Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

I am in staying at The Galaxy 7 Theron Street/Theronstraat 7 Sutherland. 6920 Tel: 023 – 5711241 Fax/Faks: 023 – 5711241 Cell/Sel: 082 85 75 482 Email/Epos: ecmba@absamail.co.za Currently R200PP DB&B. If we fill it with BMW riders we will get a discount. I will be leading the "off road" ride.

There are currently 14 people booked for this trip. Those that I know of are; Myself (off road) Padlangs (road) Neil & Jane Terry (off road) Tanya van Niekerk (off road) Jan Delport (off road) Who else??????????????????

Dave asked me to post the menu for Saturday night: STARTERS Garlic roll R 15 Calamari R 25 Garlic snails R 20 LIGHT MEALS Cheesegriller & Chips R 30 Fishfingers & Chips R 25 Chickenfingers & Chips R 25 Mushroomburger & Chips R 38 Pepperburger & Chips R 38 Garlicburger & Chips R 38 Cheeseburger & Chips R 38 Burger & Chips R 30 SANDWICHES Cheese R 10 Ham & cheese R 12 Ham, Cheese & Tomato R 15 Chicken Mayo R 20 Tuna Mayo R 20 Bacon & Egg R 18 Bacon, Egg & Cheese R 20 MEAT Lambtjops R 70 Lambshanks Ladies R 65 Mens R 75 Lambneck Ladies R 70 Mens R 75 Porkschnitzel R 70 Served with a sauce of your choice Sparerib Ladies R 70 Mens R 80 500g T-bone R 75 500g Rump R 80 300g Rump R 75 500g Sirloin R 80 300g Sirloin R 75 SEAFOOD Hake & Chips R 50 Calamari & Chips R 55 Surf & Turf R 105 Deepfried calamari & 300g rump/sirloin ?? SALADS R25 Greeksalad Frenchsalad SAUCES R8 Pepper Garlic Cheese Mushroom Hi Dave, Here's our Menu with it's prices. We are lisenced so there's a wide variety of drinks available at the bar. If you need anything else please feel free to ask! Marna

Payment for Sutherland Accomodation - Dave supplied a list of guest houses. Everyone makes their own bookings and payments. Saturday night function - Food is chosen of the menu and paid individually, on the night. Thus NO payments to be made to the club.

On-road trip The starting time will be 9:00. The starting point is Engen Plattekloof. This ride will be led by Cliff Warmsley. Watch this space to see details for the off-road starting time and venue. Thanks Geoff.

Hi all, I envy you, could be a bit cold this time of year Unfortunatly some of us have to work ENJOY Wilfried

Overnighter. Ou Beer, I hear you. This is why this is an "overnighter". Drive up on Saturday, drive back on Sunday. This makes it accessable to those that work Monday to Friday. The lucky ones put in leave on Friday, and make a weekend of it. Last year we (the wife and I) did the overnighter. Absolutely stunning!!! This time we are making it a weekend - to get to see the planetarium. I would like to see more overnighter events for the on-road riders. Yes, GS's welcome. Different topic - will get a thread going for this later. Any body that is free on Saturday and Sunday - this is a worth while ride. You can even be home in time for the F1. (Sorry Cheezy)

Now 15 confirmed!

Hi Geoff Have you got room for me on Sat night Regards Oscar

Oscar, If you did not get the accommodation list from the Club post your e mail address and I will forward it to you or e mail me on russell@aroma.co.za.

Visit to planetarium. Should you want to see the inside of the planetarium, contact the tourism office in Sutherland. For some wierd reason the staff at SALT is reluctant to arrange tours, "ons is weke vooruit bespreek, bel die toerisme kantoor". When you phone the tourism office, no problem. You can even when you want to go. The number to phone is: 023 571 1265 We are going on Saturday morning at 11:00. Hoe lyk dit Chris vd W. gaan julle saam?

Hi All, Yes, Cliff and I'll be leading the group leaving on the Saturday morning. We'll be speaking tomorrow, after which we'll publish route details, meeting points etc. For those not accustomed to riding when it's really cold, you're in for a treat. The boxer engine just loves the cold and chews off great big chunks and shoves it into the motor. The power difference is sure to put a big grin on your face. So, if that's not reason enough, bring along something to cuddle, even if like me, it'll have to be a bottle of Shiraz! Hope to see many there. Cheers Lawrence

Lawrence, I suggest that the on and off road group meet and leave together for Ceres (if this is your planned route) breakie (brunch) at the Wimpey then depart on our separate ways. I have 2 routes planned the one being 6kms longer than the other I will check who the off road guys are then make the call as to which one we should ride. Now wait final departure details from Cliff!

This is the story of the BMW club ride to icy Sutherland in the central Karoo. Situated about 2000 meters above sea-level, reaching Sutherland is achieved primarily by the R336 from Matjiesfontein, forcing the rider to negotiate excellent mountain passes on superb roads. With the recent rainfall seeping into and between the rocks, the resultant freezing and unfreezing has meant that several rockfalls were present to remind the over-exuberant rider of their mortality. The area, sparsely populated with homesteads, is in fact home to a thriving Merino wool industry. As a result, a must try dish when eating at Karoo restaurants is the vast array of lamb dishes. Sutherland is also home to South Africa's most recent live volcano (2 million years ago) and, the national observatory, populated with the worlds highest collection of most sophisticated telescopes. The area is famed for breeding stable and race horses. Magnificent stallions and mares can be seen, not far from the main road, as they canter is fields as far as te ey can see. Sutherland is mind-blowing. The scenery and ruggedness is unbelievable and the roads are scenes taken from a 60's Western as the hero rides off into the desert.It is hard to believe that places like this even exist. I was pleased to be on a tourer which is capable of covering distance as, although it's only 80k's from the N1, these are the longest 80k's you'l have ridden. The unusually warm day (20degree) meant a few confused snakes came out of hibernation, forcing Jane on the little CBR 400 to take a bit of evasive action, save riding over a python. The topography is fantastically interesting with the flat mesa's creating strange contrasts to the landscape. Having had a bit of rain, the area is "lush" by Karoo standards. I think it must be one bleak place after several months of drought. When we arrived, our landlady, the lovely Denise of Primrose Cottage, couldn't have been more welcoming. We asked about visiting the observatory. Sadly, the last tour is at 14h30 and it was not 14h40. Within minutes, an SMS was sent to Dave, her husband, who happens to be the tour guide at the Observatory. In 15 minutes Cliff and I are hauling out of town and back into the barren wilderness of the Karoo. The observatory looms big and shiny on the horizon yet the route there takes your around via a more southern approach, with the recently (2 mill years) active volcano on your right. The tour delivered by Dave for the princely sum of R20 each is worth every cent and takes you into the magnificent 1938 built telescope, an advertisement for what was, the pride in British engineering. Even today, the original cogs and wheels move 15 tons with not much more than a whir of the motors. The tour culminates with a viewing inside of SALT, the largest telescope in the world. This incredible feat, made possible through a JV between SA and six other key nations, including the USA, Japan and Russia to name a few. SALT stands for Southern African Large Telescope (and not South African) as it is a jointly owned asset by the participating countries. Sadly, we were the 2nd to sport this model as the 1st was built in Texas USA and, in building the spare and replacement parts, it was found to be economically feasible to build a 2nd and erect it in SA. The 11 meter mirror is made up of 91 hexagonal mirrors, each carefully positioned so as to present a single image to the lenses. The intensity of this telescope is likened to us, with naked eye, being able to view a candle burning on the moon. So, this things a little more than your average star gazer. The Observatory is a must for any visitor to Sutherland and, if one isn't blown away by the incredible landscapes, this will prove to be the highlight to anyone's trip. Dinner was a marathon affair with city folk trying to devour every last morsel of the delicious 500gram steaks. The company of Oscar, youngest of the crowd at 79, James of '83 model BMW vintage, Padlangs and his missus, Cliff, Neil and Jane made for a great evenings entertainment. The wrongs of the world were righted with the threat of red wine running out being of little consequence. In the evening, Cliff and I walked back to the B&B and I was awe-struck by the stars and the sky at night. A dark, moonless night yet, one feels you could almost walk using the light from the millions of stars to light the path. The air is so clean, fresh and pure, you drink in great gulps of the purest and freshest air imaginable, almost leaving you dizzy. A restful night, helped by red wine and an electric blanket left us oblivious to the freezing temperatures outside, where Jack Frost plied his trade by coating every surface in a thick coating of icy frost. We wake to the aroma of fresh ground coffee and a full English being prepared as the start to our day. Breakfast is wolfed down and, half an hour later, we're saying fond farewell's to Dave and Denise. Such lovely people who make every effort to make your day and stay memorable. The bikes took a bit of encouragement to wake from their slumber in the freezing garage, but soon, we're breezing down the high-street as from all corners, side roads and alleys emerge more BMW's with grinning riders. Geoff takes off with the off-road party while James, Cliff and myself ride out of town together, the women from the local tavern in tears as they gaze from the frosted windows. OK, so that didn't happen, but see how easy it is to place yourself into a wild west movie set. About 15 km's from town, we happen upon the off-road riders who had Jane waiting for our arrival. Soon, and with Cliff leading, we're beating a brisk pace as we descend from nearly 2000 meters to little over 600. Soon, we come upon the smattering of 650GS's, gingerly working their way down the pass. The big boxers, biting off huge chunks of ice-cold air, jump like greyhounds from the traps as we carve down the pass and past the 650's. Cliff, gingerly trying to avoid the rocks from the day before, is encouraging of us that, if we see a spot to play, we take off for a bit. Without too much encouragement, Jane and I see a nice pass looming in the distance and, with the RT leading, we're soon carving through the pass, the little CBR 400 like a fighter in my mirrors as it swoops from side to side and scrabbles to take a similar line. An adrenalin fuelled few minutes later and Jane and I park up, grinning like schoolchildren as we wait for Cliff and James to catch up. Some good photo's are taken as they pass, giving Jane and I another excuse to hike up the tyre temps as we take off to catch the rapidly disasspearing Cruiser and R100. As we rejoin the N1, we're soon forced to stop at the single-lane road works approximately 40km's from Touws River. Jane's dire need of the services at Touws River suggests that she and I take off, agreeing to meet Cliff and James there. Once again, a wonderful run at a blistering pace dispatches 10km's every 3.2 minutes, giving me about 15 to 20 minutes of the fighter pilot view of the lights in my mirrors. The 400 looks incredible as we peel around bends at the limits of traction of the bikes, and in my rear view mirror's, is the little rider on and equally tiny bike hiked over and on the wire. Jane's appreciation was quite evident as we arrived at Touws River, to be joined by James and Cliff later. Riding in convoy, the journey home was largely uneventful, save for the disgusting warm milkshake at the Steers in Worcester. Our decision to rather stay on the N1, as opposed to the Koo Valley and Montague, was richly rewarded as we approached the De Doorns range, snow on the peaks, clearly evident from quite a distance. As we descend the Hex River Pass, a lake, mirror calm in the windless day, reflects the view back to the mountains. As we reach a level, the dam crest disappears into a fine line offering you a perfect view of the mountains in both vertical and inverted state. Staggeringly beautiful! I leave the N1 at Plattekloof Road while Jane goes past in that now, very familiar, racing crouch aboard her CBR. She's really learned to ride it now and together they're excellent company to ride with. I arrive home with more than 1/2 a tank left, despite having done almost 150 miles. The other day, my horoscope suggested that I could expect passion on the 15th. Well, arriving home, the pack on the cheek fulfilled my horoscope's prophecy - or was it that the passion was the incredible few hours I had spent in the saddle of my bike, I'll bet the wife would like it to be the former. That was Sutherland, a grand ride in the company of excellent people to a place I never believed could even possibly exist. There were on about 20 of us fortunate to have sampled this experience, I certainly hope to share it with more again next year. Cheers Lawrence (and Herman)

Nice report Lawrence, I'm sorry I couldn't come along, though by the sounds of it Brenda Buttercup would not have been able to keep up with you and that crazy Jane ;-) How about some pictures? And if you let me know how many bikes/pillions and the round-trip distance I will move this over to the '''trip reports''' section where it belongs :) Kind regards Charles

Great report! thanks Lawrence. off road report (with pics) to follow soon!

Great! Baie dankie vir 'n lekker-lees report. Waar is die fotos?

I'm really sorry Andy & I weren't there. Sutherland is another place I've never been to! Nice report. Some photos would be great, especially since I've not been there. Anne

Apologies, have been in a strat workshop. Will send pics and other details to Charles. Got some great shots, and even some video at the Observatory if we have the capacity to host. Andy, Annie, Charles and others, your presence would have certainly complemented the party and we hope you, and others will be at the next event. I certainly will! Cheers Lawrence

Well great, so we ca upload piccies easily now, OK here goes.... 21st Century Meets prehistoric splendour

Wee Wee Stop Road Ride Members Fleeing Trio Cliff, Trevor, James and Jane

The mighty K1200GT The beautiful throaty roar of the R100 All that glitters is gold, Cliff's unique R1200C The long distance athlete, the R1150RT

Brahman, this one is for you. We saw this on the way back from Sutherland. Dis mos nou jou tiepe sousie vir n braai.Brahman se braai sousie

At Sutherland Observatory Cliff, your club social organiser.. Cliff and Gavin Refuel, Karoo style! Leaving Sutherland

The Sutherland Sherry stop: Can you imagine a place, so bleak and desolate, so quiet and peaceful that the memory of the taste, the sensation of the smells and the vivid images leave you wondering how and when you can next get to this place. Surprising how so much nothingness can actually hold so much! It is questioned that, when people pass the remote little farmsteads, how one could live here, or even want to. Then, there are those who cannot leave who suggest you spend just one night in this place, and you will soon come to realise why. Lawrence

Hey Lawrence Nice pics. Is there any reason why you did not post them in the article? This is not the old forum anymore where we were limited ito what we could do... regards Charles

Hi Charles, Wasn't aware the pics could be uploaded as attachments and have been really busy with a product launch so hadn't time to do any resizing. I thought too, that I had to load them to online library first. Really neat and easy the way you've got it set up now. By the way, if anyone wants any of these (or the many others), I have them in original size of 2248. These can be zoomed in on and cropped for specific images, with excellent quality and clarity. The above pics are simply the originals resized to 800x600 to make them more online friendly. For example.... This little image is a small feature in the larger image to follow... Snowy Crest Snowy Mountains in Ceres Thanks Lawrence

Lawrence, how did you load the pictures? You mention that you load them as "attachments". How do you do this? I use the "library" method - I would like to try the attachment method to compare ease of use. Thanks

If you look at the bottom left hand corner of this "POST NEW COMMENT" box, there's an icon with a (+)PLUS in it.BMW F650GS Upload Pic Slide 1 Upload Pic Step 2 Upload Image Slide3 Upload IMage, Job Done!

Lawrence and Padlangs, There is a full, detailed description of the method at http://www.bmwmotorcycleclubcape.co.za/how-do-i-add-pictures-my-articles What you will find useful is an explanation of the options you have regarding left, right and centred alignment, image sizes, and popup links on the image. HTH regards Charles Website Administrator

Thanks Lawrence This is the method I am using to load pictures. I was hoping that you knew of another method, possibly: Add, browse, select - done. Without all these other steps. I can see how a library can be usefull, and the steps are not difficult. Charles, is there some way of "pre-selecting" your preferences and then load a picture without all these inbetween steps?

Hi Padlangs I don't understand what other steps you want to leave out. Could you tell me which steps you believe are superfluous so that I can investigate please? The system currently has default settings for upload that I can modify, and it appears that you are not happy with them - so if you tell me what you would prefer we can make a plan or at least explain why things are this way. Unfortunately the system does not currently allow users to set their individual image settings - which may be a good thing if you consider that you want the website to look good and be consistent. kind regards Charles

Please explain and give an example of what you mean by 'library' in this context. If it is indeed better and easier I would like to make it happen. regards Charles

Hi Charles We can speak about this at the next club meeting (when you have you laptop there). I am worried that we can start speaking at cross purposes here, with me not knowing the proper terms for some of the new functions. Many thanks for all your efforts in improving the site (or should I rather say - in assisting us in understanding the site) :)

I would firstly like to thank everyone who welcomed me on the Sutherland Ride so warmly, it was my first ride with the club and I can say that each and every person I met was wonderful. I have just copied a few of the photos that I took on the trip back, and I can only agree with Lawrence that it was magnificent desolation, and I cant stop talking about the trip, or cant stop planning a trip back there. Also Special thanks to Chris "liggies" and his brave Pillion Regards TrevorRoadside StopDesolationReady to hit the RoadSleeping BeautyChurch Against Blue SkyLong GrassDesolation 2Snow Topped MountainLake GrassColourful CountryWaterfall in Bains KloofWellington ValleyDistant Mountains

Hi Trevor Thanks for this - your photographs are absolutely stunning. I also like the way you laid them out in the report. regards Charles