Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

So, what constitutes an adventure ride? Challenging yourself over difficult terrain? Going somewhere you’ve never been before? For me it’s a bit of both… I like the idea of going somewhere I’ve never been before, and no knowing what to expect when I get there. However, I’m not the sort of person to just ride off somewhere without some idea of where I’m going. Which is why I love my GPS, I can plot a route to somewhere and at least have an idea of how long it will take, where I’ll pass en route, etc. Organising a ride with two mates was a lot of hard work, and resulted in thousands of emails back and forth. First; when to go. That took about a week. Then we had to decide where we wanted to go. That took another week. I wanted to go to Die Hel, mate01 said no as he’d been there recently and it was too far, he wanted a chilled out social type of ride. Mate2 didn’t care where we went, as long as there was some technical riding involved. They also insisted on a campsite with a river so we could all hold hands and frolic in the water. Sigh, it’s so hard to please some guys, sometimes they act just like girls. So it was with this spirit of adventure I plotted a route to a small town called Bonnievale, and then plotted a 250km ride around the region, and even numerous routes we could choose for the ride back depending on our mood. map We decided on a 2 night trip. Leave Friday for a leisurely ride to Bonnievale. Saturday we’d go up to Montagu and do a giant loop around Patatsfontein, come back through Montagu, and do another loop this time incorporating Robertson and McGregor. We’d return via Greyton and Franschoek. Well, I would anyway, my mates would take a different route home. They weren’t invited to the BMWMCCC 30th birthday bash. I love the night before a trip, as I get to lay out all my kit and pack it into my panniers. Friday dawned a little gray and overcast…. But that’s okay, cause as usual, I missed it. Sunrise is completely over-rated in my opinion. I only got out of bed at about 10. I met Mate1 in Sea Point at 1pm – and we picked up Mate2 on the Sable road turn-off on the N1. Due to our late start we took the most direct route to Bonnieval via the N1 – granted it’s not the most adventurous route, but once you get passed Paarl it’s very pretty. We turned off the N1 at Worcester and followed the R60 to Roberston, where we switched to the R317 all the way to Bonnievale. What can I say about Bonnievale? Not much! The place is just one big liquor store, it has more bottle stores that the entire Atlantic Seaboard. Quite sad actually. But if it weren’t for those bottle stores, there’d be absolutely nothing in Bonnievale. The campsite we stayed at is called Riggton River Farm, and is actually very pretty, despite the dodgy Liquor Store located at the entrance. (www.riggtonriverfarm.co.za) Unfortunately the river had broken its banks and had flooded most of the camp site. riggton The owner told us this happened the night before we arrived, but I doubt it, looks like it had been that way for a couple of days. I think she didn’t want to scare off potential campers beforehand. flooded site We ended up camping right near the ablution blocks to stay out of the wind. (Good thing we were the only people there). We didn’t let the fact there were stacks of bricks and cement mixers surrounding us affect our mood either. All we had to do was look over that stuff to enjoy the mountainous scenery. camping It was also quite handy to make our fire in a borrowed wheelbarrow, so we could move the fire closer or further away as we desired. Normally I’m not a fan of mixing drinks, but we had quite few snake-bites (cider and beer mixed) the first night. Too many probably cause my mates woke up feeling rather heavy headed. I was very thankful for the gray skies in the early morning, it meant I didn’t have to get out of my tent the moment the sun rose. Our route for the day was 250kms done in a figure 8, with Bonnievale in the centre, that way we could complete the top loop and then consider whether we were up to doing the bottom loop. I’ve lived in the Western Cape for about 15 years, and I’ve never been to Montagu before. Entering the town through that hole on the rock is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular things I’ve ever seen. The sudden change in the rock formations took my breath away. I actually almost rode off the road it was so eye-poppingly awesome. road From Montagu we took the dirt road to Langkloofspruit and did a massive loop around Patatsfontein. This is a beautiful leisurely route that is ideal for beginners. It kinda feels like the Cederberg, but not quite as dramatic. on the road another pic We joined up with the tar again on the R318 heading back to Montagu, but we took a small 15km detour on some fantastic farm roads. map2 This little section was the highlight of the trip. This road was bumpy and rocky with inclines and declines as it wove between little homesteads. There are some spectacular views along the R318. r318 africa twin We stopped for a late lunch at the Montagu Hotel. Someone had placed orange cones outside the hotel obviously to stop cars parking there, but it didn’t stop us from parking our dusty bikes right at the entrance. What we didn’t know was that 40 Harley riders had booked into the hotel, and that the prime parking was reserved for them. Man, they must have been bitter when they arrived to see 3 dusty dirty bikes parked where their pristine chrome machines should have been. By now it was almost 4 in the afternoon, and my two slack mates didn’t feel like doing the second loop I’d plotted… so we headed back to Bottlevale… er… Bonnievale, where we stoked up on more booze and food and went back to our campsite. We were up fairly early on Sunday, despite having drunk more than the first night, but not so early as to see the sunrise. We had a quick breakfast, broke camp, and headed back for home. Our route back to Cape Town was via the N2, for a very short stretch before we got back on the dirt at Riversonderend. We followed the R406 all the way to Greyton where we had 2nd breakfast. Although I kept it light as I knew I’d be stuffing myself at Goederust with the rest of the BMW club. Um We stayed on the dirt from Greyton till we reached the R45, where my friends went one way and I another. I rode past Theewaterskloof dam and over Franschoek pass, arriving fashionably late at the birthday bash. Well, arriving with perfect timing actually as main course was just being served when I got there. And that is it folks, our little adventurous jaunt around McGregor not even 200kms from home. It was a lot of fun, very beautiful and a great way to spend a weekend. But next time I’m not gonna give in to my sissy friends, I wanna go to The Hell….