The day finally arrived, Ten all packed and ready to go. Saddle Up could not make it, sorry man maybe next time :thumleft: So the gang met up at Engen and everyone quickly got on well. Quick mod to Redwolf's bike and we were ready to go ! Six bikes in total and some 756km to cover over the weekend. Navigation was split between Wolfskaap and myself. Now the whole northern part of SA has had no rain since before winter, it was bone dry - well except when you get on your bike offcrourse. Near Belfast it started to come down and most guys were ready for 30 plus degrees of sunshine and not this - anyway that is how it goes. Took a slight wrong turn but at least the scenery made up for it, also found a Zebra chilling in the middle of the road having a chat to some horses - pretty weird.
At the end of the rainbow ... a XT ?
We headed for the camp site near Waterval Boven, the rain made things slippery as heck. Some red clay lurked around every corner. Three of the guys went down luckily nothing serious. XT Freak handled the mud like a champ or was it the flat tyres traction
No some serious skill there XT Freak, I'm taking notes ! The group coming through.
Must say it was good to make it to camp, shower and a fire sounded like a good idea to me. Luckily the rain dissapeared and the braai was on !
Guess we should make a fire or drink a beer hmmm
Well lets just say we had a jol that night, Wolfskaap had some tunes (no sokkie) and XT Freak brough the biggest portable speaker I have ever seen. As always everyone had their favourite biking stories to tell, was a great group I really enjoyed the company. Eventually it was time to get some rest, unfortunetly my sleeping pad developed a leak. Surprisingly my back felt pretty good the next morning. Early morning view over the valley, people come from all over the world to do some rock climbing here.
XT Freak started the day with a flat, bummer. I had one later in the day hitting a sharp rock at 120km/h, instant flat.
Perfect day for riding, we were now heading further east and started to get into some switchback roads in the forests before heading west again. Slaaihoek pass remains a peach of a road despite being tar.
On top of the world, what a view.
Heading back on the N4 to rejoin the track we had lunch at Malaga, they had some great tasting burgers - well worth the stop.
We were now gunning for home at a brisk pace, my XT's poor suspension was working overtime. Well nothing broke off so maybe it's just me. And so another trip came to an end, thanks to everyone that joined. We will do it again soon !

At the end of the rainbow ... a XT ?

We headed for the camp site near Waterval Boven, the rain made things slippery as heck. Some red clay lurked around every corner. Three of the guys went down luckily nothing serious. XT Freak handled the mud like a champ or was it the flat tyres traction

Must say it was good to make it to camp, shower and a fire sounded like a good idea to me. Luckily the rain dissapeared and the braai was on !

Guess we should make a fire or drink a beer hmmm

Well lets just say we had a jol that night, Wolfskaap had some tunes (no sokkie) and XT Freak brough the biggest portable speaker I have ever seen. As always everyone had their favourite biking stories to tell, was a great group I really enjoyed the company. Eventually it was time to get some rest, unfortunetly my sleeping pad developed a leak. Surprisingly my back felt pretty good the next morning. Early morning view over the valley, people come from all over the world to do some rock climbing here.

XT Freak started the day with a flat, bummer. I had one later in the day hitting a sharp rock at 120km/h, instant flat.

Perfect day for riding, we were now heading further east and started to get into some switchback roads in the forests before heading west again. Slaaihoek pass remains a peach of a road despite being tar.

On top of the world, what a view.

Heading back on the N4 to rejoin the track we had lunch at Malaga, they had some great tasting burgers - well worth the stop.

We were now gunning for home at a brisk pace, my XT's poor suspension was working overtime. Well nothing broke off so maybe it's just me. And so another trip came to an end, thanks to everyone that joined. We will do it again soon !