Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Last year I promised Adrienne I’d show her some of the roads that I’ve been criss-crossing with the Club over the past few years – en belofte maak skuld .

So there I was working the phones trying to arrange accommodation only to get the “sorry, but we’re fully booked”. Fortunately one of my office colleagues put a stop to my ever increasing frantic phoning and explained that it was school holidays. Not one to be easily put off, the trip dates were shifted to the following week and the phoning and emailing recommenced. A little nifty footwork with HR to cancel the original leave request and reapply with the new dates and 48 hours later we were all set – leave approved and accommodation confirmed and paid.

Fortunately the few extra days left ample time to finalise all those pesky little details that make trip planning so much fun – route planning, sourcing soft luggage, house/dog sitter, packing, etc. Routes were carefully mapped, including “escape routes” in case of foul weather and/or pillion revolt. Warren graciously volunteered the use of his Wolfman saddlebags and Martin (our regular dog sitter) was confirmed. It was all systems GO at the Schlee household.

Soon little piles of clothing, snacks and assorted biking gear started appearing in the spare room. We were due to leave on Friday 2^nd May – a serendipitous date as the Thursday was a public holiday. This allows lots of time to calmly evaluate 5 or 6 different packing strategies and still get a good night’s rest.

Friday morning dawned, we gave Hunter a final biscuit (nothing beats a little bribery to make you feel better) and left home just after 8 heading out on the compulsory tar 1^st sector to DuToitskloof, Slanghoek and finally coffee in Ceres. A nice, easy ride in the crisp morning air to settle the nerves. All those “what-ifs” rattling around in your mind - what if we’ve forgotten something, it rains, we run out of fuel, the GPS misbehaves, we fall and need Pratley Steel to repair the bike, will the dog be OK, and many more crazy thoughts, all brought on by the stresses of our modern lifestyle. Fortunately we were headed out of the city and into the countryside where the demons were soon left far behind.

A quick dash up Gydo Pass and onto Op-die-Berg, turn right and FINALLY …

gravel ahead, stop to deflate tyres. Yeeha!

(for the technically inclined, I run 2.6/3.0 on tar and deflated to 1.8/1.8)

A thorough inspection to check that all the soft luggage is still securely attached (don’t want to lose Warren’s Wolfman bags J) and we’re off again. Next stop, Cederberg Oasis.  The road to Oasis is in good condition, the landscape is beautiful, the sun is out and we have the road all to ourselves – biker heaven. We arrive at an almost deserted Oasis and after some chit-chat Chantal disappears into the kitchen to make some toasted ham, cheese and tomato sarmies with chips.

The Dog Whisperer

A few bikers arrive a little later and we chat about routes, road conditions and “all-things-bike”.

We finish our sarmies, say our goodbyes and head for Clanwilliam via Kromrivier, Uitkyk Pass and Jamaka on a slightly bumpy road with a little bit of “stuff” here and there. Not too bad though - I’ve seen far worse stuff before and even have a lovely desktop ornament to prove it.

Cederberg

Let's Ride

We refuel and setoff on the final sector for the day heading in the direction of Klawer following the Olifants River. We turn NE and cross the Nardous Kloof and Kraaibosberg Pass towards Papkuisfontein farm.

The landscape is rapidly getting more remote and stark with each passing kilometre. 

The roads have become tweespoor farm tracks. We’re getting close to our destination. One more gate to open and we’re almost there. As my somewhat inexperienced personal gate-opener fiddles with the gate I notice the rather odd looking surface immediately beyond the gate. A smooth, perfectly flat, light brown surface, totally unblemished, snaking into the distance. Looked like one of those new-fangled colour cement floors that are so popular lately.

I ride through the gate, recollect my pillion and off we go, when suddenly I get that STUFF feeling. The front wheel digs in and the bike starts wallowing, threatening to eject us both. It’s sand my brain screams, the main component of STUFF, my very own nemesis.

I’ve sort of come to terms (more like a temporary truce) with sand and have developed my own unique, albeit slow, technique to cross short sandy expanses. After stabilising the bike (by deploying the outriggers), some big breaths, a few sips of water and dealing with the pillion’s insistence to get off and walk, I thought to myself - “how bad can this really be? this will probably end around that corner 50m ahead”.

Around the next corner

Major wishful thinking error. The STUFF, in its various guises, continues unabated for the next 15km – sometimes not too bad, other stretches are somewhat more interesting. Finally as we round the umpteenth corner we see our destination, Oudrif overlooking the Doring River.

We are welcomed by Jeanine and Bill and are soon settled in our very own straw bale cottage. No electricity (solar power only), no cell reception, and no traffic – in fact, nothing but unspoilt vistas and deafening silence. Takes a while for us city slickers to get used to the nothingness, but then it’s absolutely friggin’ awesome.

Oudrif

 Straw Bale Cottage

Sunset over the Doring River

That evening the mystery of the cemcrete access road was solved. The farmers regularly drag a large metal plate behind their bakkie (SUV) to smooth out the corrugations and “middelmannetjie”. Simple!

Saturday morning we joined Bill on a little walk to go see the San rock art across the river.

Rock Art 

The rest of the day was spent eating, drinking and generally doing nothing – bliss.

All too soon it was Sunday morning and we were preparing to leave for our next stopover – Gannaga Lodge in the Tankwa National Park. First order of duty, deal with the 15km of freshly scraped sand. Fortunately riding this section a 2^nd time was not as traumatic as 2 days earlier and we were soon heading towards Klawer on fairly good but wet gravel. Re-fuelled in Vanrhynsdorp and took the R27 towards Nieuwoudville up the stunning Van Rhyns Pass.

Knersveld 

We spent a few fruitless minutes aimlessly wandering around Nieuwoudville looking for somewhere to get a bite to eat. Unfortunately Nieuwoudville is closed for business on Sundays, so we left town on the Oorlogkloofspad and Soutpanpad towards the R355. Temperatures were in the mid-teens, the road was in good condition and deserted, so we made good time.

Middle of ... 

A short burst along the comparatively busy R355 before we turned into the Tankwa National Park. The road was jam-packed with vehicles (and people) of all descriptions heading home after AfrikaBurn.

AfrikaBurn Site 

We pushed on as the weather was closing in rapidly and we still had to negotiate Gannaga Pass. It has been a few years since I last rode through the Tankwa and I’d forgotten all about the black, sandy (very sandy in places ) tweespoor that covers much of the route to the foot of the pass. We battled along with only one minor dismount (luckily with only slight damage to my ego) and some minor clutch burning. Progress was slowish. The clouds became more threatening and the light was fading with every passing minute. My mind started racing again - would we get through the tyre-sucking tweespoor before the rain, would we be forced to ride the pass in the dark, or should we turn back and head for Stonehenge.

20km to the Lodge

Just past Maansedam (where you turn sharp left onto the road to Gannaga Pass) things took a turn for the worse. The track changed to a badly rutted clayey surface stitched together with large dongas AND it started raining. I think we got pretty close to the world record for getting rain gear on.

The next 10km to the start of the pass proper were, uhm ..., "interesting". The track turned into a greasy skid pan, the rain and low cloud cover reduced visibility to a couple of metres and it was suddenly dark at five in the afternoon. Fortunately the actual pass has been well constructed and we were relieved to re-gain traction as we continued to climb upwards in the clouds. Shortly after reaching the top of the pass we arrived at Gannaga Lodge, wet yet exhilarated and happy.

We unpacked and spread our wet gear out in the voorkamer – we had the restored old farmhouse house all to ourselves after all. A quick hot shower, dry clothes and we were ready for a drink or two and dinner.

The Old Farmhouse

Over drinks at the bar, Johann explained how the Lodge came to be located on private ground within the Tankwa National Park. SANParks wanted to buy the farm to extend the Park and Johann wanted to preserve a piece of his family’s heritage. After quite a bit of negotiating, SANParks agreed to allow Johann to kept 20 hectares of the original farm.

The following morning after an “ordentelike brekfis” we said our goodbyes to Johann and took to the road. A short 30km ride through the Roggeveld Karoo with clear blue skies and crisp, clean, the-morning-after-rain air to visit the Boerboels at Middelpos.

Roggeveld - GS Country

Not much happens in Middelpos on a Monday morning and even the beautiful Boerboels couldn’t dispel the feeling of depression that seemed to permeate the town.

Boerboel - Middelpos

We didn’t stay long and headed for Sutherland, about 80km away.

Autumn Colours

After a stop for coffee in Sutherland we headed out of town on the R354 for a couple of kilometres before turning left towards Merweville. We took our time to cover this stunning 100km stretch, stopping often in absolute awe of our surroundings (and 8 times to open gates ). The view of the Great Karoo from the top of Rammelkop Pass cannot be described in words, and unfortunately my photographic skills (or should that be lack of skills) also do not do it justice. You will have to go look for yourselves .

Sutherland to Merweville

Great Karoo

Rammelkop Panoramic

All too soon we were in Merweville and back on tar en route to Prince Albert where we checked-in at the Karoo View Cottages.

Karoo View Cottages

Tuesday dawned with perfect riding weather - clear skies, mild temperatures and no wind - so after a leisurely breakfast at the Lazy Lizard we left for a short ride up the Swartberg Pass and down into Die Hel.

This route has it all - sweeping curves, sharp corners, rocky sections, a bit of loose stuff, short water crossings, steep declines and inclines, scary drop-offs - and this all wrapped in a majestic landscape. We had homemade bread and jam for lucnh, with strawberry cheesecake for dessert at the Plaaskombuis in the Kloof. We chatted to Marinette about the history of the valley and how her family still enjoy working and living in the valley today.

Swartberg Pass

Could this be the road to Hel?

 Tricky pebbles

The route out of Die Hel back to Prince Albert is the same as the one travelled earlier into the kloof, yet the ride, the views and the experience is somehow completely different. This ride should be high up on any serious adventure rider's bucket list. 

After all that “hard work” we rewarded ourselves with coffee and a slice of the Lazy Lizard’s world famous apple tart (freshly baked that morning as we left on the ride).

Wednesday was a rest day. We spend a relaxing day wandering around Prince Albert on foot. The town has a rich history, beautiful buildings and plenty of National Monuments. There is so much to do and see, so many places to pop in at for something to eat and/or drink that we were happily exhausted by late afternoon.

Burghers of Prince Albert

Leivoor (water channel)

A quiet evening on our cottage’s veranda soaking in the views of the Swartberge followed by an early night was just what the doctor ordered. Tomorrow we start our journey back home.

Thursday morning saw us back at our favourite spot, the Lazy Lizard, for breakfast before heading out of town. We turned east on Magrieta Prinsloo Road (Meiring?) as per the route I had previously plotted on T4A . The idea was to avoid the 120km of tar to Laingsburg and rather take the back roads through the farms and past Floriskraal Dam.

The Prince Albert locals were divided about whether one could get to the dam via gravel directly from PA, but then they didn’t have access to digital maps and advanced mapping software. We made good time in spite of numerous gates that had to be opened and closed. We crossed the Gamka river(bed) and stopped for yet another gate.

I knew we were probably no longer on a public road as the gate was just 4 sticks held together with 3 strands of wire beyond which was only a tweespoor track. A quick glance at the GPS however confirmed we were still “on track” and so we pushed on. A kilometre further we negotiated two more flimsy gates as we rode across a farmer’s yard. No-one was home so once again we continued following the purple line on the GPS.

By this time I knew we were on private property but decided to take a chance and keep going. If the farmer appeared the strategy was to “plead stupidity” and apologise profusely. Five or six kilometres down the tweespoor … disaster!

End of the road

Another gate, but this one had a sturdy, new, shiny lock. After contemplating our options we decided not to attempt to break the chain using a tyre lever but rather to turn round and retrace our route back to PA. Clearly my route plotting skills need some work .

Aborted route

Next time we’ll try the track a little further north.

So, a forced change of plan and soon we were flying along the N1 towards Laingsburg. From Laingsburg we took another quick detour to the Floriskraal Dam and then on to Rouxpos and and Seweweekspoort.

Floriskraal Dam

 Swartberg

We had been skirting the “weather” for a while and on the Rouxpos road, near the Seweweekspoort turnoff, the rain was 5-10 minutes ahead of us. This meant we were now riding on very greasy roads covered in little riverlets, but thankfully absolutely dry.

The weather ahead

Rain ahead (photo by Rynet)

We met up with a group of riders (Andy660, Rynet, Robin Brown and a few others) on their way to the Wilddogs Eastern Cape Bash just outside the poort. We stopped and chatted while some of them struggled into their raingear.

Fellow adventurers

We decided to chance it as we would be turning towards Ladismith, away from the ominous rainclouds, after exiting the poort. The WD group ran into torrential rain and hail just outside Calitzdorp. We fortunately arrived bone dry at Koedoeskloof where we were welcomed by two Riddgebacks, Chilli and Salsa.

ChilliSalsa

Hoeko Valley - Ladismith

We spend a relaxing evening at the Dwars Bar chatting to Eugene and Debi, who left the city behind to follow their dream and live in the country. We had a couple of drinks and ostrich burgers with Operator (Dewald) who was also staying over and would be joined by the “infamous” 2StrokeDan (Danie) the following morning en route to the EC Bash.

Towerkop, Ladismith

After breakfast with Dewald and Danie on Friday morning we headed down the R62 towards Calitzdorp. Through Huisrivier Pass, first right into Calitzdorp and out the other side on Stasie Road. 12 kilometres further, turn right towards the Groenfontein Nature Reserve. Ignore the large “Closed” sign in the middle of the road (and the frantic questioning by the pillion) and continue up the Rooiberg Pass. The road has been badly damaged by the rains and is a lot of fun to ride as you climb from about 200m to 800m.

View from Rooiberg Pass

We continued past Vanwyksdorp on the R327 and turned right towards the R323 and Gysmanshoek Pass. The ride from Gysmanshoek to Suurbraak takes one through one of the most scenic farming valleys in the Western Cape (once again my attempts at capturing the beauty fails dismally, partly because I'd filled my camera's memory card).

Prickly Pears

We arrived at our last stop, The Hideaway, a 5-star B&B with some trepidation. Would two scruffy looking bikers be allowed to stay over? Fortunately Stephen and Jackie had no "biker hangups" and even rearranged their garage to make space for our very dirty bike .

5-star

Saturday we set off on the final leg of our 9 day, 2000km adventure in cold, overcast conditions. Our route would take us from Swellendam past Bonnievale, McGregor and Robertson, following the Breede River to the R43 and Worcester. We crossed the Hessekwasnek (Bonnievale), Stoepelshoogte (Robertson), Strykhoogte (McGregor) and Scheepershoogte Pass – seems like almost every bump in the road has been named).

From Worcester the dash for home was briefly interrupted at the bottom of Du Toitskloof as we stopped to put our rain gear on. Fortunately the rain stopped on the descent into Paarl and 30 minutes later we were “home and dry”.

Wandering around the Karoo

Planning, ok maybe just dreaming, for the next trip has already started.

Till next time ...