BMWMCCC organised ride to Cederburg Oasis
This ride was so popular that the committee split it into 2 groups.
And because we feared the intrusion of non-listed riders the start venue was quietly shifted elsewhere.
I had already typed up my report in a word.doc file , pipped to posting by Pete Ohanlon, who is indispensable on any ride.
He has an almost inexhaustible dispensary of jokes (mostly bawdy), quips, moments of magic wordplay with excellent sense of timing and no end to his humour.
He can also mend bikes, bodies and souls and takes tools for all three with him. So I'm posting my report anyway.
The BMWMCC club ride was a ride to remember, or forget, depending on where you fitted in the story,
The first group, lead by Geoff met at the usual club ride start point - Plattekloof Engen and had a smooth ride, to schedule, on the planned route.
Someone on that ride please will you write up a report.
Andy n Anne had the privilege of the backup bakkie.
.
Thanks to everyone for arriving at Lanners Landing on time, despite the cycle race that interrupted traffic patterns and flow. We even had a gate crasher come along as there was a cancellation. As it turned out he had lots to offer in the form of help along the way.
Breakfast was good as usual, the briefing a bit more thorough because we had riders new to group riding with the club.
We got off 5 minutes after scheduled departure, in good order.
Tiara had an off on the way down Du Toit's kloof pass.
Thank goodness she had competent help close at hand and she was stabilized, packaged for transport and off to find a hospital. Her bike was quietly an efficiently secured on the trailer meantime.
Hein had led the main part of the group to Ceres to get out of the Rawsonville sun when I turned round to go back up the pass.
When it looked like taking a long time, Hein then lead the remainder of our group on the original route after missing the turn to the shortened route.
They did a great job, navigating by sheer common sense and noses to the wind.
At 11H07, (an hour and a half accident delay) the Du Toit’s kloof party of six bikes headed for Ceres for the refuel stop via Rawsonville, Slanghoek and the Mitchells Pass.
Anne drove behind the ambulance to Paarl to be on hand for Tiara and liaise with her family.
My shortened group, now totally out-of-schedule took the shortened route to Oasis via Prince Alfred Hamlet, the Gydo Pass & Op Die Berg.
At the Katbakkies/Kagga Kama turn off we set our tyre pressures for our respective gravel riding choices and set off.
We moved at around 50 to 80 Kph. Because of twists and turns and some dust, I’d stop at the crest of a hill or on a straight stretch to let the group close up and then left.
I’ve learned that if you stop long enough, then someone takes off a helmet, then another and you never get anywhere.
My cool plan so often executed to take photos of the bikes went awry when I fumbled my camera and it bit the dust. We picked up the camera and card and off we went.
The roads are clean, very little dust, quite few cars coming towards us, so you had to keep your head.
Everyone rode at the speed they could handle and clear of the dust in front of them.
After a really lovely ride up the Cederburg valley on the most exquisite gravel roads, treated to awesome vistas all around (Dennis your photos please) we rode into Oasis at 14H00.
The pool was great and the swim very welcome.
The drinks were ice cold and the food was seriously lekker. No one went hungry.
Pap n wors, salads x 4, steaks, side dishes of cheese and olives.
Hein came in ±15 minutes behind us. Their ride out of Ceres on the R46 to the R355 took them towards Calvinia. By sense of smell they turned onto Peer boom Pas where Marietta’s drive chain came off the sprocket. This was soon sorted and the Peerboom ran on into the Katbakkies Pass where they found momentary connectivity by standing on a rock and holding the phone aloft.
Enough to get an idea that they were probably on the right road and to say they were OK.
(At this time my group as turning Right at Op Die berg).
And on he went.
But their adventures were not over.
Jeanne’s faithful steed went technical with no battery current on the climb out from Mount Cedar guest farm.
She rode pillion with Hein the last ten kms, leaving her bike on the roadside.
At 15H00 Geoff’s group left, augmented by deserters from my group.
At 15H30 our reunited group left Oasis on the direct routing.
Jeanne wangled her way into riding Erica’s bike for her.
We soon found & loaded Jeanne’s bike and had a great ride home. Erica rode from there pillion with me.
Once on tar, I introduced her to riding standing and she made a great partner.
The plan for goodbye greets was kaibosched as first Calabash and then Lanners Landing turned out to be closed and the groups slowly dwindled to four as we settle on Geoff’s house to collect kit and say goodbyes.
We planned to be back at Lanners by 19h00 after calculating the delays if the morning and we passed Lanners on the button of 19h00.
The group that wrapped up at Geoff’s was only about 8 bikes from a total of 30.
We all had a great day and the news from Tiara was encouraging. Dennis popped in to see her and she was almost back to swearing.
I’m sorry John’s tar ride with us was so interrupted but it was good to have him along. There were valuable lessons learned.
When we say stop if you cannot see the bike following you for a while, that’s what we mean. STOP!
Group riding calls for group discipline and team work.
Hein’s group did a fantastic job getting to the correct place together.
The backup bakkie is often questioned. Why? (It adds cost we 1150 guys always ask that, we don’t need it...blah blah blah).
But as in insurance policy for bikes that go technical it’s great. If a tank bag is loose, or you need to take out a jacket liner, etc, the backup bakkie is there. But more important is the box with water and tools and comforts you can’t carry on a bike. The biggest bonus is the crew. They have telephone numbers, resources, never lose their humor and are on call all the time. Huge thanks to Neels and Annemarie who either have to chase to catch up or ride frustratingly slowly.
This weekend the bakkie loaded two bikes- one damaged and one technical
Thanks to Gerrit and Chantal at Oasis for their hospitality and to die hoofseun, Geoff for his organization, patience and leadership
- 2084 reads
Comments
Great ride!
I thoroughly enjoyed the "detour" route yesterday - I clocked 501km for the round trip from D'ville.
A big thank you to Geoff/Andy for organising a brilliant newbie friendly ride. Hein did an excellent job as the stand-in tour leader (ably assisted by our navigator, Jeanne) when our group split after Tiara's unfortunate off. Not even a few mechanical problems interferred with the enjoyment of being in the Cedarberg on a beautiful summer's day (temp +-36C). The cold drinks, lunch and the warm pool were really appreciated at Oasis.
A special thanks to all those that patiently rode "sweeper" all day.
Tiara - our thoughts are with you - get well soon!
Some pics: cedarberg 24Jan2010
the lone ranger
or should that be sheepless shepherd?
a small stop (pre-helmet removal!)
Ha! At last - a sheep!
probably not advised to take pics whilst riding
Thanks for the phots Mr D.
anyone got anymore???
I got home at 21h00 last night to a patient and tired wife who was still very miffed at her day in a provincial hospital.
A frustrating day where a staff member, while explaining a situation ended by saying "...and it won't help if you go to the Argus, only make things worse"
Annie had no Cederburg Oasis ride, she reads the posts with envy.
Her day ended on top of Du Toit's kloof pass. Then started the long drudge of the weary waiting for attention at a prov hospital.
Stuck in hot rider gear 'cos you can't leave anything that is not screwed done or worn.
Neels and Annemarie know just what she went through having had similar experiences across the West Coast when delivering fall patients to small hospitals where you have to fight for service and wait endlessly, watching the flotsam and jetsam of the previous nights drunken debauch's come in with knife holes & bullet holes.
With moments of sheer magic when an intelligent caring health practitioner does pop up briefly.
She's being thanked form every one and every angle and so ... we need to do this ride again soon, before the pool gets too cold to swim in.
First of all i want to thank everyone that was in our group "The lost sheep", that made our little detour such a fun ride. Everyone had some input, some were right and some were wrong, but the choices we made led to our very own “little adventure” within the day’s ride, taking us through some very scenic terrain, and that was well worth it. Who needs a spanner when you have a MX Boot, who needs jumper cables when a shoulder is available, and who needs a GPS when one has a woman’s intuition (thanx PinkGoat).
We should consider using PinkGoat as the earths nuclear protection system, just put her in the missile control room and all electronic systems will die, :) but just make sure there aren’t any of those “moving things” in her pants, otherwise nobody is gonna be able to concentrate.
Well done to those who had never been on gravel before, but stuck with the rest of us without blinking an eye, you can be proud of yourselves.
Thanx to Emile who was the sweeper, making sure nobody was left behind, and was onhand when a bit of mechanical knowledge and a boot was needed.
Finally thanx to Geoff for arranging the trip, to Andy for leading us home safe, and Neels and Annemarie who are always there to pick up the pieces.
Hi Andy, just a small "correction" to your report: the other (and more correct?) name for Peerboom Pass is actually Skittery Pass.
Sounds like you guys had lots of fun - will teach us to respond more quickly to Geoff's invites!
HM, liking your input above!! However, I've had a few questions thrown my way asking about the "moving things in my pants"... How does one explain that? 
After doing a Health Check on the bike it has been determined that it was the battery which had failed me, so we're doing a heart transplant later on and she will be going good as new... As to why your bike died when I got on it... I don't know... But at least it didn't pull any more pranks on you the rest of the trip...
What an eventful day!!
Interesting and informative trip reports , you really learn new and interesting stuff everyday in this club. Sounds like I missed out on an eventful trip , perhaps will have to take the plunge and get "dirty" on the off road trips at some point.
Pity about the injuries sustained and wishing all a speedy recovery and looking to seeing you back on the road. Regards !
Morning gathering
Katbakkies1
Katbakkies2
Katbakkies3
Oasis1
The ONLY bike to break down in our group... heehee
Oasis2
Incoming
Man, that scenery!
Beautifully kept 1150
Bike, rider and pillion with heart and soul
Oasis2
650 GSA in the foreground...
Oasis3
Awesome pics Jeremy!! Thanks for posting!!!
No problem. Thanks to a collaboration between Father Christmas, my wife and my bonus, I got a new camera for Christmas, so I play with it any opportunity I get.
1 valuable lesson learnt on the trip, a Kappa topbox bounces off the baseplate on corrugated roads. After it came off no less than 4 times, Charles and Julie did some clever tying down with my tiedown strap and a few cable ties. I nearly had heart failure the first time it came off, I was going slowly up one of the inclines when it bounced off and rolled gently to the very edge of the road, right next to a hell of a drop-off (with my shiney new camera inside!!). It teetered on the edge and settled back on the road. I've now drilled through the bottom of the box and bolted it to the baseplate. One positive attribute about a Kappa box .. I didn't know that they could bounce so high and so far without breaking. Watching it in the mirrors, it looked like a rugby ball the way it hopped.
I rather carry the camera on me, the vibration in the top-box is much worse than any possible SABS test could contrive. Also, I can (as Andyman does) slip the camera out the pouch while riding and snap people riding past. Except that I loop the camera strap through the bag strap so I can't drop it (as Andyman doesn't 
)
I also bolted my Givi topbox to the baseplate, with a metal plate inside (bought from Mica) with holes in, so that I can cable-tie heavy items to it inside the topbox. For e.g. a big spanner and tyre levers. That way they don't break things and rattle inside the box and are secure.
Charles wrote:"Also, I can (as Andyman does) slip the camera out the pouch while riding
and snap people riding past. Except that I loop the camera strap
through the bag strap so I can't drop it (as Andyman doesn't 
)"
BUT, You can forget it back at the filling station! (West Coast Trip .....Bitterfontein??)
I made a pouch which hangs around my neck with the camera on a shortish lanyard...unzip a bit of the jacket and pull it out....pop back in then zip up.
Camera pouch: The white strap goes over my head, and the silver strap around my chest..camera on lanyard,into pouch
Camera pouch 2
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