BigMac & Outthere had a plan to organise a Xmas ride..... The route was to leave from Crossways hotel in Hilton through the Karkloof onto CraigieBurn where the Red & Green routes would split, the technical Red Route would head along next to the CraigieBurn dam while the green route would go on the district roads and we would meet up again in Weenen for fuel before heading down to Zingela Lodge for lunch on the banks of the Tugela River.
The plans were constantly changing as the rain leading up to the ride made the river levels unpredictable so an alternate route was sent out - just in case !!!
By the time the day for the Xmas ride arrived we had around 45 guys on bikes/pillions who were keen to join us so when we left Crossways we split into smaller groups of 6-8 bikes and headed out on the Karkloof road.
Then it was onto the Red Route for us, while most chose to go around after all the rain we had, there were a bunch of us who were looking forward to the challenge !!!
Not long into the route we realised the MUD was gonna make for an interesting loop.
After the mud we went into the rocks
Then it was time to climb out the valley..by this time the guys on the KTM 950/990's and XT 660 had all removed the low front mudguards so they could get the front wheel turning again.
Everybody lending a helping hand to get the bigger bikes to the top
Just before we rejoined the Green Route, Ben ended up putting a "little hole" in his DR650 motor.
After getting some putty from BigMac and a bit of help from friends we were ready to go again.
Now the only problem was that we were about 45km's from the nearest garage where we could get some oil, so Andre (KTM 950SE) decided he would push Ben, well Ben is now convinced that was probably the fastest his DR650 has ever accelerated :imaposer:
Eventually we caught up with Outthere who had been leading the guys on the Green Route and he offered to tow Ben while I went ahead to get some oil.
Kevin and Sarah
Ben fiiling up with oil and we were ready to go again !!!!
After Weenen we headed down to the Bloukrans river which is the river that we were worried might be to high to cross -
Well it was for some !!!! Luckily he was quickly helped up and on his way again
Then it was on to Zingela where we had a great lunch
Awesome Venue
This little guy was cruizing around checking out all the action
Getting comfortable on the jacket
After lunch the group split up with some guys happy to go back over the Bloukrans river and others opting to go the longer way around to the re-fuel at Weenen
then it was back towards PMB on a route that would take us across the Mooi river - all was going well until we got there .....
Again a group of us decided we would rather go around than risk it crossing the river - but some decided to cross anyway
After a few detours and a bit of rain on our way home we eventually arrived back in PMB after another great days riding :ricky:
Big thanks to Outthere for all his help and BigMac for setting the routes and all the organising :thumleft:
The plans were constantly changing as the rain leading up to the ride made the river levels unpredictable so an alternate route was sent out - just in case !!!
By the time the day for the Xmas ride arrived we had around 45 guys on bikes/pillions who were keen to join us so when we left Crossways we split into smaller groups of 6-8 bikes and headed out on the Karkloof road.
Then it was onto the Red Route for us, while most chose to go around after all the rain we had, there were a bunch of us who were looking forward to the challenge !!!
Not long into the route we realised the MUD was gonna make for an interesting loop.
After the mud we went into the rocks
Then it was time to climb out the valley..by this time the guys on the KTM 950/990's and XT 660 had all removed the low front mudguards so they could get the front wheel turning again.
Everybody lending a helping hand to get the bigger bikes to the top
Just before we rejoined the Green Route, Ben ended up putting a "little hole" in his DR650 motor.
After getting some putty from BigMac and a bit of help from friends we were ready to go again.
Now the only problem was that we were about 45km's from the nearest garage where we could get some oil, so Andre (KTM 950SE) decided he would push Ben, well Ben is now convinced that was probably the fastest his DR650 has ever accelerated :imaposer:
Eventually we caught up with Outthere who had been leading the guys on the Green Route and he offered to tow Ben while I went ahead to get some oil.
Kevin and Sarah
Ben fiiling up with oil and we were ready to go again !!!!
After Weenen we headed down to the Bloukrans river which is the river that we were worried might be to high to cross -
Well it was for some !!!! Luckily he was quickly helped up and on his way again
Then it was on to Zingela where we had a great lunch
Awesome Venue
This little guy was cruizing around checking out all the action
Getting comfortable on the jacket
After lunch the group split up with some guys happy to go back over the Bloukrans river and others opting to go the longer way around to the re-fuel at Weenen
then it was back towards PMB on a route that would take us across the Mooi river - all was going well until we got there .....
Again a group of us decided we would rather go around than risk it crossing the river - but some decided to cross anyway
After a few detours and a bit of rain on our way home we eventually arrived back in PMB after another great days riding :ricky:
Big thanks to Outthere for all his help and BigMac for setting the routes and all the organising :thumleft:
