Or maybe I should name this Ride Report something like Earth , Wind and Fire. I think there was a band like that once. But that would have been long before my time. Anyway…
I have wanted to explore some more of the Cederberg area for some time now and this past weekend turned out to be the perfect time to do it. I had (a little) bit of cash available and did not need to work on Sunday so I decided to make a plan. As it turned out some of the other Wilddogs also planned to go to Oasis for the weekend. This was to my fortune as Boere offered to transport some of my kit as he had a bakkie going that way. I had also just completed my prototype screen brackets to lift Jemima’s screen up a bit and this would be a good time to test the concept.
Bring it On offered me the use of his tent, and so on Friday evening after work I fetched the tent from him and then set off to Boere with a bunch of stuff tied to the back of Jemima. The rest of my goodies was packed and loaded onto Jemima on Saturday morning before work. Then it was off to work for a few hours before my trip could begin.
At work I quickly replaced my cush drive rubbers with new ones from lecap. I had the wheel off, rubbers replaced and wheel back on in the time it took my colleagues to walk to the shop around the corner and buy some coffee.
The time in the shop passed very quickly as we were busy and when I came to my senses the day was over and it was time to hit the road. I went home , changed into riding gear and grabbed a bite to eat before setting off to Wellington where I was to meet up with David in front of the Dutch reformed church in the main road.
I was a bit early and took some pics of Jemima posing with Rev Andrew Murray .
I also went to the building where I stayed in the year after matric when I joined a Christian outreach program for a year.
When David arrived we stopped at the Pick and pay to grab something to drink before setting out on Bainskloof.
I have never been fond of Bainskloof as I find it very bumpy so I took it easy up the road. In fact I took it a lot easier as usual as I had cars coming from ahead cutting corners in the first three hairpins. I realized that Bainskloof on a very hot Saturday was to be avoided as all of the local populace was having a dip and a dop in the kloof.
In Ceres David and I stopped at the Pick and pay to buy some buns and cold meats as I did not really have the budget to spend on Oasis’s ribs – even though I know them to be the best ribs in SA.
With our provisions acquired we set of towards Prins Alfred’s Hamlet , Guido pass and Oasis. Of course we had to stop at the view point for a photo opportunity. I must say I love the colour of David’s new bike. In fact – the F800GS has never excited me , but I really liked the look of this one.
Once over the pass we headed towards Op die berg and I became aware of a large plume of smoke in front of us. It turned out that the plume was coming from a big mountain fire right next to the turn off to Oasis at Op die berg.
Once past the fire we had the smoke behind us and the setting sun shining through the smoke. It cast an eery glow on our surroundings.
I stopped where the tar road becomes dirt and discovered that Jemima had developed her first electronic glitch for the weekend. No matter how I tried , I could not get the ABS to switch off. David meanwhile carried on ahead while I stopped quite a few times to get some photos. This is the second time I got to Cederberg and I still can not get over the beauty of it.
As I continued down the road I started to worry more and more about David. No matter how far ahead I looked I could not see him or even the slightest suggestion of a dust trail. I started to worry that David had missed a turn and fallen and that I went past him without seeing. As I started to look out for David , me attention was being diverted from what I was doing. This coupled with the fact that I picked up speed in order to catch up with him meant that I went into a few corners a bit too hot , but I did manage to scrub enough speed before entering them each time. At last , just as I was contemplating turning around to go and look for David I found him stopped next to the road taking photos. Later that night over supper he got a bit of uitkak for not stopping sooner.
Now having found David , I could drop my pace slightly and I started up the last pass towards Oasis. At the top , I stopped for some pics of the mountains while I waited for David to catch up.
Going down on the other side I heard a ‘plink’ noise that I later realized was my RH indicator lens falling off from the corrugated road conditions. I did not have the will to turn around and try and find it in the evening dusk , so I continued to Oasis where we were met by Gerhard.
This was where Jemima developed her second electronic glitch for the trip. When I wanted to start her up to move to our campsite she refused. Eventually I put the side stand down and up again and she sprang to life on the first attempt. I made a note to check the switch in daylight and rode to where we would sleep for the night.
Boere invited me and David to join them in the little house that they were renting and sleep on the stoep. So it was in the end that we did not even pitch our tents for the evening. David and I went up to the main building to get something to drink and ended up each having a toasted ham cheese and tomato sarmie with chips. I have to compliment Chantel and Gerhard on the quality of the food they serve. I have had Ribs at Oasis before that was by and large the best ribs I have ever had and even this toasted sarmie and chips was perfect. The ribs alone, I reckon, is worth the trip from Cape Town .
Back at Boere’s posse we were treated to some jokes and laughter with music and story telling. We also had a sample of the potjie that Boere was making. I must say , those who did not have potjie missed out on something lekker. Somewhere during the evening David decided to try and light a cigarette from a coal in the fire. Even with being stone cold sober he missed the end of the stoep and fell the meter or so to grass below with a clamour of pots and utensils he knocked off the braai place.
There was also a little gecko who made his home close to the light on the wall and had a feast with all the moths and beetles he caught when they were drawn to the light.
It looked like Boere and his friends were planning to continue their merriment till early morning and with my and David’s batteries being very flat I decided to move away from the stoep and go sleep on the lawn under the tree. David followed suit. Shortly after we left Boere and company also went to bed. David , meanwhile , had developed second thoughts about sleeping in the open and mentioned something about spiders and snakes. I figured that we had less chance of spiders on the lawn than on the stoep under the light, what with all the edible insects flying around the light. I also saw a big Red roman spider that some one killed on the stoep a short while earlier, but I decided to keep that info to myself as David did not seem too fond of the creepy crawlies.
I slept like a log and was awakened during the night by a springbuck snorting at the smell of us in the early morning. As dawn approached I went to have a shower and then proceeded to make me some proper coffee. Life is too short to drink bad coffee and so I brought along my little gas stove and percolator.
I have wanted to explore some more of the Cederberg area for some time now and this past weekend turned out to be the perfect time to do it. I had (a little) bit of cash available and did not need to work on Sunday so I decided to make a plan. As it turned out some of the other Wilddogs also planned to go to Oasis for the weekend. This was to my fortune as Boere offered to transport some of my kit as he had a bakkie going that way. I had also just completed my prototype screen brackets to lift Jemima’s screen up a bit and this would be a good time to test the concept.
Bring it On offered me the use of his tent, and so on Friday evening after work I fetched the tent from him and then set off to Boere with a bunch of stuff tied to the back of Jemima. The rest of my goodies was packed and loaded onto Jemima on Saturday morning before work. Then it was off to work for a few hours before my trip could begin.
At work I quickly replaced my cush drive rubbers with new ones from lecap. I had the wheel off, rubbers replaced and wheel back on in the time it took my colleagues to walk to the shop around the corner and buy some coffee.
The time in the shop passed very quickly as we were busy and when I came to my senses the day was over and it was time to hit the road. I went home , changed into riding gear and grabbed a bite to eat before setting off to Wellington where I was to meet up with David in front of the Dutch reformed church in the main road.
I was a bit early and took some pics of Jemima posing with Rev Andrew Murray .
I also went to the building where I stayed in the year after matric when I joined a Christian outreach program for a year.
When David arrived we stopped at the Pick and pay to grab something to drink before setting out on Bainskloof.
I have never been fond of Bainskloof as I find it very bumpy so I took it easy up the road. In fact I took it a lot easier as usual as I had cars coming from ahead cutting corners in the first three hairpins. I realized that Bainskloof on a very hot Saturday was to be avoided as all of the local populace was having a dip and a dop in the kloof.
In Ceres David and I stopped at the Pick and pay to buy some buns and cold meats as I did not really have the budget to spend on Oasis’s ribs – even though I know them to be the best ribs in SA.
With our provisions acquired we set of towards Prins Alfred’s Hamlet , Guido pass and Oasis. Of course we had to stop at the view point for a photo opportunity. I must say I love the colour of David’s new bike. In fact – the F800GS has never excited me , but I really liked the look of this one.
Once over the pass we headed towards Op die berg and I became aware of a large plume of smoke in front of us. It turned out that the plume was coming from a big mountain fire right next to the turn off to Oasis at Op die berg.
Once past the fire we had the smoke behind us and the setting sun shining through the smoke. It cast an eery glow on our surroundings.
I stopped where the tar road becomes dirt and discovered that Jemima had developed her first electronic glitch for the weekend. No matter how I tried , I could not get the ABS to switch off. David meanwhile carried on ahead while I stopped quite a few times to get some photos. This is the second time I got to Cederberg and I still can not get over the beauty of it.
As I continued down the road I started to worry more and more about David. No matter how far ahead I looked I could not see him or even the slightest suggestion of a dust trail. I started to worry that David had missed a turn and fallen and that I went past him without seeing. As I started to look out for David , me attention was being diverted from what I was doing. This coupled with the fact that I picked up speed in order to catch up with him meant that I went into a few corners a bit too hot , but I did manage to scrub enough speed before entering them each time. At last , just as I was contemplating turning around to go and look for David I found him stopped next to the road taking photos. Later that night over supper he got a bit of uitkak for not stopping sooner.
Now having found David , I could drop my pace slightly and I started up the last pass towards Oasis. At the top , I stopped for some pics of the mountains while I waited for David to catch up.
Going down on the other side I heard a ‘plink’ noise that I later realized was my RH indicator lens falling off from the corrugated road conditions. I did not have the will to turn around and try and find it in the evening dusk , so I continued to Oasis where we were met by Gerhard.
This was where Jemima developed her second electronic glitch for the trip. When I wanted to start her up to move to our campsite she refused. Eventually I put the side stand down and up again and she sprang to life on the first attempt. I made a note to check the switch in daylight and rode to where we would sleep for the night.
Boere invited me and David to join them in the little house that they were renting and sleep on the stoep. So it was in the end that we did not even pitch our tents for the evening. David and I went up to the main building to get something to drink and ended up each having a toasted ham cheese and tomato sarmie with chips. I have to compliment Chantel and Gerhard on the quality of the food they serve. I have had Ribs at Oasis before that was by and large the best ribs I have ever had and even this toasted sarmie and chips was perfect. The ribs alone, I reckon, is worth the trip from Cape Town .
Back at Boere’s posse we were treated to some jokes and laughter with music and story telling. We also had a sample of the potjie that Boere was making. I must say , those who did not have potjie missed out on something lekker. Somewhere during the evening David decided to try and light a cigarette from a coal in the fire. Even with being stone cold sober he missed the end of the stoep and fell the meter or so to grass below with a clamour of pots and utensils he knocked off the braai place.
There was also a little gecko who made his home close to the light on the wall and had a feast with all the moths and beetles he caught when they were drawn to the light.
It looked like Boere and his friends were planning to continue their merriment till early morning and with my and David’s batteries being very flat I decided to move away from the stoep and go sleep on the lawn under the tree. David followed suit. Shortly after we left Boere and company also went to bed. David , meanwhile , had developed second thoughts about sleeping in the open and mentioned something about spiders and snakes. I figured that we had less chance of spiders on the lawn than on the stoep under the light, what with all the edible insects flying around the light. I also saw a big Red roman spider that some one killed on the stoep a short while earlier, but I decided to keep that info to myself as David did not seem too fond of the creepy crawlies.
I slept like a log and was awakened during the night by a springbuck snorting at the smell of us in the early morning. As dawn approached I went to have a shower and then proceeded to make me some proper coffee. Life is too short to drink bad coffee and so I brought along my little gas stove and percolator.
:thumleft: Really would've love to have been able to join you. Hopefully next time things will work out.
