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Relax Novice, some of us work for a living, and have to catch up with a week's work that i missed last week....
OK, so here we go:
Friday morning 06:30 leaving from Pretoria. 4 x KTM's (the racehorses) and 1 XTR (faithfull donkey) ready for a weekend of fun. The one KTM got to the filling station, our start point with no problems, and then did not want to start (5km from home). Faultfinding lead us to the fuelpump that packed up, right there and then. Had to wait for first available repair shop to open, luckily Conrad at Offroad Cycles assisted with pump.
On the road by 8:15, and started off with misty, cloudy and wet weather. First day route is long and rough. +_ 640km with about 80% of that on gravel.
Getting over the Olifants river (approx 50km) from final destination was impossible, and we had to take 185km detour to Polokwane to reach our destination in Tzaneen. Fixing a puncture of one of the KTM's in Polokwane took away some valueble daylight time. Riding in the mist in the dark was not fun, and we reached backpackers just outside Tzaneen around 19:30 that night.
Next morning we were greeted by the sounds of dripping water on the roof of the little cabin, and a rainy wet day expected.
South Africa have a wide variety of mud....and let me tell you we had all of them in the next 430km that awaited us.
You get the type where you first stick, and then slip. Then you get the type where you slip first, then stick to it. Then you get the wet, splashy type that assures your visor to get dirty in the inside. Then you get the type that assures the guy behind you to get some in the face even when he is 20m behind. And then last but not least, you get the combo of all of the above. Fun fun fun.
Circle route of 430km (95%dirt) all packed into a single day, following the fence line along the Kruger National Park and various other rural parts of this beautiifull country. Luckily the rain did not come down on us too hard, high humidity and wet surroundings was the only moisture we had to deal with.
Plenty river crossings, deep ones and few not so deep was part of the fun....and yes the donkey was carrying the camera man, so in most of the cases, the donkey was the first one to put it's feet in the water, crossing it without hesitation.
Riding through the most beautifull part (Modjadji kloof) 30km from the end of the days ride was breathtaking experience.
Sunday morning time to wake up early and leave with clear skies and good weather. 520km lying ahead of us for the day, 70% of that being dirt. Some technican sections with thick sand kept the adrenalin of the race horses and the donkey in the red line, and made sure that the riders get their fair share of sand training. Ending the day with a 30km dirt section full of water, humps and bumps, and anything inbetween was the highlight of the trip.
It was here where the donkey (XT) decided to take a dip a few times to cool off. But i am convinced it was done on purpose by the driver to show the race horses how to get rid of all the mud on it's back....
Thank you for everybody who went along to make this trip a unforgetable experience.
We will be doing a follow up trip later this year outside the monsoon season to get through that Olifants river and up Oribaragwanath pass.
Enjoy some of the pics, resolution is not high, most of it is taken from my helmit cam on the back of the faithfull donkey.
GB (the donkye jockey)
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