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Seweweekspoort

It happens every time you take novices through Seweweekspoort: they can’t stop staring. It’s the kind of expression you see on men’s faces when a supermodel walks past – flabbergasted, wide-eyed amazement, with an accompanying slack jaw.

And the comparison doesn’t end there. No matter from what angle you photograph the Poort, it will always be beautiful. And the beauty just keeps on giving – every metre is a masterpiece of visual aesthetics.

But let me start at the beginning: one June, together with my former boss Lachlan Harris of BMW Motorrad, I took Leon Potgieter of Stellenbosch, Raymond Botha of George, Jan Nortjé of Kimberley and a raw Pommie from London, Phil Horton, through the Baviaans.

That evening, when the trip back to Cape Town was under discussion, I tossed Seweweekspoort into the hat of possibilities, only to discover that not one of them had been there. So I knew what had to happen.

At 11 in the morning we stopped in the middle of the Poort and I watched the group closely. It was an intimidating scene: at first you feel small because the mountains are so close, they oppress you with an excessive show of force. Once you master that, you begin to notice the colours, the red and rust, brown and black, of the rocks. The varying green shades of the plants. And then the texture of the mighty rock formations squeezed and crumpled and rumpled by forces so incomprehensible that it scares you even to think of it.

At first the men looked around a little warily, half out of the corner of their eyes. Then they began to gape and gasp their amazement and soon the digital cameras were chattering like small arms fire in a skirmish.

This is what Seweweekspoort does. It spoils you visually to the extent that you can easily overlook the section of road on the other end of the Poort, which has its own unique charm – all the way from Waterval (an incredible thin ribbon of water that tumbles hundreds of metres down the mountain) to Rooibek, just this side of Laingsburg.

It’s more open, and wider. It begs you to twist the bike’s throttle ear a little, with sheer exuberance after the earlier intimidation. The aesthetic thrills are more spread out, requiring more concentration and observation.

The solution is to ride Seweweekspoort twice, three times, four times. Until your eyes have tamed it. And then to travel the road past Rondefontein, Nietvoorby, Hartland, Suikerbosfontein, Tierkloof and Drielingskloof slowly, willing to accept that there is more for the eye in this world than any supermodel can offer.

Route grading

2

Starting point

Ladismith

Distance

113 km from Ladismith to Laingsburg

Duration

Allow three hours to give the Poort and the road beyond it an equal chance.