Adriaan was soon christened ‘Skillie’, for skilpad, or tortoise. Not because it was hard for him to come out of his shell, but due to his diligence in taking pictures, which affected our speed somewhat. It was indeed Skillie’s fault that we were so boisterous that day. We said he was too slow and he argued he could keep up when the pressure was on. So we said, ‘Show us’ and he said, ‘I will’.
About 53,7 km beyond Oudtshoorn (or 1 km past the Voortrekker memorial sign high up in the Swartberg Pass) turn left. There is a clear road sign. It says ‘Gamkaskloof Die Hel’ – just to make doubly sure.
On an earlier winter trip the snow lay thick up in the mountain and the ride was unmitigated … well, hell, slip-sliding through the mud, with dense mist and icy, icy cold. But on the Skillie Expedition the weather and road surface were perfect. So we pushed on.
Funny how quickly a bunch of responsible adult males can regress to nine-year-old boys throwing caution to the wind …
For the first few kilometres we looked back often to check whether Adriaan was keeping up. But Skillie was burning up the track. A little bit faster, another glance over the shoulder, and Adriaan was just behind us.
Then we let rip.
This is not the right thing to do. First, you will miss the incredible landscape. The magnificent rock formations, the colours that change from diluted pastels to deep shades of oil paint as you drop further down, the klipspringers that dart off on their sure little hooves, the rivulets that glint deep in the ravines.
Second, a very sharp bend will catch you out sooner or later, because this route has more kinks than a Bryan Habana dash for the try line. Third, an unsuspecting baboon is going to get a horrible fright and run across the road in front of you if you come around a bend too fast.
And, fourth, there is the other 10% I mentioned earlier: that final downhill section to Die Hel that you must negotiate with care and at a snail’s pace if you want to get down in one piece.
The hairpin bend nearly got us: an instant of intense anxiety and a flood of adrenaline as the sheer drop opened its throat to swallow us, and in the nick of time I remembered the advice, ‘Watch the road, not the threat (more about that later).’ We continued to race on, our hearts in our mouths.
And there was the baboon that bellowed like a bull and dashed like a hairy bolt of lightning across the dusty road. Afterwards we couldn’t tell who had got the biggest fright. But the final drop, that visually intimidating kilometre or two, one hairpin bend after the next, with the Kloof so incredibly sheer and deep below, was simply too dangerous to attempt in nine-year-old mode.
So we all turned into tortoises. Forced back to our senses by the road, yes. But also by the history of this valley. And the people who came this way before us. And the mountains and valley and the blue heaven.
A last bit of advice: eat with tant Annetjie Joubert and her people, but also venture deeper in, over the confluence of the Dwyka and Gamka rivers, to Nature Conservation. Go and talk to the oom there about the giant puff adder in the bottle. Let him tell you the whole story.
And then ride, slowly and steadily, like grown-ups, all the way back to Prince Albert. And don’t think of calling anyone ‘Skillie’.
2 (down in the valley it might be a 3)
Oudtshoorn
From Oudtshoorn to Die Hel the distance is 103 km. The full distance from Oudtshoorn to Prince Albert is 170 km.
Take it easy and allow the whole day for the trip, so you can see everything properly and enjoy it. Sometimes it’s a good thing to be more like a tortoise.
The secret of the Rooiberg Mountains
The thing about the Rooiberg Pass is simply this – few bikers ever talk about it. Sure, they all know the Ouberg Pass, Seweweekspoort or the Swartberg and Prince Alfred passes, but mention Rooiberg and they all get a faraway look in their eyes like someone who has seen the signboard, but has never followed the arrow.
No wonder, because the pass is on the far side of Van Wyksdorp – another place that makes eyes glaze over. This is a shame because, despite the claims of a Cape Town shopping centre, Van Wyksdorp is the centre of the universe. Or at least the unofficial capital of the Little Karoo from a biking point of view.
It lies to the south of Ladismith and you will find the turn-off just a fraction over 10 km from that town, on the Barrydale road: the R327. (The route that we actually recommend is from Barrydale: 16,5 km from Barrydale – on the way to Ladismith – turn right, after 51,5 km turn right again onto the R323, after 54,2 km turn left onto gravel road. Ride as far as Van Wyksdorp, where you will turn right after 94 km, to the Rooiberg Pass, and finally to Calitzdorp.)
As with all routes in this area, part of the enchantment lies in the names of the farms, each of which tells a story, or paints a picture of words in your mind. You ride over and past Klein Begin, Boerbonefontein, Opsoek and Olyvenrivier before you reach Van Wyksdorp. The Western Cape’s very own Mount Ararat is the greatest carbuncle on your left-hand side. About 31 km after you hit the gravel road, it is time for the first turn-off – to the left.
It’s easy to miss it, as directions are scarce. Look out for the big sign advertising Assegaaybosch – just beyond it the Rooiberg route begins in earnest.
The dirt road initially twists and turns through a short, nameless pass and just beyond Dwars-in-die-Weg it swings north. One of the problems of riding Rooiberg from Van Wyksdorp is that the best panoramas are behind you. So, stop often and look back – the ridges roll on to the Langeberg horizon.
Only 20 km beyond Assegaaybosch you hit the true Rooiberg Pass, which, understandably enough, takes you over the limbs of the Rooiberge. The highest peak is in the distance to the left, 1 490 m high.
Ride slowly as there is plenty of game here. On our last outing three klipspringers pranced along with us for a couple of hundred metres. Watch how the vegetation changes too. On the seaward side it is still protea country, but beyond the crest it is all Karroo bush.
And then: the most striking view of the day is when you descend the Calitzdorp side.
It’s not just the broad green band of the Gamka River Valley that takes your breath away; it is also the view over the mountain beyond: the Klein Swartberg far to the left, where you can see the ravines of Seweweekspoort on a clear day. And the Groot Swartberg far behind Calitzdorp. Even Oudtshoorn is visible in the haze.
At the bottom of the pass you ride through the farmyard of Rietvlei and then the road becomes flat and tame until you hang left at Rose Villa for the last few kilometres to Calitzdorp. Usually you will see literally thousands of ostriches in one feedlot after the other – and like clockwork they run along with the motorbikes, as if they share some obscure family bond.
The last secret that this route yields is the vineyards of Calitzdorp.