Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

I had wanted to enrol myself and Julie for the ''Coast to Karoo'' trip, but Julie forbad it. So, in a fit of pique I used the money to enrol myself and Mr. Badger on the [http://www.countrytrax.co.za/courses.weekend.php Klipbokkop Intermediate Off-road training], run by [http://www.countrytrax.co.za/ Country Trax]. My rationale was that the money spent would reduce the costs of repairs to Mr. Badger caused by lack of skill. ===Preparation=== I have done the ''Introduction to Off-road'' course held at Zevenwacht (now done at Nelson's Creek). That course was an eye-opener: it is physically quite demanding to learn how to handle a large bike, and by the end of the day I was exhausted (and the next day I was stiff and sore). So, to ensure I was fit enough to enjoy all 3 days of Klipbokkop, I decided to get fit: # Running every morning with the dogs (kill two birds with one stone, since I need to walk the dogs anyway) # After the run doing some exercises to strengthen my pins and arms and to improve my flexibility (I am literally a stiff old stick): ## situps ## pullups ## bench press ## lunges ## sideways lunges (a la putting out your leg to hold up the bike) # Every second evening I would endeavour to ride some cones on the grass of a vacant plot - this improved my balance, throttle and clutch control and improved my stamina. # In the last two weeks I also spent an hour or two in the Vissershok quarry, and some time riding cones on the sandy vlei near my home. # On the way to work, I left the road on the roundabout joining the M3 at Steenberg Road, and rode along the bank through some thick soft sand, and up and over the berm. # At work I would ride into the parking garage standing up, swiping my card and negotiating the boom without stopping. I found that good nutrition and some Creatine paid off ito rapid recovery and the ability to make up for a decade of sedentary lifestyle in a few weeks. For stamina, I made a point of riding some long routes, such as to Merweville, and to Wupperthal. I also did ''cross-training'' the weekend before by going Hobie-cat sailing - who said training can't be fun? Finally, the weekend arrived. It started with a big bill for the new clutch and main bearing that I had to replace for fear of ending up a spectator at the training with a broken-down bike. ===Thursday Evening=== The training starts very early on a Friday morning (especially if you have to ride through from Cape Town). So a number of us opted to stay over on Thursday night. Mr. Badger had taken much longer than expected to be fixed, regaling his doctor (Shane) with an intermittent electrical fault and a dodgy accelerator cable. So a departure time of 4pm became 6pm and now I was riding in the dark. My riding buddies waiting for me at the Plattekloof Engen (Peter O and Lindsay), had had to abandon waiting for me and had already arrived at Klipbokkop as I was leaving Cape Town. Broke my own rule about never using the Du Toit's Tunnel, and ended up catching up to two Adventures, all kitted up. I pulled up alongside and confirmed that they were headed to Klipbokkop. Through the helmet the chap looked like Lourens (one of the instructors), so I pulled in behind the two thinking I was on a train and not needing to worry about navigating to an unknown farm in the dark. Turns out, the rider was SV, and he and his friend were on their way to sleep over with friends in Rawsonville on their way to Klipbokkop. They are also far less experienced riders than I had assumed (dangerous assumption). When they turned off to Rawsonville I assumed they were taking a clever shortcut, but stopped SV to confirm and then found that I was on the wrong road and now all alone finding my way in the dark. At about 7pm I was at the Worcester Ultra-city, filling up as per the route directions. Then I memorised the key landmarks and kilometer readings so that I could navigate without stopping. Klipbokkop is between Worcester and Villiersdorp, so I ended up riding down the dark country road unable to see any landmarks, and barely able to make out the odometer readings that I needed. I stopped once to re-read the instructions by the light of my headlamp, and luckily the Klipbokkop sign is big and easily spotted. A spot of dirt-road up a hill and I was checking in to the conference centre. I arrived just in time for dinner - ''bobotie and boereboontjies'', my all-time favourite dishes. Some of the delegates were already there and we had a beer and exchanged pleasantries. The accommodation is luxurious and blends in beautifully with the fynbos mountain we were perched on top of. My room-mate was to arrive on Friday, so I had the room to myself. ===Friday - Day One=== I woke at sunrise, and when I opened the curtain was blown away by the most incredible view: Sunrise over Brandvlei Dam The sunrise over Worcester mountains, reflecting in the Brandvlei dam below, with layers of cloud in all shades of sunrise as a result of the passing cold front. After breakfast the other delegates arrived. The place was abuzz, with people arriving, and othersdismantling their bikes: * Screens and mirrors are removed to prevent unnecessary damage, and * Tyre pressure is dropped to 1.5bar My roommate arrived towards the end - Chris Coetzee. On a KTM! I welcomed him and showed him to our room. The bright orange bike and clothing made me realize that I had forgotten to bring my sun glasses. During the kickoff meeting, we all introduced ourselves, and I was amazed at the range of experience on the course. Some delegates had never ridden on dirt ever, some had been riding for about 2 months or less, and some were people like Ruan (incredibly skilled) or Johan from Wild@Heart who has been riding all his life. What is even more amazing is how everybody ends up being stretched by the training and able to do all the exercises required by the end. The first exercise: peripheral vision We were divided into 3 groups, ranked by experience and skill-level, and Mr. Badger was pleased that we were with Ruan in the more experienced group. The 3 KTMs were also in this group which pleased me because it gave me more in common with my roomy. Leon was our instructor, and he took us to the quarry. On our way to the quarry The first day covers material that is done in the one-day ''Intro to Offroad'' course, which allows novices to do this course, and reminds more experienced riders of the essential skills. Everything that follows depends on your mastery of shifting your weight, looking where you want to go, clutch, throttle and brake control, and emergency braking and slides. Where this day differs from the Intro course, is that we did these exercises in the quarry, on very uneven ground. At lunchtime I was marvelling at how superb the food was, and how the last 3 meals were so brilliant. It was clear that the food was designed to be healthy, nourishing and energy-replenishing. The dining area overlooks the valley below from its high fynbos perch, and we ate watching dassies sun themselves. We found the less experienced groups had done similar exercises to us, but on a flatter surface. During the afternoon we moved to a gravel track where we did emergency-braking drills. Having someone like Ruan in our group meant that very soon, we were doing our own little experiments while waiting for our turn to go. So, for example, riding around the track back to the queue involved a fair amount of high-speed turns, wheel-spinning and brake-sliding. Our group Phil Glaser doing Emergency Braking It's all about the feedback: Leon advises Johan Olivier The Manne after Emergency Braking: Johan Olivier, Andre Brooks and Ruan de Lange That evening, tired and dusty, we showered before a beer and supper and a debriefing from the instructors. Peter O'Hanlon, on hearing what we had been doing in the advanced group, asked to be moved up from the beginner group. ===Saturday - Day Two=== We mustered before breakfast for a two-hour session to start the day. We learned how to use the front brake in situations where most people would think they should avoid touching it: steep downhills. Unfortunately, I let Mr. Badger down in some soft sand and was amazed at how quickly my roommate was there to help me lift him up again. A short while later, riding up an embankment, I glanced at the gully next to the road and thought to myself how fortunate I was not to have ended up in it, at which point I did. I then looked at the soft sand otherside the gully and thanked myself for not landing there, at which time I did! So, two falls before breakfast - this was going to be a day. Recovery on a steep hill 1 Recovery 2: Chris Coetzee, my roomy, successfully completes the exercise Don't try this at home: Even if you do got a F800GS After breakfast we rode in the quarry and I got Mr. Badger caught up in some gully and notched up my third oops for the day. No biggy. We then did some exercises along the lines of: * '''Leon:''' Say you are riding along some road/downhill/uphill/sand/mud ''(choose one)'', and you come across your buddy/a hole/a log/a bakkie/a curve ''(choose one)'' and you need to ''(some manoevre to avoid the obstacle)''. * '''Us:''' Deathly silence, pale faces, somewhere we hear a pin drop. Nobody believes what they are hearing Leon say, and we are thinking that signing up for this course was a big mistake... * '''Leon:''' Allow me to demonstrate... ''At this point Leon performs the exercise a few times in front of a dumbstruck audience. He makes it look so easy that Ruan, Chris or JdJ are prepared to go first. Once one of us has done it we are all lined up and ready to go too. Soon we can't believe we were scared of doing that exercise. Then Leon starts with the next one...'' You've got to be kidding... Let me demonstrate... Come Mr. Badger, hop Like this: Johan was very happy with his new 800GS Miles of skidpan to play in: While the exercise was easy, the playing was hard... Work... ...play By mid-afternoon we had completed our training, and we played at some more advanced exercises. Then we all went to the beach to learn how to ride on sand. Our course is the first to try a different approach to riding on sand. We started on the firmer sand and had short exposures to soft sand. We were taught the theory of sand riding, and explained why the front wheel becomes impossible at low speed in thick sand. On the beach, we each could find our way in our own time. Some people rode a little then stopped and watched as the maniacs carved the beach up. Mr. Badger and I started slowly, but soon he was racing along, doing braking turns and power slides. Eventually, we cooked it and carved out a spot of waterfront property for ourselves - but no harm done. My roomy and Ruan both managed to hit the deck at speed and were a bit tender from then on. The route back was along a very sandy road. After a few more oopses trying to get going after stopping to wait for those ahead of me, Mr Badger reached cruising speed and I hung on for dear life, too scared even to change up to second gear for fear of losing momentum. Some of those less experienced in sand took much longer to get over the road and we spent quite some time waiting for everybody. The bar saw many a parched throat that evening. Dinner was T-bone steak. My roomy injected himself in the bum with Voltaren. I took arnica tablets. During the planning for the next day, we were told the morning ride before breakfast would be about 15km, but take 2 hours. Everyone laughed when I asked how it could take so long to do such a short distance. ===Sunday - Day 3=== Coffee at 7, muster at 7:15 for a warm-up. Those up to it would do a sandy road while the others went via a detour. As we depart, I notice that my front is very hard and rough. Just as I am wondering about this, one of the riders points out that my front wheel is flat. Bummer. So Johan de Jager stays behind with me as we organize to fix it - and misses the chance to settle a personal score with that road. Turns out the wheel was too flat in the early-morning cold and blew out along the bead. Just pumping it up hard then deflating it fixed the problem. Johan and I catch up with the group at the end of the sandy road, and he is promptly called on to go in and help Phil Glazer who had not only bought a piece of the road but had tried to eat it up as well! So JdJ got to slay his dragon. Phil tastes dirt The rest of the route is up a fynbos path. One ascent has a few riders struggling and we spend a lot of time watching and cheering them on. It's all about momentum and a little help from your friends By the last rider, things were interesting Tracey in the thick of things too... Stand up, look up, open up... By now we should be able to do this... ...and this. On the way home, we are given the choice of a last sandy stretch or the detour. I'm bok. But Mr. Badger still has his front tyre at 1.5bar, so I let the pressure down a bit and have a leak. By this time I am last, with Lourens sweeping. I enter the sand and after a little hesitation get us to cruising speed. Things are great. Then we reach a sharp turn. I know I should keep my body on the outside and do a power slide. But I don't quite make it, and I catch sight of a Port Jackson on the side of the road and sure enough, only an emergency brake prevents Mr. Badger from using his beak to engage in some alien clearing. By this time the excitement is too much and I drop Mr. Badger. Lourens sails up on his X-Challenge, and refuses to let me pick up Mr. Badger, or even to help him pick the bike up. I figure it is to prevent me from getting tired and not being able to ride the sand. So I stand aside. Mr. Badger is not a small bike, and a quarter of a ton is quite a far cry from an X-Challenge - little wonder then that Lourens almost made it before the laws of nature almost overcame him. At the last, it occurred to me to help Lourens and we got Mr. Badger up. Once I got going I became aware of dust from the rider who must have been just ahead of me. This disturbed me and the next corner became an excuse to stop and fall. Again Lourens helped and soon I was within 50m of the end of the road, with a struggling bike in front of me in some very soft sand around an S-bend. It did not seem worth it to reach cruising altitude only to stop, so I pedalled out. Phew - we made it! This was a landmark experience and I shall treasure my certificate until I complete the advanced course. As one of the participants said - ''With each exercise, my bike became smaller.'' I learned a few things about bikes and people too: * KTM's are awesome. Leon rode one and was awed. My roomy, Chris, had owned a 1200GS, but prefers the raw power of his KTM 950 Adventure. It is not a case of ignorance, but of preference. * The 800GS is a stunning bike. Very responsive, very powerful, very light. And sounds like a wild cat. Leon test-drove Johan's one on sand and said that it was the most expensive spin he's ever taken a bike on, because now he wants one. * Mr. Badger (1150GS) is quite unresponsive on the throttle and requires some special techniques to do some of the exercises. Still, I love him and am not in the market for anything else, even though nobody wanted to test-drive him or say nice things about him.