Two wheels, no shortcuts.
Nick has spent two decades exploring South Africa on two wheels — with a loaded rolltop kit bag behind him he followed the kind of routes that separate a holiday from an adventure. His travels range across the length and breadth of the country, from remote back roads to routes most riders never find, though it's the drylands of the Karoo, Bushman land and the Kalahari that keeps pulling him back.
Often accompanied by rally like route notes, as well as the bikes and gear that got him there. Nick recounts the moments — good and bad — that only happen when you're exposed to the elements on two wheels.
(Southern Cape/Gouritsmond — written for BIKE SA in 2016.) Back in the heady days of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, my friend, David “Sensei” Lowe and I, decided to show solidarity with the SA cause; and, sporting some pricey Bafana Bafana supporters’ shirts over our riding gear, headed up the southern Cape coast to a […]
Taking off soon after arriving at The Dunes resort in Keurboomstrand, I realised what a well-positioned place this was to begin an adventure ride from. Even though you have to do a fair bit of tar before the dirt track to Oyster Bay en route to Cape Saint Francis, the N2 in these parts is […]
Long-time adventure biker, freelance travel journalist and author of Circling the Great Karoo, Nick Yell, tells us how his love affair with riding motorbikes through the region started and summarises its appeal for adventure riders. He also lists three of his favourite routes. My love of riding dual-purpose motorbikes through the Karoo started with […]