GK
Pack Dog
In my introduction yesterday some of you guy's asked for some of my previous trip reports.
I have tried to pull them off the BMW M/C Club Cape Forum. So here goes the first one.
This past weekend saw the inaugural BMW Club GS ride to the Cederberg. As a 4x4 tour guide and recent arranger of BMW trips it was quite strange putting together the first "official" BMW club off road tour. Questions like, will it be supported, what type of riders will attend, will it be too difficult etc, etc, went through my mind as I prepared to route, meals, accommodation, pit stops and so on.
So Saturday 1st April finally dawned, oh I forgot, the first trip was departing on April fools day, was this a sign of things to come...........????
The back up vehicle departed directly from my house with the trailer so it was 9 rough and ready BMW riders with an assortment of bikes ranging from an old R80GS to a 650, 1150's and 1200's that met at the Sonendal Engen garage. A 10th rider would join us later in the day. After a short briefing we departed at 0800 for breakfast in Citrusdal.
The air was very nippy in places but after a good ride with little traffic we pulled into the Cederberg Lodge in Citrusdal for our pre arranged breakfast. Did I say pre arranged? Well I had booked via e mail and had confirmation from them. (Forget the numerous other e mails and call's that went unanswered)
On our arrival it was a case of "Wie is julle"?, "Ons verwag nie jou groep nie"! Any way they beckoned us to the dining room where we were greeted by the most unhappy, unhelpful bunch of waiters ever Smiley. What the heck we were hungry and were not going to eat again until that night so we crammed in loads of fruit, yoghurt, cereals, bacon egg etc. All washed down with lots of fruit juice and coffee.
After breakfast we dropped our tyre pressures to 1.2/3 front and 1.5 rear (mistake nr 1. Drop tyre pressure when tyres are hot, they were now cold, as they build up pressure and you end up with tyres harder than you wanted) and rode the lovely dirt section from Citrusdal to Clanwiliam. This section was made even better by the fact that there was no traffic on the road.
On arrival in a very hot Clanwilliam we filled up our tanks and bought our liquid refreshment requirements for the evening. After loading these into the back up vehicle we had a nice slow, very hot, uneventful ride into the Biedouw Valley.
We were staying at the farm Mertens Hof, of Barry and Mariette Lubbe and their 2 kids. This Home away from home is very popular with the 4x4 fraternity as it offers not only lovely grassy areas on which to camp but also a fully furnished farm house that sleeps 16 people with bedding, towels, etc supplied. They also supply meals on request. Their rates are extremely reasonable and they can be contacted on 027-4822845 Smiley.
Our plan, once we had settled in at the farm was to take a ride up to the Natural pools that are on the farm. However we were very disappointed to hear from Barry that due to the drought the pools were empty. darn, I was really looking forward to taking the group to them for a swim. Barry however offered to take us and show the group the waterfall on the farm. We all took a slow ride to the fall's and returned back to the farm at 1530 and all went to swim in the farm dam and reservoir. Smiley
Dipak our 10th member arrived at around 1630.
That night we all took a walk down to the main farm house where Barry & Mariette prepared a great braai for us which we enjoyed in their farm house that was built in 1830 (yes 1830!!).
Later that evening we walked home and some of us sat outside under a cover of stars that looked so close you could almost reach out and touch them and had a night cap!
Sunday morning dawned and as I got up I felt that it was going to be a hot day. We had planned to leave at 0830 but everyone was ready earlier so we left around 0815 for Wuperthal. On arrival here I stopped the group and gave them a quick history lesson on the town, it's people and it's surrounds.
We left Wuperthal over the new little bridge over the Tra Tra river and proceeded to climb up the old pass without incident heading for Eselbank. We stopped a few times to take in the surrounding beauty.
Just before Eselbank I took the group to some natural pools where many of us stripped off and swam in the all together. This was a stunning experience, swimming in crystal clear mountain water with a great group of bikers all with no cares in the world (Hey guys, Anna-Marie was very unhappy that she could not join us!!!!!)
Back to reality, we now had to get back into our hot sweaty clothes Smiley and head for our lunch spot at the Cederberg Oasis.
On our way here one of the group had a minor incident with an oncoming 1200GS with a pillion. 2 bikes, opposite directions, in the cederberg, no other traffic within 200kms what can I say. What happens on tour stays on tour!!!!! Alcohol was definitely NOT a factor though!!!!!!!!!!!!! Smiley
On arrival at the Oasis we ordered our lunch and had a couple of cold ones.
Then the "we are going home syndrome" kicked in. It is the same syndrome that the 4x4 guys get after lunch and will never cease to amaze me. The whole weekend we do not want to go home, but after Sunday lunch the riders all get the smell of home and want to leave immediately.
Straight after lunch the guys started making their way home via Ceres and from there via different routes.
I took a lightning quick blast over Bainskloof and found the adrenalin was still pumping when I got home Smiley.
By all reports the first "official" Club off road ride was a great success. I really hope to see you all at the next Club meeting and hopefully also on the next Club GS ride.
I have tried to pull them off the BMW M/C Club Cape Forum. So here goes the first one.
This past weekend saw the inaugural BMW Club GS ride to the Cederberg. As a 4x4 tour guide and recent arranger of BMW trips it was quite strange putting together the first "official" BMW club off road tour. Questions like, will it be supported, what type of riders will attend, will it be too difficult etc, etc, went through my mind as I prepared to route, meals, accommodation, pit stops and so on.
So Saturday 1st April finally dawned, oh I forgot, the first trip was departing on April fools day, was this a sign of things to come...........????
The back up vehicle departed directly from my house with the trailer so it was 9 rough and ready BMW riders with an assortment of bikes ranging from an old R80GS to a 650, 1150's and 1200's that met at the Sonendal Engen garage. A 10th rider would join us later in the day. After a short briefing we departed at 0800 for breakfast in Citrusdal.
The air was very nippy in places but after a good ride with little traffic we pulled into the Cederberg Lodge in Citrusdal for our pre arranged breakfast. Did I say pre arranged? Well I had booked via e mail and had confirmation from them. (Forget the numerous other e mails and call's that went unanswered)
On our arrival it was a case of "Wie is julle"?, "Ons verwag nie jou groep nie"! Any way they beckoned us to the dining room where we were greeted by the most unhappy, unhelpful bunch of waiters ever Smiley. What the heck we were hungry and were not going to eat again until that night so we crammed in loads of fruit, yoghurt, cereals, bacon egg etc. All washed down with lots of fruit juice and coffee.
After breakfast we dropped our tyre pressures to 1.2/3 front and 1.5 rear (mistake nr 1. Drop tyre pressure when tyres are hot, they were now cold, as they build up pressure and you end up with tyres harder than you wanted) and rode the lovely dirt section from Citrusdal to Clanwiliam. This section was made even better by the fact that there was no traffic on the road.
On arrival in a very hot Clanwilliam we filled up our tanks and bought our liquid refreshment requirements for the evening. After loading these into the back up vehicle we had a nice slow, very hot, uneventful ride into the Biedouw Valley.
We were staying at the farm Mertens Hof, of Barry and Mariette Lubbe and their 2 kids. This Home away from home is very popular with the 4x4 fraternity as it offers not only lovely grassy areas on which to camp but also a fully furnished farm house that sleeps 16 people with bedding, towels, etc supplied. They also supply meals on request. Their rates are extremely reasonable and they can be contacted on 027-4822845 Smiley.
Our plan, once we had settled in at the farm was to take a ride up to the Natural pools that are on the farm. However we were very disappointed to hear from Barry that due to the drought the pools were empty. darn, I was really looking forward to taking the group to them for a swim. Barry however offered to take us and show the group the waterfall on the farm. We all took a slow ride to the fall's and returned back to the farm at 1530 and all went to swim in the farm dam and reservoir. Smiley
Dipak our 10th member arrived at around 1630.
That night we all took a walk down to the main farm house where Barry & Mariette prepared a great braai for us which we enjoyed in their farm house that was built in 1830 (yes 1830!!).
Later that evening we walked home and some of us sat outside under a cover of stars that looked so close you could almost reach out and touch them and had a night cap!
Sunday morning dawned and as I got up I felt that it was going to be a hot day. We had planned to leave at 0830 but everyone was ready earlier so we left around 0815 for Wuperthal. On arrival here I stopped the group and gave them a quick history lesson on the town, it's people and it's surrounds.
We left Wuperthal over the new little bridge over the Tra Tra river and proceeded to climb up the old pass without incident heading for Eselbank. We stopped a few times to take in the surrounding beauty.
Just before Eselbank I took the group to some natural pools where many of us stripped off and swam in the all together. This was a stunning experience, swimming in crystal clear mountain water with a great group of bikers all with no cares in the world (Hey guys, Anna-Marie was very unhappy that she could not join us!!!!!)
Back to reality, we now had to get back into our hot sweaty clothes Smiley and head for our lunch spot at the Cederberg Oasis.
On our way here one of the group had a minor incident with an oncoming 1200GS with a pillion. 2 bikes, opposite directions, in the cederberg, no other traffic within 200kms what can I say. What happens on tour stays on tour!!!!! Alcohol was definitely NOT a factor though!!!!!!!!!!!!! Smiley
On arrival at the Oasis we ordered our lunch and had a couple of cold ones.
Then the "we are going home syndrome" kicked in. It is the same syndrome that the 4x4 guys get after lunch and will never cease to amaze me. The whole weekend we do not want to go home, but after Sunday lunch the riders all get the smell of home and want to leave immediately.
Straight after lunch the guys started making their way home via Ceres and from there via different routes.
I took a lightning quick blast over Bainskloof and found the adrenalin was still pumping when I got home Smiley.
By all reports the first "official" Club off road ride was a great success. I really hope to see you all at the next Club meeting and hopefully also on the next Club GS ride.
