The Unforgiven Trail - and the legends that tamed it

[Lars]

Dit gaan broekskeur

View attachment 833434

The AK 47 on the t shirt?

 

[Clockwork Orange]

The late Jack Catchpole was my Grandfather ( on my Dads side )
Spent the first 16 years of my life in Bloem and he stayed with us on the farm.

Thanks for the reply. I believe you then know my cousin well. Brendan Healey

 

[Psycho Porra]

Dit gaan broekskeur

View attachment 833434

Lover’s balls, hy verlang huistoe

 

[hartebees]

Having now concluded the tour, I can state with confidence that the name given – The Unforgiven Trail – is accurate. It was a real privilege to conquer the toughest trail we have ever done in Kaokoland with a great group of people. We might even call them legends.

The tour ended yesterday in Windhoek. Most of the riders will be arriving at home today or tomorrow. The crew is now in Grünau making their way back to Loxton and Cape Town. It is a three day journey back home.

The plan for the ride report is to cover one day of the trip every day, with Day 1 starting tomorrow.

 

[hartebees]

Day 0 consists of buying all the food and groceries for the next two weeks, and packing it in exactly the right way into the freezers and coolboxes. It takes the whole day.

 

[m0lt3n]

The fubar 990 is mine! But it performed brilliantly,or what was left of it did.
But more on that at around day 7 iirc.
I wont be able to submit much to the ride report though,my phone also took some knocks with the fall.


Great trip!

I was wondering...@hartebees how many eggs did you guys take with? It was a long trip with many hungry mouths and no halfway resupply stops

 

[hartebees]

I asked Chantal and it was 350. They were carefully stowed on the rear seat of Greg’s unimog wrapped in blankets.

 

[Puls0nic]

I asked Chantal and it was 350. They were carefully stowed on the rear seat of Greg’s unimog wrapped in blankets.

I'm assuming they were nicely hard-boiled by the time you got there.

 

[Roxtar]

Awesome trip, cannot wait for the pix!

A T7 should also be a great bike for a trip like this, or what is general opinion on bikes to use for trips like these?

 

[hartebees]

Day 1 – Usakos to Spitzkoppe

The first day on the bikes is merely a 50km warm-up to get comfortable and making sure your machine and kit is ready for the next two weeks.

The riding starts in Usakos about 250km from Windhoek. This is where we leave the bike trailer behind and also where the guests that drove up leave their vehicles.

Often it is the case that a bike that was perfectly find when it left home develops an ailment by the time we get to Usakos. This year the DR650 didn’t want to start and as a temporary solution a connection was bridged to get going.

When we got to camp some troubleshooting revealed that the kill switch was malfunctioning. This was the first of many repairs that Conrad took the lead with.

Later in the afternoon Kobus, Gerry and myself rode around a bit and stopped at the arch and rock pool.

The convoy in Windhoek on the morning of departure.

Conrad working his magic on the DR.

 

[hartebees]

We had a lovely evening without wind or mosquitoes. The sunset was, as always when we camp here, glorious.

 

[hartebees]

I'm assuming they were nicely hard-boiled by the time you got there.

The Unimog has a massive aircon on its roof. They may have started to shiver otherwise.

 

[Dwerg]

There always seems to be a bike that needs some work at Spitzkoppe. 2018 it was mine

 

[JeanDV]

That was luckily the only issue the DR threw our way that had nothing to do with the trip, all other issues were self inflicted, more about that later.

 

[Striggs]

I asked Chantal and it was 350. They were carefully stowed on the rear seat of Greg’s unimog wrapped in blankets.

is the record of zero breakages still intact...

 

[Striggs]

Awesome trip, cannot wait for the pix!

A T7 should also be a great bike for a trip like this, or what is general opinion on bikes to use for trips like these?

The smaller the better... 450/500/650. My personal choice would sway towards a 690 though as I enjoy the comfort on the long stretches. It is the lonnnnnng corrugated roads that get to me.. not the thick loose sand and rocks.. On the lighter bikes, you really have fun, way less sand and rock anxiety.. just occasional fuel anxiety, even though the petrol backup vehicle is always just behind..

 

[hartebees]

is the record of zero breakages still intact...

Yes indeed! We missed you and your pillion on this trip.

 

[Striggs]

View attachment 833680View attachment 833682

Day 0 consists of buying all the food and groceries for the next two weeks, and packing it in exactly the right way into the freezers and coolboxes. It takes the whole day.

I am still addicted to Nik-Naks... Chantal should offer free counselling with those

 

[Striggs]

Yes indeed! We missed you and your pillion on this trip.

Ayyy Jaco, we spoke about it last weekend...Missed you guys terribly, even Hardy
Now that we have some level of comfort on an 890R, it is looking possible again..
I must admit that after the trip, she said what got to her the most was the sleep deprivation.. those mozzies and cold nights. She said the riding was fine

 

[hartebees]

Ayyy Jaco, we spoke about it last weekend...Missed you guys terribly, even Hardy
Now that we have some level of comfort on an 890R, it is looking possible again..
I must admit that after the trip, she said what got to her the most was the sleep deprivation.. those mozzies and cold nights. She said the riding was fine

Rode a 890 for the first time on this trip (Steve graciously agreed to swop with me for a while). Great machine that has no problem with even the thickest of sandy riverbeds.

Anyway, please tell her that I will personally put up a tent for you guys every night if you join again.