Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

ROUND THE BENDS Sat 22 Sept 07 Riders: 1150GS Geel Kameel, 1150GSA Andyman, F650GS Annie. Location: Somerset West. Ride : 36km (1½hrs) following the service road alongside the railroad tracks. a there n back trip. Grade: orange. Weather: overcast, breezy with some light drizzle now and again. This was an adventure ride with all sorts of terrain briefly thrown in. Actually an excellent ride if you want to get a taste of off-road in a short time. It’s amazing what fun can be had, literally on your doorstep. We agreed to meet 12H00 Sat 22nd at Medicity Vergelegen, 2 other riders could not make it. The usual tyre deflation ceremony, lots of envious glances from guys in cars n bakkies as they passed by, chained to their wives n kids. Medicity Vergelegen, trye deflating procedure Then from Medicity literally at the next housing complex we dipped off the tar onto the footpath at the level crossing alongside the railroad. This is level for 9 km. The path turns on to a nice road which soon becomes a tweespoor. This nice road soon becomes a tweespoor As it passes the Chris Hani settlement, the tweespoor gets cluttered with the usual defilement that clings to the skirts of such settlements. Even water in the tracks. GK watches as Annie negotiates the treachorous tweespoor BEWARE this is actually overflow from an uncovered effluent manhole. This is pretty technical – you need good balance, momentum and control to negotiate the obstacles and circumvent the deep ruts. GK's classic move of leaving his ingnition on during a photo opportunity gave us a chance to do the 'tow start' thing with the recovery straps. After the settlement it really becomes nice going and fun, following the curving tracks and crossing several rivulets. Nice clean tweespoor along the tracks Then good gravel up to the Sir Lowry’s Pass village. This is good gravel Photography on the move.... Rejoin the tracks at the level crossing keeping to the left side –there is no distinct path for about 500metres. We made the mistake of taking the right, not the left side of the railroad... Winning over some of the local kids. They are always so appreciative GK eventually has to cross. Nothing to it. This is technical, terrain, take it slow, controlled and avoid the many obstacles waiting to trip you or take out your tyre. Clumps of grass clad the stumps of upright treinspoor planted in the ground. At this point, with a pull here and a press n push there- I removed the visor and chin pice from my Sysytem Five helmut and viola, it was an ednuro helmut- much more comfortable to have unimparied visability and less wieght. Then you get to a technical river crossing. The banks are steep, rutted, rocks in the river. Above the steep banks, stop and choose your line,......carefully, the opposite bank is steeper Alawys let someone go first and don't repeat their mistakes.... Look up, stand up, and commit yourself It started so well, but as the exhaust hit the rocks, the boots slipped pff the pegs and the nuts hit the tank Stand up, look ahead, trust the bike, choose your line carefully and then stay committed, keep good control down the bank, into the river and don’t be too eager on the throttle going thru and up the other bank. Trust the bike. A bit more negotiating the jetsam of impoverished life, say hi to many excited kids. And then you can finally get in a burst of speed to cool the engine which by now is running hot. Now you start to climb the mountain. There are rivulets every coupla hundred metres, some muddy n slushy, some rocky. We crossed the old pass road again and then into the wooded mountain. The service road crosses the tracks often. Take care of the oblique crossings, the tracks can flip you over so quickly if you let you wheel slide the track while the bike goes one way and you the other. It’s a lovely ride on good road, some nice sandy patches and dips down into the rivers and up the other side. Trees line the road and grow into it. Watch out for the branches hanging down into your face, duck deftly here and there as you weave along the best 'line'. Its a lovely road, shady, fast and curvy While the tracks stay level, the roads dips into the rivers There's some rough rocky stuff... And there's some wet, muddy slippery stuff In fact there' quite bit of that wet muddy stuff, keeps you alert, get dirty boy, get dirty... We hade quite few deep puddles to slush through. Eventually the road runs dead half way up the o mountain. This is a natural place to braai and relax and chat about then ride. Next time we will bring a picnic & braai here. The end of the service road, and here comes the noon freight The choo choo thunders past us As we were mounting to leave, lo n behold a freight train came rumbling down the tracks, its screeching brakes protesting against the heavy load, eager to just run on and on. Some do it standing up,... .....and some do it sitting down .... Overall, the raod is great to ride on. We rode back down and due to time took the chicken run on the deserted old tar down into the village and then home. Bikes all bedecked in mud, water n bush, like banners of accomplishment. Making the bikes look very butch and businesslike. Standing there watching the bike, I’m very sure it enjoyed the short action packed ride every bit as much as I did. I’ll post a thread on the forum inviting riders on the next run. So Olaf, Whisper, Halfjob, Alexander, any other riders, come enjoy a really cost effective enjoyable challenge right on your doorstep. We go for the fun, we don't put pressure on you to go fast. Any time you want to do this ride give me a call, I'm game on. Andy Connell