Caponords, Geluksburg & the hokey pokey
By Pieter Hansen
First of all, I would like to thank everyone that attended the trip. It was absolutely fantastic. To those that missed out, maybe next time...
It all started on Friday morning 27 August 2010 at 6:30.
5 Caponords met up at a petrol station on the R50 (Delmas Road). Got fuel, got coffee and discussed the day ahead. Our destination was Geluksburg; a small town in KZN, somewhere between Harrismith and Bergville. Our route was Delmas, Standerton, Vrede, Memel, Verkykerskop, Harrismith and finally Geluksburg.
The road between Delmas and Standerton was terrible. I underestimated the “warnings” of the road is bad... thing is, there is no road. There are little patches of tar between all the potholes... seriously, it was that bad! There even was more than one car on the side of the road with tire blow-outs! We did not stop for pictures here.
After breakfast in Standerton we headed to Vrede, quick refuel (I might add that the Caponords had excellent fuel consumption) and off the Memel. We stopped at the “famous”Memel hotel for some greatly appreciated refreshments.
From Memel we took a 35km gravel road to Verkykerskop. The gravel road was a bit exciting with loose, very big rocks on large sections of the road... but yes, fun all the way.
We stopped in Verkykerskop to up the tire pressures for the tar section to Harrismith. The sign at the Verkykerskop stop was very amusing... “eat and get gas”!
Quick stop in Harrismith for some lunch and refuel, as there is no fuel in Geluksburg!
From Harrismith we took a 35km gravel road towards Gelukburg, which takes you to Tintwa and middledale pass. I originally thought it was the same pass, but apparently is it two different passes that follows on each other.
What I can say about Tintwa/middledale.... WOW!
Middledale panoramic
Middledale Pass
We reached Geluksburg around 17:30. It was a long day on the bike for only 450km, but we stopped plenty and had a great day. The weather was perfect, blue skies and no clouds. Our stay-over venue in Geluksburg is “The Homestead”. I highly recommend this place for anyone that would like to spend a night, with great value for money. Single rates at R400 per night, sharing rates at R300 for standard and R350 for luxury rooms... and it includes Dinner, Bed and Breakfast!
The food was excellent. Service was more than what can be expected from 3 star accommodation! And the biggest plus of all, they ARE biker friendly!
When we arrived at Homestead, Wynand was already waiting for us. The main reason for the trip was to get as many Caponord owners together as possible. It turned out that it was more than just a meet and greet, and some good friendships were formed. Another Capo owner arrived around 18:30 (and a late addition arrived Saturday afternoon at 15:00 – which made a total of 8 Caponords for the weekend)!
Day two, after breakfast and a group photo we had a quick chat about the day’s riding.
We split up in two groups, those with pillions headed to Clarens via Golden Gate and Rolf, Jan and I went for the gravel circle route which leads to the Swinburne tunnel.
The gravel road from Geluksburg towards Ladysmith was perfect! Some hard rocky sections, but good gravel for medium to high speed gravel riding. The weather again was perfect, with some clear blue skies, and temps going to high 20’s (reaching just above 30 here and there).
5 Caponords met up at a petrol station on the R50 (Delmas Road). Got fuel, got coffee and discussed the day ahead. Our destination was Geluksburg; a small town in KZN, somewhere between Harrismith and Bergville. Our route was Delmas, Standerton, Vrede, Memel, Verkykerskop, Harrismith and finally Geluksburg.
The road between Delmas and Standerton was terrible. I underestimated the “warnings” of the road is bad... thing is, there is no road. There are little patches of tar between all the potholes... seriously, it was that bad! There even was more than one car on the side of the road with tire blow-outs! We did not stop for pictures here.
After breakfast in Standerton we headed to Vrede, quick refuel (I might add that the Caponords had excellent fuel consumption) and off the Memel. We stopped at the “famous”Memel hotel for some greatly appreciated refreshments.
Memel Hotel
Memel Hotel again
From Memel we took a 35km gravel road to Verkykerskop. The gravel road was a bit exciting with loose, very big rocks on large sections of the road... but yes, fun all the way.
First gravel from Memel
We stopped in Verkykerskop to up the tire pressures for the tar section to Harrismith. The sign at the Verkykerskop stop was very amusing... “eat and get gas”!
Quick stop in Harrismith for some lunch and refuel, as there is no fuel in Geluksburg!
From Harrismith we took a 35km gravel road towards Gelukburg, which takes you to Tintwa and middledale pass. I originally thought it was the same pass, but apparently is it two different passes that follows on each other.
What I can say about Tintwa/middledale.... WOW!
Middledale panoramic
Middledale Pass
Middlepass again
The gravel road leading up to the pass is pretty straight forward, with some interesting spots here and there... nothing serious though. The last 15km towards Geluksburg is a tarred road that is truly magic. A must for anyone that has never been there!We reached Geluksburg around 17:30. It was a long day on the bike for only 450km, but we stopped plenty and had a great day. The weather was perfect, blue skies and no clouds. Our stay-over venue in Geluksburg is “The Homestead”. I highly recommend this place for anyone that would like to spend a night, with great value for money. Single rates at R400 per night, sharing rates at R300 for standard and R350 for luxury rooms... and it includes Dinner, Bed and Breakfast!
House in Geluksburg
The food was excellent. Service was more than what can be expected from 3 star accommodation! And the biggest plus of all, they ARE biker friendly!
When we arrived at Homestead, Wynand was already waiting for us. The main reason for the trip was to get as many Caponord owners together as possible. It turned out that it was more than just a meet and greet, and some good friendships were formed. Another Capo owner arrived around 18:30 (and a late addition arrived Saturday afternoon at 15:00 – which made a total of 8 Caponords for the weekend)!
We split up in two groups, those with pillions headed to Clarens via Golden Gate and Rolf, Jan and I went for the gravel circle route which leads to the Swinburne tunnel.
Golden Gate
Jan and Rolf on gravel
Gravel around Geluksburg
Gravel around Geluksburg
The next section was tar past Ladysmith towards Newcastle. About 30k’s after Ladysmith the gravel starts towards the tunnel. Again the most amazing gravel roads. It was a perfect day for riding!
A couple of km before we got to the tunnel, Jan with the GPS riding in front, the road all of a sudden and without warning turned into a “double lane single track” (Rolf came up with that). Jan had a “you put your left foot in, and your right foot out.... hokey pokey and shake about”. Rolf and I were cracking ourselves until we had to endure the same hokey pokey manoeuvres.
It was a short section with dongas, rocks and nothing were you expect road. My rear wheel at some point lifted from the ground... with me looking at my front wheel from a totally wrong angle!
But we managed to get past the section without any incident. The Caponords behaving well under the circumstances (I suppose I must add that we weren’t going slow leading up to this section – so we hit it at speed).
After settling down we headed to the tunnel. 400 meters through the dark; Nice!
We had some interesting spots heading out towards the N3.
We had some lunch at Van Reenens tea garden and headed back towards Geluksburg. Gravel road leading up to Tintwa/middledale pass... where we stopped several times for pics!
We returned to Gauteng on Sunday with a very uneventful N3!
All-in-all a great weekend! It was great to finally meet some of the other Caponord riders and to see 8 Caponords together for a weekend getaway. Thanks to everyone that made the weekend awesome!
A couple of km before we got to the tunnel, Jan with the GPS riding in front, the road all of a sudden and without warning turned into a “double lane single track” (Rolf came up with that). Jan had a “you put your left foot in, and your right foot out.... hokey pokey and shake about”. Rolf and I were cracking ourselves until we had to endure the same hokey pokey manoeuvres.
It was a short section with dongas, rocks and nothing were you expect road. My rear wheel at some point lifted from the ground... with me looking at my front wheel from a totally wrong angle!
But we managed to get past the section without any incident. The Caponords behaving well under the circumstances (I suppose I must add that we weren’t going slow leading up to this section – so we hit it at speed).
After settling down we headed to the tunnel. 400 meters through the dark; Nice!
We had some interesting spots heading out towards the N3.
We had some lunch at Van Reenens tea garden and headed back towards Geluksburg. Gravel road leading up to Tintwa/middledale pass... where we stopped several times for pics!
We returned to Gauteng on Sunday with a very uneventful N3!
All-in-all a great weekend! It was great to finally meet some of the other Caponord riders and to see 8 Caponords together for a weekend getaway. Thanks to everyone that made the weekend awesome!
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