Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

What do you get when you take a brave and intrepid ride leader - Oh Captain (& crème soda) my Captain! Add in a mob of disparate yet eager adventure riders, a more or less equal mix of 800's and 1200's and you have all the ingredients for a real live adventure. And so our brave explorers gathered bright and early one Friday morning for breakfast at the Winelands Wimpy to fortify themselves against the tribulations sure to follow.

The Gathering of the Clan

 

We set forth after the ride briefing - safety always first - and headed out of Cape Town on the N1 and through a cool and misty DuToitskloof pass towards our first stop (Robertson) where tyre pressures were adjusted for the dirt before winding our way on very good gravel (such as is found in the lands bisected by the N1 and N2) through Swellendam , Suurbraak and Riversdale - then inland toward Calitzdorp where we met up with Ian his bunch of roadies (who from the sounds of things - had just as much fun on their journey from Cape Town too)

 

Something cold in Calitzdorp

 

The Council of Five….

                                        Our route for Day 1

And our first overnight stop in Oudtshoorn, where after a shower we had a delicious and entertaining dinner at the Black Swan - a distance of a little over  530 km today of good gravel - the kind that started off nice and easy and got progressively more interesting without ever pushing the envelope . The second day of our tour was to prove considerably more exciting….

 

Chilling in Oudtshoorn

The evidence is clear – I see a straf-dop coming…

A nice relaxed start out of Oudtshoorn today (after all we only have less than 300 km to do today chaps!) heading toward Prince Alfred over the magnificent Swartberg Pass (in the Gamkaskloof Wilderness Valley – which some might know by a slightly different name – a rose by any other name…, or just simply one Hel of a coincidence) , of course pausing for photo op's at the top of this magnificent pass

                              Self Catering - Right..........

                                 The bare Statistics

                                      Ben & Nikky

                          Mmmmm  - No B&B either

                           Adrian, Pierre, Mike & Ben

Man on a Rock?........

 

 before twisting and turning our way down the other side

 

                                    Stick on a Rock?

                          Rock on a Rock - hehehehe

 Even stopping at the aptly named "Eerstewater" to take Arno's fathers good advice "that if the opportunity presents itself to drink from a cold clear mountain stream, that you prostate yourself on your tummy and drink your fill" - we did just that - sweet, cold, mountain water - truly the nectar of the Gods. Little did we know they were laughing in their sleeves at what they had in store for us later that day!

                Sweet Mountain Water.......Mmmmmm

 

And so onto Prince Alfred for a welcome err coffee break (well some of us had coffee - and cake) hehehe at the Swartberg Hotel, imagine that - a real live colonial hotel in Prince Alfred - forsooth!

 

Post our colonial refreshments we remounted and headed toward destination Willowmore, on one of the few gravel roads in the Western Cape that even our intrepid leader has never ridden before (there are probably not too many of those around anymore).  And that's where the fun started - Geoff shared with me later that he didn't even spot it - that’s how innocuous it was - but suddenly we found ourselves in a wall to wall sandpit - and the next thing you know it was clouds of dust, sand plumes off spinning wheels, paddles, sand wobbles and Yes one or two spills from over-eagerly applied throttles through to the other side......

                             Playing in the sandpit....

And that was just the beginning, the thrills and spills were just getting started. At some point we stopped to regroup so Nurse Nikky (nudge, nudge, wink, wink......) could give Kobus a errr helping hand (Oi! Keep it tidy.......) with a Voltaren shot after couple of nudges by the sand monster.

 

And we were on our way again on the unridden road, with enough stretches of sand to keep you on your toes (literally) and concentrating hard in the fearsome Karoo heat. The sand pits appeared with an almost monotonous regularity now and lo and behold, one of them thinking that Mike looked just a little too comfortable on his 800, reared its head and as quickly as one could say - sand monster - Mike was having a little lie down in the sand - with what we didn't know then a broken elbow for his troubles. And that's when we discovered that special brand of camaraderie that took the aforesaid motley bunch of disparate adventure riders and moulded them into a team which look out for each other and pull together to help a fallen comrade.......it took a bit of time to ride ahead to where there was anything like mobile phone reception to let Geoff know what had happened and summon help - but by the time I returned with said help, Arno had already been back to the closest farmhouse and arranged to store Mikes bike and summoned an ambulance. Rob, Charles and Arno stayed with Mike until the ambulance arrived before catching up with the rest of our small group on our way to link up with our main group again. Thankfully there were no more spills and our only 300 odd km day ended rolling into Willowmore where we checked into our overnight stop at the Willows just before 6, and where we lost no time enjoying the welcome relief of the swimming pool and a few ice, ice cold ones whilst looking forward to some truly traditional Karoo fare - Just what was needed after a hot and dusty day in the saddle Ahhhhhhhh!

            Well deserved drinks after a hot and dusty day

                                    A drop of the Irish....

 

Dinner was a festive and delicious affair, the banter flowing along with the wine –

                                       Day 2's route

Later, Genghis (Now there's got to be a story to that name.....) - the Willows mascot graciously allowed us to take some photos reclining in his favourite chair

 - a little like Rob - reclining in his favourite chair too, albeit a little more relaxed - lol.......

Man in a chair……

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear for our 16 nervous adventure riders - who gathered after a quick breakfast for the mornings ride briefing - This is what we were here for - The magical Baviaans-kloof awaits.....It’s been said that if you ask 1000 Adventure riders which South African route they would most like to ride – you’d get a pretty unanimous Baviaanskloof. This group would be no excepttion.

The Calm before the storm..

 

Our fearless leader had obviously given this some thought, as in very short order he managed to terrify us with the description of what we were in for today, only ameliorated a little by Charles’ wise counsel - a brave heart and a cool head would see us safely through to the other side.......

So we headed the 20 or so km out of Willowmore and on toward the Kloof - easy rolling farmlands where we ambled along at a steady clip into the hills.....

BaviaansOog loomed - rising imposingly out of the innocuous farmland guarding the portal to the fabled Baviaanskloof - where in short order we gathered to sign the Parks Board entrance permit and pay our toll - the excitement was palpable as the last of the snorkels were fitted in preparation for the unknown.....

Now it gets serious.

And so into the Kloof we ventured, moving from West to East. This is what Adventure riding is all about. With Baviannskloof you’re never 100% sure what you’re going to get in terms of water. We got some beautiful albeit very shallow water crossings and streams and considering the drought like conditions in most of our country a fair amount of water – with only one or two out of them even close to half wheel depth. – depending on your chosen line.

 

I had one step –up which went to wheel depth, but then again I did take the opposite line to everyone else. The diversity of terrain is probably one of the things which make this stretch of road something very special. One minute you’re creeping through low hanging trees, over dusty cobbles where the water has long since dried, then deep canyons and long stretches of mud where it hasn't – (Tony made a special point of investigating one or two of these stretches of mud at close range) long rolling hills, steep passes – Look up, Stand Up and commit – it’s all or nothing - don't look down and don't dare to stop.

We’d been riding in the Kloof now for a little while – Hot work – So happening upon a wide stretch of open water a km or two before Smitskraal seemed like the ideal opportunity to cool off with a swim – So it was off with the ATGATT and into the river. Some locals from Patensie driving through the Kloof from the opposite direction also happened along and wasted no time joining us in the water….. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves – after all this is a family show – lol!

                               Swem Jannie, swem!

All too soon it was time to suit up and move on - Smitskraal and the longest water crossing in the Kloof – whilst not deep is interesting in that the cricket/ baseball to small melon sized cobbles provide an uncertain base to negotiate. Add to that by the time Charles, Arno and I crossed the water was muddied and stirred there was no question of being able to pick a good line and ride it. Nonetheless there were no surprises or incidents and our little group passed through safely.

                                                    

                               Charles and Mr Badger

                            Rob - out of his chair - lol

                                           Adrian

                                             Pierre

                      

Continuing through the Kloof as we moved toward  the Western end of the Baviaanskloof – we next encountered a yet more magnificent and rugged mountain pass, this one differentiated by what used to be cement twee-spoor (obviously conceptualized some years ago to assist 4x4 traffic through the steep and rocky passes and which has now weathered, deteriorated and broken in a number of places) – This really resulted in some interesting riding – because with the passing of time and erosion – the ground between the spoor is badly weathered. In some places, the spoor itself has been undercut with water run-off to such a point that there are bits of unsupported cement spoor that can break off whilst you’re riding on them. Arno had at least one of these which gives the unsuspecting rider at the very least a big fright and has the potential to be quite dangerous.  There were a number of front rims which bore the brunt of this challenging section.

This was first gear - running it down against compression, trying to pick and follow a decent line through the rock, wash-away and deteriorating spoor, hugging the wall, the sheer drop off waiting to suck an inattentive rider into its maw kind of stuff. I know this from hard experience – as my last visit to this part of the world didn’t end well –

December 2012 – The Baviaans Adventure that ended painfully….

But as the old salts will tell you – experience and time in the saddle is a wonderful thing and the whole group negotiated the pass safely and emerged excited and invigorated on the other side.

what’s this weighting the back wheel all about……

 

Shaun picked up a front wheel puncture as we wound our way out of the Kloof – which was quickly fixed in the midday heat. This last section is characterised by hard pack gravel with deep eroded ruts where you need to take care to pick a good line so as not to be caught unawares on the wrong side – else you’re in for a tricky jump across the sloot, waiting to snag a carelessly placed wheel.

Then it was through the exit gate and out of the Kloof on the Patensie road – a quick fuel stop to refuel  at Humansdorp and a short 80 km run to the beautiful Tsitsikamma Village Inn where the traditional lap of honour was foregone in deference to the other guests.

Our route today - Day 3

And then some of the guys paid a visit to the local micro-brewery

to check out how the good stuff is made

And check out some of the vintages on show

 

Dinner on Sunday night was filled with excited chatter - and a hefty straf-dop for our long suffering Captain

The last day of our whirlwind tour began with the Bloukrans pass on the R102 toward Plettenburg Bay. This magnificent pass is sadly closed to vehicular traffic - but very easily passable on a motor cycle. It’s quite sad to see how this beautiful piece of history is slowly deteriorating and being reclaimed by Mother Nature.

Anyway on to Natures Valley  via Kaaimans Pass  (who’s claim to fame is the most dangerous pass in SA) – due to the steep gradient and sharp bends – a dream  come true for your Adventure rider Pilot, not so much for cage riders.

Shortly after this the group split – the dirt riders heading off toward the coast (hugging the coastline from Plettenbeg Bay, Mossel Bay, Vleesbaai, Bredasdorp and finally back into Cape Town) whilst the rest of us stayed on tar toward Knysna, passing through Albertinia, Riversdale, Swellendan – onto the R60 through Ashton, Rawsonville and finally home. Duty called – and there were still things to be done before financial year end….

Homeward bound - Day 4

So in closing - All's well that ended well - Everyone arrived safely back in Cape Town late on Monday.

Mike's recovering well from his elbow surgery - although he sadly missed out on completing his 21st Cycle Tour.

The monster is beaten, the dragon is slain - and here endeth our tale......