The Legend of Baviaanskloof: The Ride Report

[cloudgazer]

Thurs 9th Sept 2010
Dawn!
The sun rises above the distant mountains beyond Cape Town, painting the sky with magnificent Manet-like pastels. Pinks, blues, oranges, and the purple of fading night are punctuated by tiny clouds.

It was the most spectacular dawn one could imagine.
And The Cloudgazer missed it.

As usual he splashed on his clothes as he spilled out of bed at a civilized hour.
Today was no ordinary day, it was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, but there was no way The Cloudgazer would be going to synagogue.  What better way to start the new year than by taking a bike trip? It was time to shake off the shackles, leave the stinky city behind, time to forget about stupid strikers, and ridiculous governments. It was time to discover the Legend of Baviaanskloof: a place that has reached near mythical proportions in the DS riding community. This weekend The Cloudgazer and his gang would discover the magic of this legendary place for themselves…. Or would they?

The Cloudgazer originally planned to do this trip solo, but once he set a date and put together an approximate plan and route, his mates decided to join him.
Loki, the mischievous demi-god, in whose company anything could (and probably would) happen, would join him. As would Bald-Eagle (named for reasons better not mentioned in decent public places) and New-Guy, one of Bald-Eagle’s mates. New-Guy quickly became part of the pack, and has since been christened Mr. Fixit.
The plans were set, and the big day finally dawned… we’ll pick up the story a couple of hours after the aforementioned sunrise.

The Fantastic Four:
Mr. Fixit (New Guy), Bald Eagle, Cloudgazer, Loki

I should have known my plans were going out the window the night before when Bald-Eagle called and told me his bike wasn’t starting. He was having trouble push starting it. I told him to try jump starting it, which worked… kind of… the bike would not hold it’s charge.
New-Guy’s bike was only arriving by courier from JHB at 07h30, and we were planning to leave by 09h00… that didn’t happen!
By the time we got his 1200GS, had breakfast and push-started Bald-Eagle’s bike (for the first of many times) it was after 10am.

I’d plotted a nice meandering 500km route to Amber Lagoon near Oudtshoorn.
But on the dirt roads before Swellendam my GPS suddenly got very confused, and lead us down a road that came to an abrupt end. A moment later it showed the road just a few hundred meters to our left, so we followed that. But then it showed a different road.
WTF?
I dunno what form of electronic drugs a GPS can take, but it was obvious my device had overdosed.

Bald-Eagle had his first little off of the trip, and managed to bend his footpeg’s bracket. This is where an excellent multi-tool proved it’s value. A nicely shaped 2kg rock knocked the peg back into position. His bike was still not starting of it’s own accord so we had to push him.

While trying to navigate the strangely moving road we encountered an area of soft sand, and Bald-Eagle stalled a couple of times.

We got tired of push starting his bike and made him walk it out the soft stuff to a firmer area before giving him a hand again. This was getting ridiculous now. It would be stupid to attempt Baviaans with his bike in this condition. We’d have to make a plan.

Mr. Fixit - doing it in style.

Bald Eagle's turn.

We finally navigated our way back to the N2 and raced for Swellendam, hoping to get a new battery. While Bald-Eagle was missioning we had a lovely lazy lunch at a very pink place. Really good though!

Getting lost in the farmlands and having a double lunch in Swellendam put us massively behind schedule, so instead of following the meandering route I’d devised we chose the most direct route to our destination.
Unfortunately we didn’t get there till after dark.

We were too buggered to bother setting up our own tents and opted to stay in the safari type tents on offer. Amber Lagoon is a very beautiful place and comes highly recommended.

How the hell did my little tent become so spacious? And will you look at that, two pillows!!!

We planned to get an early start the next morning… Day 2 was going to be a big day.
Baviaanskloof!
Finally!
AWhoooHooo!

DAY 2:

The day dawned as day’s usually do with the sun peeking over the horizon.
There was no need to match the Sun God’s vim and vigor though. We figured any bike shops in Oudtshoorn wouldn’t open before 08h30 anyway.
We found a place that had a battery, and we went for breakfast while they fitted it.

Hello, can you hear me? Is this thing working? You’ve been a wonderful audience.

After breakfast Loki and Mr. Fixit decided they wanted waffles…. The first sign that things were not gonna go according to plan. Again!
It was time to make a move. Baviaanskloof beckoned.
We twisted throttles and headed for Willowmore,  where we filled up and bought our food and drink for the night. This time it was Bald-Eagle that wanted to stay for lunch. I insisted we eat on the road, we still had a long distance to cover.
Aw come on Bald-Eagle said we’ll only be half an hour.
Yeah right!
The other guys also let their stomachs make the decision for them.
We rolled out of Willowmore an hour and a half later. Grrr.
It was already after 13h30. We’d never make it to Bruintjieskraal today. Our bloody stomachs had scuppered our plans to do Baviaanskloof today.

We decided to change our route by reversing our plans, we’d go north around Baviaanskloof on the T2 route to Patensie today, and do Baviaanskloof tomorrow. I don’t know what made me think it would be a simple fast ride on wide gravel highways.

This is NOT the way to pack your bike. Bald Eagle lost the pineapple within 500 metres of starting on the gravel, and his camping stool and cap disappeared not long after.

Another problem was that the GPS showed a different road to the one on a paper map we had. We ended up taking a couple of wrong turns, losing valuable time. So we decided to put our faith in the paper map only, screw my temperamental GPS.
The roads were incredible, and the scenery stunning, but these were not the gravel highways I was expecting, and it was fairly slow going. As the afternoon wore on the weather started turning, the clouds descended and a light rain fell upon us. I hate to say it, but those clouds meant we were riding into a serious shit storm.

It looks beautiful, but it really wasn't.

It’s obvious that it had been raining in the area for a few days cause suddenly the roads were totally sodden and slick. The water wasn’t draining! At first it wasn’t so bad, and then all of a sudden it was. It was like trying to rollerblade on ice.
Bald-Eagle took a tumble on a fairly steep descent, and him and his bike simply slid for over 10 meters on the road. It was actually quite comical. He came off two more times on the next ascent.
While we helped Bald-Eagle, Loki went on ahead to scout the road. He came back with a grim report. The next descent and ascent were much steeper and longer, and we had no idea how long this would continue for. By now it was after five, and there was very little hope of making Patensie. In fact, make that no hope whatsoever.
We decided to turn around and head for Steytlerville about 60kms away.

We did the last part of the journey in total darkness. And the one thing I learnt is that the headlight on the Dakar is totally useless. With the high-beam on you can kinda see something’s on either the side of the road, but really not much at all. And with the low beam you can barely see 10 feet ahead of you. I thought I had all the farkles my bike needed. Obviously not, a new headlight is a definite must.
It’s kinda frightening riding dirt roads in the dark. I couldn’t see the middelmannetjies, couldn’t read the terrain. I felt like a blind man at Teasers.

Wet, cold, muddy and completely drained we arrived in Steytlerville at about 7pm. The first place we saw was the Royal Hotel, and that’s where we stopped. Our budget camping weekend was ruined!
But the rooms and hot shower more than made up for it.
It was almost 10 by the time we ate, and after 11 when we crawled thankfully into bed.
We’d been beaten by bad planning, horrible weather and treacherous roads.

Hmmm, not bad. Not bad. Not as cozy as my tent, but I guess it’ll do.

To be continued...

 

[faniesmith]

:happy1:

 

[Drifter]

;D good reading

 

[Trailrider]

LoL!

Cool so far! 8)

 

[fat b]

Nice ! Keep it coming  :thumleft:

 

[letsgofishing]

That's why they call it ADVENTURE riding!  ;D
Lekker - keep it coming.

 

[Wolfmother]

Happie times :happy1:

 

[Ama ride ride]

That's why they call it ADVENTURE riding!  ;D
Lekker - keep it coming.

Agree.... :biggrin:. Why stick to rules? O0

 

[Berm_Rooster]

Lekker lekker! Waazieres?

 

[cloudgazer]

DAY3.

We awoke shortly after sunrise, early enough to fill our bikes, pack our bags and be ready for when breakfast was served at 7am.

We also had a big decision to make. Were we going to be able to get to Patensie, do Baviaanskloof, go down to Uniondale and do the Prince Alfred pass into Knysna all in a single day?
Mr. Fixit thought we could do it, but then again he rides like a bloody demon. The rest of us weren’t so sure.
Getting to Knysna was imperative. We’d already upgraded our accommodation twice now, and I’d pre-paid at Lake Pleasant, if we didn’t make Knysna we’d forfeit that too.

It was decided if we could reach Patensie by 10h30 we’d do Baviaans and Prince Alfred pass.

The ride back to the point where we’d turned around yesterday was quick and easy and to our sheer delight the roads had dried up significantly.  Shortly afterwards though it became apparent our decision to turn around yesterday was the correct one.

The descent down to Grootrivierpoort was one of the most technical rides I’ve ever done.
If we’d attempted that in the wet and dark, we’d either have died or ended up curled in a fetal position crying for our mummies.
On this beautiful morning though it was slow, tough, and exhilarating going in and out of the gorge. What an absolute jol!

Hmmm, who thought it would be a good idea to put pears, a license plate, and sunglasses into a topbox that had already lost two bolts?

Bald Eagle had a good laugh at Loki’s smashed pear-infused sunglasses…. Until he realized the glasses were actually his!

By the time we rolled into Patensie it was 11h00. Not too shabby. It’ll definitely give us enough time to attempt Baviaans, but as we pulled into petrol station Loki noticed he had a puncture in his front tyre.
My heart sank!

There was a tyre place in town, so we hoped to save some time by getting a professional to help us, but the place was closed. We started the repair ourselves, and barely 10 minutes later the owner showed up to give us a hand. Even with his expertise it took a while. Even though I was carrying a spare, they opted to patch the tube.
It was a mistake that would haunt us later.

We’d never get it repaired in time. All my months of dreaming, weeks of planning, and excitement about finally doing Baviaanskloof were shattered. Oh well…. All part of the adventure I guess. It wasn’t like we hadn’t experienced some great riding already. So for now Baviaans will remain a legendary mythical place.
We opted to take the R62 to the Prince Alfred pass, absolutely determined to arrive at our destination before dark. We were in such a rush, we didn’t consider where we should stop for fuel.

After all the exciting riding we’d done so far, and our disappointment about not doing Baviaans we just barreled along the R62 and it was only when we reached the R339 that we realized we needed to refuel, we could either turn back and look for a petrol station we’d completely ignored, or we could go up to Uniondale just 10kms up the road.
The only problem was that the road to Uniondale was closed.
We’d often encountered signs like that and confidently ignored them. Barely 2kms later we realized that road was actually closed with a locked gate. The civil engineers obviously didn’t think about DS bikes, cause we simply rode up the embankment, around the barricade and back onto the road.
There was another gate at Uniondale, and thankfully this one was unlocked.

Uniondale is a kak little town… so dead, it looks like it was abandoned years ago. The streets were empty, the shops closed. It’s got a Stephen King post-apocalyptic feel to it.
Bald Eagle actually wanted to stay for lunch. Thank god the restaurant he suggested was closed. The owners probably long dead of boredom or something. Besides Knysna beckoned.
We filled up the bikes and returned to the closed road. In the 10 minutes we’d been in town someone had locked the gate.
No problem!

There was a tiny footpath on the other side of the metal road barricade that was just wide enough for us. It was a pretty tight squeeze for Mr. Fixit and I as we both have panniers on our bikes. The drop-off into the donga scared me a bit, and in my eagerness to get off the path I turned back onto the road a fraction too early, and the pannier got caught on the barricade. It was ripped of the mounting, spilling its contents everywhere.
Oh Shit! My greatest fear has been ruining my panniers while on a trip. I thought it was toast, that there was no way we’d be able to put it back together. There was a lot of pressure on us. We were on the wrong side of the gate, it kinda felt like we were in the no-man’s land between border posts. We kept looking over our shoulders for someone to tell us to get off the road. But no one came.
20 minutes later, and my pannier was repaired, and we were on our way again.

At the first gate Loki rode up the embankment, but had his back wheel kick out from under him, probably on a loose rock. And he went down. Bald-Eagle following too closely behind, despite several warnings from us about this, also put his bike down.

After a bit of a struggle we got the bikes upright, and got off the embankment for a photo opportunity. Our little 10 minute detour had cost us more than an hour.
It looked like we’d be racing the sun again.

I expected Prince Alfred pass to be like any other mountain pass, up and down over a mountain, over in 10 or 15 minutes. I had no idea it crossed an entire mountain range. How the hell did Thomas Bain ever design the thing? How could one man be responsible for so many incredible feats of engineering? The poor bastard didn’t even have the benefit of an Apple Mac.
What an incredible road!
From the sparse mountain tops to the forested valleys, it was just magnificent.

I’ve often wondered about the advantages of a DS helmet over a full-faced one when touring. Yes, they’re not as claustrophobic when it gets hot and tough, and they generally have bigger visors, but I always thought the peak was more for poser value than anything practical. I’ve changed my mind! The peak is brilliant, with the sun setting, and the dust from the guys in front of me the peak worked wonders simply by tilting my head down a bit.
It really was getting late, and we were riding faster than we should have been, down in the shaded valleys the roads were quite muddy, and Loki went for a good slide around one of the corners.

Before we knew it we were in Knysna. The sun was setting but no yet fully down. Yeehaa! We made it. Cruising through town on our way to Lake Pleasant I hear BoooWup behind me. I look in my mirror and just see a non-descript Ford so I ignore it.
BoooWup!
The Ford pulls up next to me, and the pig comes over his loud hailer “Jy moes clean your License plate.”
I nod and smile and give him the thumbs up, but in my mind I was giving him the middle finger.

He pulls in front of me, and I realize that both Loki and Fixit don’t have plates. Loki doesn’t cause he genuinely lost his about 2 years ago, and Fixit’s was purposely battered in his top box. But I think the cop pulled him over for pulling a wheelie. Oh great! Another delay. The light was fading fast. The cop didn’t know what the fine for wheelies was, so let him go with a warning.

A few kilometers later, and there it was: Lake Pleasant. We had just enough time to erect our tents before total darkness descended. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the earliest of our trip so far. We didn’t bother getting out of our kit, we just jumped on our bikes and went into Sedgefield for well deserved pizza and beers.

DAY 4

I fully expected this to be a totally uneventful day. We were all tired and eager to get home, and opted to barrel along the N2 to do it as quickly as possible. We had a quick breakfast in George and off we went. At some point we agreed to stop at the BP petrol station just before Swellendam. But Engen 1-stop, Total ultra-city, BP, they’re all the same to me, and I can’t tell the difference between em.

I had my throttle twisted open the whole way, and so my reserve light came on at around 215kms, the first time ever. I saw a BP as I approached Swellendam, but couldn’t see my mates, so decided to continue to the next one.
Before I knew it I was passed the town with no sight of another station, so I had to turn around and ride into Swellendam. When there I called Loki, he and the others were at a different station, so we said our good-byes as I didn’t think I’d catch up to them.
I had a nice chilled ride, and decided to have a break at Houwhoek farm stall. While sitting on the stoep I see Loki roll past slowly. He sees me, stops, and comes in. His front tyre went flat while in the twisties. Some Tyre Weld seemed to have worked, but the tyre wasn’t sitting properly on the rim. We could either change it at Houwhoek, or limp into Grabouw and find some help there. We bumped into Bald Eagle and Fixit less than a km up the road, and all of us rode into Grabouw together to fix his tyre.

With the last crisis over, we bade each other farewell, until we can return to find the legendary place called Baviaanskloof which eluded us this time around…

 

[Trailrider]

Great RR cloudgazer!

I only got to do the whole Baviaans on my forth attempt.

 

[MrBig]

haha lekker man!
More like "The Myth of Baviaanskloof"  ;D

 

[forex618]

Gazer, IMHO the Baviaans is over rated. The Groot Rivier is much more interesting, as is the Prince Alfred pass. I think you did the best bits of the trip  :thumleft:

 

[fat b]

Nice RR , I agree , I prefer the Grootrivierpoort .  :thumleft:

 

[growweblaar]

I have a friend who has a German girlfriend who's into the Freie Kurper Klub (FKK) things, so he had to shave his nuts for her. Pray tell, does Bald Eagle also have a German girlfriend...?

 

[Piston Pete]

I never knew there were actually Four Stooges! ;D

 

[letsgofishing]

Nice report CG!  :thumleft:

Grootrivier is more technical, but I think Bav is more beautiful!
You'll do it next time.

 

[cloudgazer]

One really handy thing I discovered on this trip is about packing my bike.

Usually I packed my bag, tent and stool across the back of the bike.
Like so:

But learnt that it's better to pack lengthwise, so you have something to lean back against on long boring stretches.
Even On the technical stuff, when my legs got tired i could half rest my ass on the bag, so I was only semi-standing.
Like so:

 

[The Badger]

Nice report and pics , thanks.
Pity about bav but like everyone has said....... That is adventure riding.

 

[KAT-WP]

very nice RR & trip u guys did.....good photos as well.  enjoyed reading this :thumleft: