Trailriderâ??s tour to Hogsback â?? The 2007 WD Bash!!! Complete report

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Uiltjie said:
Eisbein said:
TR says that the 5 liters of fuel that's on top of his handelbars makes the bike waay more stable.

??? ??? Doesn't make sense, but if he likes it...... ??? ???

Remember - he rides a plaasbike... :D ;D


Maybe the fluid having its own mass and the movement of it acts as a mechanical steering damper ?

 
Hi all - Trailrider asked me to do a short update to this ride report.
On a stunning Sunday morning, TR, SCP, Eisbein, TokTokkie and myself left Hogsback. Took  the tar to Alice where we filled up and then onto the R345 gravel towards Breakfast Vlei - what a great name for a dorp, although we never did find it. !!! We rode through a game reserve - the name escapes me, where at the gate, there's a sign with a pic of a lion and a rhino and a message that says you ride through the reserve at your own risk!!!
Somehow, we missed the right hand turn that would have taken us towards Grahamstown and landed up at Peddie!  Here, TR, SCP and Toktokkie hit the dirt roads, working their way towards Port Alfred where they were going to spend the night (Sunday). Eisbein and I continued on to Sedgefield.
 
Hi guys! I am back at home after the most awesome ride ever!!! Toktokkie decided to stay with us for the remainder of our trip (i guess he realized we're not as bad as we behaved at the bash... ::)) We found the most amazing places on the way back. We had little trouble - my chain fell off twice and Toktokkie's bike decided to take a nap once, but it's all good. We did lots and lots of water crossings - great fun! The deepest one I crossed 5 times! ;D ;D ;D I've got over a 1000 pics, but I'm dirty and tired. Will try and get the first installment of the ride report in a.s.a.p. For now a bath and a willing wife awaits... ;D
 
Welcome back....................  :D

What over a 1000 photos?    :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
We are waiting......

 

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Give a guy a chance! Lots to do. Will post before the weekend ;D

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Dag ou grote. Hoop nie daar was weer nat waterpype op die gras nie. As daar was hoop ek dit was nie weer voor al die gaste nie. Trek net jo been man !!!
 
Day 1:

Wednesday morning early I woke to a glorious day. Everything was packed the previous evening already and excitement was off the charts! At about 6:30am SCP showed up already having rode from Hartenbos. A few final checks and we were ready. Check how clean the bikes are. ;D

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After Iâ??ve said my goodbyes we hit the road. Going over Montagu Pass in the fresh morning air is a treat and soon after we hit the Klein Karoo through Paarde Poort.

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Originally we would have traveled through Baviaanskloof but our plans changed 2 days earlier to go look at a farm that came on the market in the Karoo, so we headed to De Rust and through Meirings Poort. Even though this is a tarred road the ride is well worth it! Simply spectacular.

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Just through the Poort we turned East towards Willowmore. Now we were well and truly on our way to Hogsback! ;D

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The weather was nice with slight breeze in our backs. We were drinking in the Karoo scenery with a song in our hearts. Life is good. The new pannier system was also working well - everything was nice and sturdy and there was very little movement.

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Itâ??s spring and you could see it in the wildlife. There was movement everywhere and we saw the usual Baboons and Monkeys, Ostriches, Spring buck and Duiker. I also rode right by a Cape Cobra that must have been close to two meters long! I grabbed fistfuls of brakes and turned around to get a picture, but like with the other wildlife it got away before I could photograph it.  :-\

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From Willowmore we took the Steytlerville road and then the turn-off North towards Miller. We were looking for the farm that was for sale and turned into the neighborâ??s farm by mistake. He was unaware that the farm next door was for sale but he led us there and since the owner was not there he showed us around a bit. Beautiful property! I could already see many rides to and from here. Iâ??ll definitely take it! 8)

Things are looking up. A few kmâ??s later we stopped in a dry riverbed for lunch. 2 minute noodles and a cold Windhoek Lager on the menu.

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While here an unsuspecting bloke on a bicycle came riding by. Incredibly both SCP and I had exactly the same idea at exactly the same time and we both gave a loud bark at the same time. The poor bloke had such a fright he almost fell of his bicycle. Hell it was funny. :D :D Like two naughty boys we are. ;D

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After Lunch we headed to Klipplaat. In the next stretch my odometer clicked over to 13000km. Luckily Iâ??m not superstitious. Klipplaat has some interesting buildings.

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Next up Jansenville. We were making very good time. At this stage it seemed weâ??d make Somerset East on the first and not the second night. Weâ??d be in Jansenville by 2pm and Somerset East is less than 200km from there.

10km from Jansenville we hit the first snag. SCP got a fast slow puncture in his rear tyre. :-\

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I have seen tyre fix being used and fail six times, so we did not bring any with. On a slow puncture it might work though. SCP would pump and ride, pump and ride making his way towards Jansenville, while Iâ??ll ride ahead and buy some Tyre Fix. I got some at the first garage and got back to SCP quickly. We inflated the tyre and surprise surprise â?? it did not work! :-\ Seven fails out of seven tries. Bloody useless stuff!!! :mad:  :angryfire: :BangHead: :cussing:

SCP decided to just ride the flat in to Jansenville the last couple of kmâ??s since the road turned into tar anyway.

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In Jansenville we found that the valve tore. Extra tubes were on our list, but we never got around to buying any and neither Jansenville nor the surrounding towns had any bike tubes for sale. The closest tubes are in Uitenhage. Not good. :-\

Small town people never seize to amaze. They started phoning around to find one of the local bike owners who will take his own tube off his bike to give to us. What? :eek: The first guy they phoned told me to come over. He had a RD350 and as it happens his brother was in Uitenhage at the bike shop to get some spares for the RD. Heâ??d buy us a tube and bring it back the same afternoon. Unfortunately heâ??d only be in Jansenville after 5 and we had nowhere to sleep. No problem â?? you guys can camp behind my Café â?? for free of course.  :)

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We were also invited to braai with them. How does one repay such generosity? They would not take any money. We offered to buy the meat but no, they would have none of that.

Before I continue I have to mention that these were not rich people, but they would have given there last to help us. They are generous good people. Last of a kind that you only find in the small towns anymore.

To continue...

Our host had a bar dedicated to the Blue Bulls complete with a braai and swimming pool. The fire was started and it was not long before some of the locals were invited to come and meet the bikers in town.

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Skaaptjops, fillet and roosterkoek was on the menu, but only much much later. First we kuierâ?¦ :headbang: :bounce: :eek:ccasion18: :eek:ccasion16:

Somewhere through the evening the agent phoned me and asked what happened at the farm? I said that I love it and wanted to buy it. No such luck. The "friendly" neighbor that showed us around bought it himself right after we left. Bastard. :angry5:

Nothing we can do about it now. Lets kuier! ;D

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â?¦and it wasnâ??t long before some of the bikes in town started making an appearance. :toothy9:

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After a late dinner it was decided to move the party to the townâ??s â??clubâ?. Hoe later hoe kwaterâ?¦ ::)

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SCP enjoyed the company of the local talent ;) ;D

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By now we had been partying for 8 hours flat and when the shooters came out I decided to head off to bed. A long day lay aheadâ?¦

SCP is unsure of when he got to his tent. We estimate he slept about one hour that night and a hot second day lay ahead...


Stats Day 1:

Total kms traveled: 343km
Fuel consumption: 22,6km/L
Total time from start to campsite: 7 hours
 
Die platteland. Ai. Sometimes, no quite often, I long to get out of this rat race.

If the flat did not happen, you would not have experienced that hospitality.
 
Journeyman - The funny thing is that most DS riders are not poor. It's not a cheap hobby - even if you own a CTX ;). I would dare say that most on this forum would not normally associate with people like these and yet they are the ones who would not get into a "my brand is better than yours" debate. They would rather ask "how can I help you today" AND mean it (not a sales pitch).

Society (or city people) tend to measure you by what you have. It's sad.

Zetmanski - Ek is oppad na 'n eindjaar funksie toe. Hel, ek sal baie eerder weer in die Baviaans wil wees. Ek sal kyk of ek more Dag 2 kan opsit. Dag 2 was 'n laaaaang dag... ;D
 
H2O said:
Dag ou grote. Hoop nie daar was weer nat waterpype op die gras nie. As daar was hoop ek dit was nie weer voor al die gaste nie. Trek net jo been man !!!

Nee, Karoo toe gery. Min water daar ;)
 
letsgofishing said:
Trailrider said:
Day 1:

so we headed to De Rust and through Meirings Poort. Even though this is a tarred road the ride is well worth it! Simply spectacular.

Never thought I'd live to see the day... ;D

Hahahahaha!

 
Day 2: Hogsback or Bust!

With sunrise two tender riders crawled out of their tents. SCP had to be at the garage at 7am with the new tube to fix his wheel. Within half an hour the bike was fixed and by 8:30 we were ready to ride. It must have been hot already because we were very thirsty.

We took some choice roads recommended by the locals and it really is a beautiful area.

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Not long after we got to the first water crossing of the trip â?? a definite photo opportunity. I LOVE water crossings! 8)

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Soon after I passed within centimeters of a Leguan which had a very aggressive stance. It was huge! Again I grabbed fistfuls of brakes to turn around and take a picture, but this one too got away. :-\

Again today we saw lots of wildlife: Monkeys and baboons, Kudu, Springbuck, Duiker, some unknown antelope that looked like a bushbuck (but I doubt you find them here) and Leguans.

This poor chap must have been hit by a vehicle.

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SCP would quite often see some â??Bushbuckâ?. I only realized on day 5 that all buck he saw were â??Bushbuckâ? including Kudu and Springbuck. ("Dis mos 'n bok. En hy staan in die bos..." ;D)

After a while the hills leveled out and the road straightened. SCP especially suffered in the heat after only having had an hours sleep the night before.

This is the road to Somerset East. It must be just over that hillâ?¦

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â?¦or notâ?¦ (check out SCP - shame, he really suffered)

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Once in Somerset East we looked for a Spur or Dros or something. Nothing. Somerset East is much smaller than we thought. Maybe Cookhouse has one? So we pushed on. Cookhouse turned out to be a lemon as well. Thereâ??s nothing but a bottle store. So we each bought a court Smirnoff Spin (something soft after a hard night) and headed to some trees for 2 minute noodles.

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By now we were on Wattyâ??s GPS route, so there was no need for maps anymore. Weâ??ll just follow the route and ride to Hogsback.

I have to say at this point that I have no experience with GPSâ??s whatsoever.

We rode to the nearest waypoint and turned left as per instruction. The road took us into a neighborhood and a dead end. What? After consulting the map I realized we had to ride to the T and take the tar road. Cool. We turned onto a gravel road at the next waypoint and followed a beautiful road to the next town. There we turned right as per instruction. Now things got funny. We were on a tar road and getting further and further from the next waypoint. This does not make sense? We took the first dirt East and now at least we werenâ??t getting further from the next waypoint, but we wonâ??t getting closer either? Weird. Luckily we found a strong flowing water crossing. ;D Cool route Watty!

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Then we saw this little fellow

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And then we hit a farm gate and the road stopped. WTF? Letâ??s just dump the GPS and follow the map. We were over 10km of course. We rode back and took the road to Adelaide. Suddenly the GPS waypoints started coming up again. We ignored those and rode to Adelaide where we filled up. From here we took dirt through the Post Retief Conservancy. Very scenic!

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After a while on the waypoints started coming up again. At waypoint C1 â??Turn rightâ? was the instruction. SCP was not keen. This road led into a game reserve and the road was not even on our map. I convinced him that we should try it. Beautiful road! We descended into a valley and wildlife abounded. Between C2 and C3 there was a huge locked gate. We tried to find a route around and ended up 35km off course. SCP was battling. It was hot and he was tired. We rode back to C1 and carried on where we turned off. I ignored the â??I told you soâ?.  ;) >:D

This road too was very scenic. The Eastern Cape sure has a lot to offer. I have to come back one day.

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The road deteriorated and deteriorated and soon we found ourselves on Katberg pass. WOW! This must be the most beautiful pass in SA? Itâ??s long and technical and very very scenic. WOW does not begin to describe it.

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We had new life, new vigor. The beauty refreshes, inspires, makes you feel alive. We rode through the valleys and hills in awe of what we saw. I am definitely coming back here again!

Before long we saw a town in the distance. Hogsback!

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We stopped for a photo and spoke to an old Xhosa out hunting with 7 dogs. There was a definite language barrier, but we did gather that the town ahead was called Wittlesea. What? ??? We took a wrong road once again. Now daylight and petrol started to become an issue. We hit the road again and did not stop as often as I would have wanted too. I have to come back again!

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After a while we started descending and we saw a town in the distance. At lastâ?¦

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Nope â?? not Hogsback. We were still 3 towns away, but Hogsback was close. Next up was Seymor - where we found this:

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How bad could it be? Bad enough if youâ??re tired and trying to push. The sun was setting. When we rode up to this uphill I recognized it immediately from a pic on the forum. Cool! Camera out! ;D

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The 125 needed to keep momentum, but the rear wheel â??hookedâ? behind this step and spun. Manpower was needed.

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I chuckled. SCP was not happyâ?¦ Then I popped my Bushlander in low range 8) and idled up with a big smile on my faceâ?¦ until my wheel hooked at exactly the same place and spun. :rolleyes: Bummer! I too needed a push. :confused5: Oh well.

We rolled into Hogsback on reserve after the sun had set. I set the GPS to the last waypoint to lead us to the campsite. The waypoint stopped in the middle of the road with no instruction. There was only one turnoff so we took it. We rode and rode. I was worried because I have a small reserve. We stopped, phoned the campsite and yep â?? you guessed it â?? we were way of course.

When we stopped in camp we had spent 10 hours on our small bikes. Our hosts were very friendly and the suggested we just sleep in the Lapa and pitch camp the next day. SCP did not need to be invited twice.

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Ansie â?? our host â?? made us a basket for dinner and I braaied us some skaaptjops and wors. She even supplied us with 6 beers and 2 whiskeys. When dinner was ready SCP ate and went right back to sleep. I made a bed on some of the benches.

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What a day! It was tough, we were tired, but it was the best ride Iâ??ve ever had. I will not forget Katberg Pass, ever.

I will also not be buying a GPS anytime soon ::) ;) ;D

Stats Day 2:

Total kms traveled: 406km
Fuel consumption: 22km/L
Total time from start to campsite: 10 hours
 
Dit lyk na 'n lekker trip wat julle twee daar gery het ;)

Meer fotos van Katberg pas??
 
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