Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

After all the winter we have been having, Sunday morning greeted us with perfect summer weather. No clouds, no wind, just clear sunshine. Even at Engen people were looking for bits of shade to hide from the heat of the sun. After a quick drivers brief Brian led the group down the N1. 15 bikes signed in at Engen, with Christo Lombard indicating that he will only be riding with us over the pass after which he needs to get back home. Frank Butler We were also joined by Frank Butler. He is an Aussie that is busy riding around the world on a Dakar. He has done about 2 thirds of his trip in the last 5 years! He has a helmet cam, which he uses to record his trip. It is actually a handheld video camera that is clamped onto his helmet with a bracket that looks like a Garmin mount. He has a web site where he keeps people informed about his adventures – www.mrbeem.net Breakfast setting When asked why he is doing this looooong ride, this ausie replied: “I am still looking for the perfect sheep.”. This caption is so typical of this pleasant ausie. You really missed, if you were not there to listen to his antics. :) Before long we got to Robertson and headed straight for the DROS. This paragraph is just a factual recollection of this venue. The single waiter, for a table of 22 people, had to take the coffee order twice – with a looong wait before any of us ever saw any coffee. He then started at one side of the table and took each persons order, in great detail. It was 45 minutes before anybody saw any food – with most orders messed up completely. Half an hour later I had to ask him (NO do not expect this youngster to come to your table) what happened to my wife's breakfast – another 15 minutes before my wife got her food. The only good thing I got from this establishment – now I can no longer say that the DROS at Tygervalley is the worst restaurant I have ever been to. The sad reality is that if you ever go to Potchefstroom, their DROS is one of the best restaurants – go figure. Never fear, we will go back to Robertson – but we will support another restaurant. Scenery outside Bonnievale The "Post-ride" gang, Frank took this picture After the 2 hour breakfast, 8 bikes, 9 people, drove through Robertson and then turned right to Bonnievale. Now this is where my use of the English language is completely inadequate. The scenery between Robertson and Bonnievale is just beyond description. AND there were the odd twisties for Niel. Bonnievale itself has 5 km “main rode”, half of which runs past the golf course and vineyards. From Bonnievale to Stormsvlei the scenery is more reminiscent of the Klein Karoo, with a couple of short twistie sections. Stormsvlei is where this road joins with the N2 – however I have yet to see anything more than a hotel/restaurant in this “town”. This time I decided to pull in here for some “liquid refreshment”. We asked where we could get some cool drinks and were quickly taken to back – what a beautiful garden. We were still standing around under the trees when the waiters brought out chairs for us. The drinks were brought with in couple of minutes. What a pleasant contrast to the morning. We discussed the possibility of a breakfast run with the owner/manageres. She promptly told us: “Ek doen nie bacon en eiers nie.”. She carried on to tell us in great detail what it is that she does offer. She goes by the name of Edwina Kohler, the establishment is known as Zanddrift restaurant, 028 261 1167 or 083 266 3954. Zanddrift Restaurant Back on the N2 it was only a short stint before we got caught at a Stop-Go. It was clear that some of the group would need fuel at some stage, so we decided to go to the padstal and fuel station just outside Botrivier. With the bikes filled up we walked over to the padstal for some more cool drinks. Here the group split up, with some going back via Houw Hoek and the rest via Rooi Els. By now it was already half past three – with the typical Sunday afternoon traffic. Just before we got to Rooi Els, we got to the scene of a motorcycle accident. The Suzuki had some minor damage on the side. Somebody said that the Aprilia (?) was “not going fast”, yhaa right. The rider was air lifted to a hospital – apparently in stable condition. SAD sight :( I had many thoughts abouts posting this picture. Finally I just left this picture "small". This is a grim reminder of what can happen. Please ride safely. 420 kilometers for a Sunday ride – what a day.