Who would like to join the Dan's on a 10 day trip? – THE RIDE REPORT

[winters]

Day 11 – Nelspruit to Sidvokodvo

A slow start to the day saw us quickly pop into the local Spar for some refreshments, then back to Chopperpilot to pack and say goodbye. He also gave us an alternative route, which would take us through a game reserve on our way to Sidvokodvo. The day’s drive was lovely and we really took our time cruising down into Swaziland or, as it is now known, Eswatini. We were on our way to an old school friend of mine who, although he doesn’t ride himself, had promised us that we could ride anywhere. A quick stop in Manzini at a huge and well-equipped Spar and we soon arrived at Arnold’s house. We had a lovely evening next to a massive fire, accompanied by the promise of great riding the next day.

We had just finished our dinner when 2StrokeDan received some news which altered our plans  for our final couple of days on the road. The original plan had us staying in Swaziland for two nights, in Bloem for another two after which we were planning to head back to Mossel Bay. Instead, we stayed over one night in each location before returning to Mossel Bay. We made the necessary arrangements with Michiel and settled in for the evening.

 

[winters]

Day 12 – Sidvokodvo to Bloemfontein

This was a long day. We left Swaziland via the Oshoek border post and headed to Ermelo where we stopped for breakfast at the local Dros. After ordering something to drink, we noticed the specials for the day: lamb shank or a 500g T-bone steak for R100. Somehow we thought that this would be a good idea and shortly after Dries and I were eating our T-bones and 2StrokeDan his shank. The portions, unfortunately, got the better of us and Dries would be the only one to finish his meal while 2StrokeDan and I asked for doggy bags.

Standerton would be our next town and pretty much directly after Standerton Google maps decided to fu@k with us and we ended up on some obscure gravel road going nowhere. This led us heading towards Vereeniging instead of Bethlehem. The roads and signage up there are terrible and it really made me appreciate the Western Cape. After finally finding a tar road, the Kia’s exhaust went. This took us from driving in a quiet car to driving in a V8 with no power. It was super funny, especially with 2StrokeDan revving the car at every opportunity to try and scare some innocent pedestrian. Luckily it was a relatively quick fix and soon we were off again.

We arrived in Bloem just before dark and still had another 80 km to go to Michiel’s farm. He already had the lamb chops on the fire when we arrived and was visibly disappointed when we told him that we would only be staying the one night. But that would not deter Michiel from getting a few words in. The lamb was delicious and so was the conversation to follow. Michiel has this ability to just keep on going and eventually the three of us again had to disappoint him by informing him that we needed to get to bed.

Oshoek border post

Why?

Lost...

Reverting the V8 back to a 2.0l

Dries and I having a lovely conversation.

 

[winters]

Day 13 – Bloemfontein to Mossel Bay

Michiel had coffee, tea and breakfast ready when we strolled into the kitchen. Next, we had to try and get the Suzuki TS 185 that he had given my dad onto the trailer. With some manoeuvring the bike was on and fastened and it was time to say our goodbyes.

We had a great trip back to Mossel Bay and the time in the car offered the perfect opportunity to reflect on the fantastic time we had – all the great people we had met, the places we saw and the spots we were able to explore with our bikes. 

Dries getting the last bit of riding in.

And then the final goodbyes.

Thank yous

In no particular order, I would like to thank the following people:

[member=4807]Losper[/member] – For giving us those amazing routes and some crucial tips for when we were in Lesotho and the recommendation to stay at Resthaven.

Phillip at Resthaven – Your place is great and the way you went out of your way to help us was fantastic.

Gideon Joubert ([member=8531]GJ[/member]) – Dankie vir die gebruik van Oom se fiets – dit was befok.

[member=13184]Noneking[/member] – From the get-go you were willing to host us. Thank you for the braais and those unreal routes. P.S. And also thank you for contributing to some of the great pics in this RR.

[member=5599]chopperpilot[/member] – We really appreciate you being with us from the start and offering us a place to stay. You and your wife are such wonderful people. Thank you!

The guys who came out to ride with us, [member=9540]BikerJan[/member], [member=283]Rexc-w[/member], [member=23937]Foxi[/member], Stephan, Ingo, Ivan, Saai and Lee, thank you for making the two days riding in Nelspruit a wonderful experience. It was great meeting you okes.

Dries – Thanks for spending a shitload of money to come and ride with us. It was great meeting you and even better riding with you. Until our next trip…

[member=8876]2StrokeDan[/member] – Going to keep this short, but what started out as a Sani mission, ended in an epic adventure with you. Love you loads and love that we can ride together.

 

[Grunder]

Thx vir 'n lekker RR 

 

[woody1]

Nog n GREAT pa en seun trippie.....met so n paar gaste. Dankie vir die deel :thumleft:

 

[2StrokeDan]

Great RR Chris!

Probably nothing better than for a Dad to ride with his son, despite the moments of extra worry that one never feels with other riding partners. :thumleft:

 

[Lem]

Ek het hierdie RR nou wraggies baie geniet. Dankie Chris & Daan. Hoop julle kan weer so maak.  :thumleft:

 

[BikerJan]

Thanks Chris for the very well written ride report, I enjoyed meeting everyone as well as the ride!

 

[jaybiker]

Greatly enjoyed the writing and pics. Thanks.  :thumleft:

 

[briv]

Lekker man dit was nou uitdiejipuit  :thumleft:

 

[tulips]

Nice report
You two are very fortunate to ride together  :thumleft:

 

[Dwerg]

Mooi man julle is so bevoorreg om dit saam te kan doen  :thumleft:

 

[big oil]

Top shelf RR fellas.  Could feel the enthusiasm in your words.

Some of my fondest memories in life are from riding dirt bikes and snowmobiles on trips with me Pap.

Man, you fellas sure did cover some territory.

Thanks for sharing.  :thumleft: