Bikepacking / Bike Touring

[capediver]

2 hours ago, DJR said:

Below is a bit I wrote about a decade ago for an article on the Hell (Just in case someone wonders who Oom Koos was):

The road into Gamkaskloof is completely different from the Swartberg Pass and was only completed in the 1962, basically by 1 man, an Ellis Chalmers bulldozer and a small team of workers. When tenders were invited to build this road, there was very little interest and those tenders received were so expensive that the provincial roads department almost scrapped the idea. One of the local divisional council grader drivers, Oom Koos Van Zyl, said he could do it if they gave him a proper bulldozer and there and then it was decided to do the job in-house. In a very short time, about a year and a half, he single handedly bulldozed the Hell Road from the Swartberg Pass turn off into the kloof, and for very little money, R30 000 to be precise. He got paid only his normal meagre salary throughout. About halfway along the Hell road is a massive boulder called Oom Koos Se Klip, right on the very edge of the road. It is said that this was the only obstacle that got the better of him and his bulldozer, which is why the road winds slightly around it and not straight through it! The exact location of the route was determined by the geology of the surrounding mountains. It simply avoided hard rock that would need blasting and stuck strictly to rock that could be bulldozed. The last bit, the Elands Pass descent into the valley, I think, is the real monument to his bravery and ingenuity. It must have taken huge balls to drive a dozer from the top down that mountain cliff. A bulldozer has incredible power and traction on level ground, but very little on a steep side slope. Going over the cliff edge must have been a very real and present danger every step of the way. The 3,5 km long Elands Pass drops 500 m in altitude, it has 51 bends, 5 of which are full 270 degree hairpin bends. Now you know why the Hell Road has no beautiful hand built stone walls! Bulldozers might be efficient, but they are not made for stylish elegant construction. It is very different from the Swartberg Pass, but with a rugged beauty of its own!

For the number crunchers: The total distance is 37 km, with 201 bends, curves or corners, yes, that is 18 per kilometre. Not straight! It contains 8 separate mountain passes and the Hollanders would see the bits in between as mountain passes as well! So, not flat! It crosses 5 streams with shallow rocky drifts and no bridges. These become impassable after flash floods. As with the Swartberg Pass, snow and ice often close it in winter, but usually only for a few days at a time. The official name of this route is the Otto Du Plessis road (administrator of the Cape Province at the time), but they should rather have called it The Road That Oom Koos Built!

Excellent description there, DJR, and great info...The Eland's Pass is EPIC!!! One day I will return to complete my plan...ride out ALL the way! But yes, truly magnificent...however, that 30k's from the summit to the T-junction with the Swartberg Pass is surely underrated...I did look at the route profile when planning but it gives no idea of the grind that it is to get that 30km done! It took me 3 and half hours to do 15ks!!!!  OK, I am loaded and stop often to film...but it did me in and I passed that murasie @ KP15 as the sun started to set and kept going for about another 2k's then realized I would never make it to the T-junction at a decent time so I turned back and set up in the relative comfort of the murasie...best decision! Otherworldly experience!

[Prince Albert Cycles]

3 hours ago, DJR said:

Below is a bit I wrote about a decade ago for an article on the Hell (Just in case someone wonders who Oom Koos was):

The road into Gamkaskloof is completely different from the Swartberg Pass and was only completed in the 1962, basically by 1 man, an Ellis Chalmers bulldozer and a small team of workers. When tenders were invited to build this road, there was very little interest and those tenders received were so expensive that the provincial roads department almost scrapped the idea. One of the local divisional council grader drivers, Oom Koos Van Zyl, said he could do it if they gave him a proper bulldozer and there and then it was decided to do the job in-house. In a very short time, about a year and a half, he single handedly bulldozed the Hell Road from the Swartberg Pass turn off into the kloof, and for very little money, R30 000 to be precise. He got paid only his normal meagre salary throughout. About halfway along the Hell road is a massive boulder called Oom Koos Se Klip, right on the very edge of the road. It is said that this was the only obstacle that got the better of him and his bulldozer, which is why the road winds slightly around it and not straight through it! The exact location of the route was determined by the geology of the surrounding mountains. It simply avoided hard rock that would need blasting and stuck strictly to rock that could be bulldozed. The last bit, the Elands Pass descent into the valley, I think, is the real monument to his bravery and ingenuity. It must have taken huge balls to drive a dozer from the top down that mountain cliff. A bulldozer has incredible power and traction on level ground, but very little on a steep side slope. Going over the cliff edge must have been a very real and present danger every step of the way. The 3,5 km long Elands Pass drops 500 m in altitude, it has 51 bends, 5 of which are full 270 degree hairpin bends. Now you know why the Hell Road has no beautiful hand built stone walls! Bulldozers might be efficient, but they are not made for stylish elegant construction. It is very different from the Swartberg Pass, but with a rugged beauty of its own!

For the number crunchers: The total distance is 37 km, with 201 bends, curves or corners, yes, that is 18 per kilometre. Not straight! It contains 8 separate mountain passes and the Hollanders would see the bits in between as mountain passes as well! So, not flat! It crosses 5 streams with shallow rocky drifts and no bridges. These become impassable after flash floods. As with the Swartberg Pass, snow and ice often close it in winter, but usually only for a few days at a time. The official name of this route is the Otto Du Plessis road (administrator of the Cape Province at the time), but they should rather have called it The Road That Oom Koos Built!

Pragtig