O.K. guys & gals, here it is:
I decided to place the South African version here anyway. For you guys from other countries, you'll be able to read the international version in Torque!
KZN SUNDAY RIDE
Or, more specifically, riding from the beach to the foothills of the Drakensberg and back.
We can do this trip, here in the beautiful province of KZN, any time we want. I want to a lot, and do as often as I can. For a longer ride, we can go deeper inland to the ‘berg itself.
I live in the small coastal town of Warner Beach. Summers are a little wet, but very warm. The air is always laden with moisture, and summer riding is great. When it rains, you get wet but you don’t often freeze.
Winter riding is even better! It’s usually dry, and the temperature seldom goes below 10 degrees C. The skies take on a different shade of blue, clearer and more brilliant, in winter. For me, winter riding starts as soon as the wet season ends. Sometimes that’s as early as March (not really winter, with temperatures often up in the mid thirty’s), and sometimes it’s a lot later, perhaps only in late May. It doesn’t really matter, as long as the air has lost the summer malaise and I can see horizons undiluted by the moisture of summer’s humidity.
I digress – more of winter riding another time.
Last Sunday I left home with the specific intention of finding a good backdrop for photographing my bike. I’d been inspired - hmmm, maybe “inspired†is a little strong – motivated, by a suggestion in a magazine, to take a really good picture of my bike and load it onto my computer as my wallpaper.
I washed my bike, checked all the necessaries like oil and coolant, and joined the highway at Doonside. The first part of this ride is a little boring, straight highway on the N2 South for about thirty kilometres. The provincial traffic department always has at least one speed trap along here, and one memorable time I went through three in the space of two kilometres! The sky was partly cloudy, the air very humid, and the temperature already up to about 28 degrees by 9.00am. I cursed – I should have left home a bit earlier!
Off the highway at Scottburgh, and turn inland on the R612 to Ixopo. This part of the ride is better than the highway, but there are a few pedestrians around. The roads are good, with gentle bends and short straights. I don’t go too fast here, can’t see far enough through the corners because of high (or is that tall?) grass on the roadside. Once past Braemar, the pedestrian issue is greatly reduced, and speed goes up to match. The road rises as I go inland, and by the time I’ve got to Highflats, the humidity has dropped to far more comfortable levels. It’s still hot, just more comfortable. Highflats is another area of lots of pedestrians, and not all of them friendly. Almost every time I ride this road, I have teenagers pretending to throw something at me. Tempting to go back and give them hell, but to what end? This kind of incident is a shame, most of the locals are much more friendly and just wave as I pass on by. The common rural African hazards of livestock on or near the roads also plague this area. Chickens, goats, donkeys and cattle, with the occasional mangy mutt thrown in for good measure. Ride with caution!
The countryside changes as I get further inland and higher above sea level. Commercial Sugar cane fields are gradually giving way to commercial eucalyptus forests, and there are fewer banana palms growing in the local people’s subsistence farms.
After Highflats, it’s a short run to Ixopo. Some of these stretches of road are really good for twisting your right wrist all the way. I’m not a speed merchant by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve happily taken my bike up to 235km/h in this area. The roads are still good here, not many potholes. Then I’m slowing down again as I approach the town of Ixopo itself. Scenic as the ride is so far, I haven’t found any real photo opportunities.
I turn right onto the R56, Richmond road. This is a much better road again. Fewer pedestrians and livestock. Yes, please, if only all our roads were like this! This road was resurfaced not too long ago, and I’ve got more confidence for pushing a little harder in the twisties. My first few photo opportunities present themselves very quickly, good views over valleys toward far hills.
Stop, dismount, take photo, and back on again. I’m sure a few motorists thought I was a little touched, stopping while they go past, then streaking past them only to stop again a kilometre or so further on! This road leads to the Mkomazi river, a splendid sight in it’s own right.
The river is full, the result of a summer of good rainfall. It’ll recede to a trickle in winter. I stop on the way down to the valley floor, and take a little longer for my photos. It’s so great to be able to stop and drink in the splendour of our patch of Africa. I tried to take a photo of a Long Crested Eagle that was soaring over the crest of the hill behind me, but my puny three times optical zoom still only records a blob something like a bird. Pity, but I’m not going to lug a huge camera and associated lenses along with me on these trips. I’m also too tight fisted to lay out the money required for a really good camera system! Maybe when I win the Lotto………..
The road down, through and up the other side of the Mkomazi valley here is really good. The corners are mostly easily readable, BUT some of the road surfaces in the corners have been deformed by heavy (and often very overloaded) trucks, and you might find yourself bouncing through. Thank God my Sprint ST has such great suspension, it happily took everything the road threw at it! The photo here is looking back across the valley at the road I’ve just ridden.
One of the corners a little further along my route is nasty when attacked from the other direction. It looks great on approach, but tightens up very quickly as it falls away. You think you can see all the way through it, but you can’t, and I guess many have misjudged this one. The surface is corrugated as well, just to make life more interesting!
A little further on I found the kind of setting that I thought would be THE photo opportunity for my digital wall paper. See for yourself – my Sprint ST in the middle of a river (o.k., perhaps it’s just a stream) on a dirt road! Like my dear Mom always says, if you drive (ride, in this case) slow enough, almost any vehicle can get you almost anywhere. I didn’t get out of second gear on this road, and hopefully avoided any stone chips on my paintwork. Welcome to my Wallpaper!
On again after this short photo shoot, and towards the Eston turnoff. The turnoff is marked with a big sign which says “Potholes for 30km/Slaggate vir 30kmâ€. Take note, it’s true! Some are big, some are small, but they are there. This is the R624, a mostly straight road through undulating canefields.
Eston is a tiny little sugar farming village, one road, a few houses and a church. They don’t even have a pub! The main provincial road goes straight through, and has a few vicious speed humps across it. The speed limit in the village (all of about 500m) is 60km/h, but I don’t know anyone who pays any attention to that. The limit is how uncomfortably your bike reacts to the speed humps. For me that’s about 70km/h, but Gordon on his BM 1150GS is reasonably happy at 100. Dawie on a CBR600RR banged his nuts hard on his tank over these humps, resulting in him standing up on his footpegs until he was recovered enough to sit again . No sympathy from the rest of us, just a bit of a giggle!
After Eston I take the R603 back through Umbumbulu and Adam’s Mission. Once you get to Umbumbulu, there are lots of pedestrians (some decidedly unsober), mini bus taxi’s, unroadworthy vehicles etc. to hamper your progress. I tend to ride a whole lot slower here, and this day it was just as well. Before the speed limit is reduced to 60km/h, some bright spark in a position of authority (I presume) has built a HUGE NEW AND UNMARKED speed hump across the road as you come out of a bend, but before you’ve got your bike fully straight up again! I was caught totally by surprise, said “O Vok!†very loudly to myself, and hit it hard somewhere just below 120. Thank God again for a very well designed bike, suspension and frame! I’m sure my old CB900F would have thrown me off right there.
After deciding to ride a little slower for the last twenty k’s, just in case of any more new humps, I trundled back into Warner Beach at lunch time. A brilliant ride of just over 250km, and here I am, back at our sub-tropical seaside town looking at the Indian ocean!
Until another time,
Cheers,
RussG.
p.s. Eat your hearts out, all you Gautengers!! This is great biking country.
I decided to place the South African version here anyway. For you guys from other countries, you'll be able to read the international version in Torque!
KZN SUNDAY RIDE
Or, more specifically, riding from the beach to the foothills of the Drakensberg and back.
We can do this trip, here in the beautiful province of KZN, any time we want. I want to a lot, and do as often as I can. For a longer ride, we can go deeper inland to the ‘berg itself.
I live in the small coastal town of Warner Beach. Summers are a little wet, but very warm. The air is always laden with moisture, and summer riding is great. When it rains, you get wet but you don’t often freeze.
Winter riding is even better! It’s usually dry, and the temperature seldom goes below 10 degrees C. The skies take on a different shade of blue, clearer and more brilliant, in winter. For me, winter riding starts as soon as the wet season ends. Sometimes that’s as early as March (not really winter, with temperatures often up in the mid thirty’s), and sometimes it’s a lot later, perhaps only in late May. It doesn’t really matter, as long as the air has lost the summer malaise and I can see horizons undiluted by the moisture of summer’s humidity.
I digress – more of winter riding another time.
Last Sunday I left home with the specific intention of finding a good backdrop for photographing my bike. I’d been inspired - hmmm, maybe “inspired†is a little strong – motivated, by a suggestion in a magazine, to take a really good picture of my bike and load it onto my computer as my wallpaper.
I washed my bike, checked all the necessaries like oil and coolant, and joined the highway at Doonside. The first part of this ride is a little boring, straight highway on the N2 South for about thirty kilometres. The provincial traffic department always has at least one speed trap along here, and one memorable time I went through three in the space of two kilometres! The sky was partly cloudy, the air very humid, and the temperature already up to about 28 degrees by 9.00am. I cursed – I should have left home a bit earlier!
Off the highway at Scottburgh, and turn inland on the R612 to Ixopo. This part of the ride is better than the highway, but there are a few pedestrians around. The roads are good, with gentle bends and short straights. I don’t go too fast here, can’t see far enough through the corners because of high (or is that tall?) grass on the roadside. Once past Braemar, the pedestrian issue is greatly reduced, and speed goes up to match. The road rises as I go inland, and by the time I’ve got to Highflats, the humidity has dropped to far more comfortable levels. It’s still hot, just more comfortable. Highflats is another area of lots of pedestrians, and not all of them friendly. Almost every time I ride this road, I have teenagers pretending to throw something at me. Tempting to go back and give them hell, but to what end? This kind of incident is a shame, most of the locals are much more friendly and just wave as I pass on by. The common rural African hazards of livestock on or near the roads also plague this area. Chickens, goats, donkeys and cattle, with the occasional mangy mutt thrown in for good measure. Ride with caution!
The countryside changes as I get further inland and higher above sea level. Commercial Sugar cane fields are gradually giving way to commercial eucalyptus forests, and there are fewer banana palms growing in the local people’s subsistence farms.
After Highflats, it’s a short run to Ixopo. Some of these stretches of road are really good for twisting your right wrist all the way. I’m not a speed merchant by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve happily taken my bike up to 235km/h in this area. The roads are still good here, not many potholes. Then I’m slowing down again as I approach the town of Ixopo itself. Scenic as the ride is so far, I haven’t found any real photo opportunities.
I turn right onto the R56, Richmond road. This is a much better road again. Fewer pedestrians and livestock. Yes, please, if only all our roads were like this! This road was resurfaced not too long ago, and I’ve got more confidence for pushing a little harder in the twisties. My first few photo opportunities present themselves very quickly, good views over valleys toward far hills.
Stop, dismount, take photo, and back on again. I’m sure a few motorists thought I was a little touched, stopping while they go past, then streaking past them only to stop again a kilometre or so further on! This road leads to the Mkomazi river, a splendid sight in it’s own right.
The river is full, the result of a summer of good rainfall. It’ll recede to a trickle in winter. I stop on the way down to the valley floor, and take a little longer for my photos. It’s so great to be able to stop and drink in the splendour of our patch of Africa. I tried to take a photo of a Long Crested Eagle that was soaring over the crest of the hill behind me, but my puny three times optical zoom still only records a blob something like a bird. Pity, but I’m not going to lug a huge camera and associated lenses along with me on these trips. I’m also too tight fisted to lay out the money required for a really good camera system! Maybe when I win the Lotto………..
The road down, through and up the other side of the Mkomazi valley here is really good. The corners are mostly easily readable, BUT some of the road surfaces in the corners have been deformed by heavy (and often very overloaded) trucks, and you might find yourself bouncing through. Thank God my Sprint ST has such great suspension, it happily took everything the road threw at it! The photo here is looking back across the valley at the road I’ve just ridden.
One of the corners a little further along my route is nasty when attacked from the other direction. It looks great on approach, but tightens up very quickly as it falls away. You think you can see all the way through it, but you can’t, and I guess many have misjudged this one. The surface is corrugated as well, just to make life more interesting!
A little further on I found the kind of setting that I thought would be THE photo opportunity for my digital wall paper. See for yourself – my Sprint ST in the middle of a river (o.k., perhaps it’s just a stream) on a dirt road! Like my dear Mom always says, if you drive (ride, in this case) slow enough, almost any vehicle can get you almost anywhere. I didn’t get out of second gear on this road, and hopefully avoided any stone chips on my paintwork. Welcome to my Wallpaper!
On again after this short photo shoot, and towards the Eston turnoff. The turnoff is marked with a big sign which says “Potholes for 30km/Slaggate vir 30kmâ€. Take note, it’s true! Some are big, some are small, but they are there. This is the R624, a mostly straight road through undulating canefields.
Eston is a tiny little sugar farming village, one road, a few houses and a church. They don’t even have a pub! The main provincial road goes straight through, and has a few vicious speed humps across it. The speed limit in the village (all of about 500m) is 60km/h, but I don’t know anyone who pays any attention to that. The limit is how uncomfortably your bike reacts to the speed humps. For me that’s about 70km/h, but Gordon on his BM 1150GS is reasonably happy at 100. Dawie on a CBR600RR banged his nuts hard on his tank over these humps, resulting in him standing up on his footpegs until he was recovered enough to sit again . No sympathy from the rest of us, just a bit of a giggle!
After Eston I take the R603 back through Umbumbulu and Adam’s Mission. Once you get to Umbumbulu, there are lots of pedestrians (some decidedly unsober), mini bus taxi’s, unroadworthy vehicles etc. to hamper your progress. I tend to ride a whole lot slower here, and this day it was just as well. Before the speed limit is reduced to 60km/h, some bright spark in a position of authority (I presume) has built a HUGE NEW AND UNMARKED speed hump across the road as you come out of a bend, but before you’ve got your bike fully straight up again! I was caught totally by surprise, said “O Vok!†very loudly to myself, and hit it hard somewhere just below 120. Thank God again for a very well designed bike, suspension and frame! I’m sure my old CB900F would have thrown me off right there.
After deciding to ride a little slower for the last twenty k’s, just in case of any more new humps, I trundled back into Warner Beach at lunch time. A brilliant ride of just over 250km, and here I am, back at our sub-tropical seaside town looking at the Indian ocean!
Until another time,
Cheers,
RussG.
p.s. Eat your hearts out, all you Gautengers!! This is great biking country.
