Cederberg - the vespa way

[mountainboy]

Cederberg ? the vespa way

So I had few days to spare and at long last,had the opportunity to get my beloved Vespa into the mountains. Plan is simple???

Wait for the right wind behind me ,sit on the little thumper (150cc single bore, 2 stroke beauty) and ride

Here she is ? all loaded



As a matter of safety,I avoided the N7 at all costs.Trucks are NOT a scooters best friend,so it?s all the back roads via Riebeck Wes,Saron and Portersville.Got there eventually (stupid wind!!). Total km?s for the day - 14



Of course before Cirtusdal, there?s the beautiful Piekenierskloof Pass. She handled that with ease



And finally, there it was. The great outdoors




After about 2km?s on dirt , had to stop and check the kidneys. Then I had the first of many ?kind? souls who stop and offered ?help?. Clearly you took a wrong turn son .There?s some serious passes ahead?

Exactly!!!!

Notice the dust in the background - go thumper!!!!






I was still fairly new to this dirt on 2 wheels thing and chugging along at 10 km/hr in the heat does take it toll but EVENTUALLY made it to that sign that says ?CEDERBERG?. I was home




This was first stop where all the ATGATT BMW boys stopped to offer help.And there were to be many.So I stood there,in shorts,T shirt and takkies,sipping some refreshing mountain water ,huge grin on my face and these boys were just stood there in dis-belief when I told them that little vespa will make it to Ceres, easy. (note to self - get one of those fancy Dual purpose bikes)



Unfortunately,before Ceres there?s some passes in the way. With a little encouragement ? she made it.

And pls do notice that huge smile of satisfaction on that Vespa?s face










Peace and solitude



Look ma - no friends





The road steadily became worse,the sand being my worst enemy.Those ten inch wheels just is not made for tricky stuff and nearly saw my arse a few times.Don't think I'll take the vespa any serious off road



To all those who normally drive past Stadsaal Cave - do yourself a favour and spend a afew moments there.Its pure beauty

Bushman paintings




Rumour has it that the old NP boys used to meet here for secret meetings.Interesting.........






Somehow managed to get kinda lost (there's basically only one road -idiot). But some a kind farmer dude not only directed me in the right direction but also gave me the distance down to the metre using that fancy GPS stuff.He had no idea if they made a special vespa GPS.
Gotta get one -if only the vespa had a battery

Notice the pass in the background.I'm nervous all over again



But the nerves had to wait for the following day ? made it to the Cederberg Oasis. Finally





Conversation at the Oasis went something along the lines of :

- Middag
- Middag Oom
- Waar?s jou motor
- Daar sy ? die swart ding
- Die vespa???
- Ja oom
- (looking again) Is jy f**king ernstig.Op daai ding, Alleen??
- Ja oom ? it?s the only way
- Nee fok ? dis mallegeid
- I know



Left early the next morning to tackle that pass,only to be presented with many more.Going up is easy,coming down scares the crap outa me. But boy was it fun



And then the highlight of the trip:

So I?m casually cruising along and there?s this black pipe laying in the road.I?ll just ride over it, too tired to veer around anyway

Then this stupid pipe started moving ? bloody hell ? it?s a freakin snake.

Sharp turn left,then right and some how got around the snake. (thanks to the Vespa Advanced off road course ).Stopped,put the bike on its stand,turned around and there?s this beautifull cape cobra all flared and ready to strike, about 1,5 m from me . Clearly he?s never seen a vespa before.

Do I face this cobra since he is ready to strike or scramble for the cam . The cam of course. So while I?m fumbling for the cam, cobra boy slithers off. Cleverly tried to piss it off by throwing stone close to it ? you know ? to get the shot of it all flared. But nothing. So no pic

But here?s a little tip for future vespa adventurers ?DO NOT THROW STONES AT A NERVOUS COBRA WHEN YOU ALONE IN THE MOUNTAINS ? ESP WHEN YOU HAVE NO PROTECTIVE GEAR!!!


Passed many friendly folk who clearly loved seeing this scooter in their town.



Eventually will reach Ceres. Expected date somewhere in 2010


Thank you vespa ? you were, and still are, great. :lol:


Now for some even more serious off road stuff?????? on a vespa,of course

 

[Eisbein]

People underestimate those little scooters all the time.

I had a P150X. I loved everything about it (and still do) - that weird sounding hooter that goes up and down in pitch with the engine revs, the alternating forward/backward indicator pattern, the sound, the gears on the handle bar, the seating arrangement, the little cup for measuring the two-stroke, the spare wheel (especially the spare wheel), that little hammer looking multitool that you can use to basically take anything off the bike (head, sparkplug, wheels, exhaust - name it and that tool fits it).

What I don't miss is the small wheels on sand, getting the stupid fuel tap back into place when you try to put the tank back in and maybe the 100km/h top speed. Oh and the short front wheel travel and flimsy brakes...

I rode mine like a scrambler.


You go for showing those @GATT boys that you don't need a big budget to see the outdoors - you just need something that was designed by the Italians back when making it indestructible was more important than making it pretty, a will to do it and slightly more time and patience than what they use.

10/10 !

 

[Extreme Velcro]

Even at this size, I got the gist of the wonderful time you had - the world looks beautiful.....

 

[Eisbein]

Try posting it like this:

 

[Clockwork Orange]

Bloody marvelous :!: Man those lil scoots ooze character. Big Respect

 

[LuckyStriker]

THE PAIN!!

to see a little Vespa with white wall tyres riding the same dirt some (so called) adventure riders are scared to take

how can we ever look ourselves in the mirror again! :lol: :wink:

 

[Grootseun]

This made my week,

Great stuff mountainboy..big brass ones..

and what LS said..

 

[Trailrider]

Great! Nice going. Offroad on a Vespa. 8)

...and The_Wes fell on his way to the Cafe... :lol:

 

[Eisbein]

In his defense I must say that comparing the wes_vespa to the P150X is like comparing a carbon fiber race bike to those old black dikwiel bikes ...

 

[mountainboy]

Thanks guys
But I must add

I did eventaully get a BMW - they DID stop to help me - even tho none was needed.nice guys anyway

I'll post my trip to cape Aghulus next - 4 days of bliss. there is nothin like a vespa

 

[Trailrider]

In his defense I must say that comparing the wes_vespa to the P150X is like comparing a carbon fiber race bike to those old black dikwiel bikes ...

So which did he have? The race bike or the dikwiel?

 

[Kev]

More betta beega:

Very good stuff indeed! :thumbleft:

 

[Eisbein]

In his defense I must say that comparing the wes_vespa to the P150X is like comparing a carbon fiber race bike to those old black dikwiel bikes ...

So which did he have? The race bike or the dikwiel?

:roll:





You not so lekker, but in a lekker kind of way !

 

[mountainboy]

my dikwiel travels like a racebike - it's a Vespa!!! :wink:

 

[GIDEON]

AWSOME really AWSOME thats the spirit MAKE US PROUD
So who's next with a KYMCO Scooter :shock:

 

[growweblaar]

Way cool, mountainboy! (they don't call you mountainboy for nothing, eh!?).

Do u still have that Vespa, or did you sell it to some unsuspecting yup? "Just used it down to the shop, you know. No, never dropped it!"...

 

[Trailrider]

In his defense I must say that comparing the wes_vespa to the P150X is like comparing a carbon fiber race bike to those old black dikwiel bikes ...

So which did he have? The race bike or the dikwiel?

:roll:





You not so lekker, but in a lekker kind of way !

Ons verstaan mekaar seker mis Ek dog jy vergelyk The_Wes se Vespa met die Vespa? En dat een 'n dikwiel is en die ander 'n resiesfiets. Toe wonder ek net - wie het watter een? :wink:

 

[Buzzlightyear]

mountainboy, are you family of Robert Muller from Worcester? He has three of those, and regularly goes on the Moto-avontuur trips. Also features in the latest Weg mag.

He also regularly travels the Ceres-Calvinia and other gravel highways.

Anyway, I respect you for doing it on a Vespa, I would never dream of doing that.

 

[michnus]

Bedonnerd my vote for one of the best reports of the year so far.

 

[Leo]

Respect :wink: