Our Sunday Ride through the Swartland (7th April 2013)

[Shaun]

With reference to this "Planned Ride" - https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=121164.0 here is just a short note form my side to say thanks to all the guys that joined in to make this a really Gr8 & enjoyable ride. Was really nice to meet new fellow WD's as well.

We all met bright & early @ the Winelands One Stop & headed out to travel as much Gravel as possible. See the attached "GPS Route & Trip Log". Total distance was about 440km & took us just on 11hrs.

Left the Winelands Onestop, headed past Joostenbeg Winery, past Groenfontein towards Leeuwendans, on towards die Windmeul, past Sandrivier & ended up @ the "DuVlei Padstal" where we all stopped for some Coffee & Rusks.

From there we moved in the direction of Gouda via more gravel travel & then did the looooooong tar section towards Porterville, where we hit a right on the gravel road past Dasklip Pass which took us just towards Eendekuil. From there we headed up the Piekenierskloof Pass where we went a little just past Kardoesie to "De TOl Farm Stall" for what we thought would be a late breakfast/brunch. Eish.....maar daardie mense het al die tyd in die wereld. We ended up having a fairly lengthly wait.....but finally got our food. :lol8: :lol8:

From there we headed back down the pass towards Eendekuil where we took the next gravel loop past the Kruismans river coming out @ the R365, then headed in the direction of Kapteinskloof Pass. Once we reached the R399, we turned right @ took one of the gravel loops I've been wanting to do for a long time that Andy told me about quite a while ago. Bit sandy......but truly IMHO....a frikking awesome road/loop. BTW.... I loved that little cement bridge we stopped on for a little break.

@ this point I was running on fumes........I wonder just why that was...... : : : :lol8: .... so Itook things a lot more slower till we reached Moreesburg where we all fuelled up our faithful steeds. From there we headed in the direction of Darling were we once again made a quick stop for something cold to drink, before heading in the direction of home again. Once we reached the West Cost Road, we all said our "thanks & cheers" & parted ways.

From my side.....thanks a lot for all you guys that made the ride a really Gr8 one :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: I'm just busy getting the photos off the camera & gonna resize them & will start posting soon. Gooi daardie pictchas.... ;D

 

[Gadgeteer]

Yes I also had a very enjoyable ride.... the good company certainly made the wait for brunch / lunch worth it. Some really great roads and lots of dirt roads. The sand nearly caught me once or twice but it added some spice to the ride ;-)  Shaun tanks again for organising everything! Here are my photos:

Above: Stop at Porterville

Above: Think was Gavin arriving after the stretch after Porterville

Above: Modification with a bash plate mounted on the side for low cornering... even has its own side stand...

Above: One hour and forty minutes later... brunch became lunch

Above: Arrival in Darling

Above: refreshments in Darling

 

[Gadgeteer]

And then post-Darling we discovered high speed cornering off the tar requires you to rest for a bit....

Above: What are friends for....

Above: The Corner...

 

[Shaun]

Thanks for those Gr8 photos so far.... Where the rest?? Oh wait..... I need to post some as well. :lol8:

 

[Andy660]

Bring It On , thanks for an awesome ride today ,with a really nice bunch of guys.
It was good to meet some new riders and ride with  the familiar ones too.

Some of the roads were a little sandy but ok.

 

[Flatout]

Thanks BIO for taking the lead we need more people like you. :3some: Looks like I missed out on some real action. Also made it home safely after narrowly missing an out of control car in Mitchel's pass outside Ceres. Got another surprise when I discovered that both my front fork seal were busted covering everything including my boots and pants in fork oil  
Will add a few photos.

 

[Shaun]

Bring It On , thanks for an awesome ride today ,with a really nice bunch of guys.
It was good to meet some new riders and ride with  the familiar ones too.

Some of the roads were a little sandy but ok.

Thanks a lot Buddy for showing the way of that Awesome Route towards Moreesburg :thumleft: :thumleft: :thumleft: Definitely want to go through there again. Pity about my "fuel issue"....as I really would've loved to see that Railway Section you told us about. Next time for sure. :thumleft:

 

[Flatout]

Early this morning and already covered in dust!
Hando and gwild

 

[Shaun]

And then post-Darling we discovered high speed cornering off the tar requires you to rest for a bit....

Above: What are friends for....

Above: The Corner...

This would've made for some truly spectacular video footage......such a pity my camera wasn't rolling @ the time as it happened right in front of me. RSA_Maniac...... IMHO you handled that situation like a TRUE Champion  :thumleft:  :hello2: :notworthy: :notworthy: :thumleft:

 

[Flatout]

By Du Vlei Padstal word daar koffie en beskuit genuttig.

 

[Flatout]

Hier's die manne besig om te argumenteer oor die rondheid van Bring It On se voorwiel.  :ricky:

 

[Flatout]

In Piekeniers pass we decided to give Kardoesie a skip and opted for the unknown a few hundred meters on. With great expectations we placed ourselves on the front stoep of Hillbilly International where one person was multitasking as a waiter, chef, cashier, you name it. End of the story, we waited almost two hours and ate breakfast at one o'clock. 

 

[Shaun]

Thanks a lot for all the photos so far. I will only get around to getting all my photos done tomorrow & will then post them. Have quite a couple of nice shots of all of our "Faithful Steeds".

 

[gwild]

Thx again for a awesome ride  :thumleft: my pics

 

[Flatout]

Na ete is ek met 'n ander pad effens vroër huis toe. In die Middelbergpas  tussen Citrusdal en Ceres loop ek vir Dual en sy pelle raak. Die man op die Buell is ouer as ek maar ry die fiets met sy klein voorwiel en gladde bande asof dit die beste off-roader ooit is.

 

[dual]

Min dat jy 'n eie foto van jouself op 'n ride het, aangename kennis, lekker om te ontmoet  :thumleft:

 

[gwild]

here are some more pics will load the others later :thumleft:

 

[gwild]

pics of Hando

 

[gwild]

last pics for now

 

[heti]

.... after narrowly missing an out of control car in Mitchel's pass outside Ceres.

I was the yellow 800GS behind you!!  That was VERY VERY close!!!!  I'm still k@rking myself just thinking about it!!  :shaking2: