Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

That we did ourselves a favour to add margin to our holiday by taking a day off before and after the this 4020km trip is a gross understatement.  Today, after the trip, I realise how much it is allowing me to savour the many special moments, as well as the long slow riding. Geoff, thanks again and again from the two of us.  Your ability to keep us going, organised and amply catered for is amazing.  I'm still thinking of chirping about passing you (once, on a straight, when …) but I know, best to say no more :-)

However allow me to add a chirp about the trip:

Day1+2: The morning in Graaff-Reinet the moon was going down as we walked a few blocks away from the Camdeboo Guest House, to see the magnificent NG Kerk.  That evening had been an opportunity to meet our new friends (some old and some even OLDer than us), who had already shown they could ride – leaving Melkbosstrand at 05:10, starting at 06:00 from the Winelands OneStop and lunching at Outdshoorn, we had totalled 740km for the 1^st day.  Our room, originally built in the early 1800s, with beams for floor-boards, was comfortable and the food was great – this is going to be a good trip!

Graaff-Reinet Day2

Morning Walk

 A shorter ride to St Augustines Priory, Modderpoort (north of Ladybrand) was only marred by the pot-holed roads from Vanstandensrus all the way to Ladybrand.  The R26 is a must to ride because the scenery is exquisite and it has even more potential than the R62, but the farmers in the Eastern Free State are just not repairing their roads fast enough.  A boer kan mos ‘n plan maak – praat met julle regering manne.  The Priory has been revamped into an Inn with expansion plans and if you can be still, this is the place to come and rest.

Single Quarters

Drinks on the patio

Evening setting in

Pack before breakfast Day3

Day3+4: Lesotho here we come.  We all showed our excitement – except for Tony who had done it all before, by goat track – and after catching Lynne and making her turn back to get her passport stamped on the Lesotho side of the boarder, we were heading for the mountains.  Come to think of it Lynne, I still think you owe Etha a drink for being so persistent and convincing me to stop you.

Geoff had lectured everyone on the dangers – animals, ice, stones, stone throwers, (we had a cow dung hit on our pannier – the bugger must have been so thrilled he actually got us), corners tightening up… SO Mrs BikerChick was nervous and we had to keep Pegasus in check.  The photos do not capture the extent of the 120km plus of twist and turns to get the Katse Village on the other side of the dam wall.  Fortunately although each corner is different there are enough of them and Mrs BikerChick regained her confidence.  So after a couple of photo stops we could set out after the fast group who were by now no longer visible.  A rock on the road, an edge break and a steep slope caught out some.  The result, a bent rim (fortunately with no pressure loss), a scratched cylinder head and a broken foot peg.

Lesotho

Katse Dam Wall

Having arrived at the Katse Village, there was enough time for tittervating before the booze cruise at 1600.  Some guys had the sense to order toasted sandwiches to line their stomaches.  So off we went, down to the water’s edge [ including two K1600GTL doing the GS thing for a few 100m].  The bit of dirt was steep but all the road bikes had traversed the 660m of gravel to get to St Augustine’s Priory, so no one batted and eyelid – actually when your eyes are closed the lids can’t move hmm…  Perhaps this is an appropriate time to mention that by this time each one of the men who can ride – ALL THE MEN – had given Lynne some strategic bit of advice on how to overcome the stress of slow speed u-turns etc.  The resultant clashing advice and zero time to practice took its toll.  The RT was getting more scratches from each side stand incident but Lynne gracefully kept smiling (afterwards, sometimes a while afterwards) and continued to listen to all our advice.  Lynne your courage amazed Etha and me, we salute you.  You’re a champion and we hope to be on trips with you again.  After the cruise I carefully went through all my photos and could find no incriminating evidence of boozing while cruising – I guess the scenery captivated our attention.

Booze Cruise Smile

Die Baas

Eish dis mooi

Sit and Look

Breakfast Without Eskom

We eat like kings again – I guess you’ve heard Daniel actually told this guy (he was a guy once) who king Nebuchadnezzar had put in charge of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah that vegetables were better for them, “and at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the kings delicacies”.  Well we were heading in the opposite direction, kings food for breakfast and dinner for ten days on tour.  I tried to correct by not snacking for lunch, as the food at all our venues was just too good to miss out on any of it.

Riding out of the mountains the next day was even more fun.  We had an idea of what was coming and ‘scary cat’ Eileen transformed into a mid-corner hand waving pillion who was clearly enjoying every minute of the twisty corners/hairpins/shear cliffs that are steep J.  We were following them and Mrs BikerChick’s commentary on the interphoneF4 was now limited to ‘rotse, water in daai skaduwe, ys!’ – not one threat of reprisals that evening nor any requests to slow down.  We left by a different boarder post near Fouriesburg, having entered near Ficksburg the previous day – painless with short queues , just get off/ get on / get off / get on – watch for dodgy passport stamp avoiders.

Geoff had given in to ‘Roadies’ pressure and volunteered a coffee stop for 60:00.00 minutes in Clarens.  After having passed through on previous occasions without stopping I now saw how quaint the village was and there was much revising of all the corners and hazards while we enjoyed crumpets and coffee in a shady garden.

Clarens Crumpets

Golden Gate Nature Reserve followed.  The lighting was perfect from the West for photos but as we heading for Inkungu Lodge in the Drakensberg (near Champagne Castle) no stops were in the schedule.  We then had forced stops for three punctures, on the most disgusting completely shot tarred road I’ve come across.  They took up whatever time we could have used for photos but thanks to the compressors (Chris/Harold) and the skills (Geoff/Garth) we were on our way again.

Champagne Castle was covered in cloud when we arrived at Inkungu Lodge – easy to find once you’ve been there ;-) – Lynne calmly ignored the bikes behind her and successfully made the u-turn.  Mrs BikerChick yanked me up to stand, ‘boude uit’ came the instruction over the interphoneF4 and we followed Lynne to the correct entrance.  The Lodge could not accommodate everyone but on the estate there are many privately owned cottages where the rest of us stayed.  Sarel vat tog net volgende keer ‘n haardroeer saam vir you vrou.  Daai rooikop moet pal netjies lyk.  Photos of the berg are hard to select because the scenery is stunning, I hope the SLR camera boys share their photos (Sarel, Pierre, Tersius ...)

Autumn

Come Look

Drinks on Patio (Again)

Say No More

Happy Girls

Day5+6: Relaxing in that environment is easy, the weather stayed ideal and we lazed away the morning after, you guessed, a kings dinner and breakfast.  The lunch at Champangne Castel Hotel which some of us considered turned out to be drinks only and lunch was at the Valley Bakery.  Harold drew attentions the remarkable ice-blue eyes of our hostess and her two girls and somehow word got out that it was his birthday (I’m saying nothing).  The ‘Happy Girls are the prettiest’ all gathered to sing him happy birthday – cupcake and candle in hand.  The bakery is obviously well known in the area and makes all the lekker goodies.

By now the routine was well established and no amount of protesting from Belinda could stop Etha, Chris and myself enjoying a good bottle of dry red.  Belinda, Chris owes us nothing, you on the other hand are indebted forever and MUST grace us with your bubbling energy on the next trip.  Pierre had become a soft target and was volunteering for strafdoppe at every opportunity.  I want to be the guy who nominates you when you choose to join the club Pierre.  Mike, we met you properly that night, 70! Eish gammy leg and all.  Not even loosing a top-box descending the mountains in Lesotho could dampen your enthusiasm.  Francois, don’t tell your company executives about your biker wife, we must keep it a secret – our biker chicks are really naughty sometimes and if the word gets out … Noelene will be shown up by some photos of her curled up on the lounge sofa under a blanket of cushions and so the list goes on.  Mads, I’m sure Harold would not have told us about his birthday so good for you!  We ended up getting champs around the ‘rim-flow’ pool and top-box giggled birthday cake form the Valley Bakery.  I would have been satisfied by the constant teasing Harold was subjected to for nursing his 1600 carefully over all the bumps but no, birthday celebrations it was to be.  Nickie we all accept the free fitting of kidney belts you have offered – can we renegotiate the +50% mark-up on the belt though?  Bugger the belt, I want some of that Namibian biltong in your freezer.  What one finds out on tour stays nowhere, it’s valuable info that must be shared for the greater good.  John and Des, you guys survived that dented rim – great control of that RT John and we are all thankful that we experienced the Lord’s protection while having so much fun.  Jagermeister Tersius, I’d still be coughing if you had not FORCED some of your mooty on me.  Don’t you want to check the vibes on your new water-cooled GS by swapping bike with me again, for a day this time  – that’s after they make a mod to the gearbox that will stand up to that snazzy gear-change technique you use – no clutch, or what was it now again?  That mooty stops the cough but clears the memory as well.  The group was so big but Mrs BikerChick and I will remember each and everyone of you, Garth for hugging the 2^nd spot – maar jy kan maar, jy kan ry boetie, kry nou net jou lisensie, Deon for being unbeatable in the corners, just strafdop averse so he does not pass Geoff and for the accurate weather reporting.  Johan and Dulcie, how can you swim in water that cold – het julle ouers jullie nie geleer mens kan nie sulke goed aanvang nie.  Keith must be mentioned last, sweeper must be last after all.  Sweeper with the fastest bike sweeping up the ‘slowest’ fastest bike.  Your prescription: take a quick solo ride to Margate to visit the family and get it out of your system.  Henri and Louise, the dancing prize goes to them.  Henri contributed all the exotic moves – just in case the grandchildren read this.  Tony without Adrienne we would be in serious trouble – thanks the Pinocchio warnings keep us on the straight and narrow so we know when he is pulling our leg J  Jimmy (Gé), you’ll have to practice Seeman for the next trip.  We’re going to expect a solo.

Morning Day6

Day6: So now the gang was firmly established and when we set off for Matatiele there was no jockeying  for a riding spot, plenty of reassurance we could handle the odd puncture and sidestand incident and only a good road to enjoy.  At Howick Falls we stopped again for a roadies coffee break, then on to Mount Fletcher and Kokstad.  At Matatiele we could enjoy the compulsory ‘tittervating’ before supper – remember this is a road trip report with lots of ‘Happy Girls are the prettiest’.  The late afternoon walk through the village, some bell ringing to negate strafdoppe and a leg of mutton for supper was followed by some ‘cough mixture’.  The Rest Haven Guest House is not to be missed.

Matatiele

Day7: Henri, dit was nie ‘n bevlieging nie.  All I wanted to do on the Ugie – Langeni Forest road was have some fun.  If you had been at my side, Geoff would have shown some sympathy for passing everyone.  That K1300GT can do it – especially with that Ackrapovic singing its merry tune.  At the lookout on top of the Langeni pass Garth had to repair a puncture – out came Chris’ compressor again.  Too our amazement it was a splinter that had gone neatly trough the Michelin Tourance.  Mrs BikerChick and I could not keep up with Chris and Belinda down the pass and fortunately there was enough room for all of us when some quick stopping for cattle showed up the poor performance from a defective rear break on Sarel’s RT.  Sticking to safe riding technique stays a winning combination, especially when in a large group.  The ride through the Transkei was fun, especially the passed in and out of the Kei Cutting and some beautiful roads down to Cintsa. 

Henri at Langeni Day7

Me and Mrs BikerChick

Day 8: Crawfords Cabin had the biker gang for two nights and the band on Friday night was playing all the song this old toppie knows!  During the day some road to Trenneries, crossing with the pont, some walked the beach, some visited coffee shops nearby. By now the kings delicacies had forced my hand an a visit to a chemist (18km of twisty fun riding) was thrown if for my benefit.  The weather had been threatening the whole day and that night it let loose.

Crawfords Cabins

WakeUp it's Day8

Little Boxes at sea

Day9: Notwithstanding Deon’s weather report, I was optimistic in the morning only to be soaking wet by the time we stopped in East London – too be continued