Fashion accessories, burgers, Peanuts and new faces

Tony's picture

After a few frantic emails and new posts on club website and Facebook the much anticipated ride to Oasis and surrounds was recheduled for Saturday. Apparently the weather forecast of a few drops of rain for Sunday necessitated the sudden change. A closer inspection of the DSTV programme guide reveals the real reason for the change - Superbike racing at the Nürburgring. Nice try Geoff and Warren.

The Engen forecourt looked like a F800GS reunion early on Saturday as Warren had clearly rounded up all his fellow "800" aficionados. There were more 800's than at your your average BMW Motorrad showroom. After meeting a whole bunch of new faces we were soon on our way to Op Die Berg via Du Toitskloof and Ceres.

YsterperdeYsterperde

A quick stop to deflate and we're off to Oasis, to meet our hosts Gerrit and Chantal. But not before Warren feels the need to have a little show and tell - his custom F800GS toolkit made from this year's hottest, trendiest fabric.

F800GS toolkitProud owner

Note Kevin desperately trying not to laugh out loud in the background Laughing

The road to Oasis was in good nick and we made good time to Oasis.

KarinKarin (and Paul, if you look really carefully!).

MariusMarius (on a "proper" BM)

While waiting for our delicious burgers we were entertained by the latest addition to the Karsten family, the cutest little Jack Russell (no relation to Geoff) terrier. 

PeanutsPeanuts

After lunch we setoff again - a left at Matjiesrivier, over Uitkyk, Nieuwoudt's and Kriedouwkloof Pass, along the banks of the Olifants River to Citrusdal.

Uitkyk PassUitkyk Pass

A quick tar dash over Piekenierskloof before taking an interesting, well rutted dirt detour to Piketberg for a fuel and snack stop. Our last dirt section took us via Moorreesburg to Malmesbury.

A most enjoyable day's riding (just over 500km) with a great bunch of people.

Till next time.

 

 

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Mwendo's picture
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Joined: 2011/04/13

I remember it subtly differently Cool

For a start, our rendezvous was the Swartland 1-Stop on the N7.

I suspect we got closer than any ride group ever got to enjoying the strafdoppe before departure, as three of our party of seven (yes, 7) arrived well after the scheduled briefing time, then proceeded to order breakfast!

When we eventually got to the briefing, I must confess to being a tad non-plussed when our esteemed ride leader announced that we're going to make fewer stops "than he normally does" en-route to the Oasis.

We set off, about half an hour later than scheduled, on exactly the same route as Warren's group but in the reverse direction: N7 to Malmesbury, gravel to Morreesburg, a short strecth on the N7 to the Misverstand turn-off, then gravel "around" Piketberg to the Porterville road and N7 to Citrusdal, Algeria and the Oasis. We encountered short stretches of heavy mist all the way to Piketberg, whereafter things cleared up beautifully.

We arrived at the Oasis just as Warren's group was setting off again, which was a little disappointing as I had expected that we would have lunch together.

Abandoned Back-up?Abandoned Back-up?

We sat down to lunch - the famous Oasis burger with chips - just as the Wallabies vs Blue Bulls (oops!, the Springboks) Test match started. Lunch was great!

The view towards Ceres looked as inviting as the one through Algeria!

The road to CeresThe road to Ceres

We were treated to a great tweespoor ride through some farmlands approximately 20km on the Oasis side of Op Die Berg.

A Hint of SpringA Hint of Spring

 

View from the damView from the dam

 

Stealth camping, anyone?Stealth camping, anyone?

 

The CompanyThe Company

If the ride were to start with strafdoppe - as it so very nearly did - it would have been mandatory to end with a humungous one. Having navigated both the regular gravel roads and the very pleasant, rocky tweespoor without incident, we hit the Ceres-Citrusdal tar road about 33km from the Gydo Pass with Geoff in the lead and yours truly on his tail. When Geoff eventually pulled off to regroup at the top of Gydo, we discovered that I had not only lost the rider immediately behind me but the ENTIRE bunch. Suffice to say that I did not enjoy the 30km backtrack to find them repairing a puncture on one of the three 800s in our group.

We re-inflated and refueled in Ceres then made our way home through Bain's Kloof to cap an extremely enjoyable day out.

Despite the accuracy and/or veracity, or otherwise, of theories regarding the motivation for switching the ride from Sunday to Saturday, hindsight suggests that it was an inspired call! I really appreciated that when I woke up to bucketing rain on Sunday morning.

Many thanks to Geoff, Gert, Barend, Francois, Dirk and Hennie for a memorable ride!

--
The only problem with hindsight, is you don't see it coming!

 
Tony's picture
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Joined: 2008/08/24

What!, no photos Cecil?

A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn. ~Author Unknown

Mwendo's picture
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Joined: 2011/04/13

@Tony

I'm sure I mentioned something about fewer stops than usual Tongue out

Actually, I have a few which I'll post soon, along with some details of the return leg of our ride.

--
The only problem with hindsight, is you don't see it coming!