- Joined
- Aug 5, 2010
- Messages
- 1,936
- Reaction score
- 141
- Location
- Hout Bay
- Bike
- KTM 890 Adventure R Rally
With the weather forecast predicting snow on the high peaks and after picking up my new KTM 690 Enduro on Friday afternoon it seemed like a grand plan to ride to Wuppertal last Saturday. And then on to meet others in Gouda on Sunday. It had all the hall marks for a great weekend.
The ride out was pleasant but a bit wet through Bainskloof. Not a problem as we had our rain suits. Many of you will know the road from Cape Town through Ceres and into the Cederberg towards Mount Ceder. No problems at all up to that stage. The dirt road was a bit slippery in places but nothing untoward. But we were going a bit slower than normally, due to the conditions. So by time the time we were at the drift at Nuwerus we really needed to push on a bit if we were still going to make it.
The water was flowing over the drift but really not that hard. As we were standing there a Discovery came from the other side and drove straight through. It really didn't look bad. So I lined up my new bike (303 kms on the clock) and rode on. And a few seconds later the water was pushing me a bit to the right, I tried to control it and move to the shallower part on the left but the bike spun out from underneath me and we went over the side off the drift into the river. The water there was deep. I could barely get my feet on the bottom as I tried to prevent the bike flowing all the way down the river.
After a while I managed to hook the bike into some bushes so it was stable. But there was no way I could get it out. Some time later a vehicle arrived and a bunch of guys helped me get the bike out of the river. We then pushed it without any problems back across the drift. My son had ridden to Nuwerus to get more help and we spent the night there, waiting for my wife to come rescue me the next day. As it is, she hates bikes and this has not endeared her to this past-time.
As you can see from the video, it turned out to be not such a good weekend after all. Guys, take this as a warning, it could have ended up much worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_FUUDthDA8&list=UU387YCrpt9ASeK41nGH_FPA
And now feel free to remind me of my not proudest biking moment.
eepwall: This surpasses this one by a long way (but then I was 20, now at 55 I should have learned) - https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=127756.msg2481844#msg2481844
The ride out was pleasant but a bit wet through Bainskloof. Not a problem as we had our rain suits. Many of you will know the road from Cape Town through Ceres and into the Cederberg towards Mount Ceder. No problems at all up to that stage. The dirt road was a bit slippery in places but nothing untoward. But we were going a bit slower than normally, due to the conditions. So by time the time we were at the drift at Nuwerus we really needed to push on a bit if we were still going to make it.
The water was flowing over the drift but really not that hard. As we were standing there a Discovery came from the other side and drove straight through. It really didn't look bad. So I lined up my new bike (303 kms on the clock) and rode on. And a few seconds later the water was pushing me a bit to the right, I tried to control it and move to the shallower part on the left but the bike spun out from underneath me and we went over the side off the drift into the river. The water there was deep. I could barely get my feet on the bottom as I tried to prevent the bike flowing all the way down the river.
After a while I managed to hook the bike into some bushes so it was stable. But there was no way I could get it out. Some time later a vehicle arrived and a bunch of guys helped me get the bike out of the river. We then pushed it without any problems back across the drift. My son had ridden to Nuwerus to get more help and we spent the night there, waiting for my wife to come rescue me the next day. As it is, she hates bikes and this has not endeared her to this past-time.
As you can see from the video, it turned out to be not such a good weekend after all. Guys, take this as a warning, it could have ended up much worse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_FUUDthDA8&list=UU387YCrpt9ASeK41nGH_FPA
And now feel free to remind me of my not proudest biking moment.
eepwall: This surpasses this one by a long way (but then I was 20, now at 55 I should have learned) - https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=127756.msg2481844#msg2481844
