I was eyeing the annual spitbraai at Oasis with anticipation, but the open spots disappeared quite quickly. Fortunate some spots opened in Keith’s group last minute, so I jumped at the opportunity.
I left Thursday after work to meet up with @Challa at his place in Brackenfell. I was treated with some excellent conversation, braai and some whiskey.
Friday, we left early to hook up with the rest of the group at Engen Winelands. We left there just after eight, direction Rawsonville, to meet up with some more riders. I soon discovered that the little 300 is at a deficit on tar running with the bigger bikes but I managed to kind of keep up.
We reached Rawsonville at about nine and met up with a few more riders, and headed of to Ceres, where another rider waited for us. After some refueling and chatting, we left for Oasis. The route took us over Bo-Swaarmoed, R356, Bike X Cape, Tankwa Padstal (where we saw some weird characters, probably on their way to Afrika Burn), Katbakkies and Oasis. Some parts of the R356 were excellent and some parts were quite loose. So far all was well and no spills according to my knowledge.
We were quite knackered and after some excellent ribs at Oasis, we turned in early. I didn’t sleep well as we were warned about the condition of the road to Wuppertal.
Saturday morning arrived and I was still a bit apprehensive about the day as this was only my second time I was going to do this route. I had my first and only unplanned dismount early in the day when I misjudged some sandy bits and ended up on the side of the road. No damage to me or bike and I felt better – like after that first tackle in a rugby game on a cold wet, winter morning. The road was in pretty bad shape as there were some big rain and flooding a few week back, but strangely enough a lot dryer that the last time we did it in August 2021. The sand in Eselbank was very loose and way more challenging than the stretch before the concrete road that goes down into Whuppertal. We regrouped in Wuppertal and you could see some tired faces. Some of the riders turned back to Oasis while the rest of us left for a ride along the Tra-Tra river. Lovely little road and I soon started enjoying the ride again. The little 300 was made for this.
We left Wuppertal and I faced one of the toughest things I have done in a long time – the return to Oasis...
We were tired, the road was loose and long. There were some close calls and a lot of swearing. Fatigue set in and caused some errors. The last of us reached Oasis just after four and that first beer tasted excellent.
That night we were spoiled with another excellent spitbraai, conversation and catching up with old friends.
Sunday we left a bit later than planned (blame the Irish for their nectar) and said our goodbyes. I did solo from Rawsonville and was treated with some howling winds and rain just as I turned off the N2, direction Bredasdorp. I eventually pulled into Struisbaai at 16:00.
The route for the weekend:
Things to ponder:
Thanks to everyone at Oasis for the excellent food.
Thanks to all my co riders for all your support and advice.
A special thanks to @ultraflight for all the planning and arrangements.
Please add some pics as I didn’t take a lot.
See you on the next one.
I left Thursday after work to meet up with @Challa at his place in Brackenfell. I was treated with some excellent conversation, braai and some whiskey.
Friday, we left early to hook up with the rest of the group at Engen Winelands. We left there just after eight, direction Rawsonville, to meet up with some more riders. I soon discovered that the little 300 is at a deficit on tar running with the bigger bikes but I managed to kind of keep up.
We reached Rawsonville at about nine and met up with a few more riders, and headed of to Ceres, where another rider waited for us. After some refueling and chatting, we left for Oasis. The route took us over Bo-Swaarmoed, R356, Bike X Cape, Tankwa Padstal (where we saw some weird characters, probably on their way to Afrika Burn), Katbakkies and Oasis. Some parts of the R356 were excellent and some parts were quite loose. So far all was well and no spills according to my knowledge.
We were quite knackered and after some excellent ribs at Oasis, we turned in early. I didn’t sleep well as we were warned about the condition of the road to Wuppertal.
Saturday morning arrived and I was still a bit apprehensive about the day as this was only my second time I was going to do this route. I had my first and only unplanned dismount early in the day when I misjudged some sandy bits and ended up on the side of the road. No damage to me or bike and I felt better – like after that first tackle in a rugby game on a cold wet, winter morning. The road was in pretty bad shape as there were some big rain and flooding a few week back, but strangely enough a lot dryer that the last time we did it in August 2021. The sand in Eselbank was very loose and way more challenging than the stretch before the concrete road that goes down into Whuppertal. We regrouped in Wuppertal and you could see some tired faces. Some of the riders turned back to Oasis while the rest of us left for a ride along the Tra-Tra river. Lovely little road and I soon started enjoying the ride again. The little 300 was made for this.
We left Wuppertal and I faced one of the toughest things I have done in a long time – the return to Oasis...
We were tired, the road was loose and long. There were some close calls and a lot of swearing. Fatigue set in and caused some errors. The last of us reached Oasis just after four and that first beer tasted excellent.
That night we were spoiled with another excellent spitbraai, conversation and catching up with old friends.
Sunday we left a bit later than planned (blame the Irish for their nectar) and said our goodbyes. I did solo from Rawsonville and was treated with some howling winds and rain just as I turned off the N2, direction Bredasdorp. I eventually pulled into Struisbaai at 16:00.
The route for the weekend:
- Struisbaai to Brackenfell: 210km
- Brackenfell to Oasis: 310km
- Oasis to Whuppertal: 40km
- Interesting route from Whuppertal along Tra-Tra river and back: 30km
- Whuppertal to Oasis: 40km
- Oasis to Struisbaai: 360km
Things to ponder:
- The 300’s seat is way more comfy than it looks.
- @Ri 's KLX 250 is quite quick, and I had to tuck knees and keep my head down on the long strait between Op Die Berg and Gydo to reel her in. In all fairness, she is about half my weight.
- I am unfit as hell.
- My sand riding needs a LOT more practice.
- I managed to only bin it once (there were a few close calls).
- I suck at sand riding.
- The rear suspension upgrade on the 300 works wonders and if you own a 300, I would really encourage anyone over 90kg’s to do it. It improves traction a lot and doesn’t ‘sit down’ in the bad parts anymore.
- The OEM front tire on the 300 needs to be replaced by an MT21 soon.
Thanks to everyone at Oasis for the excellent food.
Thanks to all my co riders for all your support and advice.
A special thanks to @ultraflight for all the planning and arrangements.
Please add some pics as I didn’t take a lot.
See you on the next one.
