RUST magazine: RUST#42

Long Termer
w
on his KTM 990 Adventure, with buddy
Paul van de Pol in hasty pursuit on his
Yamaha Ténéré 660, there was nothing
for it but to go with them. On the
gravel the V-Strom on its Karoo Streets
felt secure and there was no issue in
matching the KTM for speed. Only in
the technical sections, especially where
deep holes challenged the Suzuki’s soft
suspension, was it difficult/impossible
to keep up. But any time lost in the
slow stuff was made up on the gravel,
the Suzuki can really fly on this stuff.
Hats off to Michel, though, he was
combining speed and navigation to am
expert level.
Now if there was one standout
challenge to the event it was easily
the camping. Overnight temperatures
dropped to -2ºC (28ºF) and with
my sleeping bag rated to only 0ºC
(optimistically I’d say) I was laying my
Giant Loop bags and Scott Dualraid suit
over the sleeping bag to try and retain
some warmth. The upside was the
camaraderie that went with this as each
morning, together with Michel and
Paul (the flying Dutchmen), Scottish
Steve, Harry Enfield, Mark A-C and even
Jordan Gibbons from MCN, we would
be stamping our feet, sharing coffee
and counting the minutes until the
kitchen opened for breakfast.
AND BACK AGAIN
The return trip was almost brutal.
The 400 miles nearly all on highway/
motorway with conducted with just
120
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