Dirt and Trail MARCH 22

Twenty minutes later the 990 was loaded and we followed
Andrew to the farm. It took him about an hour to strip the
cable from his bike and about 10 minutes to fit it to the
990. To save time he ran it on the outside of the petrol
tank.
Andrew wanted nothing in return. He is a true hero who
lives the motto that as bikers we never leave a brother/
sister stranded. We can all take a leaf from his playbook.
The world will be a better place. A little help from a friend
saved our trip.
We started day three a full day and a half behind schedule
and it was only a four-day trip. There was no way we could
still circumnavigate Lesotho. We had to come up with
another plan. We still wanted to ride up Sani Pass and
decided to get to Himeville, the gateway to Sani Pass,
where we arrived mid-afternoon.
Maarten had hurt his ankle in the mud and we booked him
into a room at the Himeville Arms Hotel. Edward Campbell
decided to join him. Anton and I pitched our tents.
Over a cold beer, we planned our next move. Early the next
morning Anton, Edward, and I would ride the RAD KTM,
Suzuki V-Strom 1050 XT, and the KTM 990 up Sani Pass.
Early morning we hit the road. It is now tarred to the South
African border post at the foot of Sani Pass. It’s beautiful
and a treat for all who love twisties. Even if you only ride
to the border post, ride it and ride it again. It’s worth the
effort.
But we were going up the pass and glad to see the end of
the tar. Anton discovered he left his passport at home and
we had to negotiate him through the border post. Since
we were not entering Lesotho, it was not too difficult.
Don’t chance it though. Success is dependent on the
officer on duty and your ability to speak fluent SeSotho.
Fortunately, I grew up in the Eastern Free State and
learned SeSotho as a child. We got Anton through.
I have been up and down Sani Pass many times and
this was the worst I have ever seen it. Much of the dirt
between rocks had washed away and clearly, there is very
little maintenance done. If we wanted to get safely to
the top, we had to throw caution to the wind and just gun
it. Not a big issue for the KTM. It has suspension travel
for days. I was a bit worried about the Suzuki which is
obviously more road-biased.
As you get closer to the top, the gradient and number
of switchbacks increase. There are a number of sharp
off-camber turns that can easily catch you out. You can’t
lose concentration for even a second. Although a bit
too fast, second gear with a steady throttle was the only
option, we made it to the top without incident. It turns out
I had no reason to worry about the Suzuki. It was more
than up to the task.
With sighs of relief and a sense of achievement, we
parked the bikes at the top for some pictures and to rest.
The view is spectacular, possibly one of the best in the
world.
What goes up must come down and that normally takes
much less effort. You have to keep your wits about you
and rely heavily on the back brake. Grab the front brake
in a moment of insanity and you are going to pick up your
bike against a gradient. We all know how difficult that can
be.