Old School Rookie

Cheers. Next time I'll knock on your door for a more glamorous ride. You picked a great spot to setup shop. Enjoy and keep well.

You guys are spoilt for choice down there. Enjoy!

Had the privilege to do some fab riding in the southern part of the Western Cape. Made a quick vid and tried the hand at a write-up: https://marras5.wixsite.com/website/post/cape-cycle-routes-karoo-crossing-and-then-some Cheers

How bout taping the rack to your fork and then marking the exact drilling points?

Ja no lekker fine bruuuu Thanks for the heads-up. Each to his own but I'd rather give that jol a wide berth. Obviously no shortage of aaptwak and twitchy shoulder doepa out there. The cold beer does sound tempting though. On a different note, sounds like you had some interesting times in the region - thanks for sharing.

And to think I was willing to wing this one without consulting with you streetwise slicks. Sage advice not be ignored - thanks gents.

Thanks for confirming. I GOT it

That was my 1st option to Wupperthal via the Tra-Tra river...but the track runs out to the east. Usually there’s a reason for it so I’ll skip that idea. With Postal route out of the game that whole section bummed in any way. Thanks for the advice on Middelpos, might just head that way round, Gannaga sounds worth the effort. Cheers

Planning a bikepacking trip that would include a leg between Sutherland and Wupperthal. Around March/April’21. Tried phoning and sending mails to to Tankwa NP without success and not much info on Google. Two questions for those in the know: SANPARK website advises:No hiking or bicycling trails currently exist within the Park. However, overnight visitors are allowed to make use of marked roads within the immediate vicinity of their booked facility. No walking or bicycling is allowed in the rest of the Park" Above pretty much spells it out, but if I'm booked somewhere in the park, will they allow me into the park on the bicycle? Plan to enter from Sutherland at southern entrance, then head to Roodewerf office – cruise through to exit at AfricaBurn. (Will overnight somewhere to appease the bicycle use requirement) Should the Park be a no-no, any suggestions for a nice route towards the Cederburg via Oubergpass? Second. To get from Tankwa NP to Wupperthal I’d like to do the Old Postal Route. I read somewhere that the farmers closed the track due motorcyclist / 4x4’s making a mess of things. Any truth to this? And if so, anyone know how to arrange transit? After above doing the Cederberg circuit and then on to the coast etc. Any other info on the area would be nice too – haven’t visited area since early childhood. Much appreciate any help.

Toerfiets! Fantastiese nuus. Wens jul alle sterkte. Dink daar goeie mark. Ek’t ñ paar harige stories van trips in Oos Europa en Turkye en hoe om dit op ñ budget te doen. Sien uit na die 1ste uitgawe.

Well done T. I’ll keep an eye out to join in future. Nice route and support. Brilliant.

Air travel and asociated air pressure can mess with sealed units such as hydraulic brakes. On my recent bike relocation the front brakes were poked. I suspect that there was some air in the system / not topped up properly. Wish I brought with only a small bit of miniral oil to get the brakes going again, so ad that to your list if you wish. (Obviously with basic tools to bleed & topup) Furthermore I deflate my shocks a bit, once again for fear of pressure loss/increase. Don't think it critical but if you go that way obviously you'll need to take with a shock pump. In case you need to re-seat tyres, a Schrader adapter. (You sure to find a compressor somewhere in the sticks) Also if you have some spare space.....you will meet locals on your cycles there. Some spare tubes, patch kits etc to dish out on the odd ocasion. A little goodwill goes a long way in a foreign country.

Emirates work on either a 'weight' or 'piece' concept. Above depends on where your itinerary commences. So be carefull. Also, airlines such as EK and Qatar have different allowed weights depending on where your flight commenced from. For instance, on Qatar if you book economy from Doha to Johannesburg and back, you will only get 30kg on both legs versus 45kg if you commenced in Johannesburg. (And then the 45kg only valid for the leg from Johannesburg to Doha) Refer to attached screen print from Emirates website. Suggest you visit the site as there's some additional info too. if you fly out of Africa two pieces seems to be the limit. Then again......simply wrapping two pieces together with protective film will make them one, as long as they don't weight more than 23kg in total.

Any ideas if collapsible Trail Building kits are available locally? Example Trail Boss USA. I'd prefer to support local before looking further afield. Rig needs to be collapsible for airline transport and ease of field-carry in backpack etc. Cheers

Another little shocker warning for my fellow expat Hubbers: Be wary of airlines with the extra baggage allowance when "traveling from Africa" I am booked on a return flight from the Sandpit to SA. The first leg stated 30kg which I accepted as correct, but the return leg also quoted 30kg which I accepted as a typo of sorts. When queried the 'wrong' weight on the return ticket I was advised that I'm only entitled to 30kg as the bookings first point of origin is not SA and thus only entitles me to 30kg, including the leg in which I'd be "traveling from Africa" Admittedly, had I read further on I would have discovered this sneaky little technicality and could have made two separate bookings at basically the same price in order to get the 45kg on the African departure leg. I'll probably be able to get it sorted with copious amounts of groveling, but yet another example of the hidden pitfalls common folk like myself are subjected to.