1511 DT Q4Q 2015

JOINING THE DOTS 

JHB – TO DURBAN – TO JHB ALL FOR A GREAT CAUSE 

By Alan Mayburry 

This is the first time that I got around to doing this trip. 

Being the crazy person that my friends know I am – I 

opted to do the full tonk – ie: JHB to Dbn and back – 

all on my big 500 KTM. I’ve long been watching this 

famous ride – the cause is great and the whole concept 

really appealed to my sense of adventure – but for one 

reason or another, I just never got around to doing 

it. Early this year, I made sure that the calendar was 

cleared and I think that I was one of the first to get my 

entry through for this 2000 or so kilometre ride. 

A few observations: 

The organisation that goes into an event like this is 

quite mind boggling. I can only imagine the hours and 

hours of time that these guys put in talking to officials, 

landowners and caterers. I cannot imagine how they 

get around to actually marking the entire route. I have 

done a few GPS/navigational events in the past, which 

is cool, but just seeing a little orange or pink dot in the 

absolute middle of nowhere is a very comforting thing. 

Instead of booking accommodation anywhere – we 

decided that we would camp – the facilities are basic, 

but ample hot showers and great camaraderie all 

along the route made it fun. Admittedly, with a big 

group, the facilities did take a bit of strain at some 

of the venues but all in all they were just fine. This 

is not lux camping by any means. We pitched our 

tents on farmers fields, on a rugby field and on just a 

vacant piece of ground – so for those who are looking 

for hairdryers and electrical points – bring along a 

generator. Camping in a group can be a pain – some 

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of the guys go large until the early hours – but 

generally, the guys were all quite considerate – this 

is very much a social affair and there are lots of 

family groups along. 

The catering was generous and wholesome – basic good 

food all the way and plenty of it – from a great self-braai 

complete with pap and salads, to sheep on the spit, 

tasty stews. Lunches were mixed up each day – boerie 

rolls, burgers, chicken prego’s, there was no room for 

complaints. The tannies in Weenen even baked us the 

most amazing cakes for desert… 

This is all included in your entry fee – in my opinion; you 

cannot beat the value for money on offer at this event. 

I did hear a few grumbles about day to day 

information. Prior to the event, we were bombarded 

with information and I thought it was quite thorough 

– the mantra – leave a dust gap, check the markers 

yourself, don’t just follow the bike in front of you still 

rings in my ears… we were given a day to day briefing 

in print of what to expect and if you take the time to 

read it – it all made perfect sense. The general rules 

on this event – drinking and riding is a big no – no 

(Duh!); respect the people around you; look out for 

danger signs; follow markers; have a good time. 

In that order. And if you followed, you generally 

have a hassle free ride. Some of the markers were 

challenging, the hot weather baked the paint and 

much of it faded, so you had to take time and look 

nicely. Every morning a team ran ahead to check that 

all is clear and to touch up – and to my knowledge – 

everyone got in just fine. 

Every evening the group meets at dinner for the next 

days briefing – the only hassle is that quite a few 

people did not get to the briefing. My opinion – in 

racing or anywhere you have to attend, the team was 

on hand every evening to answer questions and the 

briefings were more than adequate. Our team had no 

issues at all. So to the guys who ran out of fuel, next 

time, maybe pay attention? 

In terms of back-up, you are never alone. We saw the 

organisers backup bakkie pop up all over the place 

– marshals at most road crossings and riders just 

stopping to check if you were OK. I saw the medics 

quietly going about their business and helping out 

all over the place. A really well-oiled machine. I was 

very impressed. 

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The ride: 

Having spoken to people who had ridden this event 

before – I did have a few expectations, but to be fair, 

the expectations were exceeded. And that is always 

great. 1000 odd kilometres is a long way, broken 

in to four days each way – and I am very glad that I 

did the ride both ways because it gave me time to 

appreciate the places that we visited. Of course this 

is not an enduro, there are lots of interesting places 

and there are sections of great riding – but there are 

also sections of district road – very necessary for 

participants to be able to complete the day. It came 

home to me that this is not a race – there are riders of 

all skill levels – so whilst the fast guys were through at 

the end by 1 and 2 in the afternoon, the stragglers were 

still coming in close to sunset. The long roads around 

Volksrust come to mind, going down, they seemed 

quite quick, but on the return trip, they seemed to 

go on for ever, thanks to the tremendous heat and 

dry wind that sucked the breath out of you. But I’m 

jumping around a bit… 

Day 1: 

The presentation and kick-off at Carnival City was great 

– music, a great vibe – Brian Capper, the whole katoot 

– a carnival atmosphere if you’ll excuse the pun – and 

then we were off. The dust gap rule was immediate and 

our posse hung back a bit, man it is just so dry out there. 

The routes out of JHB were interesting, some great 

river crossings as we crossed through the farmlands- 

I’m not certain about exactly which way we went, but 

the ride was interesting – nothing overly technical, but 

entertaining – and with so many people along, there is 

always entertainment. We saw people falling over in 

the rivers, getting stuck – taking wrong turns – and all 

sorts – obviously it takes a while for riders to become 

accustomed to the bright pink arrows that led us out. 

Great fun – a section of gravel – across a beautiful old 

bridge and we were at the lunch stop and refuel. Your 

back-up drivers (yes you do need one) meets you every 

100 km or so – this is pretty cool because if you have any 

issue, they can sort it out or load you up. Ours made sure 

that the cokes were cold – we sure needed them. 



The ride continued in a blur – we went through a quaint 

old town, crossed dams, rode through a flooded bridge 

– met farmers who had come out to watch the fun… the 

whole vibe and spirit of the ride was incredible – like 

nothing I had experienced before. The guys and ladies 

who came along were smiling and happy… really cool. 

In Standerton we were greeted with a great braai at the 

local school, we pitched tents on the field, and spent 

the evening telling war stories about the day. Bench 

racers extraordinary… 

Day 2: 

Having grown up near Standerton, I was very sad to 

see what is happening – now it’s not my intention to be 

negative, but I remember as a kid camping next to the 

Vaal River and spending endless holidays playing in the 

park along the river. We rode out along the river – and 

the amount of trash that has been dumped there is 

shameful… very sad. 

We were in for the first section of gravel roads. Gravel 

is tedious, so you open that throttle wide, we nailed 

it quickly and crossed back on to the farms… this felt 

like a long day and I was grateful to be on a big fourstroke, 

despite Glenn’s regular Yamaha quips (more 

about that later). 

There is a great big muddy field that everyone needs 

to get across, I believe that this year was not nearly as 

muddy as previous years because of the drought, but 

there were bikes, quads and Karretjies stuck all over 

the place. Entertainment value 100 percent! Being the 

superior KTM riders that we are, we aced it and parked 

in the shade to watch the fun. The techniques were 

mind boggling… incredible to see how stuck some 

people can get. From there – back on to the roads up 

into the mountains, the views are great and it was the 

first time we came across an accident. 

Some poor lady took a corner with her quad and 

crashed into a fence. We initially thought that speed 

was the cause but on closer inspection, it was 

discovered that her tyre had come off the rim. Shame 

she was sore, the medics arrived fairly quickly with a 

backup vehicle in hot pursuit. Broken collar bone – the 

lady was loaded up, the bike straightened out. Here is 

something I’d not seen before – we had to re-seat the 

tyre. The pump could not do it. One of the marshals 

took a small capful of fuel, poured it into the wheel and 

lit it…. POP, the wheel seated. Don’t try this at home. 

We were soon back on the farms – great routes that 

took us past an interesting grave – I can’t remember 

exactly who, one of the generals from the Boer war, 

we were one of the few groups stopped to have a look, 

interesting place. Chatting to the organisers that 

evening, we were told that the farm still belongs to that 

generals direct descendants. Interesting. 



COLOUR SPECS: 

C0 M65 Y100 K0 

C0 M0 Y0 K100 

R227 G135 B47 

R0 G0 B0 

PANTONE 152 

PANTONE BLACK 

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Talking about historic – lunch was at the base of the 

famous Majuba Mountain – and then we headed for 

one of the highlights of the day – maybe even the 

trip. The route led into these old railway tunnels that 

burrow through the heart of a mountain… what felt like 

a kilometre of darkness and it was cold… awesome. 

Then there was an excellent trail all the way down into 

Newcastle for the evening – great views and the riding 

was very cool. 

There is always questions from the organisers, what 

did we enjoy? Was the previous year’s route better and 

so-on – nice to see that they do take suggestions. We 

had not ridden the old routes so we couldn’t comment, 

but we all enjoyed the trails. 

The venue in Newcastle – super, big fields hot showers 

and a great dinner followed by an auction where 20 odd 

grand was raised through donated goods for QASA, a 

fun evening, but I was a bit disappointed that so few 

people attended the auction – I guess everyone was 

tired - the hot weather really took it out of all of us… 

Then the fun started – Natal is truly riding paradise 

– the routes included breathtaking scenery, rocky 

mountain passes, riverbeds and all sorts – on day three 

there was not a single boring moment – and this was 

reinforced on our up ride. The variety of terrain and 

remote areas that we rode through was really beautiful 

– it makes you feel good to be alive. We were warned 

about the tendency of rural kids to throw stones at 

the bikes – my team and I had no incidents and the 

few things we heard about seemed to be small kids – 

nobody was hurt and no big rocks as far as we know. We 

were told that the team had worked hard on this issue 

and it seems that the work really paid off this year. 

The kids – and adults were friendly and excited to 

see the bikes coming through. The one sad thing that 

we experienced was when a child approached us at 

one of the stops and asked us for WATER. Something 

that we all take for granted – the drought out there 

is unbelievable. All along the roads you see barrels 

waiting to be filled by water tankers, we really were 

not sure how the local government is going to cope if it 

does not rain soon. 

Our route took us down into the Tugela valley to the 

tiny rural town of Weenen where the farmers and the 

local church hosted us for the evening. I had a flat, so 

booked the bike in with the friendly Cornel de Villiers 

in the workshop, and took off to watch the rugby in the 



COLOUR SPECS: 

C0 M65 Y100 K0 

C0 M0 Y0 K100 

R227 G135 B47 

R0 G0 B0 

PANTONE 152 

PANTONE BLACK 


farmers’ hall. I remember that we beat the Scottish 

and after a great dinner, it was time for a snooze – 

tomorrow, we were told would be a long day. 

Day 4: 

I have to shake my head, despite the organisers asking 

everyone not to leave early, the bikes started pulling 

out early on Sunday morning. We waited to avoid the 

inevitable dust gap and headed out. What a ride! We 

were greeted by a monster rock pass where everyone 

ended up getting stuck, huge fun - everyone rode 

everyone else’s bikes out – it got better – enormous 

forest trails as we headed down to the coast, perfect 

scenery great riding, fast flowing trails to our lunch 

stop in the middle of the forest. Great boerie roll and 

we left for the last leg. 

The valley of 1000 hills is a majestic place, unique 

to Zululand with vista’s and views as far as the eye 

can see. We were warned about the steep mountain 

passes… sheer drop-offs – and the guys paid attention, 

no incidents, everyone took it very easy and enjoyed 

the ride. The local people were friendly as the bikes 

thundered past this amazing, beautiful place. We saw 

what looked like a domed cathedral in the middle of 

nowhere right on top of a mountain – so we stopped to 

take a look around. That’s what this trip is about - relax 

and enjoy… 

Our refuel was something unique, we crossed a bridge 

and there was this little guy waving a chequered flag. 

We pulled up into a spaza shop and joined the very 

festive queue… the goggo who runs the place sold us 

5 litres for R80.00 good business. R16 a litre, but – no 

choice there was still a fair way to go. 

After the refuel it got better – a steep quarry and a 

great big river crossing where it felt as though every 

kid in the village was swimming. They loved the action 

and helped push bikes and quads across for the whole 

afternoon – I’m pretty sure that they will be talking 

about it until next years ride! 

For our last leg in the routes wound their way through 

sandy cane farms to the end venue at Cane Cutters. We 

understand that some people overcooked it a bit and 

the crew stayed back to sort an accident. Fortunately 

not too serious big crash, broken ribs and things. We 

arrived to the festive scene of bikes being loaded, cold 

beers and a great party and many congratulations. It 



COLOUR SPECS: 

C0 M65 Y100 K0 

C0 M0 Y0 K100 

R227 G135 B47 

R0 G0 B0 

PANTONE 152 

PANTONE BLACK 


is a pity that the organisers were stuck out there – 

they eventually only got in after dark when everyone 

was loaded and ready to head for home. We all felt 

that it would have been nice to have some form of 

presentation – hey man! Well done! You did it. 

The route back: 

If I am not mistaken, there were only a few of us 

who did the route both ways. It all started from Cane 

Cutters, a smaller group, which was actually quite 

cool. What was interesting to see was the group 

dynamic – if I’m not mistaken, we had a bit of a racing 

crowd with us on the up run as they call it – lekker but 

different. 

We found a riverbed section that we managed to miss 

on the down ride – wow – cool fun – leave a dust gap. 

I’m not going to bore you all with a day to day account, 

it was more of the same – just – backwards, and really 

quite different. The passes that we rode down, we now 

rode up –and to be frank, bar the obvious, it actually 

felt like a whole new ride a lot of the time. Once again 

an incredible adventure – well executed and fun, just 

switch off your race face and enjoy. I have ridden a lot 

– even in places like the Kalahari up north and the Tuli 

block in Botswana – but I have never been as hot and 

uncomfortable as I was on the section from Majuba 

Mountain to Standerton. It must have been 38 degrees 

with the wind howling and blowing bikes and quads 

alike around. Crazy stuff and the roads felt endless. 

There were constant reminders about fire hazards and 

I noticed that most people did pay attention, the few 

people that I did see smoking stood on wide gravel 

roads in order to avoid any unwanted sparks. 

Suddenly the last day dawned. We were sad that it 

was almost over – but glad to be getting home to my 

own bed. The last leg went by in a blur, mud, rivers 

all in reverse and suddenly in the distance were the 

distinctive spires of Carnival City. 

This time they were ready for us – we came round a 

corner – and there under the trees was a bakkie load 

of refreshments. Wow! We had done it. 

It’s not a race, but there is a real sense of 

achievement. I have to say a word about some of my 

fellow riders: 

To the people in wheelchairs who took part – it was 

great to have you there you are an inspiration. 


To the kids who rode – well done, when I saw how grown adults were 

battling along, you guys did a great job. 

To the team who looked after us on this epic adventure. I have seldom 

seen such a slick event, it is easy to understand why it is so popular. 

I can only begin to imagine how much effort goes into running an 

enormous ride of this nature. Your team was amazing – thank you! 

Once most of the people arrived under the trees, we fired up for the 

last 100metres in. It was pretty emotional crossing the road outside 

Carnival following two quadriplegics in those ginormous side by 

sides. I have to admit that I almost lost my composure when I saw 

people in wheelchairs lining the entrance to see us in and to say 

hello. It brought home to us what this event is actually all about – 

and the hot dusty roads were forgotten in the euphoria of a sense 

of achievement. 

But it was not quite over yet – the music was booming away and we 

were called up to the stage. Speeches of congratulations from two 

guys in wheelchairs who had ridden with us. Wow! That’s all there 

is to say. 

I was touched to see people coming up to stage to hand over left 

over fuel money, one of the local riding clubs collected money – and 

the team from the adventure company handed across a cheque for a 

cool 500k. Amazing! 

To everyone I met, everyone I rode with, everyone who stopped to 

say hi, thank you. This was a lifetime experience for me. I hope to be 

back. Soon. 

And to the noisy guy who kept chirping about the KTM’s (I think he 

was on a Yamaha), you guys do a sterling job, you’ll be seeing a bit 

more of me, hopefully with a few mates I’ll bring a tow rope along 

for you… 

Keep well. Thank you. 

Some event donations: 

• 5 donated wheelchairs into the community – to the Rudman family, 

Round table Ballito 

• A colour printer to a junior school. Thank you to brother copiers 

and Mustek LTD. 

• A fire fighting unit into the Inkwelo community. Money from entry 

fees. 

• About 1000 soccer balls and tennis balls with funds from parmelat 

and The Adventure Company. 

• 600 stationary packs courtesy of Bidvest Waltons stationers. 

• Loads of extra stationary from span Harde Baarde… 

• R600 000 to QASA 





COLOUR SPECS: 

C0 M65 Y100 K0 

C0 M0 Y0 K100 

R227 G135 B47 

R0 G0 B0 

PANTONE 152 

PANTONE BLACK 







COLOUR SPECS: 

C0 M65 Y100 K0 

C0 M0 Y0 K100 

R227 G135 B47 

R0 G0 B0 

PANTONE 152 

PANTONE BLACK

1511 DT Q4Q 2015

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