MirageF1AZ
Pack Dog
As mentioned in my new member intro, I come from many years of riding fast sportbikes on tar so I'm pretty much new to this whole adventure biking thing.
With this in mind, fellow forumite Breinsel and I decided to do a relatively easy trip to get me into the swing of things. Of course it also had to be interesting, otherwise what's the point, right? So we decided on Cederberg Oasis, since we both love the Cederberg area so much, and he has been to Oasis before on a couple of occasions.
So, away we went bright 'n' early on Saturday morning 28 Feb. Edgemead -> N1 -> Wellington -> Bains kloof -> Ceres.
Bains kloof pass was quite an eye opener. Turns out my DRZ 400 doesn't quite handle like a GSXR. ...Odd.
It took some time to get used to the very lively front end, but once I got to grips with it it was actually quite a blast! I must say: that thumper sound echoing off the rock walls is not entirely unpleasant ;D Also, I am absolutely astounded by the tar road performance of the Michelin T-63's I recently fitted. I was quite sceptical when I first saw them on the bike, and thought "ah well, I'm sure they must be good in the loose stuff, but there goes my tar road fun" ...Not so! They behaved perfectly well and never did I have any reason to lose confidence in them. Sure, I'm never going to do any of the GSXR knee-down stuff, but on this bike they are great.
Ceres was, to say the least, an absolute malhuis of activity. Here's a pro tip for you: stay away from Ceres on a month-end Saturday! The town is temporarily taken over by what must be thousands of workers from the surrounding farms, who stand in queues probably 100 deep (I kid you not!) just to get to an ATM. Even just driving down main street was quite a harrowing experience because when people are in crowds they seem to lose all sense of danger and just cross roads with no fear for life or limb. I was constantly revving the little 400 to announce my arrival, and signal pedestrians' impending doom. (I've been refusing to use a motorcycle hooter for more than 20 years now ...they sound horrible and the motor is much more effective.) Anyway, after a frustrating visit to a very busy Pick 'n' Pay so Breinsel could buy a R40 lilo to sleep on we pushed on to PortPrinceAlfredAlbert Hamlet (I have given up trying to get the name right), and then Gydo Pass and Op-die-berg for a last fuel stop before heading into the bundus. This is one of the few criticisms I have of the DRZ: its tiny fuel tank. I constantly have to plan around fuel range. I'm going to have to invest in a bigger or additional tank.
After Op-die-berg it was a shortish stint until we finally got onto gravel. Now, up to this point I have probably travelled less than 200km of gravel in my entire 28 years of biking. I have read some books and forums and things and have at least experimented a bit on some of our local dirt roads in the last month or so, but this was where it finally got real. Luckily Breinsel is quite patient and understanding and I told him up front that I was going to take it very easy, so that's what I did. I cruised along at a steady 60-80 km/h and experimented with the whole meerkat thing. That's maybe where another criticism of the DRZ comes in: I'm about 1.84m tall, and the bars just feel too low for me, even after fitting a higher rise handle bar, and 30mm risers. But I did start to get used to it a little more after a while so maybe I'll eventually acclimatise.
So on we suikered to Cederberg Oasis, which could not appear soon enough, because by then the weather was starting to get seriously hot. After a quick check-in and a cold one, we went straight for the pool ...and then some more cold ones. We had initially planned to take an afternoon sortie to Wupperthal, but it was just so damn hot, and the beverages started tasting too good...
Most of the local W/Cape forum members and many of the others have probably been to Oasis, but at the risk of repeating what must have been said before: if you get the chance, go there! What a nice place, and run by even nicer people! I thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and will most certainly be back. Another pro tip (and again one that must have been said on this forum many times already): You MUST try the spare ribs. :thumleft:
After an all too short overnighter at Oasis, we decided not to simply return home by the same route, but to go full circle via Citrusdal. So North West we went past places such as Sanddrif, Kliphuis, Driehoek, the beautiful Uitkyk pass and Algeria. After the Nieuwoudt pass, we turned left onto a final piece of dirt road towards Citrusdal, instead of the much busier N7. After a much-needed fuel stop (for the DRZ, at least) at Citrusdal it was onto the N7 and then a last bit of fun through the Piekenierskloof pass, before the dreary haul back to Cape Town. To make matters worse, we had a horrible head wind after Malmesbury, which is no laughing matter after almost 200km in a DRZ saddle, let me tell you!
But all in all a most enjoyable trip, and I can't wait to go again ...just not in the next few days!
With this in mind, fellow forumite Breinsel and I decided to do a relatively easy trip to get me into the swing of things. Of course it also had to be interesting, otherwise what's the point, right? So we decided on Cederberg Oasis, since we both love the Cederberg area so much, and he has been to Oasis before on a couple of occasions.
So, away we went bright 'n' early on Saturday morning 28 Feb. Edgemead -> N1 -> Wellington -> Bains kloof -> Ceres.
Bains kloof pass was quite an eye opener. Turns out my DRZ 400 doesn't quite handle like a GSXR. ...Odd.
It took some time to get used to the very lively front end, but once I got to grips with it it was actually quite a blast! I must say: that thumper sound echoing off the rock walls is not entirely unpleasant ;D Also, I am absolutely astounded by the tar road performance of the Michelin T-63's I recently fitted. I was quite sceptical when I first saw them on the bike, and thought "ah well, I'm sure they must be good in the loose stuff, but there goes my tar road fun" ...Not so! They behaved perfectly well and never did I have any reason to lose confidence in them. Sure, I'm never going to do any of the GSXR knee-down stuff, but on this bike they are great.Ceres was, to say the least, an absolute malhuis of activity. Here's a pro tip for you: stay away from Ceres on a month-end Saturday! The town is temporarily taken over by what must be thousands of workers from the surrounding farms, who stand in queues probably 100 deep (I kid you not!) just to get to an ATM. Even just driving down main street was quite a harrowing experience because when people are in crowds they seem to lose all sense of danger and just cross roads with no fear for life or limb. I was constantly revving the little 400 to announce my arrival, and signal pedestrians' impending doom. (I've been refusing to use a motorcycle hooter for more than 20 years now ...they sound horrible and the motor is much more effective.) Anyway, after a frustrating visit to a very busy Pick 'n' Pay so Breinsel could buy a R40 lilo to sleep on we pushed on to PortPrinceAlfredAlbert Hamlet (I have given up trying to get the name right), and then Gydo Pass and Op-die-berg for a last fuel stop before heading into the bundus. This is one of the few criticisms I have of the DRZ: its tiny fuel tank. I constantly have to plan around fuel range. I'm going to have to invest in a bigger or additional tank.
After Op-die-berg it was a shortish stint until we finally got onto gravel. Now, up to this point I have probably travelled less than 200km of gravel in my entire 28 years of biking. I have read some books and forums and things and have at least experimented a bit on some of our local dirt roads in the last month or so, but this was where it finally got real. Luckily Breinsel is quite patient and understanding and I told him up front that I was going to take it very easy, so that's what I did. I cruised along at a steady 60-80 km/h and experimented with the whole meerkat thing. That's maybe where another criticism of the DRZ comes in: I'm about 1.84m tall, and the bars just feel too low for me, even after fitting a higher rise handle bar, and 30mm risers. But I did start to get used to it a little more after a while so maybe I'll eventually acclimatise.
So on we suikered to Cederberg Oasis, which could not appear soon enough, because by then the weather was starting to get seriously hot. After a quick check-in and a cold one, we went straight for the pool ...and then some more cold ones. We had initially planned to take an afternoon sortie to Wupperthal, but it was just so damn hot, and the beverages started tasting too good...
Most of the local W/Cape forum members and many of the others have probably been to Oasis, but at the risk of repeating what must have been said before: if you get the chance, go there! What a nice place, and run by even nicer people! I thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and will most certainly be back. Another pro tip (and again one that must have been said on this forum many times already): You MUST try the spare ribs. :thumleft:
After an all too short overnighter at Oasis, we decided not to simply return home by the same route, but to go full circle via Citrusdal. So North West we went past places such as Sanddrif, Kliphuis, Driehoek, the beautiful Uitkyk pass and Algeria. After the Nieuwoudt pass, we turned left onto a final piece of dirt road towards Citrusdal, instead of the much busier N7. After a much-needed fuel stop (for the DRZ, at least) at Citrusdal it was onto the N7 and then a last bit of fun through the Piekenierskloof pass, before the dreary haul back to Cape Town. To make matters worse, we had a horrible head wind after Malmesbury, which is no laughing matter after almost 200km in a DRZ saddle, let me tell you!
But all in all a most enjoyable trip, and I can't wait to go again ...just not in the next few days!
