M
masehare
Guest
What would be better than sitting at home during a long weekend? Baviaans of course! Butch, Just4kix and I arranged the trip, planning a four day loop from Cape Town, entering via Uniondale. The man who did this before, Butch, planned the route and kept tar time to the minimum.
We left Thursday morning from Strand between 08h00 and 08h45 sharp. The route followed the N2 up to Buffeljags so that we could make up some time for the dirt lying ahead. Then the Tradouws pass up to Barrydale for brunch at the Country Pumpkin.
Tradouws pass
Thereafter Rooiberg pass... and bollocks, I can't find the exact route we did on Mapsource, but anyway, we ended up in Outshoorn (Butch, please fill in the detail). Rooiberg pass is "katseballas" - what an awesome road. Vanwyksdorp was somewhere in the mix as well.
First dirt after Barrydale
Somwhere
Van Wyksdorp
Somewhere too
It started getting late and we had to haul ass to Uniondale (I didn't know Just4kix's 650GS could do 175km/h, so had some trouble following him), where we filled up for the kloof trip and a local farmer kept on nagging us not to ride too fast. As if we ever did.
Within the first 10 k's of dirt we were "greeted" by a beautiful sunset
but realised darkness has caught up with us. When we got to the official entrance of Baviaans, it was completely dark and we stopped for a smoke break and to try figure out how far we still have to go before the camp site.
Luckily only 15 more k's.
...of this
Eventually we reached the camp site (Rietpoel) and pitched tent on grass under a 60W bulb and small camp fire to keep us company. Not a breath of wind, stars were out and soon we were braai-ing the tjoppies tannie Henriette supplied us - oh, and she baked a huge bread too. The camp site had a flushing toilet and a shower, all for R45 pp per night.
Pitching tent
Next morning
Just4kix's personal tower
We left early the next morning to make most of the day. The plan was to get to PE before sunset.
Our first water crossing...
Very, very deep
The first 100 k's or so is quite easy going and you'll be able to trot at 80 km/h. Our first little mishap was a puncture on the 650. We took a bit long to fix it, but the next one will be repaired in 15 minutes (pardon the pun) flat.
Stopping to fix the puncture
While we were working about 15 cars and 20 bikes passed us - heavy traffic! The biggest water crossing came up, but luckily was a non-event. That was our lunch break and we watched some 4x4's crossing the same hazard over and over again. They seemed to enjoy it...
Proof that we were there (Just4kix, masehare, Butch)
In the kloof
The kloof breaks top box latches
Going towards Patensie we crossed more water, climbed hills, decended into valleys, I drank from the fountain
(There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.)
and took in the scenery. Why didn't I do this earlier? Just as we left the last piece of dirt, we met Yellowfever and his riding companions. They had some battery trouble on a 1200 and were waiting for BMW on call. We filled up again in Patensie for the haul to PE, where we slept over at Just4kix's brother (thanks Wynand + Vicky!). The next morning we met up with Yellowfever in Humansdorp and took the N2, turning off at the Bloukrans pass. Once again, never miss the oppurtunity to do this road! From there we did the 7 passes and ended up in George.
Somewhere again
Happy Birthday!
And then on from George to Mosselbay. Then from Mosselbay to Jongensfontein, where I assured our group we'll get a place to stay. Which seemed not to be the case... Eventually we sourced a flat attached to a house, de-packed the bikes and went for a ride up on the ridge behind Jongensfontein. Yellowfever then showed us how it's done in thick sand.
The next morning the road back was via Blombos, Malgas, Bredasdorp, Caledon and then Somerset West.
Canola in Overberg
Total distance of around 1800km, but Butch can confirm from the GPS.
Personal lessons learned:
- Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever again (never, never, never) take a top box to Baviaans. It will break off.
- Plan food supply better. Too much food is heavy. Buy as you need along the way.
- Buy a less bulky sleeping bag, pack lighter and smaller. Weight is your enemy.
- I've learned to handle the 1150 much better. Back brake only when coming up on tight corners. Weight to the back when approaching sand, etc.
- Plan for shorter distances per day. This will allow for more stops and the odd puncture/problem.
EDIT: I totally forgot to say, Butch hit a small baboon on the way to Uniondale. He was driving in front going around a blind corner and the little bugger ran out in front of him. Luckily Butch drove straight over the baboon and could control the bike.
We left Thursday morning from Strand between 08h00 and 08h45 sharp. The route followed the N2 up to Buffeljags so that we could make up some time for the dirt lying ahead. Then the Tradouws pass up to Barrydale for brunch at the Country Pumpkin.
Tradouws pass
Thereafter Rooiberg pass... and bollocks, I can't find the exact route we did on Mapsource, but anyway, we ended up in Outshoorn (Butch, please fill in the detail). Rooiberg pass is "katseballas" - what an awesome road. Vanwyksdorp was somewhere in the mix as well.
First dirt after Barrydale
Somwhere
Van Wyksdorp
Somewhere too
It started getting late and we had to haul ass to Uniondale (I didn't know Just4kix's 650GS could do 175km/h, so had some trouble following him), where we filled up for the kloof trip and a local farmer kept on nagging us not to ride too fast. As if we ever did.
Within the first 10 k's of dirt we were "greeted" by a beautiful sunset
but realised darkness has caught up with us. When we got to the official entrance of Baviaans, it was completely dark and we stopped for a smoke break and to try figure out how far we still have to go before the camp site.
Luckily only 15 more k's.
...of this
Eventually we reached the camp site (Rietpoel) and pitched tent on grass under a 60W bulb and small camp fire to keep us company. Not a breath of wind, stars were out and soon we were braai-ing the tjoppies tannie Henriette supplied us - oh, and she baked a huge bread too. The camp site had a flushing toilet and a shower, all for R45 pp per night.
Pitching tent
Next morning
Just4kix's personal tower
We left early the next morning to make most of the day. The plan was to get to PE before sunset.
Our first water crossing...
Very, very deep
The first 100 k's or so is quite easy going and you'll be able to trot at 80 km/h. Our first little mishap was a puncture on the 650. We took a bit long to fix it, but the next one will be repaired in 15 minutes (pardon the pun) flat.
Stopping to fix the puncture
While we were working about 15 cars and 20 bikes passed us - heavy traffic! The biggest water crossing came up, but luckily was a non-event. That was our lunch break and we watched some 4x4's crossing the same hazard over and over again. They seemed to enjoy it...
Proof that we were there (Just4kix, masehare, Butch)
In the kloof
The kloof breaks top box latches
Going towards Patensie we crossed more water, climbed hills, decended into valleys, I drank from the fountain
(There's more than one answer to these questions
pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.)
and took in the scenery. Why didn't I do this earlier? Just as we left the last piece of dirt, we met Yellowfever and his riding companions. They had some battery trouble on a 1200 and were waiting for BMW on call. We filled up again in Patensie for the haul to PE, where we slept over at Just4kix's brother (thanks Wynand + Vicky!). The next morning we met up with Yellowfever in Humansdorp and took the N2, turning off at the Bloukrans pass. Once again, never miss the oppurtunity to do this road! From there we did the 7 passes and ended up in George.
Somewhere again
Happy Birthday!
And then on from George to Mosselbay. Then from Mosselbay to Jongensfontein, where I assured our group we'll get a place to stay. Which seemed not to be the case... Eventually we sourced a flat attached to a house, de-packed the bikes and went for a ride up on the ridge behind Jongensfontein. Yellowfever then showed us how it's done in thick sand.
The next morning the road back was via Blombos, Malgas, Bredasdorp, Caledon and then Somerset West.
Canola in Overberg
Total distance of around 1800km, but Butch can confirm from the GPS.
Personal lessons learned:
- Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever again (never, never, never) take a top box to Baviaans. It will break off.
- Plan food supply better. Too much food is heavy. Buy as you need along the way.
- Buy a less bulky sleeping bag, pack lighter and smaller. Weight is your enemy.
- I've learned to handle the 1150 much better. Back brake only when coming up on tight corners. Weight to the back when approaching sand, etc.
- Plan for shorter distances per day. This will allow for more stops and the odd puncture/problem.
EDIT: I totally forgot to say, Butch hit a small baboon on the way to Uniondale. He was driving in front going around a blind corner and the little bugger ran out in front of him. Luckily Butch drove straight over the baboon and could control the bike.
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