The Dispatch Rider and the Valiant go and see Verneukpan - en kak lekker af!

[Bliknêrs]

Lospersplaas turn off :-  S30 53.066 E19 13.436
Bridge at railway line where I must turn off  :-   S30 47.218 E19 10.840
Hole S30 03.442 E21 07.197
The White House S32.39652 E20.66095

With this list in the pocket of my 10 year old leather pants I left home on Thursday. Apart from making me look like an aged rock star i.e. complete idiot, the leather pants was the best I could come up with in terms of protective gear for my lower body. In fact I got so carried away I went for the full "London Dispatch Rider" look with MX boots, 2 pairs of socks, long johns, leather pants, 2 T-shirts, 2-Sweaters, scarf and well worn, totally inadequate M2R jacket. I was still very upset that no-one offered a decent jacket I could afford in the for sale section in the week before the trip.

My bike was prepped a week earlier as I got the dates for the trip wrong. You'd think I would be prepared then but as usual my last minute packing consisted of throwing whatever I could find into boxes until they were full. Then strapping everything to the bike and make a list of everything I didn't have while riding the 60 km's to Montagu, the next big town where I would buy whatever I had forgotten.

I had 2 cheep sleeping bags and a genuine Mohair blanket for the cold. A tent and stretcher. This combined with the well thought out plan of putting on all my clothes and a beany was my clever plan against the terrible cold I expected.

As it were in Montagu I only had to buy a camping stove, some readymix coffee mixture and some droewors.

Destination. Sutherland.

A pic of the Valiant. Cool, ne?

 

[Bliknêrs]

It was cold the whole day and I don't recall ever not being comfortably numb, to borrow a phrase from Pink Floyd. The ride along the N2 to Touws River also started my mad run of losing stuff. My licence disk holder - one of those you bolt on to the bike - started rattling and I removed the licence disk so it doesn't get lost when the holder falls off.

In Touws River I went looking for a sticker to stick on my screen but they only had the magnetic ones. I bought one and stuck it on, hoping it would last but the first truck that passed took my disk with him. I turned around and spend a while looking for it, but finally found it and put it back in my wallet where it stayed the rest of the weekend. In fact it's still there must remember to take it out.

In Sutherland I went straight to the White House - I saw on the internet they have rooms for R120 and would pay that instead of camping with a smile. However when I got there I was told the R120 is for people sharing and I would have to pay R250 for a room, as I didn't bring anyone to share with.

Sutherland lived up to it's reputation. But the bed was good and the electric blanket did it's thing.

But the next morning my bike was full of ice and wouldn't start.
I tried it once then left it. I wasn't in a hurry and only had to be out of the room at 10 so went walking around town until 10 to 10 when I tried the bike again and it started. At this stage I have already posted to WD to ask for someone to bring jumpers (in case) and thanks Hinksie for bringing them even though we didn't need them.

The Sutherland pics:
En route
Out the door.
Copied from a similar shot from last year I know but impressed my 10 year old son!

 

[myni]

Lekker man, lekker ... nog?

 

[Bliknêrs]

I have spent hours on Google earth "planning my route".  Always wanted to do that and this was my chance.

But I never managed to save any planning session successfully or otherwise screwed up the whole map while trying to adjust a line or see how far a stretch is. By the time I had to leave I had nothing to show for a weeks planning and was very confused with the names of towns I needed to link together and even worse the sequence.

So after Sutherland, for me, it was unfamiliar territory. This bothered me a bit.

I recently, er, acquired a Nuvi 205 (among other things) from a colleague who needed money in a hurry. It had a suction cup for the bakkie which I stuck to the bikes windscreen. I also installed a 12V lighter plug under the seat to charge my cellphone and power the GPS who's battery lasted 30 seconds on a good day.

I knew the suction cup would fall off at some stage, and it did, but couldn't figure out a way to secure the gps while still being able to use it. I'm not very practical, more of a duct tape and cable tie man than a build-an-awesome-home-made-thing-ideal-for-the-job. But hey I had a GPS so it would be impossible to get lost.

Some more tomorrow, beds calling!

 

[Fuzzy Muzzy]

:happy1:

 

[Heimer]

Subscribed..

 

[immigrant]

:happy1:

 

[Vis Arend]

:sip:  Good so far, like your writing style.  :thumleft:

 

[subie]

Nice meeting you Blikners :thumleft:
Respect for the roads you tackle with the big suzuki :ricky:

 

[katana]

Sub  :thumleft:

 

[VaalBaas]

Wag vir die res...........laat kom

 

[Bliknêrs]

So.
Friday morning.
Sutherland.
-4 degrees.
Long way to go.

What do you do?

You sleep until 5 o'clock because the excitement is too much for you.
Then spend 3 hours watching TV1 and TV2 stuff you can't make out kop-of-gat from while laying on the warm blanket.
Dozing off.
Keep reminding yourself you're going to miss a warm bed for the next two nights.
Then get dressed (too cold for a shower and they say the dirt helps keep you warm) and pack your stuff.
Can't pack the bike yet the battery is under the seat so everything is standing around.
Then go walkabout to waste time.
Get a brekkie across the road from the White House. "Best in town" as recommended by Adrian the White House guy.

While eating I spot some topographic maps on the wall. Now surely that's what I need. Some good old fashioned maps. But they just confused me more. At this stage I had the maps which was difficult to deal with because they were large scale and not all were there. I also had the Garmin Nuvi which was the one to listen too. But to confuse me even more I had Nokia Drive on my cell which I know from experience only follow tar roads and wanted me to go back West (er young man, la-la-laaa) and therefore totally useless.
And to top it all I also had some google maps and Basecamp maps in my head.
So you could say I has some options.

It did look however that I needed to goto Calvinia and I finally found two options that agreed. The Garmin and the topo map both suggested the same road starting with an R and they both headed for Calvinia. That was the one I would follow then.

Just before 10 I went to thank the landlords and tried the bike again. It started so I let it idle and strapped my stuff to the bike.

Before to long I wobbled down the road to get petrol. I also had a slow puncture in my rear tyre which I was unable to find when I looked for it, so whenever I put petrol in I checked my tire pressures - keeping the rear around 2 bar.

The road to Calvinia wasn't wet or muddy but I could see there were recent rains as it had 3 hard tracks and everything to the side and inbetween was a no go zone if you preferred riding your bike instead of your bike riding you. Here and there I could see people got stuck and\or lost the plot and  made some unplanned detours. I just had to keep the bike on one of tracks and I would be fine. This stretch was fine, maybe a bit on the chilly side but hey you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs and all that.

I stopped once or twice for photos, took a quick tour of the metropolis of Middelpos and stopped to make some coffee at around 2 o'clock.

While standing there in this totally deserted wonderland, marveling at the magnificent vistas, the sparse vegetation and the overwhelming quietness the tranquility was shattered by my cell phone. Well faark me, that was unexpected. An unfamiliar number. Reject - but the moment was gone. Technology spoiled it, and unbelievable that there was a signal I thought I was in the middle of no where.

Around 3 I got to a tar road and followed that to a town. From there I followed the road to Calvinia where I put some petrol in, bought some more droewors and almost got into a fight with a local.

The one thing about these small towns is that it never takes long for a traveler to be approached by someone with a sob story begging for money. Now I'm a compassionate human being and it breaks my heart, some of these sob stories, but flippit we all suffer in one way or another and I don't give money away to people I don't know.

But some beggars never just accept your decision and move on, they hang around and annoy you. You stop for a reason, butt break, smoke a cigarette, make a phone call or buy something and now you have to deal with this. That pisses me off but I try to just ignore it.

However this one guy started getting insulting. I'm not sure what he hoped to achieve because if I already said I'm not giving him anything, hows is my mind going to change by being insulted? Anyway another local must have seen whats happening and that oom Piet was going to lose his last tooth if he continues along his chosen path and came to drag him away. But oom Piet wasn't finished with his demands.

I quietly excused myself and wobbled off with the two of them rolling in the dirt.

Some pics from the mornings ride

 

[woody1]

:ricky:

 

[Bliknêrs]

Ek moet nou gou bietjie gaan werk.
Meer later.

Oh, and I have to apologize for the pics.
I hate looking at senseless pics with peoples bikes in them and all mine has the Valiant in them!
I realise there might well be one or two who read this that doesn't find the Valiants stunning aesthetics totally awesome.
It's not about the bikes, it's about the scenery please bear with me I try to find ones where the bike is not so overbearing.

 

[skydiver]

:sip:
Laat waai, dit lees lekker.

 

[subie]

Ek moet nou gou bietjie gaan werk.
Meer later.

Oh, and I have to apologize for the pics.
I hate looking at senseless pics with peoples bikes in them and all mine has the Valiant in them!
I realise there might well be one or two who read this that doesn't find the Valiants stunning aesthetics totally awesome.
It's not about the bikes, it's about the scenery please bear with me I try to find ones where the bike is not so overbearing.

Ek is weer nie gepla oor die scenery nie. Ek wil die bike wat die trip doen in die scenery sien anders is dit net n poskaart foto  :ricky:

 

[mischiefjay]

:happy1:  :thumleft:

 

[Operator]

:sip:

 

[Bliknêrs]

Now I'm trying to remember which town I got to first. I think it was Calvinia.

Yes Calvinia, where the beggars brawled.

The town with the big mail box!

From there I took the road to Loeriesfontein - it was well marked and easy. The weather was pleasant and all was well. While riding here I realised my kettle was gone. Now this kettle has been all over with me and had huge sentimental value. I think I left it in Sutherland or it fell off somewhere along the road between Sutherland and Calvinia. Fortunately I had a blikbeker and that went straight onto the camp stove for coffee water. It worked well if you remember the handle gets just as hot as the rest of the cup.

My GPS was hanging on in it's suction cradle (amazingly) but developed an annoying habit of twisting horisontally. I would adjust it and within seconds it would hang at an 45 degree angle again. For some reason this irritated me tremendously. I would adjust it and couldn't stop looking at it trying to figure out why it was going skew again (it was the charging cable). It got so bad I stopped and took it off, put it in a dirty sock to protect it and chucked it into my topbox.

At Loeriesfontein I had to stop to get me some OBS. They only had half jacks so I bought two.

Once again I was approached by a beggar cleverly disguised as me and my bikes biggest fan. We got along so well with him complementing me on my excellent choice of machinery and obvious wisdom in packing for the road. Together we marveled at my ingenuity of rolling up my mohair blanket inside my sleeping bag. Fuxking genius Pappie. Jis I was having a whale of a time. Showing my new best buddy this and pointing out that....

And then he had to go and spoil it all by asking me for money. I felt so used and got on the bike and rode off. Disgusted.

I left in such a hurry I forgot to call my wife. One of the reasons I stopped. I had promised to call whenever i can and expected to be out of cellphone range for at least 24 hours. She likes to worry about me.

So just outside Loeriesfontein I stopped to call. There was no reception. I put the GPS back where I could see it as I had the co-ords of the spoorpad in it and expected it to take me there. It worked like a charm except for the GPS once again annoying me by not staying level. I have a bit of a problem with small things like this. I stopped a couple of times looking for signal so I could make the call home but there was nothing.

I kept on riding and arrived at the co-ords.

Here I found Jondu, Alducor and WKC. Father and two sons. Lekker people. We all went looking for Brakkie se Veldkombuis and got lost. Then rode back to where the GPS told us to go and found another road. Hinksie said it would be well marked but he obviously never expected us eager campers to be there before him!

Anyway we found the right spot, but there was no-one there. We sat around for a while and decided we have to be first ones there and started pitching our tents. Before too long others started arriving and we relaxed and started enjoying ourselves.

Unfortunately I have no photos as I gave my cellphone/camera to Hingsding to charge in his bakkie and forgot about it till the next morning.

 

[Bliknêrs]

As for losing things heres the countdown sofar:

1 - Licence disk. Found it again after a helse gesoek next to a busy N1
2 - Kettle with huge sentimental value
3 - GPS fell off but was saved from a certain death by the charging cable
4 - headlight protector. I assumed it gone until Hingsding handed it over (he stopped to pick it up) - thanks boet!