3 Bikes, 4 Provinces, 9 days, 4249km and countless curious encounters

[0012]

Daai Britstown middagete (skaap roast as ek reg onthou) was van die lekkerste wat ek al ooit gehad het.


Vir julle vermaak heg ek ons "trip checklist" aan      :deal:

Dit was die drie van ons se eerste multi-day bike trip (jul kan mos sien ons is skaars uit die skool uit    ) so die lys is moer lank, selfs dinge soos "helmet" en "panties" is neergeskryf net ingeval ons newbies dit ook nog vergeet  :lol8:

Soos altyd kom mens maar agter jyt ge over-cater en volgende keer bly die helfte van die goeters by die huis.

Behalwe vir die tools, ons het hulle nodig vir die BMW    eepwall:  grap net, nie n oomblik se issues van enige van die fietse op die trip nie...

 

[Gryshond]

:laughing4:sub

 

[V-TORR]

From Britstown to Victoria-west we drive the N12.
Victoria-West has got a lot of graveyards. One on each side of the road as you drive into town. Grimm.

From Victoria West we drive towards Loxton on the R63. We are running behind schedule and have to pick up the pace. It's a great ride: smooth road with swooping turns, bikes running great, not too hot not too cold, and most of all, not yet dark.
Just 37 minutes later we stop outside Loxton where the road turns to dirt.

It dawns on us that no matter how hard we ride, we cannot outrun the night.. The last stretch to Fraserburg will be in the dark.

 

[V-TORR]

We are tired and its going to be dark soon.. Once the sun goes down it will be cold. We are still 80km away from where we are supposed to sleep tonight.

But knowing all that didn't stop us from stopping at the next windmill beside the road.
It just might be THE shot.. It was totally worth it. (And it turned out to be THE shot Theotherguy was looking for)

 

[Matewis]

Dis verseker die foto daai!

 

[Lem]

Holy moly! Lekker trip hierdie en stunning fotos :thumleft:

 

[V-TORR]

The last stretch from the windmill to Fraserburg was the longest section of road for me ever. Not literally, but psychologically.


It is properly dark when we get going again and as you may well know, dirt roads don't have streetlights or fuel pumps.

I did not fill up at Victoria-West like the other two because based on my current fuel consumption I would easily make it to Fraserburg.
That was before we did the high-speed run which now left me with a flickering fuel light. Dammit. Sunday night, an hour's drive from the closest town, and I don't have enough fuel.

I had to engage the fuel saving mode: Driving in 6th gear at 65km/h.
I just puttered on. Kilometer after kilometer.
The other two stopped for a rest but I carried on alone. I figured I might as well rest when the bike runs out..

The bike indicated that it had no fuel left just as I passed the "Fraserburg 40km" road marker.

Tonight, I sleep by the side of the road for sure, I thought as I listened for the first splutter or hiccup that might indicate that I reached the end of my rope.

But the little v-twin kept on going.

And going.

And going.
I could make out some lights in the distance! I'm going to live!

And then the bike missed a beat.
Or did it?
It was just me, so nervous, I slightly closed the throttle and mistook it for the bike losing power. Focus man, focus!

When I drove into Fraserburg I couldn't believe that it was still going.

Found our accommodation and slept like a dead man with all my gear still on. Hehehe.

I now fill up wherever and whenever I can.

Tomorrow we do the Tankwa, and sleep by the West-Coast.

 

[Man from Nam]

Nice RR and photies :thumleft:
I enjoy the ride and cannot wait for the rest

 

[Shaun]

Looking forward to the final chapter :sip: :thumleft:

 

[0012]

eepwall:

Die Tankwa.... Sien uit na hierdie hoofstuk    ;D

Dis seker hoekom dit so lank neem om te tik  atch:


:ricky:

 

[Steekvlieg]

eepwall:

 

[Slim Jim]

can't wait for more

 

[Klein Torkar]

:sip: :sip:

 

[V-TORR]

Day 3: Fraserburg to Doringbaai via the Tankwa (533km)

Today we have got 533km to do of which 350km is going to be dirt. There will be three passes, the Tankwa Karoo, and as a final prize after what will be a hard day of riding, the ocean!

We get up early because Theotherguy wants to get a few shots of the telescope at Sutherland at sunrise. That means we will have to leave Fraserburg at 6:30 sharp.

Our accommodation for the night was a house built in the early days of Fraserburg, estimated between 1860 and 1870. It was modernized, but still has typical Karoo style with thick plastered mud walls, a front “stoep” and a garage that is ox-wagon size. Fraserburg is also the town where A.G Visser was born.

0012 snapped this inside which to me sums up the feeling of the house. (eerie, with a bit of nostalgia from yesteryear)

 

[V-TORR]

We need to fill up, but its 6:40 and the garage only operates from 7am to 7pm. It is afterall Monday morning.

Time for a few pictures.
Fraserburg at dawn:

 

[V-TORR]

I had a tough time on the way to Sutherland. Although the sun was up it was still bitterly cold, (-5.5C) and my gloves were not keeping my hand warm.
When I we arrived at the Sutherland telescope I couldn’t feel my hands and couldn’t pull in the clutch or the front brake.
I just hit the kill switch and let the bike stop on its own.

 

[V-TORR]

I now realized an issue with my home-made windscreen bracket. It was not up for the gravel roads and had vibrated loose last night.
Not good, since there's still about 260km gravel left for the day!

The 3rd of the 4 bolts holding it onto the bike fell out just as we reached Sutherland.

The other guy is kind enough to give me a hand since I can still not feel mine: putting nylocs on the screen bracket bolts.

 

[V-TORR]

I do enjoy the occasional warm beverage, so every morning before we leave I would fill up a small flask with coffee and drink some along the way. 

At Sutherland the “enjoying of warm beverage” is also a stall tactic to wait for the sun. The other two obviously have steel fingers or better gloves because they don’t moan about the cold as much as I do.

"Damn summer gloves! I'm giving that salesman a proper piece of mind when I’m back in GP! Winter inners? He could just as well given me a plastic bag!"

In between the moaning I use duct-tape to enlarge my handguards in an effort to keep the wind off my hands, and drink some more coffee.

The stall tactics and “maintenance” works, and before we know it, its 6degC and I’m willing to continue.
From Sutherland we take the gravel road towards Ouberg pass.
What an awesome road:

 

[0012]

:drif:      :drif:      :drif:

My gunstelling dag van die trip, met al die koud kry....




en die surprise wat later kom.........

 

[V-TORR]

The dirt road continues until you come around a corner and the earth falls away:
It is a spectacular view from the top of the plateau.