Short trip report: Baboon's pass

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marakasmalan
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Short trip report: Baboon's pass

Post by marakasmalan »

Hello Everybody,

We travelled Baboons Pass this weekend. Lesotho is still very dry, following a practically snowless winter and no sign of the summer rains yet.

The pass is worn out and worse for wear in a lot of places. Very rocky and it seems a vehicle with high ground clearance will be a huge advantage. It is no racetrack and it will take you the better part of a whole day to complete, but I cannot see that it should take two days for a competent driver with a suitable vehicle.

We travelled from the top down - it took 4 hours, but this allowed for a lunch stop, and two tyre-fix stops.

One of the guys in our group got a rock hitting the gears and lost all propulsion, about 7km from the finish - however he was able to finish even ahead of us (who had to stop to fix punctures) compliments of the favourable gradients.

Our average speed was 8.1 km/h, there were two reasonably fast sections of about a km each where we clocked maximum speeds of about 55km/h.

A very scenic route, no problems with locals and generally the only litter we saw along the road was one milers beer bottle in the Goliath's rock area. Camped at Ramabantha and no complaints whatsoever.

I had a german and an austrian going along, since it was not very warm we did not apply any sunscreen - we all looked like lobsters at the end of the day.

Furthermore, it may be advisable to arrange a lift to the start of the pass. From Ramabantha to The start of the pass is ±30km and it is mostly uphill with some lengthy sections that has inclinations of up to 18%. We manage to hitch a ride on the back of tipper trucks for two sections, still leaving us to paddle uphill for 20 odd km's - and at that altitude it is not fun. Even for the downhill direction, you need to be very fit. Don't cycle uphill, you'll have to be stark raking mad to do that and you will end up carrying you bicycle 80% of the route!

In summary, this pass is definitely not as diffucult as it is made to be, merely slow. Travelling with a standard DC 4x4 it may very well be a nightmare, but I saw only one bit that will be difficult with our Patrols. The possibility to damage a tyre or a diff is frequently available and this 26km can become expensive. I will reserve full comment until after December, when by when we would have done it with the 4x4's.

My opinion is that it is a lot more fun and a much bigger challenge to cycle this pass down in a decent time. Also it is the fastest way to travel the pass - I would challenge any vehicle to beat a bicycle on the the downhill direction. the potential damage you can sustain is a lot cheaper on the bicycle, though potential risk to the cyclist is much bigger thanit would be for a driver.

Regards

Marakasmalan
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Re: Short trip report: Baboon's pass

Post by ricster »

Sweeeeeeet report !!

I think the cyclists will enjoy this one .... except those uphills... :lol: :lol:
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Re: Short trip report: Baboon's pass

Post by Tinus lotz »

Thanks for the info :salute:
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Re: Short trip report: Baboon's pass

Post by Alex Roux »

Beter still, you can run it.
Babboons pass forms part of a three day stage run in April every year.
Not sure I will beat the "baie-sukkels". But uphill definitely!
Skilpad, Shortie, Toro & Masewa
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Re: Short trip report: Baboon's pass

Post by Peter Connan »

Ek het juis noudieaand vir Sonja gese, die een ding wat ek weet van fietsry is dit: wat af gaan, moet weer op...

The other thing with Baboons is of course as you know that in the course of a single night it can change almost beyond recognition.
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Re: Short trip report: Baboon's pass

Post by marakasmalan »

Peter Connan wrote:Ek het juis noudieaand vir Sonja gese, die een ding wat ek weet van fietsry is dit: wat af gaan, moet weer op...

The other thing with Baboons is of course as you know that in the course of a single night it can change almost beyond recognition.
Nee kyk, dis waar. Die Sondag het manne van EXR konstruksie dieselfde as ons gedoen, maar hulle het iemand gehad wat hulle gaan aflaai het - baie slim idee. Ook weet ek nie van 'n ander bergfietsroete waar jy die laaste 6 - 7km kan ry sonder 'n ketting nie!

Regarding the weather, definitely a big problem that there exist no proper water draining on these routes - rockfall and erosion can change this pass overnight. I understan that this year the Roof runs across Baboons, hopefully improving the situation for us.
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