Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Seven brave souls were prepared to join this ride.  In the end only 3 made it to the start line: Cecil, Clayton and James.

The weather perfect, the riders competent.  The dunes - not ready for us.  The sand was very soft.  Like powder, at 8:30 am in the cool of a September morning.

This is by no means a ride report. Only my version  of my experience getting to know the sand (and its dangers) for the first time.

And to let you know I am minus my sun glasses and Nokia N97 cell phone – in case you come across it next time in the dunes or I left it in your vehicle or something…

O yes, and to try and post some of the pics I took in the dunes (I do believe there is much better footage, but maybe I have a few different ones here?).

Hier volg my boere ingilse weergawe van die dag. (Ignore typo's)

An introduction to sand and dune riding under the care of more experienced riders.  Beginners will be paired with experienced riders and will be able to experience the thrill of dune-surfing and overcome their fear of sand.

A 4x4 will establish a base in the dunes with refreshments, and there will be helpers available to help people who get stuck.

The view of table mountain from the Atlantis Dunescape is surreal and spectacular, and well worth the effort of getting out there.

On Saturday I took my sons to Atlantis dunes to experience dirtbike riding on sand.  I took Mr.Badger.  The Southeaster was blowing spectacular plumes of sand off the top of the tall dunes, and I witnessed the movement of a dune while waiting for Mr.Badger to compose himself after a stall.  The dune moved closer to me by about 10cm in a half-hour.

Today I took Julie on the Wild dogs Atlantis newbie day.  She has not really ridden sand before, and certainly not dunes.  Also, yesterday she went on her first ride on Brenda Buttercup, and loved it so that she wanted to try Brenda in the dunes.

Permits organized through the Wild Dogs (thanks Archangel), and my son Matthew took a break from his university studies to join us.  Other club members who came along were Rhian, Peter0, and Jeanne.

This day-long training was conducted by [http://www.countrytrax.co.za Leon and Lourens of Country Trax]. The course was conceived and designed by them to supplement the already successful advanced sand-riding training they conduct at Klipbokkop every year. Mr. Badger and I had heard that something like this was in the offing, and we signed up immediately. This in spite of the announcement email saying we would need to be fit and well-hydrated. I mean, how tired can you get in one day? ===The Preparation=== Weeks of running the dogs, doing lunges and stretches, and working out in the home gym. For the first time in my life, I have actually grown muscles in my legs (been a canoeist all my life - my legs are pins). Drinking all sorts of supplements, whey protein, creatine, etc etc.

Some info for the upcoming first Dune riding course for Adventure bikes (level one) # All makes of adventure bikes welcome (no small off-road bikes) # This is the next step after you have done the sand course # You must have done at least the intermediate weekend course, sand or advanced course (or be very comfortable in sand) # The course will be on a weekday so we have the dunes to ourselves (safer, not to many 4+4’s) # It will be a full day(8 to 4) # We will have a base and 4+4 back-up and trailer # There will be lunch and drinks provided # We will run course rain or shine... # The aim of the course is to introduce you to the basics of small and big dune riding (surfing) with focus on safety and Dune riding rules

I arrived early at the Total Garage at Rondeberg. Amazing how well heated grips work - but the rest of the body goes into a bit of a death-grip, going faster and faster to escape the cold sooner. From the South to the garage in 30 minutes... First to arrive after me was Andrew - and I realized immediately from the see-through tank on his KTM that this was Renette's sand mentor, Kamanye on Wilddogs. Checking permits By 07h30 we were at the gate - practically woke up the guard and the sun was not yet up.

[http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/user/rdl Ruan] started organizing this trip some weeks ago, and finally it was on. I [http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/atlantis-sand-dunes#comment-1031 was a bit scared] - the contingent of riders who signed up for this were Ruan (himself a big hitter on a bike, having come second in the skills challenge at Nelsons Creek), [http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/user/freakonaleash Marius FreakOnALease Burger], [http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/user/flipper Gavin flipper Collins], [http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/user/bobdev Bob bobdev de Villiers], Andreas and poor [http://bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/user/charles Charles my fairly novice owner].