RR - The inaugural Cape Endurance Rally 2011 (Complete)

[Buff]

The Cape Endurance Rally 2011

Although the rally was only scheduled to start on Saturday morning, it effectively started for us on Thursday afternoon already when we had to clock into the Dros at Tyger Valley and have the odometer calibrated by doing a 30km ride around Durbanville via Contermans kloof. It turns out Yamaha has managed to get right what the German’s have struggled with for years… accurate distance calibration   The GPS route was 30.0km and my bike did exactly 30.0km’s on the odo  :mwink:

Riel totally puzzled that the Japs got it so accurate  ;D

Friday evening saw us back at the Dros for the riders briefing and collecting of the way points to be visited, provided in the form of a .gdb file for our Garmin GPS. Riel also supplied us with a printout of the general descriptions of the all the points to be visited but saved giving us the questions to be answered until the next morning in case some folks decided to get adventurous and head out into the dark looking for locations  > We were also each given a really neat cloth badge for our participation  :thumleft:. The atmosphere was electric as we sat around a long table, sampling a cold one while Riel went through riders briefing. Our minds were already running riot at what would be the optimal route with the most points.

I’d be doing the event with my wife Cathy as pillion. We’d wanted to do something like this for ages after watching the Gumball rally and various other TV programs based on a similar concept. When Riel offered this event in CT on bikes, it was a “no brainer” for us.
We’d come prepared so when every one else had left the Dros, we settled down at a table, ordered drinks and chow and set up the laptop ready to start our trip planning. There was 56 points to chose from, ranging in values from 10 points (Paarl Courts) to 2500 points (Joubertinia) and they were scattered all over the Western Cape.

Cathy doing distance/time planning

Selecting the optimal route took careful and meticulous planning and it was time consuming. You had to select a route between waypoints, trace it out in Map Source, score the points values and do time and distance management.
At a quick glance we were sure a route up the West Coast to Lamberts Bay via Paternoster and return via Piketberg was the way to go. We were also excited at the prospect of re-visiting a little sea food restaurant in the Lamberts Bay harbour that we’d discovered on a previous trip. I could already taste the Galjoen  :drif: However, after doing the trip planning we realised the route was over ambitious and the points value not as high as initially anticipated  :'(

We then selected a route up the East Coast to L-Agulhas via Gordon Bay coastal road but also discovered that wouldn’t work out well.

We were also at a slight disadvantage in that although the rally ended at 4pm, I needed to get Cathy home at 3:00pm latest so she could collect our children from the baby sitters. She would then drive through to Franschoek by car so we could enjoy the prize giving together. It was critical for us to work in that extra stop into our route planning and still leave me enough time to get to Franschoek.
Bear in mind that each minute you are over the deadline you loose 50 points and after 30mins you are disqualified, so getting in late really isn’t an option.

The third route option was a long hop to Sutherland (750 points) via the N1 and straight back, collecting points close to the N1. However, sticking “close” to the speed limit would also make this a tricky option for us and the prospect of pounding out kilometres on the N1 on a big thumper (our bike is a Yamaha 660Z Tenere) with a pillion wasn’t my idea of fun. We were also up against guys on BMW 1200 GS, KTM 990 and BMW K1200, bikes that could eat the long miles for breakfast compared to our 660.

“Points for jam” were a scheduled lunch stop of 1 hour (200 points) and an accurate fuel log (400 points) so it was critical not to skip either. Besides, with 8 hours in the saddle lying ahead, a 1 hour stop would be most welcome  

After much debating, Cathy eventually convinced me that if we want to win this thing we need to do the hard miles and hit the N1 to Matjiesfontein and back via Ceres and Bainskloof. This route had a number of big point bonuses and it would allow for us to drop Cathy off at home. She also pointed out a 312 point bonus on the top of Franschoek pass that I could possibly collect if I made it to Franschoek ahead of time. GAME ON !!!  :ricky:

The route was planned in sectors between waypoints, distances and time noted, allowing more time for having to go through towns and less for open road and then the route file was uploaded onto our Garmin Oregon GPS.

We eventually crawled into bed at 11:30pm, excited as school kids anticipating their very first school outing.

here's our initial route layout.

To be continued...

 

[Buff]

The start:

Saturday morning dawned perfect and at 7am we were gathered outside the Bellville Velodrome listening to Riel go through the final rules and hand out the question sheets for all the checkpoints to be visited. We were each handed a dog tag with emergency numbers should anything go wrong and at 8am sharp the Tenere roared away from the start line, destination Slanghoek Wine cellar, worth 350 points.

Collin checking his odo reading:

Dave doing some final strategising:

Sector 1: Velodrome to Slanghoek (78km’s)

Our route was straight up the N1, through the Huguenot tunnel, right toward Rawsonville and the left towards Goudine and onto Slanghoek. We’d given ourselves 1hr to cover the distance, including 10mins to find the point and answer the question; “How many spikes are there on the top of the entrance gate at the Slanghoek wine cellar?” Despite having to go through the toll gate and then getting stuck in road works on the Goudine road, the trip was really enjoyable in the crisp Cape morning air and we made it with a few minutes to spare. Things were looking good.

Stuck in the road works:

Fire in the mountains:

Cathy at Slanghoek checkpoint 1

 

[letsgofishing]

:thumleft:  Looking forward to the rest.

 

[Dusty Rusty]

Sjoe Buff!

Dis nou iets wat ek dink meer van ons beslis nog sal wil doen in die toekoms.  Lyk of jy en Cathy is great team is. 

Ek sien uit na die res! 

 

[Buff]

Sector 2 – Slanghoek to the Cemetery (144km’s)

It was back onto the N1 heading North, past De Doorns and through the Hex River Valley which looked stunning at that time of the morning. We needed to be there at 10:30am and clocked in with 3mins to spare, having to negotiate some off-road down to the cemetery just off the N1 before Matjiesfontein. It was on this stretch that I noticed the fuel tank was on the last bar which caught me by surprise. I hadn’t taken into account the extra fuel the bike would use with a pillion. The cemetery was quite amazing with the most beautiful tombstones. We needed to answer the question “What is the name of the cricketer whose tombstone reads “One of the greatest cricketers the world has ever seen?” for 330 points. Check the photo if you don’t know his name 

The Cemetery:

One of the worlds Greatest cricketer (no not me  )

Sector 3: Cemetery to Matjiesfontein (11km’s).

This was just a short hop over the hill into Matjiesfontein to find out what the number was on the big red double decker bus parked in town (132 points). Cathy had never been to Matjiesfontein so we decided to sacrifice a few minutes and enjoy a coke at the Lord Milners. What a stunning and quaint village. We’ll definitely be coming back here for a weekend.
For those who don’t know, the very first cricket match ever played between SA and England took place at Matjiesfontein… die Boere teen die Britse  :thumleft:
I asked about petrol availability and was told the closest place is Laingsburg, but that wasn’t an option as this was the furthest north we intended going. It was time to test out if the Tenere’s reserve tank really is 7 litres 

Cathy and bus:

The Lord Milner Pub

 

[Snafu]

Looking good Buff, please dont make as suffer as with your enduro report. Post away!!!

 

[Yami 900]

MMmm Buff headed for Vallie country ot:
Maybe got a loose stukkie there :drif: eepwall:
Seems as if he is there more than he should be atch:

Now he is going to replay as to say ....... its work :deal: Ya right!

O Buff, gr8t RR :thumleft: Thanks for the invite :dousing:

 

[Buff]

Sector 4: Matjiesfontein to the T-Junction (somewhere before Ceres).

Here we needed to find out what was written on a distance marker at an intersection at a particular GPS point. But before we could do that we needed to stop at Touwsriver to refuel the thirsty thumper. The bike hit reserve about 40km’s outside of town but I had no intention of slowing down as we’d lost some time looking around in Matjiesfontein, so I kept it pinned. Because this was an unscheduled fuel stop, we lost more time. I was hoping to refuel closer to one of the bonus locations in an attempt to kill two birds with one stone but the bike was running at 16km/l instead of its normal 22km/l.
We were now suddenly running behind schedule and getting that 312 point bonus on top of Franschoek pass was looking unlikely, so we made a strategic decision to skip the points up ahead near Wolseley (combined they were worth 73 points). This would allow us to make up 30mins of lost time and put us back on track.

Refueling the thisty Yamaha

Ceres distance marker

The points we decided to skip (route shown in red

 

[Buff]

Sector 5: T-Junction to Calabas Pub (at the base of Bainskloof Pass) (65km’s)

From the T-junction we headed down Theronsberg Pass pass into Ceres, through the bustling town filled with Saturday morning shoppers and down Michell’s Pass. The lunch stop at the Calabas Pub was a God send at this stage because the day had warmed up to 35 degs and we needed a cold coke urgently. I think the Tenere welcomed the rest as well.
To claim the 200 bonus points for the rest we had to prove we stopped for 1 hour so as soon as I stopped the bike, Cathy jumped off and ran in and bought a coke with the time stamp on the till slip. We were then able to chill out, enjoy our lunch and do some further strategising.

Chilling at Calabas Pub

Because we were now pretty close to the end of the rally and had a better idea on how much distance we were covering in an hour, we decided to work our time backwards from the big bonus point at the top of Franschoek pass to see we would be able to collect the remaining points we had planned on. It worked out spot on but it left us with no time to spare. We’d either just make or just miss the cut off time.

The Tenere resting  ;D

By the time we were finished our burgers the hour was almost up so while I packed the bike and set up the GPS, Cathy paid the food bill. The time stamp showed that 1 hour and 15 seconds had past. Talk about cutting it close 

 

[Buff]

Sector 6: Calabas Pub to the top of Bainskloof Pass (14km’s)

So now the heat was on, literally and figuratively and we were hanging cable on the Tenere. Maybe a bit too much because on the one sharp right hand corner in the pass I leaned in too much and a guy in a Nissan Almera drifted out and my right hand guard connected his right mirror with a solid clunk. It sure as hell made me sit up and take notice and I calmed thing down slightly. We had two precious kids to get home to so heroics were uncalled for.

At the top of the pass we had a bonus point that asked when the pass was opened. There were two dates, the initial opening in 1853 and the re-opening 100 years later. The answer led to a heated debate about nothing really because we both said the same date but misunderstood each other. Maybe the pressure was getting to us!!!

The corner stone showing the date the past was built:

 

[MrBig]

Man I'm so sorry we missed this!

Buff do you guys use an intercom?

 

[Buff]

Sector 7: Bainskloof pass to Paarl memorial (22km’s)

We dropped off the pass into Paarl to find the War memorial dedicated to the 3 large wars in SA. Namely the Border war, the 1st World War and the 2nd World War.

Paarl War Memorial:

Then it was another 36km’s home on the N1 to drop Cathy off. We had lost some more time going through the traffic in Paarl so I was forced to twist the Tenere ear a bit. The rally deadline of 4pm was fast approaching.

There were only 3 more points we needed to collect, a 28 point bonus  32km’s away from home in Pniel (at the bottom of Hells hoogte pass), a 23 point bonus, 6.5km’s from Pniel at L’Ormarins War memorial just outside Franschoek, which combined with the answer from the Paarl war memorial gave you an extra 200 point bonus and of course the magical bonus on the top of Franschoek pass.
I knew that to meet the 4pm deadline I needed to be in Franschoek at 3:30pm to give me 30mins to get up the pass, find the waypoint and down again in time to beat the clock.
Added to this I would not have Cathy on the back of the bike to jump of and look for the answers, I would have to do that now.

Our deadline for Home was 2:40pm and we got to our front door at 2:44pm. It was almost an “drive by jump off” kind of stop and I took off again, this time without my darling wife.
I had to cover 32km’s in 26mins to make the Pniel bonus point and that included doing through the edges of Stellenbosch and negotiating Hells Hoogte pass.
I made it to the bonus point at exactly 3:10pm, literally rode up the pavement, parked next to the monument, wrote down the answer “Kenneth Kaunda” and odometer reading and took off again for the L’Ormarins bonus point.
This checkpoint I had to get otherwise we couldn’t claim the bonus points from the Paarl checkpoint (they’re called combined checkpoints). I made it to the checkpoint at 3:22pm and to save me the time of writing the details down I took photos of the memorial and my odometer and set off for Franschoek, 12km’s away.

The L'Ormarin War memorial

 

[Buff]

The Finish:

I made it to town at 3:30pm exactly and as I drove by the finishing line at the Station Pub & Grill, Riel and some of the other competitors were standing, ready to wave me in. But I had no intention of stopping just yet, I still had 15mins to get to the top of the pass, find the check point, get the answer and 15mins to make it back again.
As Murphy would have it, I got caught up in tourist traffic in the centre of Franschoek  and by the time I hit the pass I had lost 4 minutes.

Now here’s a fact… a Dunlop D606 knobbly tire that has spent an entire day in 35 degs + temperatures is as sticky as a racing slick  I went up that pass like I was on rails. All I could hear was the sound of that big single wailing through those Leo Vince pipes and it was like music to my ears. I’m pretty sure I got so caught up in the moment that I even hung my ass off the saddle  > I hit the top of the pass at 3:42pm and looked down at my GPS to see where the exact position of the point was only to see a purple line stretching across the screen. The point was 2/3rds of the way down the pass  . My heart sank as I tried to do some mental calcs on whether I could still make it. We had done so well all day and I didn’t want to disappoint Cathy by missing this point. We had planned it all to the last minute but getting in late could mean huge point penalty losses  :-\.

“Stuff it I’m going” I thought and pinned the thumper. She howled down that pass, backfiring and howling like a Banshee as I came off the gas and hammered the next corner. The bonus checkpoint was a small bridge and I saw it before I got to it. The bike slid to a halt, I whipped out the camera, took pics of the plaques and odometer reading and turned and pinned it for home. I had 12 minutes to get back up the pass, down the other side, through town and to the finish. I recon that if there was a superbike rider on that pass on Saturday afternoon he would have been embarrassed by a Tenere 
The spirit of the rally is to stick to the speed limit, which we may or may not have done most of the day but on that pass the spirit left the building ;-) I was Troy Bayliss, no, I was Vale and my Tenere was the 2010 No. 46 Yamaha !!!

I turned into the Station pub with 1 minute to spare on my watch. Home Jerome!!!
On Riel's watch I still had 7 minutes to spare... next time I'll make sure I synchronize my watch before the start  :

All planned points (besides the two in Worcester) were collected with a total point tally of 2475 points which was enough to win us the inaugural Cape Endurance Rally.

The finish:

Thanks to Riel and his helpers for an absolutely awesome day in the saddle. Cathy and I will discuss this rally around many a camp fire in the years ahead and look back fondly at the time we spent together on the bike.

Calculating Dave's score (Dave also won the Leatt brace in the lucky draw  :thumleft:

Here’s hoping to see a lot more of you out there next year supporting this great event.
We’ll be back to defend our title, the question is “Have you got what it takes to take the title way from us?”

 

[Snafu]

great stuff Buff, well done!!

Will definitely try and do the next one!

 

[Buff]

Man I'm so sorry we missed this!

Buff do you guys use an intercom?

Yea man, pity you missed it, I believe you were riding a porcelain scooter instead  ;D

No, we don't have an intercom... yet, but we will have for next year 

 

[Kawaki]

Nice RR & pics guys & girls!Nous ek lus vir ry.... :drif: :ricky:

 

[Udjeni]

Well done Buff. Great report - it rivals your ride in excellence ;D  I am looking forward to see if you and Cathy would be able to improve your efficiency during the next one.  From your report I can see a couple of places where you could have improved your efficiency, but I'll leave that as an excercise for the reader.  :biggrin:  >

 

[Buff]

Thanks Riel.

Well, for one, by cutting out the need to drop Cathy off at home we would have saved ourselves 43km's and a trip through town. That would have given us an additional 30mins plus  :thumleft:.

We haven't gotten around to analizing our route yet but it'll be an interesting project, now that we have some time available. The problem will always be that on the day of the rally anything could happen e.g. road works, punctures, traffic etc. That's what makes it so much fun  ;D

 

[Udjeni]

Yes, except, I don't like that r-word, rather use the other one, i.e. "on ride-day" or "rally-day".    [I know you get this and it was just an expression you used, but I am preaching to the uninformed here. ].  It is not a race. In a race it's either the one that covers the most distance over the set time, or the one that uses the least time to cover a set distance that wins.  Here, riding the most kilometres does not guarantee a win, nor does comming in as close to the end time as possible.

 

[Buff]

Agreed, fixed. You could use Dave's trip as an example.