day 2 – Spitzkoppe to Palmwag
The riding distance today is 325km – the longest of the tour – however it is still quite relaxed as we follow mostly the main roads to Palmwag. We need to cover this distance to get to Kaokoland.
The biggest danger is the number of foreign tourists on the road. The undulating terrain means that there are many blind rises and the riders want to ride two or three abreast to avoid eating dust. Combine that with Europeans that are used to riding on the other side of the road and with very little experience of riding on unpaved surfaces and you have a very high risk situation.
We refuel in Uis with Brandberg looming on our left. We will visit it on the way back down.
Just before our lunch stop we get a call on the radio that the food trailer has developed a problem – the corrugated roads have taken their toll. Hardy has to go back and assist them in repairing the broken suspension. This was the first time this particular trailer has been used on a Kaokoland trip and probably won’t be used again as the unrelating corrugated and rocky roads proved to be too much for it to handle. The travelling speed of the two Unimogs were greatly reduced because of this, making it difficult to prepare the camp in time.
The riders continued on with Hardy, Alan and Greg doing roadside repairs in 40+ degrees heat.
About 50km before Palmwag the Honda CRF300L and Husky 350 ran out of fuel. With my 20l tank on the 500 I had enough to share and taking the tank off takes about 2 minutes so I poured directly from my tank. Under normal circumstances the bakkie with fuel is right behind the riders but it took them a few hours to get the trailer moving again.
Everyone arrived in Palmwag and immediately cooled down in the pool. This is the last “relaxing” riding day of the trip and some were keenly anticipating the tough stuff ahed – and some nervously realised that the heat was already causing them to feel fatigued.
The riding distance today is 325km – the longest of the tour – however it is still quite relaxed as we follow mostly the main roads to Palmwag. We need to cover this distance to get to Kaokoland.
The biggest danger is the number of foreign tourists on the road. The undulating terrain means that there are many blind rises and the riders want to ride two or three abreast to avoid eating dust. Combine that with Europeans that are used to riding on the other side of the road and with very little experience of riding on unpaved surfaces and you have a very high risk situation.
We refuel in Uis with Brandberg looming on our left. We will visit it on the way back down.
Just before our lunch stop we get a call on the radio that the food trailer has developed a problem – the corrugated roads have taken their toll. Hardy has to go back and assist them in repairing the broken suspension. This was the first time this particular trailer has been used on a Kaokoland trip and probably won’t be used again as the unrelating corrugated and rocky roads proved to be too much for it to handle. The travelling speed of the two Unimogs were greatly reduced because of this, making it difficult to prepare the camp in time.
The riders continued on with Hardy, Alan and Greg doing roadside repairs in 40+ degrees heat.
About 50km before Palmwag the Honda CRF300L and Husky 350 ran out of fuel. With my 20l tank on the 500 I had enough to share and taking the tank off takes about 2 minutes so I poured directly from my tank. Under normal circumstances the bakkie with fuel is right behind the riders but it took them a few hours to get the trailer moving again.
Everyone arrived in Palmwag and immediately cooled down in the pool. This is the last “relaxing” riding day of the trip and some were keenly anticipating the tough stuff ahed – and some nervously realised that the heat was already causing them to feel fatigued.
Indeed.... TWO Freds in the same pic!
I know the man can be quick but this no doubt sets a record for "quicker than lightning" ...
Not bad for the old lighty eh?
Oubones
Grey Hound
The fact that the trailer gave problems after that trailer has been through Namaqualand a few times already shows why the level of logistical support given is a great feat in its own, and now we know why Hardy rather shaves his hair before a trip than pulling it out along the way. Problems like that get solved and the show goes on! Well done guys.
Very close to the perfect crew on this trip.
Very close to the perfect crew on this trip.
BMW boots..... where is @2StrokeDan when you need him eh?
Especially so when these nigh-on new boots were only seven years old (my Altzheimers allowing here...), so hardly walked-in yet!
Anyway, Fanus is a doctor, so should be handy-enough with some basic tools in the field.... a drill & bit, some cablieties plus some glue of unspecified origin - should do the job right?
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