LuckyStriker
Bachelor Dog
Herewith a short report with little to read but plenty pics:
I picked up my media bike from Donford Motorrad on Monday morning and spent the rest of that day packing and adjusting the bikeâ??s suspension.
BMW SA invited TopBike magazine and they in turn decided to send me as their representative. What can say, itâ??s tough being LuckyStriker.
I marked the GoogleEarth maps with the places where I took pics. Match the corresponding pics with the markers if you like.
Day one â?? Ride up from the Cape to Papkuilsfontein, 25km south of Nieuwoudtville
Pic00 â?? Stopping off at Ceres for a bottle of OBS & Mocador
Pic01 â?? Anton, one the third member of our party splashing through outside Eselbank in the Cederberg.
Arriving at Papkuilsfontein campsite â?? we were already quite cheery when we arrived thanks to our regular beer stops and the bottles OBS and Mocador.
In the distance you can see the Bedouin tent, apparently the largest of its kind in South Africa.
Everything had to be shipped in. Clean Porta-loos with ample paper and water. Sufficient showers with 24hour-hot water.
The food during the course of the event was quite good. Warm and cold breakfasts every morning, a snack bag for lunch (biltong/droewors and dried fruits & salted nuts) and large evening meals with desserts. They had mielies too but I couldnâ??t tell you if they were hot or not because I donâ??t really like them anyway.
The bar was well stocked and we saw it close at around midnight every night. The lounges had comfortable sofas, wicker chairs and glass coffee tables. All very impressive, very posh.
Drinking into the wee hours in complete darkness (after they shut down the bar) was performed by a few hardy souls, of which I proudly count myself one of.
The Wild Dogs represented the crazier element of the participants...as it should be.
The rest of the participants went to bed at around 9! Boring bastardsâ?¦
What a beauty!
Orange route Day 1 â?? 303km, slightly technical, stunning scenery, easiest of the Orange routes.
Very nice route which took the participants around 7hours to complete. Jacko and I did it in about 5, including the hair-of-the-dog in Loeriesfontein.
Pic05 â?? Sheep obstacles
Pic06 â?? Mud
Pic07 â?? Awesome landscapes
Pic08 â?? Typical dirt roads â?? good for 100km/h max because of sudden wash-aways and large rocks.
Pic09 â?? Dry riverbed crossings, easy stuff if you know how to ride sand.
One or two X-challenges and HP2â??s did the Orange route. Iâ??m not sure why they didnâ??t do the Red route instead, surely the Orange is way to simple for such bikes.
Albert from Donford Motorrad doing some repairs on a holed sump. Three dealers provided staff for the workshop: Hamman, Auto Atlantic and Donford. Work was done free of charg, you only had to pay for replacement parts if the damage could not be repaired.
The most common ailment was broken/missing bash-plates and mirrors. I had to bring my bike in as well because both mirrors were vibrating loose and needed frequent adjustment, very irritating but soon sorted by the helpful mechanics.
A few injuries occurred on all the routes but they were all caused by people who raced too fast or through choosing a route above their skill level â?? all were preventable IMHO.
Orange route Day 2 â?? 332km, The longest of all the Orange routes, great views, fairly challenging.
Pic11
Pic12
Still heavily hung over from the night before
Pic13 â?? Pakhuis pass
Pic14 â?? Bidou valley
Pic15 â?? as al die riviere vol brandewyn wasâ?¦ wie wil dan water he?...
Pic16 â?? Second malfunction. The TKC ate my mudguard sir.
Pic17
Skills challenge, day 2
The rules are simple. You lose points for touching the ground, sitting down in the seat, falling, etc. Lose enough points and the marshals may tell you to stop and get off the course.
Coloured flags denote special rules. Orange flags indicate that the rider has to ride on the left peg only.
Close fit
White flag, both feet on the seat
Brake failure
Very tight fit
Iâ??m sure all of us would be able to do the skills challenge without a problem. The trick is to do it without committing errors such as putting your feet out or toppling over. You are also timed as you do the obstacle course. These guys were really good.
The new 4fiddy â?? world premier
I picked up my media bike from Donford Motorrad on Monday morning and spent the rest of that day packing and adjusting the bikeâ??s suspension.
BMW SA invited TopBike magazine and they in turn decided to send me as their representative. What can say, itâ??s tough being LuckyStriker.
I marked the GoogleEarth maps with the places where I took pics. Match the corresponding pics with the markers if you like.
Day one â?? Ride up from the Cape to Papkuilsfontein, 25km south of Nieuwoudtville
Pic00 â?? Stopping off at Ceres for a bottle of OBS & Mocador
Pic01 â?? Anton, one the third member of our party splashing through outside Eselbank in the Cederberg.
Arriving at Papkuilsfontein campsite â?? we were already quite cheery when we arrived thanks to our regular beer stops and the bottles OBS and Mocador.
In the distance you can see the Bedouin tent, apparently the largest of its kind in South Africa.
Everything had to be shipped in. Clean Porta-loos with ample paper and water. Sufficient showers with 24hour-hot water.
The food during the course of the event was quite good. Warm and cold breakfasts every morning, a snack bag for lunch (biltong/droewors and dried fruits & salted nuts) and large evening meals with desserts. They had mielies too but I couldnâ??t tell you if they were hot or not because I donâ??t really like them anyway.
The bar was well stocked and we saw it close at around midnight every night. The lounges had comfortable sofas, wicker chairs and glass coffee tables. All very impressive, very posh.
Drinking into the wee hours in complete darkness (after they shut down the bar) was performed by a few hardy souls, of which I proudly count myself one of.
The Wild Dogs represented the crazier element of the participants...as it should be.
The rest of the participants went to bed at around 9! Boring bastardsâ?¦
What a beauty!
Orange route Day 1 â?? 303km, slightly technical, stunning scenery, easiest of the Orange routes.
Very nice route which took the participants around 7hours to complete. Jacko and I did it in about 5, including the hair-of-the-dog in Loeriesfontein.
Pic05 â?? Sheep obstacles
Pic06 â?? Mud
Pic07 â?? Awesome landscapes
Pic08 â?? Typical dirt roads â?? good for 100km/h max because of sudden wash-aways and large rocks.
Pic09 â?? Dry riverbed crossings, easy stuff if you know how to ride sand.
One or two X-challenges and HP2â??s did the Orange route. Iâ??m not sure why they didnâ??t do the Red route instead, surely the Orange is way to simple for such bikes.
Albert from Donford Motorrad doing some repairs on a holed sump. Three dealers provided staff for the workshop: Hamman, Auto Atlantic and Donford. Work was done free of charg, you only had to pay for replacement parts if the damage could not be repaired.
The most common ailment was broken/missing bash-plates and mirrors. I had to bring my bike in as well because both mirrors were vibrating loose and needed frequent adjustment, very irritating but soon sorted by the helpful mechanics.
A few injuries occurred on all the routes but they were all caused by people who raced too fast or through choosing a route above their skill level â?? all were preventable IMHO.
Orange route Day 2 â?? 332km, The longest of all the Orange routes, great views, fairly challenging.
Pic11
Pic12
Still heavily hung over from the night before
Pic13 â?? Pakhuis pass
Pic14 â?? Bidou valley
Pic15 â?? as al die riviere vol brandewyn wasâ?¦ wie wil dan water he?...
Pic16 â?? Second malfunction. The TKC ate my mudguard sir.
Pic17
Skills challenge, day 2
The rules are simple. You lose points for touching the ground, sitting down in the seat, falling, etc. Lose enough points and the marshals may tell you to stop and get off the course.
Coloured flags denote special rules. Orange flags indicate that the rider has to ride on the left peg only.
Close fit
White flag, both feet on the seat
Brake failure
Very tight fit
Iâ??m sure all of us would be able to do the skills challenge without a problem. The trick is to do it without committing errors such as putting your feet out or toppling over. You are also timed as you do the obstacle course. These guys were really good.
The new 4fiddy â?? world premier
