First ride on the Rally: going Postal (and other by-ways)

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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
What do you do if you do not have the skill to follow your crazy partner on all the tracks he wants to explore? Downsize. My 17-year-old 650GS, tired of getting bits smashed off it at frequent intervals, has handed the baton on to a young upstart: a new Honda 250L Rally.

This report contains musings of my first multi-day trip on a little bike. In short: I love the Rally to bits! That does not mean the bike is in bits. Completely contrary to my usual modus operandi, where I sometimes even pre-booked my bike in for the inevitable post-ride fix-up, I reached the end of the four days unscathed.

I tackled some of the gnarliest tracks I have ever ridden - not to be confused with gnarly tracks that pros ride! And let me repeat this slowly: I did not fall. Not once.

But wait! I promise to share pictures of a horizontal bike. It will just not be mine... And, of course, many pictures of some amazingly beautiful places.

For those not into reading, here’s a visual report thanks to my patient partner Lance:
[flash=800,450]https://www.youtube.com/v/USFgRy1-gzI[/flash]

Day 1 (Fri 30 Mar 2018)

Statistics:
Distance: 226 km
Moving time: 4h19 (52 km/h)
Total time: 6h11 (37 km/h)
Average temperature: 22°C

Lance and I were invited on a ride by someone that I met through the dirt biking circle: Saret. Her friend Rod set up the itinerary. Unfortunately Saret had to cancel a week beforehand due to a last-minute notification that her daughter would be visiting from Hong Kong. Family definitely takes precedence in this case! We were down to three by the first day.

Cape Town is in the grip of a 1-in-400-year drought. Therefore it makes perfect sense that it rained on the first day of our trip (note the sarcasm). It came down hard and visibility was almost non-existent all the way from Cape Town to our meeting point with Rod at Somerset West.

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We climbed off tar at the old Houwhoek Pass. Surely the municipality does not maintain this pass? But it is obvious that someone does, because it was in much better condition than what I have experienced before. And this was not just the small bike talking. The men agreed. Maybe the 4x4 set did some road-building?

Rod on his old Africa Twin:
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Me on my new Rally:
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Lance on his middle-age 800GS (the dash; not the bike speck in front):
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If Saret came along on her BMW X-Challenge we would have been even on the BMW and Honda numbers.

Towards the end of the pass, we saw a cop-car on the side of the road. There were also many locals, standing around in the drizzle. It was an odd spectacle. Rod relayed an even odder one: he saw the car that had gone off the (new) Houwhoek Pass, ending up on its back on the mountainside. It had either gone through or over the barrier. Someone was having a very bad start to their Easter weekend.

We had always taken the northern gravel road between Helderstroom and Greyton, but this time we took the southern road. It was very pretty; necessitating a view stop.

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We stopped in Greyton at Oak & Vigne Cafe (great place) for lunch before heading off again in Stormsvlei direction on random little back roads.

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An organised event took place in the area recently. Whoever they were, they were obviously going too fast.

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I really enjoyed this forested stretch. The weather added an eerie atmosphere.

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I did my share of gate-duty; having two X-chromosomes being no reason not to take the occasional “hike”.

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Stunning scenery: the landscape and the Lance (I’m biased of course).

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We arrived by a respectable 4pm at our destination: McGregor Backpackers. The people are lovely, the garden is interesting and the birds abound (or a-fly).

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Our steeds:
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