The comeback ride RR - Complete - via the Old Postal Route in the Cederburg

[Jakkals]

Baie nice  :thumleft:

 

[Kaspaas]

Hi

Great trip, and even greater people!

Thanks all, was loads of fun. My old lady just need some pampering  after this trip!

Sorry, cannot contribute with pics. Only realised to late that I forgot to pack my camera film.....

Dikzol, need to see some of those pictures you took!

Cheers

 

[adv]

Why arent you on the bike brett?

 

[Shaun]

Thanks guys for getting this RR started. I was also really looking forward to this trip for quite a long time.....but was forced to pull out almost 2 weeks before this Epic Trip was to start.

Thank for sharing the photos so far & am looking forward to the rest as they get posted. Kubus & Nicky will get their photos through to me & I will post them here.

 

[gwild]

Thx for sharing :thumleft:

 

[VaalBaas]

:ricky: :drif: wens ons kon saam

 

[Vlam]

Thanks guys & gals for the great ride and camaraderie pity it was short ride for me. Great RR Buff. :thumleft:

 

[Buff]

Why arent you on the bike brett?

Because Socket begged me on his hands and knees if he could please ride my 690 across and I felt too bad to say no 

LOL... those rocks were like green snot and I couldnt take the risk of falling on my leg... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it  ;D

 

[Buff]

Thanks guys & gals for the great ride and camaraderie pity it was short ride for me. Great RR Buff. :thumleft:

Hey Theo, yep that was a big pity, how's your ankle doing?

 

[Shaun]

Why arent you on the bike brett?

Because Socket begged me on his hands and knees if he could please ride my 690 across and I felt too bad to say no 

LOL... those rocks were like green snot and I couldnt take the risk of falling on my leg... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it  ;D

:laughing4:  :laughing4: ......."that's my story.....& I'm sticking to it"  :imaposer:  :imaposer: excellent answer Brett.

 

[Soccet]

Why arent you on the bike brett?

Because Socket begged me on his hands and knees if he could please ride my 690 across and I felt too bad to say no 

LOL... those rocks were like green snot and I couldnt take the risk of falling on my leg... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it  ;D

Ja and it had nothing to do with the thick sand he had to ride to get there. :laughing4:

 

[Matewis]

Leka man leka!! Het vir Dikzol gesien op Ceres Vrydag! :ricky:

 

[throttle jockey]

:sip:

 

[throttle jockey]

No pics of the sand?

 

[KXGroentjie]

After 5 and a bit months of recovering from a broken femur sustained in the Atlantis dunes this ride was to mark my return to riding bike again. It was the proverbial “carrot in front of the donkey” trip, something to aim towards and look forward it and it lived up to all expectations.

I don’t have the time right now to delve into an in-depth RR but I thought I’d kick it off so that the guys who have photos and stories to share can start so long.

Out of the initial 32 riders who hoped to attend, eventually these are the diehards that made it to the start line  

1.Buff
2.Buffs Cat
3.Kubus – Non WD
4.Nicky – Non WD
5.Shaun – Non WD
6.Kaspaas
7.Vlam
8.DikZol & son
9.Remy
10.Socket
11.Pluto
12.Mrs Pluto
13.Yami Super10
14.Worth It (Yami's better half) – Support driver & rider
15.Renier – (Yami’s laaitie)
16.Rustyb  - Support driver
17.Hugo - KXGroentjie - I had a blast with my KX250 Platic bike!! :thumleft:

One day guests:
GJ
2StrokeDan

It was a great group of riders and each one made the trip something special. Thank you to each one of you for sharing the ride with Cathy & myself  :thumleft:
The weekend had all the usual drama of thrills & spills but that will come out in the RR’s to follow.

This trip cleared up a few things in my mind, one of them being that with all the nonsense going on in the country, South Africa is still a beautiful country with wonderful people, you just need to reach out and grab hold of the good.

The RR

I was so keen for this trip I even put in a day’s leave for Friday, just to get into the spirit of things. I was packed and ready by 11am, all dressed and nowhere to go so I sat on the couch whatsapping Yami… seems they were in the same predicament… hurry up and wait

Worth-It in wait mode

A few of us met at the 1 Stop while the rest made their way to Oasis through the course of the day. After brief introductions and sorting out some logistics with Rustyb, our support service for the trip, along with Worth-It, we hit the black top for Oasis, hooking up with Yami & Remy along the way.

Rustyb sorting out our fuel packing at Oasis

Quick stop at Op-die-Berg to top up two very clean bikes

Yami Super10’s Toymotor and his youngster Renier who pillioned up with him before jumping on his plastic at Oasis

Oasis was its usual self… Stunning. It was wonderful to catch up with Gerrit & Chantal again and see the changes they’ve made over the past year before Chantal treated us to an outstanding supper. I’m not sure if the ribs were just so awesome because I was looking forward to this trip for so long or if Chantal put in extra effort for us but either way, we nearly ate our fingers to the bone.

Most of the evening was spent meeting new WD’s and a few non-WD’s that were joining us for the trip and having a good laugh while hydrating sufficiently for the next morning’s challenge. We sure were a mixed bunch, riding a wide variety of bikes, from a Super Tenere 1200Z right down to a Honda CFR150 MX bike.

Our digs for the night, the old farmer house

Buffs Cat & Shaun tucking in

After enjoying an Oasis breakfast and loading the vehicles, we finally hit the dirt on the way to Eselbank.

Dikzol helping load Toymotor

Buff ready to rumble

On your marks, get set, GO

Unfortunately it wasn’t too long before we had our first incident when a tie down strap broke and Worth-Its 230 tried to climb off the trailer. It necessitated me & Yami going back to find the support vehicle and assist. This happened a few more times during the course of the day until Yami Super10 hauled out his best bondage moves and finally secured it at full suspension compression.  

This was followed by a minor scare when Buffs Cat took the smallest bike through the deepest water hole she could find and it died. Some TLC and plenty kicking by Socket finally got it going again.

That was followed by Vlam (our route leader), overcooking a corner and putting his 800GS down into the rocks. This was unfortunately a ride ending crash as Vlam injured his ankle and decided to bail out at Wuppertal and take the easier route home rather than pick up complications later in the day.

This cost us a little time but the rest of the group was fortunate enough to enjoy some chill time at the Eselbank waterfall.

After a quick head count we made our way down to Wuppertal. As much as I love this quaint little town it saddens me to see them concreting this pass into town. I realise that’s only my own selfish adventure biking way of thinking and that the people of the growing little village of Eselbank need easy access to civilization but I can’t help feeling that they’re destroying the uniqueness of the area.

Concrete highway

Encountering these trucks on the way down was interesting

The bridge crossing into town with Buffs Cat leading the way

The smile says it all; my wife was in her element

A little bromance between myself and Yami Super10

But is seems Worth It had more to offer. They're working on the 10sec kiss per day, apparently it allows you to get funky more often  

So I headed back to my stukkie.  I’m truly blessed to be able to share stuff like this with a woman who loves the outdoors and her biking as much as I do.

We said our goodbyes to Vlam who sadly was on his way home and we headed for the Biedouw Valley. There we regrouped before the real adventure started, the Old Postal Route.

You just know you’re in for a treat when the very first pass you go up within the first kilometre looks like this. We had to stop and take in the splendour.

From the top of the pass you enjoy some pretty easy riding over the plateau until you reach the farm of Mr Albie Bakker. Here we pit stopped for lunch on his lawn and got the chance to chat to him before he got back to ploughing his fields.

Just as we were about to leave, we were joined by GJ & 2StrokeDan who rode all the way up via Citrusdal to join us for the day. GJ was using the outing as training for the Amageza next week. He sure as hell got enough saddle time on Saturday.

Shortly after leaving the farm, Shaun had a moment when a rut caught him out and he dropped his Transalp. Luckily no damage besides a few bruises and he was on his way again.

The road started becoming rockier the further East we headed and every now and then the odd lurker would catch you unawares. Shaun was unlucky enough to become puncture victim number 1 but fortunate to be riding in a group because he had zero spares, not even puncture kit. By this time it was around midday and Mr Spikes was baking down. With not a tree in sight for shade the sweat was running freely. It literally feels like you’ve been deposited on a lunar landscape up there.

Yami came to the rescue with a spare tube and some impressive tube changing skills and we were on the track in no time again. Shaun can be glad he’s not a WD otherwise we would have torn him a new one  

Yami, Worth-It supervising and Shaun

After a few more kays of meandering across the moon you start the gradual decent towards the Doring River and then this magnificent sight awaits you. The starkness of it is something quite amazing.

From here the road pretty much falls apart and you start riding on some hectic rocky terrain which wreaks havoc on tires if not inflated sufficiently. Kaspaas was the next to suffer a puncture.

Kaspaas, Dikzol & Buffs Cat look on while 2StrokeDan explains the superior build quality of Yamaha bearings compared to BMW  ;D

We finally arrived at the Tra-Tra River and I was somewhat relieved to find the water level low enough to cross without any problems. Here a few of the front group had waited and we all enjoyed a cool down from the sweltering heat.

The 3 wise men, Yami, 2StrokeDan & GJ

Kubus going his best turtle impersonation

Kaspaas crossing the Tra-Tra

Yami crossing the Tra-Tra

Buff crossing the Tra-Tra

2StrokeDan crossing the Tra-Tra

Buffs Cat taking a swim

Dikzol on the climb out the Tra-Tra

Marlene climbing out the river bed

At this point things went a little pear shaped when a few of the riders took the alternative route to the Doring River without realising first group turned off. Both routes end up at Stonehenge but the uncertainty was unpleasant as that’s not the environment you want to get lost it. A big thanks to GJ for doing around 15km’s extra looking for them. But more about that tomorrow evening

 

[m0lt3n]

great report, enjoyed reading it!

Except for the postal route, would you guys say its necessary to have a 4x4 bakkie?? or will 4x2 do?

 

[monkeyboy]

Makes me realize when just two of us did it last time, how lucky we were:
No punctures
No mechanical faults whatsoever.
Not THAT hot.
Rivers were higher, but only one anxious moment while walking the bikes across.
Didn't get lost.
Given that Miss M and I both ride bikes with no pillion options, it was a great Postal Route. Sorry to have missed out on this ride!

 

[Yami 900]

great report, enjoyed reading it!

Except for the postal route, would you guys say its necessary to have a 4x4 bakkie?? or will 4x2 do?

If you know ur bakkie and 4x4ing. You can do it with a 4x2.
My wife was the driver of the one bakkie. She isnt a extreme 4x4 driver.
I let her drive in 4x4L slowly up the one mountain pass and the rest in 4x4H just for footing.
If it was me, would have done it in 2wheel drive all the way.

 

[m0lt3n]

Thanks Yami. That was my thoughts as well, especially driving from Ceres's side.




There you have it Namakwalander. if a Toyota can do it surely the Isuzu wont have issues....

 

[Buff]

Makes me realize when just two of us did it last time, how lucky we were:
No punctures
No mechanical faults whatsoever.
Not THAT hot.
Rivers were higher, but only one anxious moment while walking the bikes across.
Didn't get lost.
Given that Miss M and I both ride bikes with no pillion options, it was a great Postal Route. Sorry to have missed out on this ride!

Yep, you were very lucky, but then again, the larger the group the more issues you can expect. Interestingly enough, the guy who chose to carry his luggage on his bike and not in the backup vehicles like the rest of us had the most punctures, 3 in total. Heavier load and not high enough tire pressures I guess, even though he was running 2 bar up front.

Rest of the report done, I'll post it later this evening from home  :thumleft: