l3oK
Pack Dog
Posting on behalf of friend :
Bike trip report â?? Golden gate
I got that feeling before I purchased my BMW R1200GS and I got that feeling again when we departed on our weekend trip to Golden gate, an exciting feeling of freedom.
The team:
Me (BMW R1200GS),
Bok and Liesl (BMW R1200GSAdv)
and Werner (Kawasaki KLE500 and not his best side ).
We left the BJâ??s on New Road at around 6:45 after all fuel tanks were topped and Wernerâ??s luggage was transferred from the Pick a Pay shopping bag to my top box.
There is not much to say about the road leading to Heidelberg, as it is mainly the N3 highway, but after all the rains that Gauteng had these couple of weeks, the crops and fields sure are beautiful and green.
Heidelberg through to Deneysville was a good road with lots of crops alongside it which looked like a great season for these farmers.
[Checking in with the boss]
Our fist unscheduled stop (well actually we only had 1 scheduled stop and that was Golden gate, not including fuel stops) was next to the Vaal dam for our first pictures.
We were next to the road for only about 5 minutes, when a fellow biker stopped and joined us for a cigarette. He was on his way to the yearly â??Around the island raceâ? at the dam. It is true what they say about the biker community, we all, in someway, click together.
We stopped next to the dam wall for a few picks, and headed off again.
[Werner doing some biker gear modelling]
You only realize how big the dam is when you ride next to it, and when you think youâ??ve passed it, it pops up again around the corner.
We headed to Oranjeville for our breakfast, and found a nursery where they served a very â??lekkerâ? breakfast. I recommend Greenland Nursery for a breakfast if you are in the Oranjeville vicinity, friendly people and good food.
This town probably never has water shortages.
Werner had to refuel, and somehow it seems that the petrol tanker that carries 95-octane petrol never seems to stop in small towns. We were unable to find 95 in almost all the Free State towns, except for Bethlehem.
[Nice breakie]
[Found this fellow fishing in the street]
Passing the Karan Beef farm between Oranjeville and Villiers, I noticed huge barbed wire fencing all around, if you were not from SA you would think what kind of cattle does these farmers have that jumps over 10 feet wires, but this is Africa and sadly thereâ??s no need to say any more.
We passed Villiers and headed for Frankfort. This little town was really busy on a Saturday, and we quickly search for 95-petrol at all the garages, only to settle for 93 at the end of town, putting in just enough to reach Bethlehem.
This was probably the longest stretch we did during the whole trip, and not being used doing long stretches, was felt by our butts. The tar road between these 2 towns was probably the best road we have been on since leaving the N3. Not so many potholes and wide shoulder lanes.
We stopped in Bethlehem to get some fuel, and although it was almost time for lunch, we decide to head through to Clarens.
[Me showing where my GF should have been]
[Bethlehem has been around for some time]
This is where the road really becomes a pleasure to ride. The road between Bethlehem and Fouriesburg is definitely a bikerâ??s heaven, with beautiful green hills on both sides and lots of sweeping corners.
We quickly rode through Fouriesburg, a very small town with a beautiful church and its unique green rooftop sandstone houses, and headed to Clarens.
Again a definite must, if you havenâ??t been to the Eastern Free State, do yourself a favour and go, especially with your bike, absolute amazing riding and picturesque surroundings. It doesnâ??t seem that anyone actually live in Clarens, except for the shopkeepers, because all the people that we saw looked like holidaymakers and tourists. We also came across a few bikers that stopped there for lunch.
We walked around in Clarens visiting the numerous art galleries, wine- and curious shops for some gifts for the girlfriends who couldnâ??t make the trip, hopefully next time. Benefit of going with your bike: no place for expensive art.
We had lunch at one of the coffee shops, which had a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.
We stopped at the local butchery and supermarket and stocked up for the night, charcoal, booze, wine and fresh steaks and buns for the braai.
We were out of luggage space and Werner bought a cool bag and some tie-downs which had to carry the drinks and food, and the charcoal I strapped on the back of my seat.
We drove the remaining 17kmâ??s to Golden gate.
We booked in, and decided to call it a day, and go to our stay for the night. The road to the house was a nice â??tweespoorâ? farm road.
The gravel road loosened the charcoal and I had to stop to fasten it. My fellow riding partners did not notice me stopping, only to rush back and see if they couldnâ??t steel a laugh at me buying a piece of land.
We stayed in a 2 bedroom house, which had 4 single beds and a double bed, a fire place in the living room, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and a big stoep with an outside braai as well. The house was clean and tidy and for only R770 per night definitely a bargain.
We had some steaks and very delicious side dishes (thanks Liesl) for dinner and drank a few glasses of wine and brandy to finish the day in style.
[The Braai]
We were not eager to wake up on Sunday morning, and only left at about 9:00.
On our way back to the tar-road, we stopped for some pictures, I saw a snake sailing underneath Werner's bike, who was just in front of me. There were screaming engines and tyres.. Still donâ??t know what snake it was, but it was big enough to shout SNAKE!!
[ta dum ta dum ta dum]
[SANKE!!!]
[WTF!]
We drove through the whole reserve, lovely narrow roads with spectacular views of the whole Golden gate area. We spotted some antelope and again a snake, but the view was more important than the wildlife.
[Went through low level water bridge a bit to quick]
[We tried, ok.]
[A dropped helmet is very interesting]
The drive back was a bit on the windy side, and the crosswinds bothered a bit us until we reached Reitz. We had to stop in Kestell for some fuel for Werner and had our breakfast, pies and muffins, while waiting. Unleaded petrol had run out so Werner had to settle for LRP until we reached Reitz.
The road between Reitz and Petrus Steyn was closed and we had to use the detour which was a narrow tar-road with lots of corners and a bit of traffic.
The rest of the road was not as exciting, and our last stop was at the Engen on the R59 for a Wimpy lunch.
Just as we left the Engen, we ran in to some rainy weather, just enough rain to soften all that bugs on our windshields and visors.
Reaching the Buccleuch interchange, we waved good-bye and parted in all the different directions.
A few lessons I learned from this trip:
1. Arrive on time and with a full fuel tank at the departure spot.
2. Never think the biker in front of you is going to overtake the car until he does so.
3. Put your ear plugs or Ipod into your ears before you put on or take off your helmet.
4. Always place your helmet on the ground next to your bike, and not on the seat, but do look out for ants and other lovely insects where you put it, because there is only place for 1 of you in that helmet.
Next time we'll go and explore some dirt roads.
Bike trip report â?? Golden gate
I got that feeling before I purchased my BMW R1200GS and I got that feeling again when we departed on our weekend trip to Golden gate, an exciting feeling of freedom.
The team:
Me (BMW R1200GS),
Bok and Liesl (BMW R1200GSAdv)
and Werner (Kawasaki KLE500 and not his best side
). We left the BJâ??s on New Road at around 6:45 after all fuel tanks were topped and Wernerâ??s luggage was transferred from the Pick a Pay shopping bag to my top box.
There is not much to say about the road leading to Heidelberg, as it is mainly the N3 highway, but after all the rains that Gauteng had these couple of weeks, the crops and fields sure are beautiful and green.
Heidelberg through to Deneysville was a good road with lots of crops alongside it which looked like a great season for these farmers.
[Checking in with the boss]
Our fist unscheduled stop (well actually we only had 1 scheduled stop and that was Golden gate, not including fuel stops) was next to the Vaal dam for our first pictures.
We were next to the road for only about 5 minutes, when a fellow biker stopped and joined us for a cigarette. He was on his way to the yearly â??Around the island raceâ? at the dam. It is true what they say about the biker community, we all, in someway, click together.
We stopped next to the dam wall for a few picks, and headed off again.
[Werner doing some biker gear modelling]
You only realize how big the dam is when you ride next to it, and when you think youâ??ve passed it, it pops up again around the corner.
We headed to Oranjeville for our breakfast, and found a nursery where they served a very â??lekkerâ? breakfast. I recommend Greenland Nursery for a breakfast if you are in the Oranjeville vicinity, friendly people and good food.
This town probably never has water shortages.
Werner had to refuel, and somehow it seems that the petrol tanker that carries 95-octane petrol never seems to stop in small towns. We were unable to find 95 in almost all the Free State towns, except for Bethlehem.
[Nice breakie]
[Found this fellow fishing in the street]
Passing the Karan Beef farm between Oranjeville and Villiers, I noticed huge barbed wire fencing all around, if you were not from SA you would think what kind of cattle does these farmers have that jumps over 10 feet wires, but this is Africa and sadly thereâ??s no need to say any more.
We passed Villiers and headed for Frankfort. This little town was really busy on a Saturday, and we quickly search for 95-petrol at all the garages, only to settle for 93 at the end of town, putting in just enough to reach Bethlehem.
This was probably the longest stretch we did during the whole trip, and not being used doing long stretches, was felt by our butts. The tar road between these 2 towns was probably the best road we have been on since leaving the N3. Not so many potholes and wide shoulder lanes.
We stopped in Bethlehem to get some fuel, and although it was almost time for lunch, we decide to head through to Clarens.
[Me showing where my GF should have been]
[Bethlehem has been around for some time]
This is where the road really becomes a pleasure to ride. The road between Bethlehem and Fouriesburg is definitely a bikerâ??s heaven, with beautiful green hills on both sides and lots of sweeping corners.
We quickly rode through Fouriesburg, a very small town with a beautiful church and its unique green rooftop sandstone houses, and headed to Clarens.
Again a definite must, if you havenâ??t been to the Eastern Free State, do yourself a favour and go, especially with your bike, absolute amazing riding and picturesque surroundings. It doesnâ??t seem that anyone actually live in Clarens, except for the shopkeepers, because all the people that we saw looked like holidaymakers and tourists. We also came across a few bikers that stopped there for lunch.
We walked around in Clarens visiting the numerous art galleries, wine- and curious shops for some gifts for the girlfriends who couldnâ??t make the trip, hopefully next time. Benefit of going with your bike: no place for expensive art.
We had lunch at one of the coffee shops, which had a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.
We stopped at the local butchery and supermarket and stocked up for the night, charcoal, booze, wine and fresh steaks and buns for the braai.
We were out of luggage space and Werner bought a cool bag and some tie-downs which had to carry the drinks and food, and the charcoal I strapped on the back of my seat.
We drove the remaining 17kmâ??s to Golden gate.
We booked in, and decided to call it a day, and go to our stay for the night. The road to the house was a nice â??tweespoorâ? farm road.
The gravel road loosened the charcoal and I had to stop to fasten it. My fellow riding partners did not notice me stopping, only to rush back and see if they couldnâ??t steel a laugh at me buying a piece of land.
We stayed in a 2 bedroom house, which had 4 single beds and a double bed, a fire place in the living room, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and a big stoep with an outside braai as well. The house was clean and tidy and for only R770 per night definitely a bargain.
We had some steaks and very delicious side dishes (thanks Liesl) for dinner and drank a few glasses of wine and brandy to finish the day in style.
[The Braai]
We were not eager to wake up on Sunday morning, and only left at about 9:00.
On our way back to the tar-road, we stopped for some pictures, I saw a snake sailing underneath Werner's bike, who was just in front of me. There were screaming engines and tyres.. Still donâ??t know what snake it was, but it was big enough to shout SNAKE!!
[ta dum ta dum ta dum]
[SANKE!!!]
[WTF!]
We drove through the whole reserve, lovely narrow roads with spectacular views of the whole Golden gate area. We spotted some antelope and again a snake, but the view was more important than the wildlife.
[Went through low level water bridge a bit to quick]
[We tried, ok.]
[A dropped helmet is very interesting]
The drive back was a bit on the windy side, and the crosswinds bothered a bit us until we reached Reitz. We had to stop in Kestell for some fuel for Werner and had our breakfast, pies and muffins, while waiting. Unleaded petrol had run out so Werner had to settle for LRP until we reached Reitz.
The road between Reitz and Petrus Steyn was closed and we had to use the detour which was a narrow tar-road with lots of corners and a bit of traffic.
The rest of the road was not as exciting, and our last stop was at the Engen on the R59 for a Wimpy lunch.
Just as we left the Engen, we ran in to some rainy weather, just enough rain to soften all that bugs on our windshields and visors.
Reaching the Buccleuch interchange, we waved good-bye and parted in all the different directions.
A few lessons I learned from this trip:
1. Arrive on time and with a full fuel tank at the departure spot.
2. Never think the biker in front of you is going to overtake the car until he does so.
3. Put your ear plugs or Ipod into your ears before you put on or take off your helmet.
4. Always place your helmet on the ground next to your bike, and not on the seat, but do look out for ants and other lovely insects where you put it, because there is only place for 1 of you in that helmet.
Next time we'll go and explore some dirt roads.
