turn the heater up in the car and pack the duvet in the boot - easy :)

Swartberg pass closed due to snow and rocks in the road.

Use a mixture of 50% Old Brown sherry and 50% ginger brandy.

Enjoy and have a safe trip Mr Stripes!!! It may be cold but should be beautiful. Flask and a hot water bottle may help.

The only way to keep warm is to stay home in bed................!!

orecast for Calitzdorp Wednesday 16/06/2010

Weekend forecast for Swartbergpas in Western Cape (South Africa)

Sunday 20 June

	Forecast	Precip.	Temp.	Wind
	next 6 hours		on the hour
02:00		0 mm	3°	Light breeze 2 m/s
08:00		0 mm	2°	Light breeze 2 m/s
14:00		0 mm	13°	Light breeze 2 m/s
20:00		0 mm	8°	Gentle breeze 5 m/s

 

One word here Mr Stripes - Thermal.

Thermal underwear or full body suit

Thermal Glove Liners 

Thermal Socks (called All Mountain I think)

Thermal Baraclava

All four First Ascent, very good stuff. All four at Outdoor Warehouse. All these used with decent winter and waterproof riding gear should keep you cosy. They say you need three layers to keep warm in the extremes, base layer being thermal, middle layer being fleece, outer layer being the seal against water and wind like a good bike jacket.

Thermal Sleeping Bag inner (The K Way one at R199.00 works like a charm, adds 5 degrees. Cape Union Mart)

And make sure you have a decent sleeping bag. A decent sleeping bag will be from someone like First Ascent, it will be down (feathers) and will cost more than anything at Makro.

For roadside munchies we normally take USN protein bars, USN energy bars, some ostrich biltong and some dried Mango.

I also hide Monster Energy drink everywhere I can. It amazing when you find one that you had forgotten about. And lots of fluids, even when it's cold.

We also adapted our tents rainsheet a little so that we can take the tent down, pack everything and get ready underneath it when it is raining. It is then the last thing to get dropped and stuffed into a tent bag which is the last bag to get strapped onto the bike.

Enjoy, and don't let my wife find out you are going riding in crazy weather, she seems to enjoy it for some reason.

 

What weather website are you using here Geoff.

Thanks very much! Excellent forecast stuff, Geoff, and thanks for the indepth there, Warren. Esp the energy drink idea... I have a down bag, and inflateable mattress, but have been toying with taking this rubber mat that covers the entirety of the tent floor... its now going.

Warm is over-rated.. well, that's what I say now.

If Swartberg is closed.. is there any other way into dei hel.. as we're booked on Friday night there..??

And thanks for the mail re this request, Geoff, there's a pile of stuff I have to get finished for work, and got side-tracked!

As a matter of interest I've just come back from Pienaar Brothers in Paarden Eiland - thanks Rynet for the pointer. I bought a bright yellow/green rain suit for R125 plus VAT, and top & bottom thermals for R65 each, plus a set of sunglasses that'll go over my specs for R45.

Dry and visible (seriously visible).

now all that remains is to pack it.. oh, and buy energy drinks!

Die Hel - One way in - One way out - same way!!!!!!!!!!!

Dennis - watch those inflatable mattresses, especially in the cold. Remember that your body heat has to warm up the air inside the mattress. If it can not do this the air in the mattress stays cold and you get cold. It helps if you put one of the "aluminum" emergency "space" blankets over the mattress but they make a noise every time you move in the night.

You should be warmer but less comfortable with one of those roll up hiking compressed foam mattresses.

There is snow from CT all the way to Oudtshoorn so I suggest you ride all the way in your rain suites.

If you don't have waterproof gloves pull dish washing gloves over yours. Remember however that your gloves then don't breath get wet inside from sweat and will start to smell in a short space of time.

If you enjoy riding freezing cold then this ride should be a blast, especially if they open Swartberg Pass in time for you.

Enjoy and don't push your boundaries too far.

Ride safe.

It is easy to get hypothermic while riding if you don't keep the cold wind off your neck.  I use a fleece buff, but a scarf or balaclava will also work.

Those self inflating mattresses are actually the bomb. If you get a decent one of course. They take up hardly any space, you don't need a pump, just one or two breaths and the best way to use it is to put it inside the down sleeping bag. No way you'll get cold from below with this setup. Tried and tested at MontEco where it got to -5 degrees and we were still toasty warm.

As mentioned though, the best buy I've made in terms of sleeping warm is that sleeping bag liner. An amazing little piece of equipment that folds up to not much bigger than the average wallet.

Travel Sheet

Outdoor Warehouse has wisely decided that they should enter the bike adventure equipment market and should hopefully shortly have a bike "specific" area in their Tygervalley store. This should offer the biker a "one stop" shop for all your camping requirements.

They will also be displaying a range of these products at the next Club meeting.

I've heard tell that those mattresses are designed to go IN the sleeping bag and not under it, to prevent rolling off it in the night, and "losing" it.

I'll try that.. but the rubber mat still goes with.. and if the inflatatable makes the bag too wide, I'll take my chances on it living outside.

I've been toying with wearing motocross pants under my ATTGAT to further insulate, but don't want to be so bulky it gets uncomfortable.

I'll be wearing thermals, jeans (or jodphurs - havent decided), bike pants with inners, and most likely seriously green rain suit. Top will be thermals, long sleeve shirt, fleece, bike jactket with inner.. Neck will be thin balaclava, and one or two buffs, dependent on whether I can find them..

and hopefully they're all ok to wear again for 4 days... [no, there is no wife to offend, and any of the ladies with, will be having their own scents to deal with ]

 

I have one of those - was wondering if its use would detract from the warmth the down give me.. was actually thinking of putting the bag into it..

Nice to know they work..

 

Now all I got to do is get to where the tent is to pitch!

Hi Dennis,

I have just ordered a pair of  long cycling pants with a fleece liner( First Accent or Cape Storm) to wear under my pants. Got this tip from a friend in KZN midlands where it gets damn cold. Plus it has a bit of extra padding for a long ride. Who cares if your butt looks big in it! I also use a Helly Hanson as a thermal top from any paddling shop. Pricey but fantastic as it keeps you warm even if you get wet. Used this when I paddled a lot and it works almost like a wetsuit except it still breathes.

Enjoy, if the sun is out it will be awesome!

marita

But I did experience riding on ice.. well, for two stretches of uphill - on the third one I left the bike to lie in the snow, whilst discovering the BMW Savannah boots have zero grip on pure (albeit muddy) ice.ice fall

 

amper daar

So near, yet so far.. I only figured out afterward that I might have made it if I had ridden on the snow, but I'm telling ya - I never saw that was ice.. looked just like any other piece of road! Getting back down was scary..

And yes, I fell off again going down on the next slope down..

 

whew! thanks to all who pulled me upright

snow white.. feeling like a dwarf

the road over travelled

Well done on pushing ahead when most would have stayed at home, but then realizing when you had reached your limit and turning around.  Console yourself with the knowledge that going down the other side of that pass in icy conditions is much more dangerous.

Great pics!

Snow plus freezing cold + road = ice.........black ice!

Black ice + bike tyres = purchase of "plot"!

Biker boots + black ice = no traction!

No traction + horizontal bike = help needed!

Mountains + snow = Beautiful picture!

 

 

very true!!

I believe the top down the other side was clear.. we just didn't know what going down into die hel was going to be like..

besides, thanks for the vote of confidence Charles, but I didn't turn around by choice.. having tried twice to pick up the bike (and experiencing the backward flip) I then walked over the bike (literally standing on the tyres) and grabbed the front wheel to spin it around (which worked) and then to try to slide it down to comfort (which didn't work!).

The only eina! I got was a small bruise.. amazing!

I have 100's of fotos.. will post the beauties! It really was beautiful, and the snow was such light fluffy stuff, unlike the ice. 

When I first fell off, there was no-one in sight - no bakkies, no bikers, no-one. Having tried the pick-up-bike scenario, I dug a hole in the snow and settled down to wait.I even started working out where I would put the tent up..

The first vehicle to arrive was a yellow 1200GS coming DOWN! He was doing really well until he saw me, and fell over. Older guy, name Riaan, said he and a friend were coming down. No sign of the friend. Riaan later went up by foot and brought down a KTM 990! (with the help of a few brake-peeps).

He also did the oopsy daisy head backwards flip after ignoring my warning. It seems the boots that replaced the Savannah's doen't do ice too well either.

Anyway, Riaan and Brent and myself picked the bike up and manoevered it to safety (only to get on, ride around the corner, slide down another slope, and fall off in front of an audience)!

Soon many hands arrived, in the form of smiling bakkie owners.

it might help to know the tyres I'm using are K60 rear, and E-07 front. Wonderful set! They did mud, sand, rocks, all in their stride, and then two.5 icy slopes..

{snip}

you don't actually have to go over swartberg pass, simply approach Die Hel from the Prince Albert side.

 

yeah, I know that - the question really was what was the road down into die hel like - if it also had ice, and had that descent, it could have been a disaster..

We have September planned to go make good on our bookings..

what's with the jazzy new avatar, Cloud-man.. where's the adventure in that?

you need to see Cloud's Avatar on the Wild Dog web site!

At first galnce, someone recycling /putting stuff in a dustbin = GOOD!

at second glance, someone recycling British Petroleum - EXCELLENT!

snow before Ladysmith: Stopping for photo

Me and wife  - from strand - to Oudtshoorn - Prins Albert and around + back - very nice 1st long trip with wife as pillion. Avoided ice and enjoyed!