DAY 7
Leaving P.E. we quickly jumped onto the N2 towards Van Stadens Pass and stopped in the valley as I sure most do in order to marvel at that impressive bridge. Pushing on we dropped into the town of Hankey through breathtaking green hills and valleys. Frustrated by my inability to exceed 120km/h safely or comfortably due to the un-balanced front wheel, I just knocked it back to 110, opened my visor and really got into the groove of the area.
Breakfast at Tolbos in Patensie, ‘The gate to the Baviaans Kloof” was a well planned and worthwhile stop. It was just in time to tame the savage beast that lurked within our stomachs but also late enough to see us through the long road to Uniondale. The Baviaans Kloof road is 168 or so Km’s long and while the first half fly’s by in a rush of scenery, wicked roads and numerous water crossings the last 90km is straight, corrugated and besides the short Nuwe Kloof Pass, pretty boring.
On our trip through the Kloof we came across a friendly chap on his 1150GS stopped over looking the most photographed section of the pass and had a little chat. Hearing a couple more motors’ braaaping’ up the hill we saw 3 bikes arrive and lo and behold, one of them was my old friend Hein Prinsloo from PTA. He was riding a beautiful Repsol KTM 660 Rallye Dakar bike and his two friends Errol and another chap were on a 690 Enduro R and a cool black Africa Twin.
Setting off again we climbed the last summit of the pass together and upon cresting, we saw a Land Cruiser 70 well and truly stuck on the shoulder of the road. They had pulled over to make a couple of calls where the signal was good but the soil wasn’t and they sunk the starboard side of their rig too the axels.
When the driver ushered us on as there was nothing that we could do, riding down the road we saw the first vehicle arriving that could possibly help extract him from his bog, a Land Rover! Oh the shame… It’s like me being rescued by Clinton Pienaar on his GS many years ago. Not Ayoba!
I’m sure many riders have been caught out by that water crossing, no not the stony one, the OTHER one… The one I’m talking about is the concreted section that is probably 30m long and ankle deep. So you enter at a sensible pace and towards the end you think it’s almost over, accelerate and drop down into a knee deep part right at the end.
This ends rather predictably with a tsunami rising up in front of the bike and crashing over both our heads. It was quite funny especially when I heard Pen shrieking from surprise and then bursting into laughter, both of us soaked to the bone.
Arriving in Uniondale with sore ***** and rumbling tummy’s we grabbed a bite and some petrol and then attacked Prince Alfred’s pass down to Knysna. This road has really been overhauled since I rode it last in ‘07 and the mountain pass section is like a billiard table. This allowed me to have more of a look around at the scenery which is nice for a change, instead of just appreciating every crack and rut on the road itself.
I noticed an intermittent ‘clacking’ sound on our way up the second set of climbs which I stopped twice to try and pin point. I thought it may be wheel bearings, or chain, possibly even the front sprocket, but I could not quite discover the source. Unhappily we rode on, hoping to make it to Knysna and our Back packers, where I could have a better look.
The flatlands were quite soggy and when we were not climbing the sound seemed to disappear so push on and have some fun we did. Potholes filled with water were mostly avoided but at speed when they were scattered across the road like peas, we did crash through more than a couple. Getting into the groove Penny started to film a bit with the Sony digital camera and the results will be posted on You Tube as soon as I’ve figured out how.
Riding through the town of Knysna the dreaded clack returned I knew we had a problem that was not going away without help. Booking in to 'Lake Superior’ backpackers I whipped off the rear wheel and had a good look. Bearings sharp, chain cool but the plastic runner/guard was broken at the front of the swing arm which I saw when I was checking the front sprocket.
Not the end of the world, I’ll repair it In Cape Town, but guys, if this happens to you please don’t remove the guard all together as you will chew a hungry sized hole into your swing arm. I ran through the shower and we hit the bar for a frosty or two before dinner.
On our way to Boogies restaurant, in The Knysna river club we were stopped by the cops for having no registration plate. She wanted to see my licence which I had left in my jacket at the Beach house and so we got a ticket for R250. Fair cop, she could have done me much harder! Ah well, we had a marvellous dinner at Boogie’s that I would recommend to all who pass through.
Getting back, we joined up at the bar again and then around 11pm we walked to the Zanzibar club with Alfonso, the owner/ bar man of the Lake Superior backpackers. The walk there was long but plain sailing, however at 1:45 the stumble home was anything but elegant and took far too long, with a couple of pit stops along the way…
