Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Trip Report: BMWMCC West Coast Tour November 2007. PHOTOS WILL BE UPLOADED LATER 1150GSA Bob Garret 1150GSA Andy Connell 1150GSA Louis Koen 1150GS Gerhard Koen 650 XChallenge Neil Berry 650 XCountry Paul 650GS Jan Delport 650GS Tanya van Niekerk 650GS Marco de Freitas 650Dakar Tristan & Allison Riley 650Dakar Chris Swart 1200GS Alan Veitch 1200GSA Mark Burton 1200GSA Kevin Layden & Hettie 1200GSA Rony & Jos Desodt 1200GSA Rusty Rathbone 1200GSA Olaf Gaertner 1200GSA Geoff Russell Isuzu Neels & Annemarie The last West Coast Tour of 2007 took place from Friday 9th to Sunday 11th November. This was a BMW Cape Motorcycle Club initiative and was lead by Geoff Russell. No injuries and no broken bikes to mar the trip, except for one Dakar that came as a passenger on the trailer right from the start. The route followed the same pattern as per the previous two tours of 2007, with many new faces, with a few ‘old salts’ from earlier trips who could not be kept away. The riders and pillions met on Wednesday 31st October for a pre-trip briefing and get-to-know-each-other drinks n snacks. Geoff’s briefing informed us of the intended route, what to bring and what to expect on the route. As usual, enjoyment and safety were the highest items on the agenda. The joyful mood sobered up when the potential hazards were explained. This should have scared a few names off the list but everyone actually arrived on time at the kick-off at the Swartland N7 Engen 1-Stop. The briefing after breakfast was accompanied by spots of rain. Some riders were in rain gear having encountered rain on their way. Better listen up well at the brieifings '''Day one''' However rain was not the problem, as minutes after pulling out the back up vehicle & trailer had to load an ailing Dakar which kept cutting out. A detour into Malmsebury and a replaced sparking plug saw the bike starting just fine. To save time it stayed on the trailer. Another 650GS had a slow puncture and was repaired by the HiQ in Piketburg. Once offloaded at the Kardoesie deflation ceremony up on the Piekenierskloof pass, the Dakar once again failed to stay running and we worked for an hour troubleshooting until it became clear that an electrical gremlin had crept in. Back on the trailer and off we went, playing catch up on the gravel road towards “Engelsman se Berge” where the tar road is growing ever onwards eating up our valuable gravel. Then off towards Paleisheuvel through the awesome farm roads in the citrus belt. Valuable lessons learned. Take your bike for a shake down ride before embarking on a long off-tar tour! These items cost us 90km of gravel road. We took the chicken run tar raod to the N7 from Clan William to Vanryhnsdorp to recover lost time & we lunched at the infamous Phuccifinos restaurant and topped up on fuel. At all strategic stops, a briefing was given on what to prepare for up ahead. After a big lunch and in the afternoon heat -another 85km tar road chase up to Bitterfontein for another fuel top up and breather. Tyres are checked in the heat to the correct dirt road pressures. Now the trip really begins. 76km of empty dirt road via Witklip, on passed Reitpoort, dusty and long, how did we always seem to miss out on the interesting history? Rietpoort’s origins with the cave where Vader Cornelius vn’t Westiende lived while he founded the five mission stations n the area before and during WW1??! After a re-group and breather in Reitpoort we head off on good dirt through Biesiefontein then Kruisvlei past sparsely populated sheep farms winding, twisting and climbing to top the 360m on the escarpment before the rapid decent to Kotzesrus, another of the 5 mission stations founded by the busy preacher and 55 kms out of Bitterfontein. At this re-group, tyres are again deflated further in preparation for the next 22 kilometres of loose gravel and thick sand. a quick and serious briefing followed. The leaders open 11 farm gates and the back up vehicle closes them. In between the field spreads out as the advanced riders descend to sea level and the brakpan on the Brak Riviermond at sea level. The novices at the rear now learn hard and fast what sand and loose gravel are like. 1st gear falls are not uncommon and the two sweepers at the back lift bikes off riders every now and then. The novices have to dig really deep for the stamina to keep going but the team work and spirit of support sees them paddling gamely along again, some times falling through sheer fatigue. Only to be faced with the daunting prospect of 4 kilometres of deep red sandy tweespoor on the run in to Silwerdoos. By the time you reach rustic, plain, Silwerdoos, it is so welcome it feels like heaven. Intoxicating relief floods over you and the relaxation is an instant high. Sited barely metres from the high water mark, Jurg’ se Kaya is a welcome stop-over. Presided over by our host Jurg, typical West Coast hospitality is his speciality and soon we are all downing a cold one and chuckling at his endless Weskus humour and tall stories. Jurg has trucked in enough good humour, good food, water and ice to keep us all happy, home baked bread on the fire, polisie koffie en beskuit and sumptuous meals. The queue for the hot shower seems endless and only two of us really enjoyed the brisk refreshing embrace of swimming in the icy Atlantic Ocean as rank upon never-ending rank of breakers marched in from the deep. Groups of tired riders settled in huddles recounting the more vivid scenes from their day. Yes by now everyone knew each other and the contented hum of conversation carried on late into the night until one by one we crept into our sleeping bags. '''Day two''' The Saturday ride saw only 5 intrepid riders lead by Ronny Desodt take the challenge of the 40km “direct” route through thick loose sand all the way to Groen riviers lighthouse. With the main van lead by Geoff taking the 110km scenic dirt road via Kotzesrus to Groenrivierspunt. I took the direct route, & falling for the third time at the back, I simply waited for the back-up to pick up all 276 kilos of 1150GSA. I had stopped to take breath and it fell out under me into negative camber, with the pot sinking down into the sand. I was dead beat. Then Neil Berry’s experience kicked in and he bade me take the lead…onto the virgin track before Rusty could chew it up with his violent style of riding. Thereafter, I was off like a rat out of an aqueduct- skitting easily at 60 to 80kph over the sand using power to lift the front wheel each time the thick sand clawed at me. Out in the lead, on unspoilt track, my spirits soared as the training took over, confidence returned as my fear receded. There was no stopping me. The track got easier (not me getting better) and I saw several stoats, then a meerkat family and then some fox cubs. The BMW boxer at 80 is super quiet and I was upon them before they knew it, a few times in danger of running them down. We reached the lighthouse a good 30 minutes before Geoff’s ride, having time to bury a Geocache and chew off some droe wors. Visit this link http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=b37bd7f2-d258-4fb... to see cache No: GC17FWR. After the re-group and some liquid refreshment we all headed off on 70km gravel to Garies for a refuel & lunch at the hotel. Service is tedious and slow and the toilet facilities leave much to be desired. But the food did not disappoint. After a quick lunch the sand rats tore off to reverse the sand route and I found welcome excuse to rather accompany Geoff in his quest for a North West Passage. Together we rode in near perfect formation at a comfortable 100kph in their wake as far as the tiny intersection 18 kilos down the track. There we hooked left through the farms on the tweespoor to Kotzesrus where we rested until Kevin leading the main van, joined us. The tweespoor took Geoff n I on uncharted territory, twisting and turning through gates, over grids from one farm to the next up hills, down dales. The 2 bikes enjoying a loose reign as they jumped and frolicked, now over rock, now over loose sand, then over stones in an excited gambole to Kotzesrus. This is a 'definite' for the next tour! The docile ride as sweeper back to Silwerdoos and Jurg’s hospitality was an anticlimax. Out in the middle of nowhere is a lone grave marking the passing of a local lady. Once again the setting sun putting on an amazing display of every rich colours as hue upon darker hue eventually lost the battle to complete darkness. At the awards ceremony after dinner, the new landowners cemented their purchases with straf doppe of apple sours. Some went off early to rest tired limbs, others partied late into the night solving the problems of this world and the next. '''Day Three''' Sunday morning dawned, this 3rd day on the trail was as great as the rest. The route home took us to the Sout Rivier salt pans, then down the mining concessions of Namaqua Sands where the shameful rape of mother earth continues unabated in man’s greedy quest for material wealth. At the ‘Brand se Baai’ re-group, just where the tweespoor becomes a feast of undulating sweeps and turns, Neil Berry earned maximum respect for his magnanimous offer to Chris. Chris had thus far being a passenger in the back-up vehicle after his Dakar electric gremlins on chapter one, page one of day one. Now he was astride Neil’s 650 Cross Country for the rest of the trip. Many of us just stared in wonderment at this gesture. So on down, coast hugging past ‘Gert du Toit se baai’, riding sweeper with Halfjob was pleasant as we cruised along behind the ever improving Tanya hanging back to enjoy the scenery in unhurried bliss. Koekoenaap, then Lutzville where the 650’s took on fuel and some bikes inflated tyres a bit. Then nothing short of a dice stretching cables to Doringbaai and lunch at The Cabin. After the relaxing lunch stop with the excellent seafood platter winning hands down the group left for Lambertsbaai on the dirt. Tanya asked Neil to ride her bike onwards, just rewards for a real hero. Many bikes could smell home and the throttles were wide open. Freed from been sweeper for a while, I let my 1150GSA shake its head down the “railway road” & stretch its legs. Made for dirt roads, it set a spanking pace and soon we were passing Lambertsbaai before hooking on to the toll road past Muisbosskerm to Elandsbaai bay for the re-group. This was the end of the dirt roads. We set a good pace on to Vredendal where we inflated tyres to full road pressures and re-grouped, for the last time, at the Vlakvarkgat where a last cold one down the hatch and friendly greetings marked the end of another successful tour. No damages, no injuries and no punctures. Now that’s what I call a road trip!