Kamieskroon: Broken Bones and a Burning Bike

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Zanie

Race Dog
WD Supporter
Joined
Jul 19, 2014
Messages
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Location
Table View, Cape Town
Bike
Honda CRF-250 Rally
Thanks to a great Namibia trip, Lance and I, along with his parents, decided to join another WAVolt-organised ride with Michael Cowley; this time a 4-day trip to Kamieskroon area. Lance, my usual route planner, got to sit back and relax! It shaped up to be a very eventful ride. We got to see first-hand why a trained medic is brought along. It is insurance you hope never to use, but you cannot be lucky every time. Thanks to Michael, Hyron, Lance and Lynette for all the footage and photos!

[flash=800,450]https://www.youtube.com/v/JUF5OgMhK50[/flash]

Day 01 (20 Oct Thu)

Statistics
Actual distance (from Cape Town): 511 km
Recorded distance (from start of gravel): 134 km
Elapsed time (from start of gravel): 03:26:19 (39 km/h)
Moving time (from start of gravel): 03:00:49 (44 km/h)

The group met in the early hours of the morning in Malmesbury. How many bikes and riders? No idea. Enough for me not to remember most peoples’ names. I’m a lost cause with names even in a small group. This was beyond my capabilities.

We slabbed it all the way to Bitterfontein, stopping only once for lunch and petrol at Klawer. It was late October at the time of this trip, but despite the hot weather, a cool breeze kept us comfortable. Bitterfontein represented the last fuel stop for the day, before we hit the interesting stuff, 5 km further along.

I cannot remember what Michael was saying in the photo below, but it was obviously fascinating:
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Ottaspoort Pass:
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Our ride leader with two minions and stunning backdrop:
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Whenever time allowed, Lance would find and follow the most obscure tracks:

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The scenery was stunning and strange. One area resembled the Serengeti, with grassy flats that had a silver shimmer. The photo below doesn’t do it justice.

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There were beautiful rocky outcrops:

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My usual “ride leader”, Lance, relegated to position of “minion” along with the rest of us:

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It was a nice break for him, leaving the route planning to someone else, especially if that someone is Michael. His routes definitely qualify on my “interesting” meter.

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One of the reasons why the route was interesting:

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Challenge accepted! I did a lot of sand break-dancing, but managed to stay aloft. I calculated from my heart rate, bike lean angle and amplitude of swerve that I had about three close calls. The back-up crew commented with some incredulity that no matter my manoeuvres, my head was always on a swivel, checking the scenery! Lance, meanwhile, was having a ball practising (deliberate) power-slides. This was to be his downfall (literally) at some later stage.

Next up was the aptly named Langkloof Pass, which was…well…a lang kloof (long ravine). It was here that I spotted a black eagle. Being a birder, this caused a super-excited atmosphere, even if only confined to the inside of my helmet.

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Most gates would be opened by the front-runners and left open with a rock placed on the post as an indicator to the back-up vehicle that they should close the gate. In one case this protocol was not followed. The reason? Three calves that were positively certain that the grass must be greener on the other side. Lance wanted to get a closer look. The calves didn’t.

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Draaiklip Pass:
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Kamiesberg Pass:
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Kamiesberg Pass didn’t offer up any eagles, but we did get to see a life-and-death struggle in miniature between a lizard and a centipede. The lizard was not all too happy about the paparazzi, but it was hungry enough that fight won over flight.

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We were to stay at Kamieskroon Hotel for the three nights; using it as our base for circles of exploration.

Michael awaiting all the minions, so that he can assign us our rooms:
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Speaking of “circles of exploration”, this looks like a circle of introspection:
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The day ended with the obligatory “strafdoppe.” This is always cause for great hilarity. Lance and I were assigned one each for placing bike covers over our dirty machines. “Trying to keep a dirty bike clean.” Not so much. Trying to make sure my old plonker would start the next day. I don’t know Lance’s excuse!

Michael was joking about how I’d been one of the only ones not asking about the amount of sand on this trip. He should know that after his Namibia trip, he scared the fear of sand right out of my head!

I think some wine may have been involved as well as the shooters. Can you tell?

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