- Joined
- Oct 12, 2009
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- Location
- Cape Town
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- Triumph (all models)
So it is years since I last paid Greyton a visit and one Sunday morning my beloved daughter Kayleigh and myself decided to get out for a day , the day dawned bright and windy , it is Cape Town , and we departed about 7.30 and slotted into the N2 traffic , Sir Lowry's pass was fun , as usual . We stopped at Peregrine for breakfast , which is always a good start to the day , Kayleigh loved the place and spent our time their playing on the jungle gym while dad kept himself occupied .
Back on the road again , Houw Hoek pass was over way too quickly and we slogged along the N2 again , the DR purring away ever so contentedly ,
Now there are various routes to Greyton , I prefer taking the R43 to Villiersdorp , 28km further turn right on the Helderstroom road , this is where the gravel starts and the area is beautifully green , a welcome sight after the recent drought , little streams and rivers flowing all over the place and you ride another 28km along this meandering road till 5km before Greyton where it changes to tar again .
My , how this town has changed , it has certainly grown and seems to be quite the Sunday morning tourist hub , but we rode down the main road looking for a pharmacy , found one and I parked the DR next to six spanking newish 1200GS's , Kayleigh ran off to the pharmacy while I was removing gloves , helmet etc , lo and behold a chap walks out and tells me to move the bike , I look around to make sure I am the target of his ridiculous request and to confirm that I am parking legally . Yes it is legal where I am parked and yes , I am his target . So I do the first thing that comes to mind and ask why , his response was that they don't want my bike parked next to theirs . I calmly replied that the bike stays where it is and they had better learn to deal with it , with which I walked away from fuming dickhead .
Of course being such a short time period after breakfast we walked around the town speaking to locals , Kayleigh petting horses that wander freely around the side roads , I am having thoughts of retirement , but too soon for such thoughts so we hit the road again to our next stop , nice roller coaster dirt roads till about 2km before Riviersonderend .
Now this has never been one of my favourite towns , don't know why , but it has become a lot busier over the years , so a quick refuel , cappuchino for myself and milk for Kayleigh and we are out of there . Worthwhile mentioning in town is Ou Meul Bakery , apparently they make the best pie's in the Cape .
So we continue along the N2 and turn off at Stormsvlei toward Bonnievale , about 5km further hit a left on dirt roads towards McGregor , just another one of those towns that I haven't been to in just way too long . And it has also grown , but I am surprised at the size of the informal settlements , they tend to be larger than the town . Sadly while Greyton is a hive of activity , McGregor is a sleepy hollow , the only open shop didn't have card facilities and there is no ATM , one or two restaurants were open but we gave them a skip .I did however notice quite a few new buildings going up so the town is still expanding , but also in comparison this town looks to be very dry compared to Greyton .
While in the area we drove up to Boesmanskloof , this is the start/finish of the Greyton-McGregor hiking trail , it is simply stunning being up there , seemingly on top of the world .
By now we were thirsty and the Camelbak was warm as well , so we hoofed it through to Robertson for refreshment and refuel , from here back we hit back dirt roads which brought us out about 20km from Villiersdorp and straight into a headwind from hell , admittedly the only unpleasant part of our ride and made our way for Franschhoek pass , which was very quiet and it was just a matter of rolling on and off the throttle and carrying corner speed through the myriad bends winding its way over the mountain , I even passed a cruiser in one corner . This road is paradise and must be enjoyed by everyone at least once in their lifetime .
Franschhoek was packed like a sardine can as usual for a Sunday and the last stretch home was genuinely just stuck in traffic .
All in all a lekker day ride , enjoyable for both of us , slightly tempered by the snobs , but even they couldn't take away the enjoyment from us .
Back on the road again , Houw Hoek pass was over way too quickly and we slogged along the N2 again , the DR purring away ever so contentedly ,
Now there are various routes to Greyton , I prefer taking the R43 to Villiersdorp , 28km further turn right on the Helderstroom road , this is where the gravel starts and the area is beautifully green , a welcome sight after the recent drought , little streams and rivers flowing all over the place and you ride another 28km along this meandering road till 5km before Greyton where it changes to tar again .
My , how this town has changed , it has certainly grown and seems to be quite the Sunday morning tourist hub , but we rode down the main road looking for a pharmacy , found one and I parked the DR next to six spanking newish 1200GS's , Kayleigh ran off to the pharmacy while I was removing gloves , helmet etc , lo and behold a chap walks out and tells me to move the bike , I look around to make sure I am the target of his ridiculous request and to confirm that I am parking legally . Yes it is legal where I am parked and yes , I am his target . So I do the first thing that comes to mind and ask why , his response was that they don't want my bike parked next to theirs . I calmly replied that the bike stays where it is and they had better learn to deal with it , with which I walked away from fuming dickhead .
Of course being such a short time period after breakfast we walked around the town speaking to locals , Kayleigh petting horses that wander freely around the side roads , I am having thoughts of retirement , but too soon for such thoughts so we hit the road again to our next stop , nice roller coaster dirt roads till about 2km before Riviersonderend .
Now this has never been one of my favourite towns , don't know why , but it has become a lot busier over the years , so a quick refuel , cappuchino for myself and milk for Kayleigh and we are out of there . Worthwhile mentioning in town is Ou Meul Bakery , apparently they make the best pie's in the Cape .
So we continue along the N2 and turn off at Stormsvlei toward Bonnievale , about 5km further hit a left on dirt roads towards McGregor , just another one of those towns that I haven't been to in just way too long . And it has also grown , but I am surprised at the size of the informal settlements , they tend to be larger than the town . Sadly while Greyton is a hive of activity , McGregor is a sleepy hollow , the only open shop didn't have card facilities and there is no ATM , one or two restaurants were open but we gave them a skip .I did however notice quite a few new buildings going up so the town is still expanding , but also in comparison this town looks to be very dry compared to Greyton .
While in the area we drove up to Boesmanskloof , this is the start/finish of the Greyton-McGregor hiking trail , it is simply stunning being up there , seemingly on top of the world .
By now we were thirsty and the Camelbak was warm as well , so we hoofed it through to Robertson for refreshment and refuel , from here back we hit back dirt roads which brought us out about 20km from Villiersdorp and straight into a headwind from hell , admittedly the only unpleasant part of our ride and made our way for Franschhoek pass , which was very quiet and it was just a matter of rolling on and off the throttle and carrying corner speed through the myriad bends winding its way over the mountain , I even passed a cruiser in one corner . This road is paradise and must be enjoyed by everyone at least once in their lifetime .
Franschhoek was packed like a sardine can as usual for a Sunday and the last stretch home was genuinely just stuck in traffic .
All in all a lekker day ride , enjoyable for both of us , slightly tempered by the snobs , but even they couldn't take away the enjoyment from us .