Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

Most of you have probably read Andy’s report. This trip was already diarised at the end of Feb 2007. Once it had dawned on me that Andy was fully expecting me to come along, and we had paid in March, I had to try and prepare my mind for it. There was simply no turning back. You might laugh at this, but at this stage, I had only been on the road as a new rider for just under 2 months. I couldn’t even do corners and tight turns… Max taught me how in April. My 1st long trip on tar, which also ended up on gravel, was 2 weeks after I started learning to ride. We did a trip up to Wilderness and back, “back” being the long way around 4 dusty passes between Knysna and George. I think I didn’t drive more than 25kms/hour. I think my heart was in my mouth most of the way. 2x2ing is VERY different to 4x4ing! Andy got his 1150GSA in March, and then I knew that my tar days were seriously limited. And….West Coast trip was lurking in the back of my mind – up to a 1000 kms on dust. I had 1 practice run out between Darling and Aurora – my baptism of fire into off-roading. I don’t think my speed went up above 30kms, although every possible kind of road was encountered. After that, I spent a month in the gymn, realizing that one thing I was not going to succumb to was physical exhaustion and be in a state of too tired to carry on. I don’t think I slept for a week before the trip, especially after the pre-trip briefing, which warned us of ruts…. By 3.30am I was awake on the Friday morning. 6am Andy & I hit the road and the horrible traffic of Plattekloof/Montague Gardens/N7. Another new thing to me was the MIST. I wish I’d had visa wipers. We met up with the other riders, had time for one coffee and then were briefed by Geoff. To my horror (and Brenda’s disgust – she did not like another lady like Miss Padlangs to get in the way of her and Geoff’s bike), Geoff ordered me to drive behind him. Anyway, it wasn’t too bad. I could cope with the speed, but I found the mist rather challenging. Up at Kardoessie, I thought “the end is nigh” when we let down our tyres. I looked longingly down towards the bottom of the pass and safety. Me and Miss Padlangs (just as nervous – she’d had as much gravel experience as me) hit the dirt with my heart in my mouth. I stood up. Apparently this is what you must do if you’re off-road biking. Trying to remember all the rules, I was faced with my first patch of deep sand. And suddenly I was lying in it. I learnt for the 1st time that I’d bought my 1st patch of land. I was wondering later why there were so many landowners around me. Leon, Chris & Collin all helped pick up the bike and I was on my way again. I could see their orange & red lights most times at the back of me. I picked up my speed to 60/70kms and was feeling rather proud of myself… until Geoff gave me the option to head straight for Vanrhynsdorp, about 90kms on tar with the backup bakkie in persuit. I gratefully accepted this option. Having had my days of heroics along other avenues, I was not keen to perform any stunts. Andy insisted I drink some wine in Vanrhynsdorp. I still couldn’t understand why. I needed all my focus. This is what karate had taught me…. Bitterfontein, and my heart was in my mouth. At the back of my mind I wondered how the pillions were faring. I take my helmet off to them, especially in the sand. Their lives and their destinies definitely lie in their riders’ hands and judgement… Bitterfontein About 80 kms to Silverdoos. Ok, I could manage this. And I started to literally count down the kms, while checking for loose dirt. We were about 20kms from our destination, where we stopped. Understand that when the rest of the group stopped, I had to carry on riding, just to make up some distance. At this point, Geoff immediately told us the next bit was “tricky dirt” – 22kms of it. The sun was in my eyes. I could see I was holding everyone up. I made a call, much to Miss Padlang’s relief. I needed to really study these 22kms very well from the bakkie, which is what I did. Actually what I needed what a Large glass of whisky! We picked up Mickey along the sandy way and finally arrived at Silverdoos, Neels having ridden my bike on the back of the trailer. We were assaulted there for the cooler box, then the luggage. Just before the thick sand...: Anne decides to give it a go. A most fantastic sunset, lots of stories, good food and lots of whisky and good people, and I was having sweet dreams….until 3.30am, when that blasted sand dream woke me up. Well, Geoff reckoned as Miss Padlangs was already on the trailer, she could drift back to Pelican Pan Intersection and be off-loaded there. Buttercups in my tummy and heart in my mouth, I battled along through the difficult sections and eventually got onto a more open section, with Geoff & Andy in persuit. At Groenrivier turnoff, Geoff spoke to me. I had 3 options. Leave the bike at the turnoff and ride pillion with Andy (this scared me more than anything else); leave the bike and get in the bakkie; hit the road by myself 14kms to Garies. I gratefully accepted the latter. This allowed me to calm down with no rear pressure. I had an uneventful bumpy ride to Garies, where I refueled, had a large glass of wine, and settled down to over an hour of Sudoku puzzling (I’d packed this in my day pack, along with my water). I thought I’d make another “call” and spoke to Geoff. But he wouldn’t hear of it. He gave me the option of starting off early and heading back to camp, as I already “knew” the roads. “You’re going too slowly to do anything stupid,” he reasoned. “And I want you to try the sand.” Oops, I wasn’t expecting that one. Sounded like my karate instructor. Maybe I could hide myself & Miss Padlangs behind a bush at Pelican Pan and secretly wait for the bakkie. But then the pelicans would give me away… I was just opening one of the many gates, when 4 riders zoomed past me. Damn, that meant the others weren’t far behind. Now my Pelican Pan Plan No 42F was really foiled. The sand was running out my glass. Geoff waited for me, let down my tyres even further, and then coached me through the several kms of deep sand. I passed Olaf, who had passed me, fallen, and then he passed me again. Arno & Liezels butt passed me too, and several others. Brenda Buttercup also caught up, but decided to follow me. Thanks Geoff, for being such a patient teacher. I think I almost drained my wine bottle, with Geoff measuring that pace as well…. I was completely stunned by the “perseverance” award – a bottle of Amurula. Thanks guys! Geoff mentioned I should perhaps start off at 6am the next day. Perseverance Award: designed to blunt the senses to improve your riding in sand... At 3.30am I awoke with this thought in my head. I ended up starting half an hour ahead of everyone. It was really misty. I “plodded” along through the wet sand, and 7½kms (odometer distance), the 1st cowboys passed me. I was not the last to arrive at the salt pan, though. I believe there were several land transactions going on behind me. One farm was even auctioned off! Neil, I believe you got some land for a very good price. I was sad I couldn’t see much in the mist around me, as the section between Salt Pan & Lutzville really looked as though it had potentially good views. I winged it at 140kms to Doringbaai, enjoying every bit of tar. Had 2 glasses of wine and delicious food, and then hit the dirt for the last time – 80kms of surprisingly good road to Elandsbaai. I say surprising, because I was still in mistrust mode – expect sand patches around every corner. But now I know better, and I’m R20 poorer. We ended up at Vlakvarkgat at 140kms/hour. People looked at me strangely.. I wonder why? Did I enjoy this trip? Yes, very much so. I met a really really nice bunch of people. They were not only nice, but they were patient as well, and all eager to teach me new tricks. Thanks for this, I really appreciate it. A few things I learnt: * Don’t forget your humour, nobody’s got time to find that as well. * Loosen up (but don’t lose your focus) * When the ??@@ hits the fan: ** Look up, stand up, open (power) up. * When you’re in the sand: ** Look up, stand up, open (your legs), power up – 1st gear also works, don’t ride your clutch. You can sit and paddle. It doesn’t look cool, but it works! * Look down and you go down! * You’re never on your own – there’s always someone to back you up on a trip like this. * You don’t need testosterone to get there. However, testosterone could make you a rich landowner! * A wider waistline means I'm clocking up kms under the belt! * It helps to have some level of fitness. HAVE FUN!!! Thanks for all the fantastic support guys, I really appreciate it. Maybe this was all a bit long-winded, but YaBB Administrator – it’s still less than 50,000 words!!