New Year's Day Clarens Ride

Decided on New Year’s Eve that I was going to ride to Clarens and Golden Gate on New Year’s Day.

I decided to follow part of Jamie’s route for the first day of his trip so set off at 06:40am via Alberton, Veereniging to Heilbron.

Was a cool 18deg C on leaving Pretoria and by the time I reached Alberton it looked like rain.


It soon started raining and by now the temperature was 16deg C.


I pulled into the Engen Blockhouse to put on my rainsuit, then then decided against it as it looked as if it was clearing further south. BAD decision.

It carried on raining on and off and by the time I reached Heilbron I was freezing. Stopped under a bridge to put the inner into the Boulder jacket, put on my winter buff and winter gloves (always try to travel prepared).


The wind had been blowing from the right and the right side of my body was soaked by now.

As I pulled off I could immediately feel the warmth from the Boulder Jacket inner, buff and gloves.

Carried on to Petrus Steyn and on to Lindley.
Could not help noticing the amount of new graves at the Petrus Steyn Cemetry!!


By the time I got to Lindley it was a warm 21degC.


They even have a picnic area!!


Stopped at Albert de Bakker in Lindley for a toasted sandwich and coffee and then carried on towards Senekal.










By now was 24degC, moving up to 28degC. By the time I got to the Senekal turnoff it had dropped to 23degC where it stayed until I reached Clarens.

Decided not to go the 5km to Senekal and instead headed off on my planned route to Bethlehem – but just after the turn saw a road showing 78km to Ficksburg.


Quick check of my route showed my planned route to Bethlehem and Fouriesburg was as similar distance as the Ficksburg, Fouriesburg route so headed for Ficksburg.

Man was I pleased I took this route. The scenery was fantastic!!










This tree had obviously been struck by lightning a while ago


Lots of willow trees along the river with the mountain backdrop






Eventually got to Fouriesburg at 11:40 and to Clarens at 12:00 – in time for lunch.

By the time I reached Clarens I had covered 470km in 04h22min of riding time. My total time since departure was 06h17min – I had spent 01h55min having breakfast, stopping for photos etc. The interesting thing about the timing is that I had not at any stage travelled faster than 142km/h. This can be seen on my GPS reading.


The idea had been to take my time and enjoy the ride and scenery.

After lunch in Clarens I started the ride back - departure time was 12:58. The intended route was through Golden Gate, Kestell, Villiers.




The Kestell turnoff my GPS indicated was a dirt road so I decided to go a short way on this road. After a few kilometers I turned back in case the road got worse later. It appears to go on top of the mountains towards Kestell











Not sure if anyone from the club has ever ridden this road???

Pretty uneventful trip home – saw these horses outside Reitz. Are the same as the ones I saw and photographed on the Fouriesburg trip at the beginning of December 2008.




Arrived home at 17:30 after having ridden 866km for the day. Maximum speed on the way home was 144km/h.

What was interesting it that most of the riding was at about 130km/h and at no stage was I did I rush at all.

My total riding time was 08h30min and total stopped time was 02h35min.

So, Clarence can quite easily be done in a day trip, taking in the scenery, breakfast and lunch.

Maybe something to consider for a day long club ride or even a one nighter!

An alternate route to Clarens rather than the ones usually used.

Looks like it was a good ride.

Absolutely - really enjoyed myself.

Excellent. When one owns a GS - or a bike for that matter - one can never complain about dull moments!
Thanks for sharing Dave!

GSlady wrote:Excellent. When one owns a GS - or a bike for that matter - one can never complain about dull moments!
Thanks for sharing Dave!

I suppose that depends whether your bike is with you or not!!

goes without saying smart @ss

btw.. Admin should move this to Trip Reports? .. Other Trips: South

OK

Its a beautifull world that F.S. iF anybody is in Clarens let me know I might organise a sleep over place. Thanks Dave

nice one, thanks for sharing.

GSlady wrote:Excellent. When one owns a GS - ............ - one can never complain about dull moments!

not a lie but not entirely true either

I loved my GS but there is also pretty exciting life besides a GS

Rejuvenated DaveS wrote:Not sure if anyone from the club has ever ridden this road???

Yes, I have done that road before. Nothing to hectic, just a normal dirt-road. I must admit when I did it, it was nice and dry, but I suspect it will be lots more "fun" in the wet.......

It joins up with the main road from Kestell to Qwa-Qwa, a few km's from Kestell. The dirt roads in that area are absolutely amazing !!!

Thanks - had a look on mapsource when I got back. Seems to reduce the distance to Kestell by at least half.

Did the 1st part of your trip on Sunday as well, agree with you r thoughts, safe to add that the road from Heilbron onwards for around 15 minutes is one looong pothole, else no problems