Bikepacking / Bike Touring

[capediver]

1 hour ago, splat said:

A few of us did an Overberg loop of sorts (Greyton to Stanford to Grabouw to Greyton).
About 70 to 80 km per day for 3 days.
More tar than I would have liked (and a lot of rain on day 2)
But a lekker outing for a group of mates.

Nice light rig...have my eyes on a titanium setup...one day!

[capediver]

2 hours ago, Anthem24 said:

Good luck -- that looks like a heavy load to carry down Die Leer!
Are you going to do one trip for the bike and another for the panniers?
I see Sean Fraenkel has just posted a video on his descent of it on Facebook Gamkaskloof page.

I know Sean, he works out my way in the ME...

[tubed]

11 hours ago, capediver said:

been in touch with these guys whom did it with similar rig and they didn't rig down and shuttle...

Thule panniers come with shoulder straps and they onboard just in case!

I have been up the Leer quite a number of times, once in atrocious rain at night, its never easy, but its not at all unsafe. My advice would be just take it very slowly, step by step and watch your footing as there is lot of loose stuff and when you have a heavy bike your balance will be compromised, so just make sure your footing is solid before you move with a heavy bike.

The approach to the top of the Leer from the Bosluiskloof turnoff should also not be underestimated, its a very rough track and with your setup you are likely to walk quite a bit,  don't stress about it as the views are magnificent and you are in a beautiful remote area. Your last signal is at the top of the hill above the Bosluiskloof turnoff, before you decend into the approach road, so if you need to send a message that might be the last spot for quite a long part of your ride.

Wishing you all the best, its a magical part of the country.

[Prince Albert Cycles]

On 3/28/2026 at 6:46 AM, tubed said:

I have been up the Leer quite a number of times, once in atrocious rain at night, its never easy, but its not at all unsafe. My advice would be just take it very slowly, step by step and watch your footing as there is lot of loose stuff and when you have a heavy bike your balance will be compromised, so just make sure your footing is solid before you move with a heavy bike.

The approach to the top of the Leer from the Bosluiskloof turnoff should also not be underestimated, its a very rough track and with your setup you are likely to walk quite a bit,  don't stress about it as the views are magnificent and you are in a beautiful remote area. Your last signal is at the top of the hill above the Bosluiskloof turnoff, before you decend into the approach road, so if you need to send a message that might be the last spot for quite a long part of your ride.

Wishing you all the best, its a magical part of the country.

All correct .

had 16 guys going down previous Tuesday . Some took running shoes for that walk .

We stayed over and out on Wednesday 

You need permission from Boschluyskloof and Boplaas owners to traverse their properties .

I went around with their luggage .

The road in/out is atrocious. And that was before a huge storm .

Do not underestimate your time to get out.

See you in Prince Albert

[capediver]

2 hours ago, Prince Albert Cycles said:

All correct .

had 16 guys going down previous Tuesday . Some took running shoes for that walk .

We stayed over and out on Wednesday 

You need permission from Boschluyskloof and Boplaas owners to traverse their properties .

I went around with their luggage .

The road in/out is atrocious. And that was before a huge storm .

Do not underestimate your time to get out.

See you in Prince Albert

Have seen the footage of floods! Yoh, hoping it will be all clear soon...I'm delaying a little anyway...spoke with Sean Fraenkel, and yip, prepared for a long haul down and out of the valley!

[Nancy Drew]

On 3/27/2026 at 5:39 PM, splat said:

A few of us did an Overberg loop of sorts (Greyton to Stanford to Grabouw to Greyton).
About 70 to 80 km per day for 3 days.
More tar than I would have liked (and a lot of rain on day 2)
But a lekker outing for a group of mates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice setup. Please tell me how you mounted your bottle cages to your fork?

Edit: I should've googled before asking the question.. I see one can get bottle cage brackets 😊

Edited April 1 by Nancy Drew

[splat]

11 minutes ago, Nancy Drew said:

Nice setup. Please tell me how you mounted your bottle cages to your fork?

It has mounting points for either a bottle cage (2 bolts) or a cargo cage bag (3 bolts)

 

 

[Nancy Drew]

4 minutes ago, splat said:

It has mounting points for either a bottle cage (2 bolts) or a cargo cage bag (3 bolts)

 

 

That's handy, I'm trying to figure out how to mount bottle cages to my MTB fork (which obviously doesn't have mounting points)

[dave303e]

https://bikepacking.com/index/add-cage-mounts-bike/

[Nancy Drew]

2 hours ago, dave303e said:

https://bikepacking.com/index/add-cage-mounts-bike/

Thanks, as it turns out I read this shortly after posting my question 😄 and watched a video on bikepacking.com's YouTube channel

I should probably Google first, then ask 🙈

Edited April 1 by Nancy Drew

[mazambaan]

On 3/30/2026 at 6:03 AM, Prince Albert Cycles said:

All correct .

had 16 guys going down previous Tuesday . Some took running shoes for that walk .

We stayed over and out on Wednesday 

You need permission from Boschluyskloof and Boplaas owners to traverse their properties .

I went around with their luggage .

The road in/out is atrocious. And that was before a huge storm .

Do not underestimate your time to get out.

See you in Prince Albert

I (old and slow) went down with a group a few years ago; bit of a slog from Gamkapoort Dam cottages in drizzle and light rain, did have permission from the landowners, most NB we were told, approach road littered with sharp rocks. As noted, Die Leer is steep and lots of loose rock but not that long; slow and careful is the way. We were in Die Hel cottages around 2pm in beautiful sunshine.  One of the most impressive days' riding I have had.

Out of Die Hel then down to Prince Albert is another storey, longish hard day but I was very slow; also into town around 2pm to 3pm as I remember.

[dave303e]

14 hours ago, Nancy Drew said:

Thanks, as it turns out I read this shortly after posting my question 😄 and watched a video on bikepacking.com's YouTube channel

I should probably Google first, then ask 🙈

no stress, I just remembered it because I think I read a gear article every 2 days on that site last year...
 

[capediver]

Ready to go!

 

 

[tubed]

[capediver]

5 hours ago, tubed said:

Yoh light rig for such a long trip!...need to speak to this dude!!😝

[capediver]

Hell of a loop...

Day 1...Calitzdorp to Op Die Plaas...60ks...rained almost all the way...light drizzle...annoying...Huis River Pass was good but visibility sucked...Seweweekspoort Pass...the weather opened up...spectacular....long slow incline eventually gets you!!...rain gear tested...new Apidura bags tested...all worked as advertised!!

Day 2...Die Leer!!!!

Yoh...I don't think there's enough that can be said about this stage...only hats off to those that climb up it!!! 2.5hrs from the start of the ladder into that valley floor..fully loaded and scrambling!!! On my arse a few times but made it down in one piece...massive push out of that bowl over the saddle to Boplaas...only to be told that the causeway at Gamka River is flooded and impassable...so here I sit waiting for floodwaters to subside...luckily there is one guy here, Abraham...went to look at the causeway 4ks away this morning...even this raggedtly old navy diver said...nope.....so its a no go...water is dropping slowly so im here for the next few days!!!hoping it doesn't rain again ...will check again tomorrow morning...

PS yes...that's leopard spoor!!! Fresh as well!! Spidey sense activated!!! Just at top of Seweweekspoort...

Edited April 14 by capediver
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