How often do you get the chance to go into Lesotho and take a ride to Katse dam, let me tell you how often – never often enough. You could never do that ride too many times. I have said this before and will say it again – it must be the best ride in Southern Africa – well it is my best ride. If there is a better ride, please let me know I would like to try it. It is a hard ride not a fast ride. My advice to someone wanting to do it the first time, go practice bends!! Find yourself a circle, go in at 6 o’clock and come out at 3 o’clock a few hundred times, and then you are almost ready to try the big one!!
By 09h00 we were across the border and ready to tackle the Lesotho roads. The stories one hears and the actual riding experience in Lesotho is not the same. One hears of all these stones being thrown, how bikers are injured, how unsafe it is in Lesotho etc. This must be around my 5th trip this year already and never have I been witness to any of this. Wave at the local kids before they can lift a stone, it is very difficult to throw a stone with an open hand being waved back. If this is what is holding you back from experiencing Lesotho, you are missing out on some GREAT riding!!
The start of the ride is not a hint of what is coming. The roads are good, the traffic is slow, the speed limit in built up areas and villages is 50km/hr. I wish someone would tell the taxis there, as they seem to maintain a 30km/hr curfew and they too stop were they please, one more obstacle to remember when you get there. The countryside is sweeping and the bends are gentle, so what is different to ET you may ask. Well the answer to your thoughts is not far from becoming apparent.
As you approach a boom, in the middle of nowhere, you see a sign showing 80km to Katse Dam and warning you of dangerous curves ahead. You stop at the boom, it opens for you like the starting gates at the Durban July and that, my friends, is where the fun starts. Just remember full face helmets are recommended, to stop your smile going all the way around your head. I have said this before; it is not a far or fast ride but a hard ride. What I found was that if you get into 3rd gear, leave it there. You will be able to get to the dam wall without changing down and not often up. If you get into 4th you are going too fast for the next bend, in 2nd and you are not enjoying yourself yet. There are two ways of riding the 80km to the wall, hard or slow, but never fast. I would imagine your average speed is around 50km/hr and at times that is even way too fast. There are no run-offs, unless you count a 300 or 400m vertical drop a run-off. There are very little curb walls or barriers, if you are lucky a rock face would stop you, and that is about it!! Never stray over to the right side of the road, keep your lane at all times. There are the odd vehicles coming around those blind bends in the road. Going to the dam the cliff face is mainly on your right and you may just notice rocks, boulders and stones in the right lane. No need to worry about them for now, worry about them on your way back, then they are all on your side of the road. If you have a good GPS fitted to your bike – use it now, this is where the GPS pays for itself, one ride like this and the GPS has earned its keep. Zoom in, so you see about 100m ahead of you, you will soon work out what is the most comfortable to see. Glance at the next bend as you get close to it, don’t study the GPS, glance!! You will soon get the hang of it and you will literally “see” around the corner. The signs you get on the side of the road are a rough indication that there is a bend, but the GPS shows you how tight it is. It is a great help. Once you get the hang of it the ride becomes even more fun.
You climb all the time to the highest point of the ride a lookout point at 3 106m, stop there and just admire what you have just ridden up, look down and you will see some of the best roads to ride, but don’t think that is it you have got at least another 60km of the same ahead of you. On stopping there we felt the cold again, temps showed single digits and looking around we were amazed to see so much snow and ice on the mountains and in some places ice was still evident on the roads we had just come up. All this adds to the experience and should never be seen as a hindrance or obstacle, is you look at the roads and see the rocks etc as something that makes the road “not worth riding” then you must turn around now and head back to your dreary highways and leave the fun rides to the rest of us. In this case the “less the merrier”. Once you have absorbed the scenery and the views, taken your pics and discussed the road so far, get back on your bikes, the ride is not yet over.
It is not far before you get your first glimpse of the water back-up from the Katse dam, at roughly the 50km marker you will catch site of the first water!! And to think it is another 50km before you get there, great!! You steadily descend with about the same degree of bending as what you have just come from, whenever you think it can’t carry on, you come around a bend to find another bend and another, and thank goodness it does not end. The only bit of straight/level road you will encounter since the boom gate lies ahead of you, a bridge, and some 300m of it. From the highest point to the bridge you drop down to 2 100m as you cross it. That is 1 000m drop in less than about 15kms, not bad!! You don’t actually realise the drop, your ears don’t pop, I suppose you are concentrating so much on getting around the bends and have as much fun as the roads can offer. If it is sightseeing you are after, you are on the wrong mode of transport, try being a pillion or even better, let your wife drive you in your car. Don’t try seeing the sights while riding your bike, or something worthwhile will be the last sight you see before you go over the edge of the cliff. You can stop on the bridge again, safer and easier than on the side of the road.
After the bridge, don’t expect the roads to straighten out, in fact there are still some serious bends ahead of you. The rocks will still be a factor in your negotiating the bends, but added to that is also the National beast of Burden for Lesotho – the poor Donkey. Must be the dumbest animal in the world, you will find him plodding along all on its own with sacks of mealie meal or some or other pack on its back, heading to who knows where? They seem to be well behaved and seem to know the rules of the road, but there could be a few Donkeys with Learner stickers on their butts, so just keep an eye out for them.
After a while you will be nearing the end of the road and it is with some sorrow that you see the end point, the Katse Lodge. But don’t worry too much or be too sad, you need to retrace your steps and head back the way you have just come. If you did not enjoy the ride to the dam, you certainly are not going to get any enjoyment on your way back. Luckily BMW’s and their riders, especially the GS’s all seem to have more fun than legally allowed and you will enjoy the route back. I would assume those “other” noisy bikes will be dreading their return ride by about now.
The Katse Lodge is a great place to sit back, enjoy some great food and just discuss the ride you have just completed. It’s is no use trying to plan your ride back, all you need to remember – get into 3rd gear, mind the rocks, now on your side, and don’t forget to smile. There is another 2 to 3 hours of riding to do before you get out of Lesotho, so don’t despair. The view of the dam from the various vantage points is also something to appreciate and a camera would go a long way here in explaining to those poor souls that don’t have bikes, or those that have the “wrong” bike. After something to eat, get back on your bike, turn this article upside down and retrace your steps, it’s time to have all that fun in reverse again. What was up is now down, what was a right turn is now a left turn, that rock that was on the “other” side, is now on your side – the smile however stays the same – ear to ear.
Enjoy your ride back and don’t make this the last time you ride this great road. And remember get a group photo before you go home. This recce was done by such a group, see photo below. John and I enjoyed every minute of this recce run and thanks to BMW Eco there will be another one to Mohale Dam on the 10th September again. Watch out for that write up to be published soon.
The BMW Eco route will be a little different; we will be entering from Ficksburg Border post, but don’t worry you will not miss out on any of the twisties; they start later on the route. Below is the route from the Eco venue. No need to worry about saddle sores the distance to the dam is only 182km x 2.
Written by Wymoth
Accompanied by John.
