Mark and I rode up to Kosi Bay this weekend to get some sand riding skills. It was to be our last chance for some riding prior to packing the bikes.
Apart from leaving in the rain early on Saturday we had an uneventful ride up, mostly on tar.
At Mbazwana, near Sordwana, we'd had enough of the tar and diverted on some dirt roads.
The sand was quite managable being slighly wet but was still good practise. We followed the route down to Rock Tail Bay but were denied entrance into the reserve so rode an alternative route through to Manguzi. Here we filled up both tanks and tyres and set off for a local camp site. The ride through the last +- 500m sand to the camp was the worst of the day and Mark made a grand appearance in the camp by lying down (falling off) at the manager's feet.
Despite the offer of a bed we decided that camping was what we needed to practise so we set up on the lawn( with a hot shower near by!).
Mark's catering skills are way better than his mechanical prowess or sense of direction so we ate well, almost certainly better than we will on the trip. He'd raided Wendy's pantry, his brothers Spar and the garage Kwik shop to feed us. Needless to say his skills will be tested with camel and goat.
The view of the camp site is not a KTM advert!
Sunday's ride was a good balance of dirt and tar. No sand apart from the ride out of the camp. I left before Mark and when he didn't arrive I went back to find him " pinned like a dirty great rat " ( his words) under his pannier. This time he's made it 100m from the camp! Fortunately with no damage to the leg, only his reputation, we set off.
All in we rode 900kms and I think we're good to go. From here on it's lots of final details .
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