It all started at Toorwater…

[Eisbein]

Wild at Heart can get up to 12XL jackets...

 

[BoJangels]

Fantastic  :thumleft: :thumleft: TR & Co...
what a lekker adventure  :thumleft:

 

[Eisbein]

Fantastic  :thumleft: :thumleft: TR & Co...
what a lekker adventure  :thumleft:

It does look like a very cool ride.

 

[Trailrider]

The RR is only half way.

 

[BoJangels]

The RR is only half way.

so hurry up  ;D ;D
and take me with next time :mwink:

 

[Bakkie]

The RR is only half way.

Please hurry TR. I need to get past that next morning to move on.... because that next morning I almost died   it was hectic.

Thank goodness I found a stranger called Patric who had a complete medical kit  ;D

 

[fat b]

The RR is only half way.

so hurry up  ;D ;D
and take me with next time :mwink:

lyk my ek moet ook begin skimp ??

 

[Trailrider]

The RR is only half way.

Please hurry TR. I need to get past that next morning to move on.... because that next morning I almost died  it was hectic.

Thank goodness I found a stranger called Patric who had a complete medical kit  ;D

Hey ek moet werk ook! Sal probeer klaar wees met dag drie vanaand.

The RR is only half way.

so hurry up  ;D ;D
and take me with next time :mwink:

lyk my ek moet ook begin skimp ??

Fat b I asked you to go show me Toorwater but Nooooooo. Jou ribbes is mos seer

 

[Berm_Rooster]

Moerofa nice report gents! Cant wait for the rest.

 

[fat b]

Fat b I asked you to go show me Toorwater but Nooooooo. Jou ribbes is mos seer
[/quote]Sorry , die trip lyk so nice ek het in 'n oomblik van woede vergeet ..sorry :-\

 

[Trailrider]

The next morning we got up not so bright and not so early...

Our two new friends got very little sleep. Apparently there was a snorer somewhere close by.

Cute couple aren't they?

Where to today? Well, Bakkie had to go home. His mommy wouldn't let him play another day

and he would head back to PE through Baviaans. We looked at the maps and Bakkie suggested Suurberg Pass. Rovrat and I have this quest where we want to ride all the passes in SA and neither of us have been there so it sounded like a great plan. So be it!

Baviaans is a great ride no matter how many times you've seen it before.

Progress was slow as our concentration levels were way down. At Smitskraal we stopped for some snacks - Tuna and droewors.

The Smitskraal water crossing was fun as usual with a fair bit of water.
(I have the crossing on video - I will embed that in the RR on my blog as soon as it's up)

RovRat crossing:

A little bit further along we came across another rider on a TDM900 - cool!

Just look at this:

He is from Mosselbay and hopefully he'll join us on a ride soon.

More Baviaans scenery:

We stopped for a nice big lunch in Patensie. Man we were tired (Rovrat has photos clearly depicting this). I could have (and wanted too) sleep right there on the grass. Bakkie was even worse. The only person with some energy left was Rovrat. We realized that our plan to reach Suurberg was way to ambitious. Also, Rovrat would have to ride from Suurberg to Hermanus the next day, so the plan had to be altered. We decided that Rovrat and I would ride to Bloukrans Pass (another pass where I haven't been) and stealth camp in the forest.

We set off. I rode slowly as fatigue wanted to overcome me. Between Hankey and Humansdorp Rovrat was leading and I was riding a couple of hundred metres behind him when I suddenly rode into a swarm of bees!

They were hitting my visor and jacket and one flew up my sleeve and stung me on the arm...

I instantly knew I was in trouble. I immediately braked and pulled of the road as Rovrat disappeared around a corner. Even before I was off the bike I felt needles and pins throughout my body. I got out my pocket knife and removed the sting. I then got out my allergy medication and noticed it expired in March 2009.

Now what?

I decided to not take the chance. I got back on the bike to try and ride to Humansdorp. Less than half a kilometre down the road I realized I am going to loose consciousness so I pulled off the road again. I really was panicking. I took one of the expired pills and swallowed it anyway. I got off the bike and collapsed. I lay next to my bike right next to the road and it felt like I was drifting in and out of consciousness, but I am not sure.

Rovrat will fill in the details but I will post what I can recollect. I was sweating profusely and I can remember I liked the cool air over my face as the cars came by. I was told later that I pulled off the road on a blind corner and I was laying very close to where the cars drove by.

At some stage I heard a bike approaching and I remember I told Rovrat that a bee stung me and I was in trouble. I also took a second pill as the first one did not want to kick in. I'm not sure how long after the first.

After that I knew Rovrat was there so I let go. Details are hazy. Two cars stopped. One had a medic who took my pulse etc. Rovrat also has medical training so he was in charge of the whole situation. He kept me calm and it was a HUGE thing for me to have him there. Later, as I started to become more aware of what was going on around me, I suddenly went into shock. Again Rovrat's calming voice was there, explaining what was happening to me and why. He helped me stay calm and keep my breathing regular, because if I panicked and started to hyperventilate it would escalate the situation. Disorientated I just lay there. I am not used to being this vulnerable.

I have never had such a bad reaction to a sting before. I am told that every time you get stung it gets worse until one day you keel over.

I can tell you this though, I am going to keep my medication currant and study this condition. Knowledge is power. Ek het regtig amper my gat gesien.

As the medication started doing it's thing I started to feel better. We needed to get to Humansdorp, but by the time I felt I could get on the bike again it was getting dark. Funnily enough it was more difficult getting on and off the bike than riding it. The campsite in Humansdorp seemed a bit dodgy so we booked into the nearest B&B. That night I slept like a log!

 

[Jman]

Lekker ride ouens.
Sjoe Trailrider, bly jy het dit gemaak, scary stuff!!

 

[Riaanrw]

Wow. What a shock when he told me he was stung by a bee and was allergic to it. I have got no experience in treating someone with that condition. First thing I did was ask if he could breath ok and if he felt any pain. He had some pain in his stomach. That to me didn't sound too serious and I just kept checking his breathing and heart rate. He was very confused for about 30 min +. I checked the medicine and it said: one 3 times per day. Seeing that it had expired we opted that he took another. I believe for TR it could have felt like this is the end. He did go into a bad body shocks where he started shaking. Hot cold flashes.

There was no cell reception at this spot. A very helpful group of people in a car stopped to help. 5 min later another car stopped to help. By this time his complexion started looking better and he responded better to my questions. They offered to take him to Humansdorp Hospital. But he was getting better and said, "No just give me some time to rest." They left. We sat there for a total of 1:30 hours.

What made me confident that he would be ok is the fact that I could help him if things really got bad. I believe just the fact that I was there was enough to help TR relax. His body did go into shock twice but keeping him calm through this I think was key to the medicine helping so fast and the outcome so good. I did all I knew best. TR was the one that kept calm and just did as I asked. Shock is a big killer!!!

I did an occupational medic course a couple of years back. I can't stress enough how important it is to just even go and do a small first aid course. You never know when you will need to help someone. Your knowledge could mean life or death!!!

One more thing. Riders' etiquette!!  We were on a very slow ride on a tar road. Who would have thought that something could go wrong? Always turn back, never assume.

Well done, TR - you lived to ride again!!

 

[Thump]

Nice RR guys

Glad you're ok TR

well done Rovrat.

 

[Smidty]

:happy1:

Stunning!!!

Wish I was there.

TR Baie bly jy het dit gemaak kon lelik uitgedraai het

 

[Trailrider]

TR Baie bly jy het dit gemaak kon lelik uitgedraai het

Nie so bly soos ek nie ;D

The weekend wasn't over yet...

 

[Trailrider]

Bakkie; Rovrat? Waar is julle fotos van die dag? Daar was 'n paar goeies.

 

[Bakkie]

I woke-up on Sunday morning with a massive head ache  :-\. I am sure that someone spiked my drink the night before   Thanks goodness Patric, who bought me 2 stroh rums, arrived with some essentials.... life saver!

TR and RovRat left me there in my vulnerable state and raced down the road into the Baviaans. I got on my bike circled around the campsite to make sure I had everything. The only thing I couldn’t find was my name so I have to go back there soon ;D I turned left and dreaded the road ahead with all the bumps... I took the first few KM very slow avoiding all the bumps and still managed to catch TR and RovRat  ot:

I also managed to vandalize TR’s bike and helmet the night before. Check the helmet and numberplate

Smithskraal crossing was higher than the few other times I’ve been through. The whole baviaans was green and beautiful I LOVED IT!!!

We had a fantastic ride through the baviaans it’s always awesome!!!! I must say that I have never been through the whole baviaans with a hang-over .....  :eek7:

We left Uitsig at 09h30 and arrived at padlangs 13h30 so it took us 4 hours with a nice long stop at smithskraal.

We had a lekker lunch at Padlangs and I left the guys and head back via Elandsriver. I was so sad to end the trip and even took a slow ride past Out of Africa with the hope of finding some dogs there to share a beer with me.  >

Thanks TR, RovRat and amaSakkie for a great ride.

Thanks Fat B for your input and Toorwater RR

 

[Succi]

That morning I was 40km ahead of the group, as the previous night (on the way home through the Baviaans) my chain broke.  Only got it fixed eventually at 9pm that night.  A farmer David Smith convinced me to stay over until the next morning, and his wife made a lovely meal and I slept in a nice warm queensize bed.

I have some stunning pics of the Baviaans on the way back, but will save some bandwidth...  ;-)

Thanks to Bakkies, Trailrider and RovRat for a really memorable ride!  Glad to hear you are OK TR after that B-Sting!

 

[eikeboom]

Thanks guys a fanbloodytastic trip and report!
Hell I wish I could have been there, even as a fly on the wall where you guys stayed over, just to hear all the wisecracks. Getting to know TR and RovR one evening at Cederberg Oasis, I know precisely what you mean by all that quotes - here's another one: "crashing a bike is overrrated - I won't do it again". I think bee-sting is now overrated too...
In future just watch that RovRat, I think all these weekends away on all-men bike trips are getting to him  :mwink:

Cant wait for the rest. ;D