Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

===Riders:=== (20 bikes altogether) Geoff & Noelene Russell 1200GSA Chris Boltman 1200GSA Richaard (from Villiersdorp) 1200GSA Hennie Botha 1200GS(the orange bike) Daniel Nelson 1200GS Andy Connell 1150GSA Colin Myburgh & Kim 1150GSA Buddy Ekron 1150GS Phillip Horstmann 800GS Jan Delport 800GS Corné Kloppers F650GS Grant Pistor F650GS Anne Connell F650GS Clayton Laue 650Dakar Dale Edwards 650XChallenge John Oliver 650Dakar Jacques Lewis 1200GSA Abie Fourie Honda Neels & Annamarie Backup Bakkie ''plus 2 latecomers'' Neil Terry 1200GS (arrived halfway to Groenrivier in the sand from CPT) Mauritio Pausa 1200GS (arrived 9.30pm!!! Sat evening from Brand-se-baai side via Ceres) ===Day 1 – Friday, 21 November=== This was to be the final pilgrimage to Jurg Se Kaia on the West Coast for 2008 organized by Geoff Russell. The previous trip had been a month ago, and “reports” (although we’re still waiting for an official one) were that the sand was very tough. A few people were blasted by the Sand Monster, and following this, quite a few cancellations quickly made their way onto Geoff’s email. So the people at the pre-trip get together were just a cross-section of the people that actually did the trip…. Andy surprised me on the Friday departure morning, having un-cancelled himself a week ago – a top secret mission, as he was actually un-secretly in Namibia according to numerous SMSes received by myself during Thursday. Daniel, Buddy & Jan in the background: Ready to do battle with the Sand Monster? "Orange" Bike: Hennie's not known for being shy... After the normal pre-trip briefing at the Swartland Engen, and yet another warning/begging “please don’t try and keep up with Jurg”, we left via the N7 towards Morreesburg. Abie and Chris (aka Shadow) had already left and were meeting us there. We entered Morreesburg via a short dirt road, and discovered I had a flat back tyre. I was quite miffed as I’d just had my tyre changed the day before. Andy & I headed for the Trentyre down the road, while the rest of the group waited and deflated tyres. The puncture repair took ½hour. Puncture repair: cost R50 although Andyman did all the work Soon we were on our way, hitting the dirt just after exiting Mooreesburg. We crossed a river and the first signs of sand appeared soon after, obviously – as we were nearing Sandveld and potato area. Among the stunning passes we travelled in the shimmering heat, was Kapteinskloof. This river was completely flooded last time we couldn't cross here We crossed tar and headed down towards Verlorenvlei in the general direction of Lambertsbaai and the sea. Colin & Kim Being a Friday, the farms were still very busy with harvesting, packing and delivering potatoes in big heavy trucks, swamping us in heavy clouds of dust. Emerging from one dust cloud, Dale picked up a puncture in his back wheel. The XChallenge has a 24” nut – for which no-one had a socket or spanner. The bakkie had gone on to have it’s waterpump repaired in Piketberg, and was nowhere to be found. Abie went off in search of a spanner at a nearby farm, but by the time he returned, McGuiver had already lain the motorbike on it’s side – bicycle style – had the tube repaired, and in 26minutes flat (he timed himself), Dale’s bike was on the road again. 2nd Puncture stop Verlorenvlei Bicycle-style puncture repair: Our cumulative punctures cost the trip around 2 hours of riding time The rest of the group were waiting at the next T-junction, sweltering away in the midday sun. Daniel had some incident with his seat, but I’m not sure of the details. The road became sandier and rockier. Not sure how – but the group somehow split into 3 and Geoff was left waiting at the Klawer BP Garage with (according to Noelene) “net sukke LANG woorde” – I’m not sure how you turn a 4-letter word into a Long word…! The 2nd group liaised with the 1st group there (myself and Buddy both ended up under our bikes in thick sand), pumped up, and met the 3rd group in Vanrhynsdorp. My 1st plot of sand: The price was a mere twisted ankle, a re-burnt pants leg, and a couple of bruises You can see my new Neighbours - Rommel and Buddy: who bought a plot right next to mine - in fact, they have a driveway running right through my plot! 2nd group wait for the 1st or 3rd group and cell phone signal Long Road to Vanrhynsdorp The famous Fuccifino pizzas left us very thick behind the eyes, and we practically lay on our bikes on the 80km tar stretch to Bitterfontein. We deflated and refueled, while Abie and Neels swapped biking gear. Neels followed the group on Abie’s Honda all the way to Jurg se Kaia. Andyman, not on a working trip to Namibia According to Geoff, this was the latest a group had ever been… Buddy tried to overcome his nervousness as he fought the sand monster with paddles, which he had brought with him. Jurg se Kaia awaits The crayfish beckon A feast of note awaited us at Jurg’s place in the dying rays of the sun. Mielies, salad and the biggest T-bone steaks I have ever seen. Of course Geoff’s Strafdoppe had us in stitches, and so we un-stitched him with the most vile concoction, which left him tired for the rest of the weekend… Jurg is honoured with the 1st strafdop I am dishonoured by the 2nd strafdop Abie dutifully swallows his medicine Richaard has to be helped by Hennie Even Noelene couldn't escape Guess who's getting married soon?: Colin & Kim Hoesit my broer - completely stitched together: Danielsan & Corné Hennie knows just how to unstitch Geoff Quite a few people camped due to the snoring problem Hennie, Phillip & someone else all snored together in one room. Each claimed the other one had woken him with snoring, and in turn they all got up to "klap" each other mid-snore (i.e. as the offending snorer was taking a deep breath), upon which the snorer swallowed his snore and klapped the other snorer back... ===Day 2, 22 November=== The group not going to Groenriver, lay in awhile. The eager crayfish divers were already busy in the surf before 6am. The others were waiting for Noelene and Annamarie’s promised topless session on the beach. I don’t think they realized that topless means “without a helmet”… The rest were preparing their bikes for 40+kms of sand. It had been decided the night before that, since I was the only one in the “group” doing the easier route, we had to amalgamate the “groups” and all do the sand route. I asked Geoff to download all his “net-sukke-LANG woorde” into a bag, and leave it at the kaia. I’m still a novice in sand. Anyhow, I managed over 20kms of it, and then Geoff took pity on me as he said he didn’t want to kill me. I gratefully climbed into the bakkie with Kim, Jacques and Neels. Somewhere on the 40kms of thick sand to Groenriviermond: Even Andyman's Ysterperd needed to rest for awhile Somehow Neil Terry appeared in our mirrors, having left Cape Town 4.00am-ish. Are you mad Neil? Brakpan - waiting for the sand novice Andy fought with the sandmonster and almost had to be recovered by the bakkie, when his bike got a 2nd wind after deflating to 0.2 bar and his battery reviving itself. Andyman's bike battery - thought to be flat: But when his bike saw it was about to be tow-started, it decided to start all by itself By now the bakkie was almost stuck and we deflated 4 times to get it out of the sand. One of the ways to float the sand again, once you have been bogged down, is to straddle your bike and run at 60km/hr while flooring the accelerator! Recovering after bike and bakkie recovery The rest of the sandy ride to Groenrivier was uneventful and I was able to enjoy the scenery. Sandmen My Bike is tired: Sand is a 4-letter word still At Groenrivier my bike was offloaded again and we were soon on a sandless fast ride to Garies. Just 5kms from Garies, Dale somehow picked up a file in his back wheel and his tyre instantly deflated. His bike was loaded onto the bakkie. In Garies, we ordered our food and went on to refuel, then returned to wait for our meals. Having been in heavy negotiations with the sand monster, we were quite thick behind the eyes after our meal. We did not find the lady who had been “soos ’n kobra wat 3-bar opgepomp is”, according to Hennie. On the Garies Hotel stoep waiting for the dorp to go by Jacques mentioned he felt as if his belly was inflated to 3 bar...: Warning: if you flatten a Garies burger & chips, it flattens you back! We dragged ourselves onto our bikes, while Neels pretended he was drunk, negotiating with an old local soak – the soak thought he was perfectly normal. We meandered through beautiful farmlands, encountering red course sand along the way. I learnt that this sand doesn’t give you as much uphill as the white sand, but I found out the next day, that this rule only applies to that specific area. Arriving at Jurg’s place we found the other group had just returned from a quadbike excursion. Back at the ranch: A rare picture of Grant - topless: Probably reading the local sheep-farming magazine Lekker by die see Ninja turtle? The sandmen return Daniel-san We all mozied around, while Dale tried to fix his puncture (the file turned out to be about 2 inches!), having to cope with many “raadgewende ingeneurs” on the sidelines. Again, no 24" spanner At low tide a small batch of divers were dispatched to fetch more crayfish. The sand riders were exhausted and a few succumbed to sleep. Engineering can be exhausting work Someone taken McGuiver's batteries out? Crayfish harvest The fire is almost ready Sunset: Geoff was so tired, he forgot to give us strafdoppe (Yes, I saw him load the cooler box with apple sours) and went to bed straight after supper. We scoffed appetizers of 6 smoked snoek while we waited for the crayfish to cook. Corné had also stirred a large pot of Weskus Kreefsop that afternoon. The soup is very thick, and can double up as a white sauce or flavoured mash. You have to “throw” it off the spoon into your plate – yumyum – delicious. And then we ate, and ate, and ate crayfish until we were sick of it! Mmmm….. there were only 3 leftovers. Anyone for a kreef?: A vegetarian's nightmare... mmmm cooked kreef: mmm with mayonnaise Buddy ready for bed after harvesting and eating kreef: according to him, these are not pyjamas pants, but 60's and 70's style tracksuit pants! Jurg entertained us with some Weskus humour, and also showed us that if you could fit between the 2 telephone poles in the kaia, then you were still well within your weight limits. We later found out that the secret was in how you could manipulate your paunch. Jurg's Weight Watch Plan - Pole dancing Jacques made it through after several tries Richaard never made it through after MANY tries While we were listening to Jurg, he stopped and said he heard a scooter engine. He went outside and returned, saying someone was looking for Andy. Oh my gosh – it was Mauritio – the mad Italian, who’d made his way across all the sand in the dark to see us! Well, we gave him a beer or two, and treated him to “soup” and crayfish, while he waited for his own meat to braai. He watched many people trying to fit between the two poles, but being a crazy Italian, he probably thought this was normal. Mauritio probably thinks we're normal Chris and Mauritio watching the goings-on at the poles Oh, by the way, Mauritio taught Jurg to speak English, and Jurg taught Mauritio how to speak Italian - the Weskus will never be the same again. Magie vol, ogies toe… Neels "uitgepaas" ===Day 3 – Sunday, 23 November=== Somehow we were all ready and packed almost an hour before departure time – I think in nervous anticipation of the sand ahead. We had a long trip briefing, during which Richaard tried to load Phillip’s camelback with the crayfish leftovers, and Phillip tried to secretly load Richaard’s topbox with rocks… We said our goodbyes to Jurg & co. and quickly made our way across the sands to the salt pans, where we said goodbye to Neil and Buddy. The morning was cool and not too misty. We stopped for a breather at Brand-se-baai and then headed on towards Lutzville across the corrugated sandy roads. Brand-se-baai stop: Close your eyes Grant - there's sheep watching you in the background Jan bought a nice plot with a view somewhere along the way. Yet another turnoff- and only flat bushes – all the lucky guys getting rid of the morning’s coffee. After a bumpy uncomfortable few kms, I spotted a large bush, hoping it wasn’t a mirage and stopped. The rest of the group thought I’d come off… Well, the road oscillated from nice to sand and everyone was surprised by a deep dustbowl at the bottom of a “nice” hill. Finally Lutzville and tar roads loomed. We re-inflated and refueled and hurried on to Doornbaai and lunch. Hurry up and wait, I say. A delicious seafood platter awaited us, also leaving us with foggy eyes. The road to Elandsbaai and Lambertsbaai was straight and winding and we made quick time, turning onto the tar and heading on for Velddrif. The afternoon wind had set in and the 650 bikes battled against it. Can you believe it – at Vlakvarkgat, our last stop, Grant and Clayton were again hungry and negotiated with the kitchen for a plate of pies. We all said tired goodbyes and headed for home, while Andy & I headed back to Velddrif to go and visit family. But I didn’t get to say much there at all - my head hit the table as I was trying to say it! Another brilliant few days on the sunny side of Africa! Thanks Geoff for organizing such a wonderful trip – I’m still battling to drive my desk after that one! PS Jacques, being a bit “grillerig” for crayfish, uncovered some kreef in his new motorcross boots at home, after his wife, Marale, told him that they stank to high heaven in the bathroom. Anyone want a 2nd hand pair of boots? The End