My annual leave...EC, WC & NC with pillion (RR DONE!!!)

[m0lt3n]

Day 11 part 2 of 2

On our way to Ganaga we had some water crossings, no5hing serious and just thought again on how good the rains must have been. We drove past a windmill and tried to also get some must have bike and windmill photos.

I also drove of into the veld at a rocky area. The rocks were packed into these small heaps, anyone have an jdea why or rather how they got to be like that?

Ganage pass was also good. More good and far stretching scenery with a decent road, very enjoyable.

Middelpos was exactly what I hoped it will be. A whole lot of smallness. We got something to eat at Die Winkel and asked how can we get petrol. The only other guy we have seen in town that was also buying some stuff then just happened to be the petrol attendant and helped us quick and easy. So after relaxing of to Sutherland.

We took the R354 which was okayish for the first part. Then we met some roadworks whereafter the road was very very good. They had a winning formula there I must say.

Sutherland itself did not impress us much. We spend a lot of time there as I wanted to make progress on this ride report ( thanks again for the feedback guys, its nice to see others enjoying it). We also met some dudes that was there to have meetings with farmers on fracking. I am for it as I think it will do a lot for the community. More than SALT has. Doesnt seem like they support local business much if I listen to the people there.
At 6pm we were ready to go, but first of to SALT as you cant be here and not see it. We didnt take any pictures though as they had a sign up that saidno one to come near the building without escort. So I had no intention of waiting for an escort or turning around without getting close...so I ended up with an angry wife as she has a higher regard for rules than what I have. But its a big koepel building...same as the one in the SALT pictures hehe.

Back in Sutherland at half past 7 only to find that the only petrol station has closed. So back to the farm with the intention of begging some petrol again...

A friend called me on my way back, so I ended up driving that very crap section of road I was moaning about in day 10 at night, slowly and calmly while chatting to him on the bluetooth. I think now that was my best ride for the whole trip! Strange but true

 

[m0lt3n]

Day 12: Sutherland to Ceres via Katbakkies pass

It really was nice staying over at this farm setup. When waking there was a pig grazing on the lawn as well to top it off. We packed and of we went, looking forward to the next kind of scenery. Going out the gate I realized that I should have stayed in bed longer, or washed my face with ice water or something as my stupid saddlebag hit the gate and it was an instant spill!

Well, I was angry with myself but not the end of the world and I pick it up to continue with my wife helping. Before its up though I realize, yet too late, that I have been feeding my wife too many protein shakes. The bike goes over and hits the gate on the other side. Snaps the mirror clean off. I was fuming but what can be done. It happened. (And definitely no pics, I may vent on the expensive and fragile camera the)

We had to do Ouberg pass again, but I guess if you have to do a stretch of road twice, there isnt many I would rather do. We met sheep on the pass this time. It was almost a tricky situation but luckily we could watch from a kink in the pass while the sheep took a shortcut. All good.

From there it was a more flattish country side up to the turn of and then to tankwa padstal. First, the turnoff again had something I had begun to notice and was getting increasingly frustrated/angry with. Stickers on the signs. Stupid! Are we children that want to take a crayon to the house walls? Why not put your sticker on the back of a sign? I saw stickers at baviaans of dogs and then again sommer many in this area. The example in the photos below is some adv company I dont know so I dont care flaming them now....prime example of cheap and selfish advertising that.

Back to topic...what a nice place at the padstal. I didnt actually know they were on my route, I have just heard a lot of them on the forum so I had to stop. They sell a lot of random stuff there! And friendly lady as well. When she heard of the wilddogs from me she told me about how the dogs have been leaving 2nd hand but usable tyres and tubes there to help someone else that may be able to use them. Well done wilddogs!

The disturbing braaigrid...thats called a BarBQ

They were also storing a victim of the bull run there, something I would like to do someday. (The bullrun that is). I remembered a story the farmer at Blesfontein told me, they were staying over by him and he also had to recover many. He remembered how their GPS systems made a lot of uncommon mistakes, he could not help but wonder if it was bottled GPS' s when he spoke to the drivers...

Open country then further on up to Skuddery pass, with some bits of tar. But rather lets continue in part two

 

[Jackol.]

MOLT3N, baie lekker roete!  Hoe meer ride reports ek lees, hoe meer wil ek ry!  :ricky: Die foto bo met die rotse wat val, lyk amper of die wereld daar uit mekaar uit val.  :laughing4:

 

[Legend]

Wat n lekker lees. Dis nou n ware vakansie.

 

[Fred4stroke]

Nou het ek lekker getoer saam met julle.

Well done!!

 

[m0lt3n]

Day 12 part 2
Well after being refreshed at Tankwa padstal we were of again. It was a warm day but we were doing well. Skuddery pass (I think that was the name) was fairly nice. It broke the monotony well but I must add here that the straight flat roads were good and enjoyable, I wasnt actually getting tired or bored.

Katbakkies had this sudden change of scenery which was nice in its own way. You could also see far into the distance from this pass. In fact, I think we experienced the widest variety of sceneries this day. Green kroo, karoo mountains, then dryer open karoo at the padstal, thereafter dry mountaineous going into rocky mountaineous at Katbakkies, which in turn moved to green flat farm area and finally green farms in a valley. Each awesome in its own way.

I try to show everything in the photos but it may come out in the wrong order. You will also notice one thing my wife enjoys is to catch me in a photo while I am eating. (The other is marking my territory but I dont want my report blocked)

Almost had an incident in part 3...

 

[m0lt3n]

Day 13 part 3
Each time I think of what I will post of the day then I imagine it being a short and boring day with few pictures. Not day 13.
We were aiming for Ceres but found out to late that our stop for the night was before Ceres. No real problem as Gydo pass is good fun and we had to get some lunch anyhow.

Halfway through the pass (tar) I saw this steep gravel section going up to what seemed to be lookout point. Now let me explain...each time I see something like this I skip it as time waits for no one and I dont want to have an incident with my wife as pillion. But there was this particular nice turn off just before Van Stadens that I skipped and will just have togo back fforit. So without second thought I went for it!

I did not properly check it out and with my screaming (exaggeration) to get off I soon realised I should have stopped first for a second thought on this. Well, I did not put off traction control so I was dangerously close to have my power cut and serious issues against that incline as I already started slipping. Well, I just kept momentum going and basically just made it to the top, half skew and in the bushes next to the road but there none the less.

Great, took a few pictures but now I had to get down... my wife walked down but had to use the bushes next to the road as the road was to slippery. I wasnt really impressed with myself then. I thought about unpacking the bike first but then remembered there was a way to do it slow. Super slow, standing wasnt an option.

I cut the engine and went down slowly with my feet on the ground, rear wheel sliding and using the front as much as I dare. Whenever the rear was starting to come out I had to pull the clutch which was tricky as it was the opposite now to the other lever I was also working.

I do think the pics do not do it justice and will have a  video uploaded later. But yeah, I am guessing the veterans will also laugh at how I struggled. My friends think its no biggy.... :-\

So, then of to Ceres and back again after lunch and a ride report update at the restaurant We were staying over at my cousin and her husband works for one of the Du Toit farms. Awesome views they got there in the Witsenberg Vallei and we had a lekker kuier there again. Tried to fix the mirror with pratley steel but got the mix wrong and just gave up on it.

 

[m0lt3n]

Day 14: Ceres to Vredenburg via Matroosberg, Baines and Franschoek passes
Before we started the days riding we were treated to a tour of the Du Toit's farm. Coming from a mining background I really enjoyed seeing how a large scale farm is operated. How it is literally a small town and how most of the lands are used. Wherever there was space to plant there was something already producing and the valleys next to this one were housing the towns, very efficient.

To mention some of the stuff I learned: they were bringing bees in for pollination at 3 oclock in the morning (I did not know bees are more manageable at njght) and they were also smoking the ground to plant some new fruit trees. Smoking clears the ground of some bad worms and roots that may be negative to the growth of a new fruit tree. Interesting stuff to me...

Of to Matroosberg we were then. One thing I was missing on the trip so far was some technical riding and some of that can be found at Matroosberg so I was actually looking forward to it. Of coirse there was some pass before Matroosberg I cant remember the name of now but it was enjoyable enough to be worthy of being mentioned. I think you can basically go in any direction in this area and you will be going throigh some pass.

At Matroosberg we were told the roads were exceptionally bad and scramblers would struggle up the 4x4 course. So I had to do the washed out 4x2 course that was supposedly almost 4x4. Doing the paperwork with me was a farmer of to do the 4x4 course in his brand spanking new fortuner. I wish I knew how he did as he mentioned being as good with a 4x2 as city folk is with a 4x4...

Onthe course I quickly learned again how important is confidence, momentum and good lines as it wasmt long till I gotstuck Iin a ditch. I also saw that the half Iea I had of just shifting the bike when being stuck was stupid. It was simply to heavy to even move. I will upload some more clips of my mission to get out of the hole I made myself later. Beautiful place Matroosberg and well worth the time that was spend there. I would definitely love to come back to do the 4x4 course, but not alone. I dont want to my bike to be alone in its abuse...

Well, we were off to Baines kloof pass next. As it carried thelegend roadbuilders name I had high expectations of this pass. It started of slow but did end up being a brilliant pass. Brilliant scenery. The road was narrow though so no real opportunities to open up.

 

[m0lt3n]

Day 14 part 2
All the passes we did on this day got a bit blurry so forgive me if I did not mention your favourite.

We also did Mitchells pass on the way to Baines, before I forget that one. Not as tall and scenic as Baines but a wider better road. So....enjoyable. After Baines we went through Huguenot tunnel because I wanted to for the acoustics hehe. But my fun was spoiled by the slow traffic which left me no choice to accelerate and brake on the tail of the cage in front of me. I loved the sound.

After the tunnel we got a massive wjnd suddenly. It was super tiring and there were some scary moments. I remember the one time I passed some trees on my left whereafter a sudden gust of wind tried its best to throw me in front of an oncoming truck. I know kt sounds stupid and impossible but I could swear my tyres slipped some when I leaned into that wind as steep as and quick as I dared.

Something I noticed again was the amount of rain the area must have gotten. We passed some huge dam I do not know the name of (rookie of me I know) and you could see trees and fencing submerged.

Next was Franschoekpass and it was beautiful as ever. Mitchells and Baines had a lot of the black rockyness while Franschoek and the next which was Helshoogte pass was green and dense with plants and trees. Wide road and great scenery made for a nice ride again aided by the wind settling a little.

I have to add here that the normal riding in these areas was also awesome. It was green and you were constantly in some kind of valley with mountains near or far.

We visited family in Stellenbosch, refreshed with some coffee we set of to other family in Vredenburg to spend the night. It was getting late and the wind that just always has to be from the front was frustrating me so I pushed the bike a bit. I saw this will be interesting...reset the consumption meter and managed my worst consumption on the bike ever. Calculated over 100km I got 8l/100km. Or with OEM conservatism ignored (or RSA fuel pumps' over estimation favoured as more correct) that meant about 10.5kmpl!

I think my tyre confirms that there were some nice twisties for the day. For once I can actually use the tread on the side of the tyre!
Well, we made it before complete darkness and had a good kuier with family.

 

[JACOVV]

Jo jo jo - ek ry lekker saam.  Ek beplan om baie vd paaie te ry wat jy gery het, so ek lees elke sin, punt en komma 

Dankie vir die mooi RR en kiekies.

 

[m0lt3n]

Day 15: Vredenburg to Wellington via Chapmans peak
We did not get going as early as I hoped for, (late mornings can really spoil a day!) but we were looking forward to the day nonetheless. Family orders had me off to Stellenbosch, and as I like peace and wanted to do Chapmans peak in anyhow we were off.

First stop after greeting all the family we were first of to Jacobsbaai. I stayed there for a few months in the past and really loved the place. After a quick fly by it was basically still the same as I remember it and I was ready to go. I think this is the perfect retirement spot for someday...

Pearlys in Langebaan has some super pizza so I thought it would be worth the detour so that was the next stop. After wasting some time in the traffic it was a bit of a let down to hear we were to early for the pizza oven but we still had a good relaxing lunch there. And after a quick walk on the beach we were off to chapmans peak in Cape town. We met the train from the Namakwa steel on the railway crossing, weird experience to finally stop there for a reason!

It wasnt the best of days with a lot of wind and a fine drizzle. En route to Cape Town we also hit some rain, but as it wasnt a complete storm I did not bother to stop to put on the raincoats. I should have though, simply because that was the only rain on the trip and now the raincoats are still unused  :. (and it was a bit cold with the slightly wet clothes in the wind). The heated grips truly are a nice thing to have as it helps you quite a lot. It just gives you that edge to get through a cold spot without having to stop to put on inners and stuff. I always imagine how my body tries to absorb the heat from my burning hands to the rest of my freezing body!

Cape Town was also cold and the wind was gusty but it was still a nice drive. It really is a well sorted city and we did not hit to much traffic.

Before going off to Chapmans peak I wanted to see what Hout bay looked like. We were looking for food and after avoiding the busy spots we saw this nice place that looked like a lighthouse and burst through their doors as it was raining again. Uhm, turned out it was too nice... it was this super fancy and clean quiet place where people were eating in suits and instrumental music was playing softly in the background... so we retreated slowly out of there and got some brilliant coffee at an adjacent place. Oh yeah, it was sunday and we were in no hurry so I think they regretted their coffee quality as they ended up waiting for us to close shop.

Next stop was chapmans peak! it was a bit scary with the gusty wind though on the narrow roads so I was going slow. Still worth it though! I have been wanting to do this road on a bike for a while now and while I saw there is much better faster passes this was still awesome. The views so near or above the ocean is really spectacular.

 

[m0lt3n]

Day 15 part 2
Still on Chapmans...in most of the pictures you will notice that we do not take our helmets off. Well, sometimes we are just lazy or saving our ears the stress it was really practical on Chapmans where it was cold and the wind was loud. In other word, with the helmets we can speak to each other normally with the bluetooth set. The intercom really worked lekker for slow driving and situations like this. So my wife can tell me to get out of her picture when we stop without screaming at me.

After the pass we did some stretch of straight road next to the coast which was also nice. As I am not a local to the coastline I always enjoy the ocean close to me. I alos enjoy the miserable weather, as I am not experiencing it everyday 

Moving away from the coastline the road isnt all that much fun though.the roads were very slow with loads of traffic lights. In Stellenbosch I was looking forward to some coffee but we found the mug n bean closed at around 5o clock I think. But we did have some good coffee at family then though.

Next stop was supposed to be Ceres but after another petrol incident really not worth mentioning  :redface: and the wind making us go slower we ended up looking for accomodation in Wellington. And what a mission that ended up being. There was some kind of wine launch or something the weekend which had all the guesthouses fully booked. Tired after a long day we got helped though (some place had a cancellation). For the whole trip this was the only day we struggled with accommodation.

 

[m0lt3n]

Jo jo jo - ek ry lekker saam.  Ek beplan om baie vd paaie te ry wat jy gery het, so ek lees elke sin, punt en komma 

Dankie vir die mooi RR en kiekies.

Dankie JMOL. Hoop dit help darm met julle beplanning ook en voel vry om enige vrae te vrae, ek help graag as ek kan

En onthou om ook n RR te skryf! Ek geniet nou ekstra baie die ander RR's in die area omdat ek nou al klaar daar was

 

[m0lt3n]

Thought I will add some videos...
I do not know how to imbed but the links should work fine with copy and paste. Also remember to use HQ in youtube if you actually want to see what happens.
Ive got some more videos but I would like to make a nice clip out of that after ai have figured out how to do the editing.

A little stuck in sand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUcIfJMRjfw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
This was when I wanted to test the sand against my wifes will. I ended up almost falling (not in vid). I tried to stand and get my way out but did not manage and in the end just padled out. Dont knowactually if one is really supposed to stand in that situation.

Watch "Gydo pass viewpoint descent9.mp4" on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIjqb-ZgFLs&feature=youtube_gdata_player
This was near Ceres. I cut the engine and tried braking with my feet, engine braking on rear wheel and actually a lot of front brake as that wasnt enough. If you watch closely you will see how my rear wheel kept coming out. The last bit i just let go (remember engine was still dead though)



Watch "Water and mud avoid1.mp4" on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUxCHqZ2vlc&feature=youtube_gdata_player
On the way to Wuppertal I was about to go through some water when I saw it was to deep and stopped. Tried reversing and pulling bike out but had no luck as the mud was sucking me fast. So in the video I also try to turn, then decide screw it and just gave gas.


Watch "Baviaans water kruising (Smitskraal)" on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Bhq7Aeux1g&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I have uploaded this one previously but thought I would ad it again. In the video one can see tje water was pretty low at Baviaans. I did still have some stressful moments though. Its easy going on a cement slab right up to my wife where its a drop to a rocky river bed. Throwed me around a bit but I made it in the end.

 

[Jackol.]

Lekker report! Sal hierdie report volgende keer kan gebruik om `n trip te reel... ot:

 

[Jackol.]

Hey M0lT3N are these GoPro vids?  Which setting were you using?  Med? Narrow?

I enjoyed your pics a lot! You have a lot of good memories from this trip!

 

[spoedvark]

Jo jo jo - ek ry lekker saam.  Ek beplan om baie vd paaie te ry wat jy gery het, so ek lees elke sin, punt en komma 

Dankie vir die mooi RR en kiekies.

En jy  :drif:  :drif:  :drif: oor al die wind POMPE!!!

 

[JACOVV]

Dis nou 'n lekker report voor jy gaan slaap  :drif:

 

[BradleyT]

Flippit, but that Guido Pass descent looked scary    ...I almost had to change underwear just watching it!!!  atch:

 

[Casting from Turd]

Really nice RR