Tripwired Clothing

We left Nelspruit on Thursday morning early and were heading for Bloemfontein ... it was damn cold and I am glad I bought the EVO Jacket. Roan was waiting for me at his gate on the Schoemanskloof road and I was late.

Both of us was a bit worried about the cold and took all the precautions we could. For the first time I donned a thermal long underpants under my riding pants and as we climbed up the mountains through Patanek and up De Beers nek I was very glad I did. On the plato close to Machadodorp we hit 4 Degrees C and as soon as we went over the first set of hills after MAchadodorp towards Carolina we got 2 Degrees C. It was damn cold and I am not even trying to think what the actual temperature was including the wind chill factor at around 140 kph.

On this leg I was not planning to stop before we reached Ermelo and pressed on.

It was way too cold to consider having a camera around my neck so on day one I did no shots from the saddle.


We refuelled in Ermelo and then headed to Standerton. Temperature was bobbing between 2 and 4 Degrees C and it was a blessing to have Heated Grips and a Heated Saddle on the LT. At Vrede we stopped to get some Biltong but the previous weekend's rugby cleaned the butcher out and we settled for some wet dry wors. Here we stood around in the sun to get some heat into our bodies.


From Vrede we went down to Warden and on to Bethlehem. I was worried about potholes on this stretch from Vrede to Warden and kept a really close watch on the road surface. As we approached Bethlehem the temperature was up to 8 degrees and we stopped for fuel. Because of the danger of potholes our average speed was very civil and Roan reached Bethlehem just as his reserve warning came on ... around 326=5 kms on that leg and I was impressed with the GS's ability to make it ... the LT still had a lot of juice left and consumed 4 litres less than the GS on this leg.


In Bethlehem the GS needed some oil and we headed for Senekal, Windburg. Stopping after the Verkeerdevlei Toll Plaza has become sort of an institution and we sent some MMS's to our loved ones of us infront of the Plaza. A smoke and on to Bloemfontein. I am really sorry I did not take shots on the road.

We arrived in Bloemfontein at around 17h30.


This Guesthouse needs to be noticed ... the rooms are excellent and the place surely deserves the 4 starts that they advertise so proudly.

Here are some shots from day two ...

We got up early and the first cup of coffee went down well ... it was bitterly cold. Our hosts provided a perfect breakfeast and we were ready to ride just after 8 o'clock. Over time we have learned that it is best to refuel on arrival ... that spares you the nuisance of saddling up at the guesthouse just to get off within minutes to refuel.

The temperature was around 4 degrees and we hit the N8 towards Petrusburg.


After breakfeast we headed for Petrusburg and then on to Koffiefontein. As we crossed the Orange river we took a loooong smoke break on the Havenga bridge.


This smokebreak allowed Blondie and partners to catch up with us and in Petrusville we stopped for fuel and made our first real world contact with some forum members.


That is the trip on the second day. Next I will do some shots of the people and the things we did.

Enjoy.

Colyn ek wil net ry as ek na die mooi foto's van jou kyk, jy mag maar foto's neem baie mooi!!!! :)

Baie mooi.............hier gaan dit lekker raak

@ Riaan

Ek hoop jy oorweeg dit ook om n trip report van julle kant af op te sit hier op ons bord.

Jip sal so maak ek is net nie die beste skrywer nie

Jy het dan so mooi woordeboekie gekry man  :laugh:

Afrikaans lyk darem heel ok hier