Spotty showers, heavy showers, torrential rain, cloudy with sun, partly cloudy, heavy rain, no rain, rain with some sun aaaarrrrgggghhhh…..by Thursday I was already exhausted from checking weather sites to see what we must pack and take with for the weekend. We also basically have two suits, one summer and one winter, neither very waterproof I think.
So on Thursday morning I phone the wife, “Love, how much have we put on the credit card this month”. “Not much” she replied. “I’m afraid I am going to change that today” I said. Off to Leather for Ever in Bellville and a couple of gold pennies later out with their new adventure suit which I was told over the weekend is made in the same factory as the BMW one, can’t say if that’s true though. But it is very nice and it is very waterproof.
Later that afternoon I was informed by my darling wife that she had also gone shopping and if I was to ask the same question about the credit card now I would get an entirely different answer. But at least now we are ready for whatever comes our way weather wise this weekend. We think, or hope anyway. It is the first time we are going away “fully packed” on the bikes and we are actually quite excited to try it all out.
So we had taken the Friday off and had a leisurely pack, an hour’s exercise, a snack and then off to meet Rhian and Pete Mann and Debbie at the Engen 1 Stop on the N1 as we had arranged to ride together, leaving at about 12H00.
The N1 was really busy and I had an incident where a bloke in a City Golf just started to move over into my space. I could see him looking in his mirror but I was right next to him. We weren’t moving that fast so I slapped his side window, his eyes got really big, he went back to his lane and we moved past without anything serious happening thankfully.
Pete was a bit late so we eventually got away at about 12H30 and immediately turned off the N1 onto the back Durbanville Road which joins the R44 to Wellington. We had a nice ride over Bainskloof and into Ceres where we stopped for a bite at the Steers and to refuel and then up the mountain to Op Die Berg and on to the Oasis where we arrived in pleasant weather at about 16H30 and set camp. So far so good.
Quite a few folks arrived in drips and drabs and later the main group lead by “catch me if you can” Russell arrived. All the bikes coming over the pass was quite a sight in the dusk. Tristan arrived and showed everyone how to get your wife off a bike really quick by dumping his Adventure on its side and Alison in the car park, then it was get tents up, have a few drinks, an excellent supper as always, a bit of a chat and off to bed.
Now I know quite a few people just about froze during the night but Nats and I, we’ve learnt the hard way why there are -8 sleeping bags at Makro for R400 and -8 sleeping bags at Outdoor Warehouse for R1800, which is what we now own. We also learnt the trick of putting the little self inflating mattress inside the sleeping bag and we recently bought K Way liners for R199 each, which keep the bag clean and add 5 degrees to the temperature. So we slept very warm and therefore very well.
Saturday morning the weather was again great, breakfast was again great and everyone was ready on time to leave in the two groups.
Andy’s group set off just about dead on time but within a few kilometers had lost our back up vehicle. Geoff had had a technical problem in his group and had needed his tools so Noeline had waited. While we were waiting I had a look around. Funny how where ever in the Cederberg you stop, you will find an amazing view somewhere. Just beauty all around.
Once we were all together again, we were off the same way we had all come in the previous evening but then as we got to the tar, we turned off left and headed for Katbakkies Pass. I really cannot remember this pass but I must have been over it as a few years back I visited Kagga Kamma which is on the other side of the pass. But anyway, even though it is tarred, it is still amazing and the view from the top is awesome. Andy stopped us at some ruins and we took group pictures and then carried on now downwards until we got to the R355. From the last little pass above the R355 one can see just about the whole Ceres Karoo, really fantastic. And the dirt roads so far were all really nice as well.
We were able to “stretch our legs” a little down the R355 as even though it is not tarred, it might as well be and some folks really gave it gas down here. Andy eventually pulled us over at a sign which suggested we were going to visit an old fort. Even though it is called “The Fort” it is not really a fort but it is a really nice place to go and spend some quiet time and Natalie and I will definitely be visiting there again in the future. There are rooms to rent, a tented camp, a normal campsite, bush pub, kitchen, trails all over the place, caves and a swimming pool all in a picture perfect setting far away from the road and civilization.
One of the reasons Nats chose Andy’s ride was she wasn’t to keen on riding over the pebbles on the Algeria road so soon again. She said she wanted to go and get them sorted sometime but just not this weekend. Now there are two “roads” from the R355 to The Fort which I only found out on the way back but one of them which seemingly everyone did on the way in is 4,5 km of “twee spoor” pebbles much worse than anything we had encountered on the Algeria Road. Tristan and I were wondering what everybody was talking about at brunch as we had only encountered a few patches of pebbles and as far as we were concerned it was mostly sandy on the way in.
That changed on the way out when we found the pebble road and the sign at a Y junction which we had missed on the way in. It simply said “Klippie Pad” and an arrow and “Sand Pad” and an arrow. I think there was only one side stand incident though and Natalie was actually chuffed with herself for not buying any plots in this pristine area.
The owners had prepared coffee, tea and scones with jam and cream which had come out the oven as we arrived. Man it’s hard to stick to our regime when on these trips. Just too much nice food. It may have been far away from what we normally eat these days but hell it was nice and I penciled another 20 minutes on the spinning bike into my brain to make up for it.
After brunch we headed back onto the R355 and were quite quickly onto the Theronsberg Pass about 40km before Ceres. At the top of the pass we turned off and took a scenic dirt road which joined up with the tar road again near the top of the Gydo Pass. Then we were led back towards Ceres again for a short distance before we turned off onto a private farm for lunch. Friends of Andy and Anne as I gathered.
We had lunch in a perfect setting, in a forest, next to a dam, the sun shining, a small piece of heaven. Boerie rolls, fruit, soup, juice was all waiting for us when we arrived and we relaxed in the sun, ate and chatted for probably an hour. It was really nice of them to share this place with us.
After lunch the group split up a little as some of us had to return to Prince Alfred Hamlet to refuel as “Op die Berg” was “at the rugby” so the garage was closed. When we got there and saw the queue at the garage Natalie and I and some others decided to carry on the extra 7 kilometers to Ceres for fuel.
On the way back we found ourselves riding with Geoff Kite and we had a new underpants moment when a car coming down the pass moved right over to our side of the road. When he finally looked up and saw us, he swerved back and then returned my greeting as he passed us, only I was showing him the bird, not greeting him.
We caught up to most of the group who seemed to be waiting at the turn off at Op Die Berg and we found a bit of space in the convoy and enjoyed the dirt road back to the Oasis, arriving at about the same time as we had done the day before. It really is a fantastic area to ride through. As soon as we got there we had a lekker hot shower, sorted the camp a little and headed to the bar. If you had been an outsider and wanted to know what kind of a day we had, you just had to look at Leon’s face for one. He didn’t even stop smiling when the Stormers were getting thrashed. It really was an excellent day enjoyed by all.
By the time Geoff’s group started to arrive we had been back for about 2 hours already. Sounded like they had quite a day, dislocated fingers, falls, punctures, bikes left behind, everything you’d expect from a day out in the mountains with our esteemed chairman.
Supper was absolutely fantastic once again, the honesty bar’s little spike was almost to the top and then the Stormers tried to ruin the evening by getting a hiding from the boys from KZN. But it didn’t dampen spirits for long as the party moved outside and everything from tattoo’s to the weather were discussed with vigor and much laughter. Alison tried to show us her tattoo of a little mouse but it was missing (you’ll have to ask her where it’s gone) and I think a good evening was had by all. In the end we decided it wasn’t really going to rain on Sunday, I mean look at the weather at the moment, it’s brilliant. Then quiet suddenly everyone decided it was bed time and disappeared to bed.
I was awake at two in the morning to relieve myself of some beer and it at that time was still a clear windless night. Perfect I though, those idiots in the weather office must have used the wrong coin when they predicted the weekends weather. Still so far so good as I snuggled in for the last few hours sleep.
Four hours later I was lying in my tent listening to the wind and rain trying to get in. Even though I knew in the back of my head it was going to be like this I had hoped against hope that we would get a chance to get home before the front hit, but here it was, already all the way out here.
We have packed up camp many times before in the rain but usually that is in our 4x4 where everything can get chucked into the back and sorted when we get home. But now we have to get things in some sort of order as there is not unlimited space. We try something new with the rain sheet of the tent which almost worked; we left it up, took the tent down underneath it and tried to pack our bags. We still got wet, but probably not as wet as we would have if we had not done this. A small modification and some practice will go towards this exercise being successful in the future, if we are ever silly enough to go camping on the bikes in the rain ever again. Which weekend is that………can we book now?
Then up to breakfast where Gerrit and Tristan are making jokes about the clay on the pass and how slippery it is, all of which is really helping my wife. I tell her there is no clay in the Cederberg but I don’t know if she believes me. But she cannot be that nervous because if you know my wife you will know that she used to never eat before a big ride due to nervousness but here she is, tucking into breakfast like she’s not getting fed for the rest of the day.
We say our goodbye’s and set off alone as now Natalie was ready and just wanted to “get on the road, now!” The road is actually not even bad but we take it easy at first. The weather is very patchy, it drizzles, then it clears, then it buckets down, then it clears and so on. I discover my beloved Dakar has a flaw. It has not got one of those rain mudguards right above the wheel and so it takes the mud, flings it forward into the air and then back so that it covers its own rider in dirt. Lovely! I have to stop every few kilometers as I cannot see a thing through my visor. I try riding with it open but my face is soon full of sand so I decide to stick with stopping often.
I also stop to take a pic or two as we often see the most amazing rainbow forming in the bits of sun that break through. We later find David stuck next to the road with a puncture and Rusty and co have already stopped but there is nothing we can really do as he has a screw sticking out his tyre. We promise him the back up vehicle will be coming this way and carry on. It always feels crap leaving someone next to the road but we know no one will be left behind and as we are pulling away I think to myself he will spend the rest of the day in a warm Land Cruiser………mmmmmmm a puncture eh.
We reach the tar and we are glad for it, no plots bought so far. A little further towards Op Die Berg and we have to stop as it comes down so hard I cannot see a thing. Our gloves (we didn’t think about them) are soaking and our hands are frozen, even with the heated grips on full. The odd drop or two of rain also gets down the neck somehow. Now it seems to be raining permanently, no respite at all. Just the amount of rain per minute differs. Down the Gydo Pass again not quite as fast as we had the previous day, in fact pretty slowly. I decide I actually preferred riding in the rain when we were on the dirt. It’s also now just not my hands that are cold but I am starting to feel it all over.
We had decided along with quite a few folk in the morning that we would go home via the Slanghoek Valley so as to avoid Bainskloof in the pouring rain. But as I approach the turn off the rain has abated a little and Natalie is flashing her light and gesticulating so I stop and she tells me she would rather go over the pass now. What a brilliant decision it turned out to be. The rain actually stopped as we made our way to the top of the pass and we were able to stop and witness some of the most fantastic newly formed waterfalls flowing into a very swollen rushing river. Man they must have had a lot of water coming down out here.
But by the top of the pass it is bucketing down again so we take it easy. It’s not so bad once we get into Wellington and by the time we are heading past Nelsons Creek we are actually in sunlight. Thank goodness I think and we turn it on and falsely think we might even dry out before we get home. But as we head past Phisantekraal and into Durbanville the heaviest downpour of them all hits us. I pull into a garage in Durbanville partly because my fuel light has gone on and partly because we once again just cannot see where we are going.
There are some folks in a car at the garage staring at us and talking. Probably wondering what makes people go out on a bike on a day like today. Guess none of them own a motorcycle otherwise they’d know I suppose.
The rain finally stops again as we are heading past Richwood and holds off till we get home. Now I believe a jacuzzi is a very necessary part of bike kit, mine stays at 40 degrees during the winter months and I just unload bike clobber everywhere in the lounge, making a huge mess in the process, and within minutes just my nose is sticking out the water. I cannot tell you how good that felt. From freezing cold to this beautiful heat everywhere. I felt a bit done in as while we were sitting there the sun came out and stayed out for a very long time. But we were home, safe, warm, together and just extremely happy.
I’d like to end by thanking everyone involved and everyone that was there for another stunning weekend and especially to Geoff and Andy for the organizing and effort. I for one know a weekend like this doesn’t happen with one or two phone calls. It actually takes a lot of effort to plan. I fear though most folks will remember this weekend from their ride home more than the weekend itself.
I now also need to make peace with the fact that while I thought Sunday’s ride was good for the experience etc, my wife absolutely had a ball, and enjoyed every single second of it. Nou wat nou……………………………………….
Superb report. Yes, Nats is starting to enjoy biking more than us - better watch out!
On Saturday I kitted up with my dirtbike gear and the body armour Natalie gave me, and also went for a little ride to test it out. Julie says I am a vision in red and black now, but I think she is just jealous...
Thanks Warren. That rainbow was still showing the way to the Pot-o-Gold under that rock when we went home a bit later, it was so stunning, so glad you stopped to take the photo.
Thanks to Andy , Anne and Nolene (backup) for the ride on Saturday, it was a brilliant chilled ride for newbies.
A big thanks to Geoff for the safe, steady ride home, I actually enjoyed the rain and torrential downpour in Wellington, watching the water spraying up to Tiaan's waist as we went down the main road was even funny, I tried not to think the same was happening under my bike!
I am ready for Biedouw valley and Wuppertal now!
A weekend of full of "firsts".
This was my first overnight off-road trip with the club.
The first time I've ridden my bike in the dark - on gravel nogal.
My first few kilometres of twee-spoor, complete with a little sand and some very loose rocky sections. Admittedly I did have a small side-stand incident, ending up with my front wheel firmly stuck in a little shrub next to the road.
My first Pink Lady - the best apple I've ever had.
The first time I've done gravel roads in the rain. Fortunately we left early and the surface was surprising good.
And the first time I've been out on the bike in a torrential downpour in gale force winds - it felt like a helicopter with a firebucket was hovering a few metres above me whilst going over Du Toits Pass and later down the N1. Clearly a bad route option.
Wow!, what a blast. I can't remember when last I've had so much fun.
A massive vote of thanks to Geoff for arranging the trip, Andy and Anne for an awesome day on Saturday for the "easy-riders", Nolene for providing peace of mind for all the riders by driving the backup vehicle, Gerrit and Chantal our hosts at Oasis (I think I gained a kilo or two over the weekend). And last (but not least) a big thanks to everyone who was there - without you the trip would not have been the huge success it clearly was.
Great report and awesome photos Warren. Clearly Andy & Anne's riding groups have loads more picture taking opportunities!!
Such a beautiful part of the world!!!
Thanks Warren for the great trip report, I'm still busy with mine.
Thanks to Geoff, Noleen and all you great bunch of mad men and ladies for making this a fantastic week end.
Great report Warren & thanks for taking the time to share the experience with us all.
Oops, almost forgot I had work to do - so busy day-dreaming again after reading your brilliant report, Warren and seeing all the photos you and Tony put on. Also to Jeanne for her fantastic report!
I personally enjoyed the laid back day in the sun, the people and the views.
Even the rain bucketing down couldn't wipe my smile away.
Thanks Geoff & Noelene for enticing us away once again from our day-to-day drudgery!
PS
En route to Cedarburg up old DuToitskloof pass a baby baboon ran right across my path and I had sudden visions of my incident with the Vervit monkey en route to the Wild Coast last year. And then I noticed monkeys everywhere... Please beware of the monkeys!
A great read, thanx Warren. We took the N1 "bad" route, and going into the mountains before the tunnel, there were about 20 or more small waterfalls coming of the top of the mountains, looking like they were flowing right out of the low clouds covering the mountain tops. It looked magical.
Nice report Warren.
Question. We're you happy with your 'adventure suit' from LF? Is it waterproof? Worth the buy?
Awesome stuff Waren, thanks for the report.
And to Di, thanks for riding pillion Saturday. I enjoyed having you aboard. As uncomplaining and compliant a pillion as any could ask for.
I hope you enjoyed the ride and i'll listen out for the comments to learn on whether I was a respectful rider and looked after your well being well enough.
The proof is in the stories later..... as they say
As for the coffee and lunch stops.
on this trip we thought we'd try to add a little bit more value to the ride.
The detour to Planet Karoo was as much to show you this wonderful venue as it was to have 'different' kind is stop to a Wimpy or other roadside cafe.
If you think it did not work let me know, and I won't invite you next time.
If you think it did work let someone else know and if the feedback is good, we can arrange similar kind of stops.
The lunch stop was as much a treat and surprise to you all as it was for me.
Dear Marlize scored big time and she did a fantastic show of hospitality and good fare. She arranged a picnic alongside a dam on their family farm.
I felt this was better than the usual stop-over for lunch.
On a next trip we will meet a petrol bowser en-route meet us in an exotic place just as people start to get nervous about orange lights, but you will be forewarned. .
HD, I am very happy with the suit. It is apparenty a recently improved version and the rain inners are seperate from the suit. I was totally dry inside.
Also very comfy, so yes, definately worth the bucks.
The only thing I need to look at now is a decent set of "winter" gloves as our hands were the only parts to suffer.
Anyone have suggetions.
Hi Warren
I've got a set of winter gloves from WildatHeart. Warm and waterproof.
Got the insides wet last Sunday because I had the gloves over my jacket sleeves (ok, so common sense isn't that common). Tuck them into the sleeve and all dry.
I am still smiling Warren.
For the weekend part of it I remember everything. I found out that I am quite flexiable around corners specially when you over cook it next to a cliff. How quick the body can move before the brain could think of doing anything.
As Tony has said. It was a first for me too on a lot what he mentioned.
To everyone who arranged this all I can say is THANK YOU.
When are we doing this again???
Andyman, where are the group photies you took as well as some of those that were taken by your bike; if I understood you correctly.