Transkei Trip 2019

[Clarkson]

Every year the Camperdown and surrounds bunch of Wild dogs plan a 4 or 5 day trip to somewhere, sometimes nowhere just depends on how many beers we have in the top boxes.

This year Mark AKA Hamilton, AKA professional snorer, was keen to tackle the Transkei so started a WhatsApp group inviting the usual suspects. It took sometime for the bug to bite but once it did the group quickly grew from 7 to 14. It would be 12 on bikes and 2 in the back up vehicle with trailer. I must just point out the the trailer was not for a bike but to carry the beers and food, mostly beers 8).
The group was as follows; Mark (Hamilton), Jody (JDogg), Mark (Mark the spark), Terence (Trailblazer), Jason (Clarkson), Len, Alistair, Steve, Eldred, Dave, Dawie, Korne, Quinton and Chad. I must say an awesome bunch of guys to ride with.

After careful planning we were all to meet at Vans garage on 13 June @ 05:00 to start on what would turn out to be a brilliant ride with a few twists and turns for good measure.

The Camperdown Boys getting ready for the trip note the trailer with lockable lid to safe guard our "rations".

More to follow :thumleft:

 

[Hamilton]

Yup, was one for the books. Thanks Jay for doing this report, now bring it on. This waiting is driving me to drink................... :3some:

 

[Mark The Spark]

Thanks Bud it was one to remember always good fun riding with genuine mates and a brilliant KTM, is this a five day series. ot:

 

[Trail Blazer (R.I.P.)]

Great start Jason

 

[Hamilton]

:sip: :sip: :sip:

 

[Clarkson]

With all the planning done we had good intentions of meeting at Vans garage and leaving at 6 o clock because day 1 was going to be a long one. We were to travel from Camperdown to Hole in the wall in Coffee Bay. We were going to stick to tar just to get there as quick as possible as that would be our base for 2 days. Like i said we had good intentions but then....one of the mechanics in the group Eldred (AKA bunny hopper)...i will explain later,  did not arrive. Eventually he called and informed us that his bikes battery was flat and that he could not get the bike started. He told us that we must go on without him, but us being the mates we are could not let that happen so a plan was quickly made and he joined us at Vans garage. We eventually left at some time after 7. It was probably a blessing in disguise that he was late because going thorough Richmond, Ixopo and Kokstad when the temp is in single digits is not good even if you are dressed for the occasion.

The biggest issue among the guys was when we stopped for a pee break, first you have to peel back all the clothes only to find that mini me has got a countersunk issue so it was hard to grab hold of it especially with ice cold hands.

The first day ride was pretty uneventful with the exception of Dave missing the turn off even with 2 of the group waiting for him and shouting at him to look left to see them. I suspect he was deep in thought trying to figure out how he was going to handle the next pee break as he had 3 pairs of pants on and ....well i wont go into too much detail :imaposer:

The only other thing that happened was the local law enforcement in Kokstad wanting money for coffee because one of the group was caught speeding, who knew coffee was so expensive in Kokstad O0

We all arrived at the Hole in the Wall Hotel safely. It was an enjoyable ride and the chats around the fire that night were also good, lots of laughs.

There was one other notable event of the evening, Mark the Spark being molested by Toby the Parrot in the bar at hole in the wall. It was funny when it happened for us at least but the next day Toby the parrot was in a "fowl" mood and refused to let Mark near the cage. I again suspect it was due to a countersunk issue on Marks part :lol8:

More to follow.

 

[Hamilton]

Nice, now please explain a little more on the law enforcement in Kokstad. Thought KTMs don't stop at that speed.

 

[philgil]

:sip:

 

[Hamilton]

:sip: :sip: :sip: :sip:

 

[Edgar]

more please!!!  :cyclops_ani:

 

[woody1]

:ricky:

 

[Ian in Great Brak River]

Sub’d.

 

[Trail Blazer (R.I.P.)]

What happened Keegan........

 

[Clarkson]

Day 2

The plan was to do an out ride from the hole in the wall hotel and and be back in the afternoon for a chilled braai and more war stories. However some of the gang had stayed up late the night before and were feeling a little green around the gills. Never the less we are military men so after a healthy breakfast we sucked it up and got going or at least that was the plan.

Another one of the "mechanics" in the team had issues with his bike and it would not start, issues with the battery. I wont name Len > as being the mechanic as I feel bad for him 8). Mostly i feel bad because he was on  KTM so the KTM side of the group collected with the usual jokes and stories. I must mention however that their were more KTM's than BMW's on this trip so they boys are finally coming to their senses.  8)

Once we got going i think we did about 8 KM's if that up to the view point for Hole in the Wall which i must say was well worth it. By this time sun was blazing so of course it was "beer o'clock". After a few beers and photos we set off to ride along the coast line as planned.

We went to another view point where some more refreshments were indulged in, from there on to a place called the cottage which is close to the view point we had just stopped at, i would guesstimate about 3 KM's. The owner of the cottage is a lucky individual as it really is a beautiful place. We then left there and went back up to the first view point and decided to stop there one last time. Who knew that we would be hit with a sudden thirst and would need to stop again for some refreshments. Lets just say that we then stayed there for the better part of the day, just chilling and enjoying each others company...and refreshments.

Some time later on we decided to start heading towards home, but of course there would need to be one or two or three beers stops as the return trip of 12 odd KM can become very long :lol8:

On the way we stopped at the Ocean view hotel and then at White Clay. At White Clay we stopped for a snack and refreshments and met with the owner who it turns out had been a good Samaritan for one of our fellow riders some years ago. Trailblazer had previously had an accident and broke his leg, the owner of white clay had helped him to safety and called the necessary assistance for him(short version).

Once we had finished our refreshments and snacks we headed back to Hole in the wall Hotel for more camaraderie and laughs .
Although the plan was to do more mileage on the bikes and see more the day actually turned out to be a great one, who knew that the next day would be one for the books, something to do with 60KM's in 8 hours ......more to follow.

I must say that the sun being out helped the length of the pee breaks as the countersunk issues were for the most part resolved ....Dave was however still experiencing issues.

To answer Hamilton's about the law enforcement in Kokstad and the KTM not stopping at  that speed, lets just say that at 181 it was only clicking into 5th, so the back pressure on tapping off helped to slow down, not to mention the sphincter clench which also helped. The bugger still owes me a new seat because i bit a hole in it when i saw him, but i forgive him because i was able to do an stoppy for the first time ever when he jumped in front of me.  :imaposer:

 

[wooly bugger]

Great stories! Why does [member=13565]Hamilton[/member] always look tired?

 

[Hamilton]

Great stories! Why does [member=13565]Hamilton[/member] always look tired?

WB, if you hang around the Camperdown WDs for as long as I have,  then that will explain and answer your question. :3some:

 

[Hamilton]

Nice Jay, keep it coming. :sip: :sip:

 

[Clarkson]

Day 3

The plan was to first fill up with fuel and then head via the coast from hole in the wall to Port St Johns. Once at PSJ that would be our base for two nights with out rides to various points of interest.
We planned to travel as far as possible along the coastline between the two destinations which was supposed to be @ 120km of good gravel riding, however the day before a local at one of the bars we visited told us that the road was in some places "bad" due to the recent floods and in some places we would need to cross rivers because the bridges had washed away.  O0

As always we left late from hole in the wall and the ride to fill petrol was longer than planned mostly because of potholes, cows, dogs and one or two piston knocks from the night before. Once that was done we headed back to hole in the wall and onto the gravel towards PSJ. The first I would guesstimate 50km's was pretty good normal gravel roads with nothing to hectic, but then......

We got to a very steep downhill section and it seemed as if mother nature had taken every rock of the small round variety she could find and placed it on the downhill rutted section we had to get down. To make matters worse there was an Iveco 4x4 truck stuck coming up the hill we were to go down and they were stuck on the part where there was less rocks as luck would have it.

The group is made up of some very gifted and talented riders, some in between and some that are still new to the game. In that order this is how it went, the gifted guys went past the truck onto the rocks with bikes crossed up and wheels sliding everywhere, when I later spoke to them they acknowledged that is was mostly luck that got them down the hill as the rocks were unexpected, but none the less they made it down. The next group myself included were stopped in a line on the steepest part and were to go one by one down the slippery slope. What happened next was totally unexpected.....one of the guys in the line of bikes waiting to go down had an unexpected brain fart. He jumped off his bike and was going to walk it down with the clutch pulled in and motor running...which turned out to be a bad idea.

He took off and quickly the bike was out of control...Dave the pilot along for the ride then tried to jump side saddle on to the bike but by this point it was to late and he jumped where he thought the bike seat was and found that the bike had moved on, what followed was not nice to watch...lets just say we thought he was tickets. He fell, face first into one of the many ruts and the bike cartwheeled and fell on top of him. In hindsight the rut saved him from serious injury. His top box broke off and hit him on the back of the helmet. You have to picture the scene, the first group who had already gone down the hill were shouting to Dave to let the bike go and save himself, the second group on the hill were stuck as there was nowhere to put your bike down to go and assist him.

When the dust settled Dave was lying face down in the gravel and not moving or responding to any of us. the first group ran up to help him , but we thought we were going to have to call a helicopter to get him out of the valley. Fortunately he came around and after some cold water and running repairs on his bike we set off down this hill.

Everybody got down but at the bottom was one of the non existent bridges so we had to go though the river to cross, that was done luckily without incident. We then once everyone had composed themselves had to go back up the other side of the valley to rejoin the gravel road. The uphill was full of switchbacks, rocks and ruts so was going to be another challenge. The carrot was a beer stop at the top so that everyone could rest. Needless to say everyone even Dave who was still dizzy made it to the top.

While enjoying a cold one we had to decide if we were going to continue on the route of take the shortest, quickest route to PSJ. It was decided to take the chicken route or so we thought, by this time it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

We set off on the route, riding directly into the sun with so much dust that you could not see your hand in front of your face and along the way we missed the turn off to PSJ. We ended up doing @ 90km heading away from PSJ and had to circle back. We got into the Pont in PSJ after dark, tired, full of dust but mostly in one piece.

That night around the fire turned out to be one of the best nights of the trip, lots of war stories, brandy and bullshit. I have not laughed so much in a very long time.

More on night 3 to follow....

 

[Hamilton]

Nice Jay, brings back some good memories.  :imaposer: :imaposer: :imaposer: Still have that movie imprinted in my brain, of Dave and Dakkie cartwheeling down the hill. He has never been the same since. :hal:
You right, the dust on that day was terrible and unsafe to ride in but when time is running against you. 9 hours to do about 120 kms!!!!
Don't underestimate that part of the country when planning trips, they never go to plan.
Keep it coming Jay. :thumleft:

 

[OomD]

:sip: :ricky: