It was that time of the year again – 15 adventurous souls getting onto scooters and all manner of small motorcycles to travel from Bloemfontein, traverse the mountains of Lesotho, and then arrive at Port Edward.
The TT2Sea charity bike ride took the group accross the Maluti mountains. This was all in aid of the Beudene Day-Care Centre, a specialised day-care and therapeutic centre for children and adults with special needs.
Beulah van Aswegen, owner of Beudene, says the yearly donation from the group is a lifesaver. Last year, TT2Sea collected R200 000.
The group left Bloemfontein on Friday, 11 November, and first made a pitstop near Maseru in Lesotho to support friends taking part in the Roof of Africa enduro event the next day.
Wayne Thompson, one of the group members, says they mainly stuck to the dirt roads.
On the Sunday they completed 126 km to Thaba-Tseka before riding down the Sani Pass.
“En route from Sani Pass down to Himeville, some of the bikes developed some altitude sickness,” Wayne says about the hiccups coming down the pass.
“When that was sorted, we headed off to the Weza-Ngele Forest. On this road we discovered our trailer’s chassis had broken and we arrived at Weza in the dark.”
On 16 November they completed the shortest part of the route and arrived at 14:00 for some much-needed rest before returning home on Friday (18/11).
This was the eighth year the group completed the journey – facing all kinds of adversities, like having to complete the 2020 tour within the borders of the Free State.
Still, they attest to having fun.
“We would not have been able to do this without lots of support from companies getting involved,” Wayne says.
Some of the participants in this year’s TT2Sea came all the way from England. There was even a rider from the Czech Republic.
