Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Most of you know me as Padlangs, just because I only ride tar roads. Truth be told I have done MANY kilos on dirt – with road bikes. Nowadays I am not interested in riding on dirt with 2 wheels – thus the title of the thread. But I have read most of the off road trip reports. Such stunning scenery! Then I even rode backup for JR on the Warmwaterberg trip. So what do you do when you have your own reasons for not riding dirt on two wheels, but LOVE the scenery? In May 2007 we did a trip to Augrabies in a car, on a few occasions we started out on a dirt road to see something, but had to turn back as the road was to bad for a car. In September last year Suzuki launched the Jimny. Looking at the specs, I just knew that this was "IT". I took delivery of the first private Jimny in the Western Cape. Mid December I joined a group for a day trip and was shown how all this stuff works – did I mention that I have never driven a 4x4 before? But I did learn how to ride a bike and car on the farm. On 29 December we left for a week trip in our Jimny. We wanted to do Tankwa reserve – after reading Edna’s post of their trip. Unfortunately this area was booked out. We then headed out to Ladismith. BUT the BMW bug had infested my brain, so the trip started with a detour. Bellville – Gordonsbay – Rooi Els – Riviersonderend. Here we stopped for a drink. I phoned ahead to confirm that Mike was on his farm. Mike and I shared an office for more than 6 years, then he retired to a farm outside Heidelberg. This was the route that we took with the Warmwaterberg trip, heading towards Gysmanshoekpas. This road actually crosses Mikes farm. We enjoyed the coffee but had to fight to get away – Mike and Donna wanted us to stay over, but we had already booked and paid for the guesthouse. Mike's farm house So over Gysmanshoekpass and on towards route 62. A few kilometers before Ladismith there is a road that turns left towards Lainsburg. A few kilometers along this road you turn into a lush valley. Right at the end of this valley you find the guesthouse – Beecatcher. It is a good clean establishment with excellent beds, no hollowed out matresses. R275 per person buys you dinner, bed and breakfast. You must try the currie. We slept here for 5 nights, and each day we had a different outride. Day 1 We start with a ride out to Lainsburg, so the Rooinek pass was our FIRST gravel mountain pass. In Lainsburg we stocked up our cooler bag with drinks and food, as we had no idea where we would be at lunch time. Back over Rooiberg pass and then we headed down the valley through Vleiland and Bosluiskloof to Gamkaspoort dam. I was enjoying myself and the smile on Greta’s face said it all. Looking down Bosluiskloofpass At Gamkaskloofdam you find an honesty shop. Nobody watching the pot of money and no CCTV camera monitoring the area. We went back via Bosluiskloof and then turned into Seweweekspoort. It is yet another one of those beautiful spots that defy description. Not even pictures can capture the beauty of this area. Back on route 62 we headed back to Ladismith, until we found a detour via Hoeko. Along route 62 you see the typical Klein Karoo “grey bossies”. When you ride through valleys like Hoeko, only a few kilometers from route 62, you see a whole new lush vegetation. Gamkaskloofdam Honesty shop - instructions to clients The Honesty Shop - with cooldrinks standing on the shelves (in the heat) Road out of Bosluiskloof Seweweekspoort Day 2 I want to see Die Hel, but don’t want to ride all the way via Oudtshoorn. So I see a nice little dust line from Calitzdorp to the Swartberge. To be more exact just before Calitzdorp there is a road that leads to Matjiesrivier. So of we go. Just after the Huisriver pass, as you go over the last rise before Calitzdorp, I see Matjies….. Just in time to climb on the brakes and make the turn. The most beautiful gravel road, no corrugations or potholes. A few kilometers down this road we see a sign showing a farm that has a 4x4 trail. Aaaah ! It is early, surely we can fit this in. At the farm yard I speak to the lady of the farm. Abel finally somebody that you will be able to look in the eye - without looking down ! Now on the way into the farm we saw something that looked like Tygerberg koppie with a dust trail straight up it. So first of I ask the lady what the condition of the route is. “Aag dit is maar net n scenic ride, jy sal net low range nodig he^ vir daai een klim.” So I ask about ground clearance and ruts on this route. This lady was very convincing that this is only a “scenic drive”. Turns out this is Bo’jaankop route that has made it into some of the 4x4 magazines! The climb was spinned out and then further destroyed by rain, with no other option but up. Let me put it this way, by the time I got to the top of the “straight climb” I was totally out of breath. But the Jimny took it in its stride, and no damage to the vehicle. Apparently motorcross racers have not been successful at getting to the top of this climb! Once on top of Bo’jaankop you look down on seven mountain ranges! Man what a view. THEE climb Start of the "scenic drive" Scenic drive ??? - Oooh but what fun .... Legend (for next photo) Can you imagine this 360 degree view ??? Afterwards the owner of the farm explained to me that we had taken a wrong turn from route 62. Even though the map shows the turn as before Calitzdorp, you go halfway through Calitzdorp before you turn off to Matjieriver. We took the turn to Matjiesvlei, duh .. Okay so now it is already lunch time and Die Hel is still some distance away. The road from Calitzdorp to Matjiesriver is a real gem. Did you know there is a bid dam just outside Calitzdorp, complete with a angling club? So once over the Swartberg pass we get to the turn off towards Die Hel. It is only now that the reality of this trip sinks in, 50 km = 2 hours ONE WAY ! What a ride! We even saw 5 GS bikes. The one lady had an “incident”, no “major” damage to herself or the bike. Yet, this reminded me why I prefer four wheels on the dirt (just part of the reason though). BM's on the way out of Die Hel View of Die Hel After an excellent toasted cheese down in Die Hel we headed back to Ladismith. Day 3 So now we have covered “North”, time to look “South” on the map. Off to Van Wyksdorp. But before we get there a quick left to do the Rooiberg pass, and back. Cloetes pass beconed, you do cover teritory which should qualify as passes before you get to Cloetespass, yet no names on the map. As you are getting closer to the see the vegetation once again changes. I LOVE Cloetespass. For me it is similar to Seweweekspoort, just better. It is getting closer to lunch so we head out to Herbertsdale. I am not sure if Herbertsdale has less going for it than Van Wyksdorp, but we definatly did not see a place to get food. No problem, just hang in there, with a little bit of speed we can get to Eight Bells. As soon as we go through Mosselbay I immediately remember why we were loving the quiet of the dirt roads. It is almost half past one when we get to Eight Bells, after an early breakfast. Lets keep a sad story short, after 40 minutes I went to the management and reported that we had still not even received our coffee!! The sad reality is that on previous occasions we have received excellent service here. Lets just put it down to a lack of staff on the 1st of January, no way I was going to let this get me down. Off to Oudsthoorn for lunch, fortunately I remembered about the cookies I bought at the honesty shop that was laying under the seat. Rooibergpass Day 4 So off we go on a whim towards Barrydale. I remembered a sign next to the road that pointed out a 4x4 route. Rietvlei is a private nature reserve. You can buy a “piece” of ground, which also gives you a 4% stack in the reserve. The owner points us to the 4x4 course and say we are welcome to enter from this side and do the route, we may then even do the route in reverse. There was something reassuring when he knew that the route was grade 3, not just a scenic ride. To top it off we were told that he would not even charge us. When you enter the reserve you are cautioned to stay in your vehicle. But when you look at the signposts showing the way for the route it reads, “4x4, MTB”. I am sure a few GS riders will enjoy this route. This gent even has a few houses that he lets out. Rietvlei 4x4 route View in this area After this we went to Ronnies Sex Shop for lunch. MANY bikes, but only a few BMW’s. I did enjoy the humour of the two couples on their Hardleys. Husband on each bike. A wife in each Vito backup vehicle. The one and only Ronnie's ... Day 5 Time to head back. Again we head of towards Lainsburg, but then we enter the Anysberg reserve. Not knowing the setup we just ride along slowly. A board points to a kloof on the left, so we turn off and go have a look. Only a few hundred meters and you park the vehicle, then another short walk till you look into the kloof. So we head along the road and see another board pointing out Tapfontein. So again we turn for a quick detour, 6 km = 40 minutes in one direction. Definitely doing that again! At the end of the 6 km stretch Rock paintings in the Anysberg reserve There are SEVEN river crossings in this 6 km .... Last river crossing So now we need to get back to route 62 to go over the mountain to Mikes farm. Uhm, ja, well ….. just before Montaque I finally found my bearings again. If you have to get lost this is one of the more beautiful places to do it. Let me just say that the 2008 MapStudio map is pretty useless!! Lunch at Country Pumpkin and over Gysmanshoek pass back to Mikes Farm. We will sleep over here, but first we must go for a ride on his farm. Just more than 1000 hectares of raw beauty. The top rim of his farm overlooks Heidelberg. I DID try, but Mike is not interested in “farming with people”. What a pity, this good GS country. Showers and toilets are already available, but Mike is just not interested. Looking down on Heidelberg Last holiday pic .... I wanted to leave early on Sunday to still go across Maxi se pond, we finally got away there after 16:00. What a lovely time with an old friend. Neil you asked that I must comment on this trip and GS bikes. Apart from Bo’jaankop this whole trip can be done on a bike. We saw bikes every day of this trip, mostly GS bikes. Neil rather than answering your question I would rather make the following comments. Whether such a trip is done on a bike, in a car or in a 4x4 is just a matter of choice. The 4x4 is definitely more comfortable. The bike does not get held up by traffic, this is a frustration in a cage. Does it really matter what mode of transport one uses? As long as you get out there and enjoy this stunning country.