I've got plenty of pictures. Brace yourselves...
All packed and ready to go.
My route started with all good intentions of taking the dirt roads on the first half of (the many variations of) the alternative route to Malmesbusy, then through Riebeeck Kasteel, Gouda and Ceres to arrive at our morning meeting spot at Prince Alfred Hamlet. The rain made me think twice, and when my legs were shivering uncontrollably around my tank, I decided "stuff it, I'm not going to enjoy it like this", so I took the N1 to Klapmuts, then Wellington, Bainskloof, Ceres and arrived at Price Alfred Hamlet where a coffee was very welcome.
The usual introductions, and ogling over the farkles on other bikes followed. Kindof like when dogs meet on the beach, they sniff each other's butts. The bikes all looked fantastic, and there are some great ideas that I'm going to be implementing on my bike in the nearest possible future.
JC took it upon himself to attempt to make the two non-Honda bikes more reliable by dressing the sheep in pig's clothing.
On the way to Tankwa Padstal
We arrived at the Tankwa Padstal where beers were ordered and bike stories were exchanged.
The combination of the rattling on the Tankwa roads, and his fearless (sometimes crazy) riding resulted in Tau loosing a bolt on his luggage rack. It was a very long one, and none of the spares that we had among us fitted, so a McGuyver plan was made, and were soon on our way again.
Hitting the road again, we did Gannaga pass to arrive in Middelpos. Fuel, beer and 'Dop kaas' was the order of the day. First time I tasted 'Dop kaas', but it was lekker! Just a hop and a skip and we landed at Mof's farm - Kransgat. The most beautiful Karoo farm that I've ever seen! You are a lucky man, Mof!
Beserker thought he'd take a short cut when he repaired a pucture the day before the trip (with a patch on a patch), which ended up costing him at least half an hour of kuier time while he re-repaired his first attempt properly.
We ate like kings, and talked nonsense around the fire like most guys do.
My spot for the night
The next morning
From Middelpos, we made our way to Stonehenge for a very welcome cold beer.
Mof arranged petrol for us at Elandsvlei which was our next stop.
From Elandsvlei, we followed the postal route to eventually end up in Wuppertal.
Group photo
Brede River in the distance
I think that hanging onto the handlebars of my naughty pig was the cause for some cramps in my hand. The cold water from a stream in Wuppertal sorted the cramp out in no time.
Forty-something degrees Celsius, a big heavy transalp, and the fatigue from just powering through the postal route and the 4x4 track to Wuppertal was too much for FuzzyMuzzy, and he dropped his bike in the thick sand between Wuppertal and Oasis. Other than a few scratches, no harm was done. He dusted himself off, and we aimed our bikes towards Cederberg Oasis.
Before we could get to Oasis, WatKykDjy met us coming in the other direction. He suggested a swim in the river. The cold water was refreshing, and a welcome cure for the Cederberg heat.
When we arrived at Oasis, there were some other Wilddogs also enjoying the great outdoors. Among others were Nismark and Dusty Rusty, representing the smaller cousins of the BRP's
Nismark & Dusty Rusty
An overloaded Beetle
As usual, we were treated to excellent food from Chantal.
The next morning, the group of Wilddogs split into subgroups as we headed for home. I joined Ant, Grondpaaie & FuzzyMuzzy who were going to Langebaan via Algeria and Clanwilliam.
Boys will be boys
Beautiful gravel road on the way to Algeria
We stopped for lunch on a road that Grondpaaie had found by accident one day while exploring the area. After lunch, we tried to get petrol at Redelinghuys, but were unsuccessful, so we pressend on until we reached Aurora. Liquid refreshments and great company went down very well for me.
After what seemed like days on the monotonous R27, I saw Table Mountain, and knew it was not long before I could pull into the driveway, and sink into the couch.
Thanks so much to everyone who made this trip undoubtedly the best group ride that I've ever been on!
Topic: WC Pigfest (Read 6967 times)
