Ok, as promised, here’s the dillio on MTB’ing @ Gariep dam... I was blown away! There is so much riding to be done and the scenery is out of this world! Firstly, the entire area around the dam is a nature reserve. You’ll find the turn off to the Nature Reserve just after the Shell Garage as you head into town. There is a large sign. The entrance is +-3km from the turn off. To get there you’ll have to ride through the coloured community where you’ll be greeted by hordes of small children running from their homes waving their arms and yelling “More fietsryer”. It’s perfectly safe and quite an awesome reception. This road takes you through some rolling hills right by the water’s edge to the Gariep Dam Nature Reserve. Entrance to cyclists is free but entrance per car is R50. If you stay on the main road (mainly jeep track) you’ll do a +- 30km loop if you rode from town, however, there are many smaller roads that you can take from the main road. Some are dead ends and others loop back to the main road, however, all of them leading to another piece of stunning scenery. The one that we missed is the road heading in the direction of Bethulie. That road should take you to the other side of the dam and add some distance. Springbok, Kwagga, Black wildebeest, Kudu and Red hartebeest being the order of the day. We even spotted an Aardwolf but unfortunately missed out on Oryx. The Mrs and a Springbok The rolling hills Secondly, if you take the R701 (the road coming from the N1) there is a dirt road turn off just before you cross the bridge on the Orange River. There is a sign that says Waschbank Game Reserve. You can do some riding in the reserve. To be honest, we didn’t even get to ride here but I believe that you can. There is a split in the road before you get to the Waschbank restaurant and chalets. However, I would suggest stopping at the restaurant to get some directions first. Make sure to stop there again after your ride to have a drink on their deck on the bank on the river. Stunning views! The deck @ Waschbank Thirdly, follow the R701 all the way back towards the N1. About a km after you’ve crossed the highway you’ll reach a T-junction with a dirt road. This is the Donkerpoort road. If you turn right here you’ll have +-50kms of dirt road in front of you snaking through breathtaking Karoo farms. There are no massive climbs but you’ll soon realise that the Karoo isn’t all flat. You’ll later get to a T-junction. This is a tar road. Turning left takes you to Colesberg, +-40km, and turning right to Philoppolis (less than 10kms). Philoppolis is the oldest settlement in the Free State and worth a visit. The tar road section is not busy at all but very narrow with a narrow shoulder as well, so keep your eyes open. If you turn left towards Colesberg you’ll find another Donkerpoort road on your left (completely unsure how far but let’s call it more or less halfway between where you turned left and Colesberg). If you take this road you’ll end up back where you started, i.e. the first T-junction that I spoke of earlier in this paragraph. There are some farm gates on this road that you have to open to go through. I don’t know how long this road is as we didn’t ride it all the way through. Wide open spaces of the Karoo Lastly, if you ride through Norvalspont you’ll get to the R58. Turn right (towards Colesberg). +- 20 – 30kms down the road there is a dirt road on your left with a sign saying “Agtertang side road”. This service road intersects Gary Player’s farm. Take a GPS to get back or go the way you came. Either way, you just rode on Gary Player’s farm!
