Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

The club ride Coast to Karoo organised by Geoff was for most of us a GREAT trip. Last minute cancellations gave Geoff and those cancelling headaches, life forever in flux. The final group consisted of, pillions: Geoff & Noelene, Chris & Carol, Gunter & Hanli, Arno & Liesel, Colin & Kim, René & Jean, Hennie & Mieki, Jacques & Marale, Lyndsay & Olivia, Nicolaas & Edna; Solo riders: Stevet, Louis, Phillip, Ian, Dale, Gunther, Karen, and I. Thursday morning dawned... meet at Engen Wimpy on the N2 @0745 for 0830 depature (sorry if errors but the Shiraz is good!)sip! Coffee/ tea/breakfast had no Reinette... getting ready to go ...a call to Geoff bike broken down on R300. Geoff starts organising assistance, Phillip goes as help/ body guard...none better! Would you send a gent with pink tappet covers??? Somewere after 0830 we depart for Perigrine farm stall where final briefing for the day is and tyre deflation...welll..René felt he should deflate early using a nail or the like soooo a puncture repair training in 'tubeless' took place(sorry topping up my glass)well end of that bottle, Geoff makes the jest "Well the way things are going perhaps we should go home".... Now+-400km of dirt road ahead for the day...to get us to Arniston, the Herberg Hotel for the night. First stop Greyton for some warming drinks. I found tea and a port to be rather good! In life you get the rough with the smooth in Greyton.....the tea and... Greyton..Barnyards and some warming drinks On the way out of Greyton A thumbs-up practice spot!: Went well at the turns Turning Colin and Kim :He overshot:-)the turn-off Blue Cranes alongside road Up and down section of hills A bit of uphill Area near Malgas Pont A twisty section A lovely pastoral scene, sheep grazing with no fences along the road Thereafter an unplanned incident...a bakkie turned in front of Hennie (BC Botha) and he and Mieki unable to avoid it hit the back of it. It was really good to see the way the group assisted under these circumstances. The driver of the bakkie didn't even "tell tot drie" and was WEG...gone! Phillip organised one of his farm bakkies to come through to Caledon and fetch the bike. The ambulance (two arrived) took Hennie and Mieki to Caledon hospital. The group then went on to Riviersonderend, and after a bike and body top-up, on to Arniston via Bredasdorp. Neels and Anna-Marie, Adri and Phillip joined us later. A quieter evening in the bar even Jacques was quiet! The dinner at the Herberg Hotel was SUPERB and PLENTIFUL. Breakfast the same standard and with good news about Hennie and Mieki, appetites improved. Departure was about 9-ish, after the 'happy birthday' singing for Liesel. Bredasdorp- Ouplaas- Malgas pont over the river and on via Stilbaai into Albertinia, through Herbetsdale, Van Wyksdorp to Ladismith, then a tar run into Kleinplaasie Oudtshoorn...got in +-6pm. Liesel and Arno at the Huisrivier stop/go A nice bit of tar, that Huisrivier section. We all settled in at Kleinplaasie, showered, then on to La Dolce Vita. Some walked, some rode by bike. There was a nice fire with sponsored wines, organised by Geoff, and sponsored Jagermeisters by Jacques!:-) A very nice evening. I departed early-ish, but the skinner is, a certain gent's bike got very tired from the day's riding, in fact so tired, that when he tried to climb onto it, it fell over!:-) Neels rode it back for him. The next day dawned with the sight of a hot air balloon up high. Whilst we prepared to depart dropped tyre pressures, I found my rear tyre had a puncture...a quick fix, then we were off to Swartberg Pass. Going up Swartberg Pass What beautiful work done to make this road...a real gift to society. The rock side walls to carry the road...a work of art...beautiful...well worth a drive in a car, if you don't ride. The stone filled gulleys suporting the road..beautiful! Veiw comming up from Oudtshoorn side Veiw comming up from Oudtshoorn side - 2 On this holiday time, it was going to prove interesting, with cars and 4x4s driving against our ride direction...unfortunately it proved to be so. Karen rounding a corner Nicolaas & Edna with Louis following Lyndsay and Olivia Jacques and Marale René's mirror clipping a bicycle on the back of a 4x4...a very low speed spill, but unfortunately the end of Jean's ride, and later René and Jean left us in Prince Albert. At the point of the spill, just after these photos, I found myself with a pillion. Olivia, who was a pillion with Lyndsay, asked if I would take her further, as Lyndsay was taking a bit of strain with sore ribs, on the uphill section. This entailed quickly re-fitting my pillion pegs, which I'd lent to Lyndsay. Passing By Ride with Olivia as pillion about to start: Her first bit of standing was before the corner. Within the first 200 metres, Olivia did her first standing as pillion. We continued, with a photo stop or two, passing Gunter and Hanli...this caused me to incur a penalty drink for overtaking. Veiw going down Pic of photographer: I NIKWAX'ed my kit before leaving... not too bright, the dust stuck! I looked like a Paris Dakar poser. As after all, all I was doing was trying to keep the pace up, so as not to get caught in the Swartberg Pass in the rain:-):-) Then into Prince Albert. Here René and Jean left us, AND Kawasaki KLR joined us. Megiel was asking for directions, which as it happened, he was intending to do the same/similar route as us to Sutherland. As we'd had drop-outs, Geoff kindly offered him a place to stay, with dinner and breakfast thrown in No charge. Little did I know, Geoff and the group's sense of humour.:-) So the merry group headed onwards to Leeu Gamka, where we topped up, and Karen left us to ride solo by road to Sutherland, as she was really concerned about the physical well being of her new bike, which is a rather pretty blue 650 twin. The rest of us brave souls, including KLR followed Geoff onwards to Merweville, for Sutherland. Merweville area The countryside 1 The countryside 2 Little did we know what delightful rutted, rocky sections lay in store to raise the heartbeat. The first five bikes were all with pillion, with Ian, Steve, Dale, and Louis following. The one pillion couple had an oops! on the rutted section.... Chris and Carol stopped to assist as we passed by. Re-grouping after the Merweville rocky section: KLR in the pic with Nic & Edna Re-grouping Lyndsay joining the re-group The re-group after leaving the estate agents!!: KLR visible Then a nice surprise...a section of thick sandy gravel. Chris and Carol, caught in the wrong gear, slowed perceptably, and Ian went into the back of them. I managed to go around them all, and continued for a bit, but was in wrong gear and stalled...so down we went too. Dale nipped around all of us, stopped on good ground, then came back to assist...so much for helping your buddies...made sure he wouldn't fall before coming back to help!!:-) Stevet bought a FARM! and the others, a plot or two. Nicolaas and Edna, on their 650, bought a small plot too...they rode REALLY well, pillion on 650 on the uphill sections!!! Then into Sutherland for the night...a great sociable evening starting with the rugby at the Jupiter Restaurant then dinner there. Do you need a sense of humour to be part of the Club? Is your past likely to haunt you? ...YES...I became the butt of the jokes for the evening, after Geoff paired me up with KLR...much merriment at my expense, with plenty of innuendo. If you want a good load of laughs, attend the next club meeting where a verbal trip report-back will be given. P.S. The tappet covers will shortly change colour. Autum colours in Sutherland 1 Autum colours in Sutherland 2 Autum colours in Sutherland 3 The next day, with the wet conditions and time conciderations, the group opted to ROAD it back...so tar to Touws Rivier, where we split up a bit. Another fantastic trip. Thanks to all...well wishes to Hennie, Mieke, and Jean. Special thanks to: Jacques for the backup vehicle, Anna-Marie and Neels, Adri, Geoff, and my pillion...well, you've done the 'introductory pillion course', on the intermediate level, incl. emergency braking, but sans cones.