A cold day in Hell...

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It’s true after all… It can get cold in Hell.

The whole week excitement grew about the weekend’s trip. Time could not pass fast enough. On Friday Eisbein arrived from Cape Town. His bike “Sauerkraut” fitted right in at the Trailrider household.

Soon after Spook arrived from P.E. He was going to do the trip on Mrs. Trailrider’s NXR125, but he also considered taking the “KTM”.

Full of jokes as usual…

With all this joking around in the garage Eisbein noticed a faint hissing sound. It turns out he had a nail in his tyre and we had to fix a flat before the trip even started. No jokes!

We could not wait to get on the road, so we went and filled up the bikes for the next day. I rode on the GS while Eisbein tried out my Trail bike. I have to say that although heavy, the GS is a very nice ride.

Spook decided to ad some serious “bling” to the 125 for this trip.

Lots of laughs and a nice dinner later we turned in. On Saturday we woke to a glorious day and it did not take long for the other riders to arrive.

From left to right we had Mike (Clinton’s dad) on a NXR125, Elmar on his DT125 “Super Trail”, Spook on Mrs Trailrider’s NXR125, I rode my CTX200, Batman and Robin on their Zongshen 200cc Bat-mobiles, Clinton on his NXR125 (sporting new elbow and knee protection) and Eisbein on his GS1100.

So finally we set out – direction Montagu Pass. No matter how many times you’ve been here, it remains special.

The view from thee top was amazing. We could see all the way to the ocean.

We rode through Herold and Paarde Poort and headed into the Little Karoo when suddenly we saw a “road closed” sign. Like moths to a flame…It might as well have been a large red sign that says “This way!”

Unfortunately the sign did not deliver. There was no technical stuff at all. We followed the road past Dysselsdorp and linked up with the N12 for a couple of km’s to refuel in De Rust. All the way the scenery was stunning with the Little Karoo being really green after the recent rains.

Filled up we started on the amazing Oude Muragie road en route to Swartberg Pass.

We used the buddy system where every rider is responsible for the rider behind him. If you don’t see the rider behind you, you stop and wait. If he does not pitch up you turn around to see what’s amiss.

Halfway through the Oude Murage road we realized that the rider behind was not there. We waited a while and took some photos.

When it became clear that no-one was coming we turned around to see what happened. What we found sent chills down my spine… Robin overcooked it in a corner and went over the side of the road dropping 3 meters into the trees.

(He was traveling in the opposite direction than what the bikes are facing.)

When he realized he carried too much speed he braked and locked the rear wheel. This sent him flying over the edge into the trees. He missed sharp edges of broken branches on an old tree stump by mere centimeters and landed a couple of meters further than the bike. He was quite shaken, but luckily he was ok.

The bike had some damage but first we had to recover the bike before we could asses the situation.

Spook full of jokes as usual…

It’s a good thing this was not a heavy GS!

The bike had broken lights and mirrors, bent handlebars, lots of broken brackets (including the exhaust bracket), lots of scratches and other cosmetic damage, but it could still ride!

Robin had some Coke (sugar) and assured us he is fine and ready to ride. Some rope and lots of cable ties later we were on the road again.

We carried on at a slow pace with lots of photo stops to settle everybody’s nerves down.

Of course being in this beautiful scenery helps!

Spook enjoyed being on a trip on 2 wheels and not as the backup vehicle.

We continued up the Swartberg Pass and were treated to amazing views on this crystal clear day.

On top of the world

Next up was the road to Hell. Of course you have to have your picture taken next to the sign.

It was getting later in the day and already you could feel the biting cold in the breeze. We made our way to Gamkaskloof slowly, marveling at the beauty of this special place.

We encountered lots more water crossings than usual and judging by the temperature I guess that this could still be runoff from the snow they had some weeks ago.

Batman testing the waters:

Eisbein taking the “yacht” through:

Robin still going strong

Man I love this stuff! Especially the longer crossings.

And then, lo and behold, Gamkaskloof lay below us.

It’s a good thing Robin didn’t try his flying tricks here…

These new signs are up all over. Luckily we had permits (and we were asked to produce them twice).

Eventually we reached our humble abode for the night. It was quite cozy, even tough it reminded us a lot of our army days.

Beds and a braai. What more does a man need?

Warm clothes might be a good idea… Thanks Jaqhama for sending me this cap all the way from Australia!

Anybody who’s been on a trip with Spook knows that the fun & jokes carry on until the wee hours of the morning. Suffice it to say that fun was had by all.

On Sunday morning we woke to this:

Saturday afternoon we arrived at dusk, this morning we saw Gamkaskloof in all it’s splendor.

Whether you’re traveling up or down – this little pass is a sight to behold.

A last look at this special kloof that we shall visit again.

A twisty road in a beautiful setting - any Dual Sport Bikers dream

Some had close calls in the water crossings

Others found it easy

Eisbain taking his “boat” through.

The green Zongshen had some problems with bits that kept falling off. We had to stop every so often to try and keep the bike together with cable ties, rope and pieces of wire.

At this stage Eisbein said his goodbyes as he still had to ride to Cape Town. We continued back to De Rust where we had to refuel. Spook was taking good care of Mrs. Trailrider’s bike as promised.

We took the same route back to George

…with lots of rest stops for sore bums.

Eventually we arrived in a windy George. We were a tired lot, but we had a Hell of a time! Batman, Robin, Mike, Clinton, Elmar, Eisbein and Spook – thanks for making this a successful trip! See you next month in Attakwaskloof.

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