It is misty out this morning and everything is wet with dew. Today we ride the last 430km that will take us home, thus ending this trip. I layer because I know how cold it can get when riding in mist.

A cold and misty morning

Instead of taking the R59 to Hoopstad decide to use an alternative route which included some gravel. We ride out the gates of Palmietpan at 7am and within the first 5 minutes it became clear that this will be a challenge. Not only is the mist quite thick, with visibility of just a few meters in some spots, but we are also riding into the sun AND there are potholes the size of a family sedan.

Riding into the sun again
As deep as it is wide
This is actually tarmac

After just a few kilometers I was praying for the turnoff onto gravel. There is nothing worse than an unmaintained tarmac road because it is totally unpredictable. It is with great relieve that we eventually reach the turnoff. There has been lots of rain over the last few days so we are expecting some mud. The good thing about the gravel road to Hoopstad is that it is very sandy which means that there is not much sticky mud. But you would be mistaken if you think that sandy mud is easier to ride than clay. It is slick as snot and the only difference is that it does not stick and build up around everything.

A bit of mud
Where the water has drained it’s a beautiful road

We started seeing these round melon like things on the side of the road and stopped to investigate. It turned out to be watermelon, or to be more specific, white wonder watermelon. As the name says, the flesh is white and it is more taste neutral than it’s red cousin. This is also the reason why they are not cultivated commercially anymore, people want sweet stuff.

White wonder watermelon for breakfast
Great sand road into Hoopstad

After some amazing gravel/mud/sand riding we arrive in Hoopstad where we fill up and have a quick snack before setting of to Bothaville.

Hoopstad welcomes us
Quick snack

We are now back on the R59 which is suppose to be the main route connecting Hertzogville, Hoopstad and Bothaville. It is in a shocking condition and we ride on the gravel shoulder instead of the tarmac, a practice that the locals apparently also favors. The condition of all the tarmac roads we have ridden on today confirms the fact that the Free State has the worse roads in the entire country, hands down.

We fill up in Bothaville and decide to push on to get brunch somewhere around Potchefstroom. On the way we cross over into the North West province and while the road conditions are not perfect it is miles better than those in the Free State. I’ve always said that I would be able to tell which province I’m in just by the condition of the roads and on every trip I become more confident of this.

We stop at the Provence padstal, a place we know quite well, just outside Potchefstroom for brunch.

Provence Padstal
Last roadside coffee of the trip

Now we only have 180km of tarmac left before we are home. There are low clouds flanking us all the way and I’m anticipating the rain to start at any minute but when we pass under the R511 we are still dry and I’m confident that we will make it. Passing the R511 ramp brought back memories of a few years ago when I used this same ramp to get Putin home after just buying him. I will always remember the sinking feeling I had that day as I snapped open the throttle on this ramp and nothing much happened (except for the change in exhaust note). “What the hell did I just waste money on!” was my thinking.

Back then I did not know a lot about an Ural. Coming from a superbike/adventure background this was new to me. Today I pass by and think that this was probably one of the best things I’ve spend money one, ever. Sadly I won’t be using the R511 ramp as often as I used to. Sidecar Africa closed it’s doors just a few weeks earlier.

We arrive back home just before 3pm, dry, safe and smiling but also sad that yet another one is done.

Home

We competed 3358 trouble free kilometers. We rode some awesome roads, shared food, wine and conversation with some amazing people. I learned a few things, some that I will remember and some I’m trying to forget. No adventure is complete is you do not learn something from it.

On this trip we used two new pieces of equipment. We replaced our Shark Evo helmets with Caberg Driod and used the Zumo XT for navigation. I will be doing a review of both these in a separate post. Spoiler alert – They did not disappoint.