Leo on da Klein Kariba ride

The March club ride visited the popular Klein Kariba resort near Warmbad. Adriaan was our esteemed leaded on this trip and gave us a good briefing before we departed about roads that had been washed away, sandy patches, and the like. Seems a few were not paying attention, but more a bit later. After somewhat of a mission we eventually hit the R101 towards Warmbad in temperatures not exceeding 22 degrees. Lovely riding weather.

Briefing at the start


Heading towards Warmbad on the black stuff



In Warmbad some filled up, checked fuel, pumped tyres while other just polluted their lungs.



Heading towards the Waterberge



Soon we were out of town and heading into the Waterberge. This area must have had lotsa rains as the landscape was covered in lush green vegetation.

Deflating tyres as we hit the gravel



Adriaan paying particular attention to old faithfull.



The roads were generally in a good condition, with only a few surprises. Generally between a level 1 and 2 I’d say.



Lovely roads with a fair bit of dust



Never knew of a place called Loubad. So we have Warmbad and Loubad, Anyone knows where Kouebad is?



On the next session Basil and Mariet gave us a bit of a scare. Fortunately nothing serious just overshot a corner and dropped the bike. Mariet looked like she could do with a R&C after this incident.



This rider was so happy his team beat the Stormers last night; he just had to show it



Still searching for Loubad



The dust was getting worse, but fortunately the riders were keeping good following distances.



Basil and Mariet must have had a few strong words, cause they rode like pro’s after the incident. Dis mos hoe ‘n pillion moet staan.



Somewhere between Nylstroom and Warmbad we had to stop for road works



Shangali inspecting the quality of their work



A smoke break before we head towards Donkerpoort. This section was going to cause the downfall of several riders.



Someone had to much spray paint and had to vandalize the sign. What’s that story about “Gekke en Dwase skryf op deure en padtekens……



The first serious casualty – fortunately rider was OK’ish



How not to treat your loved one



The end of the casualty section, waiting for the group to consolidate. There was another more serious spill, hope rider is doing OK. Sorry I’m very bad with names



The latest addition to my riding apparel. Thanks Deon, this Savannah jacket is da business



We arrived at Klein Kariba, a previously forbidden area for motorcycles, but fortunately we had contacts


As we passed the golf course this amazing scenery unfolded before us



Everybody was glad to see us. I wouldn’t mind spending a weekend in one of these cabins with the missus



Before you could say BMW Motorcycle Club, Pretoria, South Africa, the parking lot was packed with bikes and we were getting a few stares from the local campers. Fortunately we behaved impeccable, so I recon we can go there again in future.



After all the mornings excitement we were all very skraal, and those food tables suffered under our onslaught.





In my view the sweetest ride on this trip. Sorry don’t know you, but your bike is purdy



Thanks Adriaan and Pieter for navigating and sweeping. This was well worth it. Pity we all scattered after breakfast, in hindsight I should have taken a dip in the pool.

All the best to the riders who took a spill. You’ll probably be very black and blue by the time you read this, but I wish you a speedy recovery.

Thanks Leo for a great report and awesome pics!!!

It was a wonderfull trip, that area is something very special.
The roads were indeed very dusty, but the few "surprises" here and there kept things interesting.

I must say riding pillion with Pieter through that thick sand, to go and fetch Allun's bike was quite fun for me, not so sure about him though. A 100kg pillion in thick sand is not your friend!!!!


I hope Allun and Max recover quickly, and they they are up and riding soon.

Thanks to Adriaan and Pieter for leading and sweeping, thanks to Marnus and specially his wife for coming to fetch Max and Allun, thanks to Roger for arranging the collection of the bikes tomorrow, and last but not least, thanks to Basil and Mariet for providing me with great entertainment as they overshot the corner, they were just infront of me!!!!

Thanks for the pics and report Leo .. so sorry to hear about the casualties!
(Marius & I missed this one . . but thankfully survived the 109km Cape Argus (without pistons) today, despite winds of up to 60km/h - mostly headwinds.)
Speedy recovery to the injured.

oooooh julle DS crowd......seker oorlat julle so jaag oppie grond.....julle moet liewer "rustig" saamdie roadies kom ry (grou ek nou 'n gat vir myself vir wanneer ek julle - eersdaags - join vir 'n ride )

nah just joking (wif the tongue firmly in da cheek)

sorry to learn about the mishaps.......speedy recovery to the injured

good report Leo, thanks for sharing

ps. let's keep the search for "Kouebad" over till next summer

Looks like it was a nice trip, sorry about the offs! Slow and steady wins the race. Don't worry though, I am very bad at taking my own advice.

Pity all the rides take place on a Sunday, church commitments always take precedence. Maybe one day.

Speedy recovery to the injured and their bikes!!

Morpheus

Well I am still breathing. Apart from being rather stiff in my legs and torso. Left hand by thumb is bruised. Right leg has more bruises and scratches discovered higher up the leg once I took the bike gear last night. Also have a nice red mark just below the shoulder on right arm from when the large rock hit me on our way to Bela Bela before heading off into the Waterberg range. Passing truck lifted it while I was doing 120 km/h. Should have noted the warning of what was still to come in the injury department. Right elbow showing some scratches. Swelling off right foot finally gone down, though still painful to walk.

I enjoyed the day out even though my riding came to an abrupt end. Thanx to Adriaan and Pieter for lead and sweep, and Adriaan for a scenic route, though at times I had my eyes only on the road going through the thick sand hoping that I would not come off. I survived those with increasing speed while back tyre was having fun debating which way to go.

As for the slippery sign at the stretch to Donkerhoed. It was not lying about the slip and sliding that we would be doing in the last section, which happened to claim to the injured bikers. I will upload later the rock that Max hit in the road that caused his fall and injuries. My hat off to Max for riding out with injured hand. Myself did not ride out. I was still way out of it at the time to ride safely, rather dazed.

Thanx to Roger (I think I heard you first) for getting my iron horse off my right leg. The pain was incredible and I was loosing my mind. I don't think any one there managed to get a few pictures of my crash site. I rode to miss a bad patch, but was not quick enough to avoid the washout once passed the bad patch. I vague remember it, think I saw my tyre marks at the edge of the washout.

Special thanx must go to Pieter and Etienne for fetching my bike after Pieter brought me to Klein Kariba. All I remember is having my breath knocked out a few times and holding onto bike and Pieter's backpack. Roger thanx for organizing someone to fetch both Max and my bikes today. And lastly a really special thanx to Marnus and his wife for taking us back to our city, and also staying with Max at the hospital until Max was organized.

Wow all this talk of crashes and the injuries maybe should reconsider the idea of a GS. Looks like a lot of fun the sand and perhaps if one can do the slow and careful and not let the descending red mist cloud the mind then major spills can be avoided.

Tony R wrote:Wow all this talk of crashes and the injuries maybe should reconsider the idea of a GS. Looks like a lot of fun the sand and perhaps if one can do the slow and careful and not let the descending red mist cloud the mind then major spills can be avoided.

Tony no red mist here. I swept and my maximum speed on the dirt was about 60km/h and average about 40km/h. Max's spill was just plain bad luck. He hit a rock on a corner which took his front wheel out. Had he it it 5cm to the left or right, nothing would have happened.

I think Alun's injuries and incident could have be avoided with proper GS training and wearing GS/MX type boots instead of road type boots. He was doing about 20km/h when he went of into a hole next to the road and unfortunately his bike fell on him. Motorcycling is dangerous, but I would rather learn on a GS and have the minor injuries than having a high speed spill on tar. Normally you can walk away from a GS fall, while the same is not true for high speed tar incidents. The importance is to learn from this and become a more proficient rider.

To Max and Alun I hope you guys mend quickly. Good luck.

Thanks Pieter.. Valuable posting.

I was just unlucky that the bike fell onto my leg.

True what Pieter is saying. I still relative new to GS riding. I only really have done 1/5 or 2/5 rated roads until this weekend. This weekend I upped the notch to 3/5, though I had reservations in actually going with. In the end I decide, "What the hell! Even though I going to fall, it is better than not learning at all by avoiding more challenging terrain."

As for the deep sand I used what Pieter told me when I fell in soft sand on my very first GS ride. Choose the best possible line and don't slow down once you hit the sand. Also keep the revs up higher than normal tar road riding. You never know when you need the extra power when your wheel slips on the road on loose sand.

From my fall near the Swazi border I learnt about sharp descending bends, in that you take it much slower as you never know there there may be loose gravel on the bend.

The swelling on my black, blue and red right foot has now completely gone down. Boss said I must rest tomorrow at home to give my body a good period of recovery. I limped today around the office, it is very exhausting, though I was laughing plenty in between the throbbing pain as I limped when people asked what happened.

I decided to get two sets of boots, one for city riding and the other for adventure riding. The city I get the same, but I am undecided for the adventure riding. So any recommend black, or near total black, GS boots I should be looking at.

Thankfully my body heals faster than the average person healing rate.

Nice report Leo!

Glad you're doing fine Alun! If you have lots of money to spend, go for Alpinestars, apparantly very comfy. I also used to wear those soft shoes of yours, but both my hard falls had my feet injured the most with them. Now I wear Berik ATV shoes daily commuting (think they were priced at R1800, got them for 1k on a special. Black..)

Then off-road I use Shift Combats, good value for money - you can get a lot of choice in the under R2,000 range, and a lot of black... In Pta look and negotiate at Biking Accessories, CIT, Centurion Yamaha and Suzuki Toy Store. Joburgers shop at World of Accessories, Mosskays and Full Throttle.

Great news from the two guys who took a spill...
Max got a serious whack on the head even inside his helmet - I don't envy him the bruise he's likely to get !

I've been very wary myself about riding GS with my road boots.
I've been pricing the options but I have very large calves and most won't fit me (just my luck).

Also I want to get a Leatt neck brace for off-road riding so affordability and priority setting are confusing the issue somewhat... Leatt first, then boots, then new helmet...or helmet first them boots then Leatt...or boots then helmet then Leatt...

Of course I really need all three at once...! Bakleikaart? At 26% interest I think not !
Christmas is only 9 months away

Thanks for the update. I agree that to wipe at speed on tar is just not an option. That is why I am leaning toward the GS. Have done the fast riding and seen some nasties. As soon as my Sprint is fixed and finances improve I will go that route. Get some proper training and off road gear and then have some fun on the sand and mud.