Swellendam to Bonnievale and back via the railway line.

Had to goto Ashton today. Boring tar ride is the quickest way. But wait, I thought, why not take the Voorhuis/Bruintjiesrivier road to Bonnievale and from there to Ashton. Dirt, scenic, some water crossings, hopefully.
I got to Ashton and had my work done in 5 minutes, then saw a sign to a Viewpoint and decided to check it out. must have taken a wrong turn somewhere so I ended up on the koppies outside the town. Ashton looks like a cool place to live! There are km’s of roads in those koppies.

The road just seems to go on and on. Some scary uphill parts with lots of loose rocks. I went into the mountains about 2km.

Then I came across this dam. Obviously a favourite with the local “jonk en jukkerig” crowd judging by all the beer cans and condoms laying around. On a warm day it would have been nice to take a dip here, but it is overcast today.

I had a brunch in Ashton, then took the tar back. Soon I was bored with the tar and the wind and decided I’ll go back the way I came, so took the dirt road back to Bonnievale. Then back to Bruintjiesrivier. About 100m past Bruintjiesrivier theres a jeep track that turns right and follows the railway line to Voorhuis siding. I have been eyeing the railway line for a long time and decided today is the day.

The Transnet signs doesn’t say “To trespassing” just “Use at own risk” so I thought it would be OK. Anyway, the jeep track runs for about 1 km then crosses the railway line and disappears into a farm. There’s a gate there where the railway service road once ran and I could see the road but it was badly overgrown.
The road was almost non existent but I wasn’t about to turn around, so kept going. More pics in the next post.

All to soon I found myself on the wrong side of the fence, so to speak. The “road” is now 2 ruts filled with water and mud and badly overgrown. Still I pushed on. A real danger here was overgrown (hidded) muddy streams that will swallow your whole bike and that disappear into pipes that take it underneath the railway line. I had to ride on the stones on which the railway line is laid once or twice and believe me it’s quite difficult to climb onto those as it’s about a meter high and slippery because you have to approach at an angle.

I kept going stubbornly. Soon I could see the Breede River on my right. Still the road was almost non existent and I rode through one or two camps, having to open and close gates that I had to fight with to get it over young trees that had grown over it’s swing path since it was last opened. Vegetation includes pendorings and some of those yellow plants that has tiny thorns that can penetrate jeans and socks. I was glad I had the heavy duty tubes and relatively new tires on because those thorns will give punctures.

Just as I thought it couldn’t get any more difficult I saw this train bridge. I was riding right next to the tracks on the loose stones. There was no way I could keep riding there. I would have to get my bike between the tracks if I wanted to cross the bridge. I tried picking my bike over the right hand side track but it was difficult with the stones under my feet and the line looked like it was high enough to hit my sump. And off course, what would I do if a train comes!

After much huffing and puffing, I got the bike turned around and rode back, trying to find the place where the service road disappeared, because it had to go somewhere. Then I found it. I had to cut off some small trees to get the gate open. Then brave some pendorings to open it and get the bike through and close the gate once again.

Finally, I found the crossing. Protected by a loose wire gate. It was obviously a cow path and the cowsh1t was everywhere and slippery. There was an escape here to get to the main gravel road and I’m not ashamed to admit I took it, although the railway service “road” could be seen to continue on the other side.
That will have to wait for another day.