The first day of Karoo 2022 started in Nieu Bethesda on a sunny morning. The road are still very wet after the rain yesterday and we are expecting some fun on the first section which is gravel. We met at New Karoo for breakfast before heading out.
As expected there is lots of mud with very limited traction. This requires that you are awake but it is huge fun. Even with the Ural’s 52hp you start spinning the back wheel if you open the throttle too quickly, and that’s saying a lot 🙂
But it wasn’t long before we faced our first technical issue. Alpha’s rig is making a strange sound but closer inspection and a test ride provides not answers. She was right but we will find that out much later in the day.
We push on toward Graaff Reinet and just as we get to the R63 junction our second technical issue hits. This time Ryno’s rig just grinds to a halt with no electrical power. Turns out to be a loose connection that he sorted out quickly. Two issues within the first 30km does not bode well for the rest of the trip.
After filling up in Graaff Reinet we head out to Aberdeen where we will just top up on fuel before we get onto the next section of gravel. Just outside Graaff Reinet we pass by a huge rain storm and we are very fortunate to have missed it.
We stop in Rietbron where we stop for a roadside picnic. We stop in front of the abandoned primary school and wonder why it was abandoned.
It did not take long to get the facts when Mark came walking around the corner. He told me that the local community take their children to a better new school somewhere else and also that the farmers started their own private school. So this building was just abandoned. He grows weed after his partner and family sabotaged his business and marriage. When I asked about his greenhouse setup he told me he just grow it in his garden but he did explain the 48 sativa strains to me. According to Mark, Another interesting fact about Rietbron is that it is a free mason power-hub. Also the reason why the church clock is wrong is because the Jew in town refuses to have the time set and it is basically just, as Mark calls it, a mindfuck. Strange but true (probably not).
I had to bid farewell to Mark as we set off to Prince Albert but what an interesting character. Probably has his own version of reality but who blames him when you have to live in Rietbron.
The road from Rietbron to Prince Albert is just stunning but it is on this road where we will find out what the strange noise was on Alpha’s rig.
At one of the many farm gates that we needed to open and close Alpha’s rig just did not want to get going again. With a ‘dis nie die fokken brieke nie’ everybody started their own theory. It was clear that something was preventing the back wheel from turning, almost like a brake?
It turns out that the springs that hold the brake shoes in place failed causing the brake shoes to lodge against the wheel hub. After Ryno installed new ones we were on our way again.
When we arrived in Prince Albert we received the very sad news that one of our friends and fellow riders, Uncle Ray, has passed away after a sickbed. That night we had a few drinks on him. Cheers and RIP Uncle Ray.
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