Ri Ride: Old Postal At Last (20 - 22 December 2019) (Warning: Very Wordy)

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Ri

Grey Hound
WD Supporter
Joined
Jul 4, 2014
Messages
5,476
Reaction score
983
Location
Somerset West
Bike
Suzuki DR650
Prelude

I planned a hot, gasping, sweaty, steamy weekend.

Then permission slips are revoked and the Cederberg hike is off. A party of winy women plan to smoke up my patio with braai and cigarettes on Saturday, and I already took half day leave for Friday.

Stuff that, I’m going to the Cederberg anyway.

Bucket list routes scroll through my thoughts. Old Postal? I could camp at Oasis and if someone plans to ride Old Postal, try to join them. I toy with the idea of going it alone, but I’m not (that) foolhardy. I do however feel slightly ashamed of saddling some poor sods with my slow-riding self.

Uncharacteristically, I post a short WhatsApp to a biking group that I’m going to Oasis and maybe ride Old Postal. Due to the very short notice, I’m surprised when [member=23621]ultraflight[/member] (Keith) straight away asks whether he can join me, and how many riders are going. More than welcome, I assure him; just the two of us.

Keith would prefer 4 or so riders as it’s more social and in case of a breakdown, to distribute luggage and pillion a rider. My plan is to leave my luggage at Oasis and ride a loop. As to breaking down… he rides a KLR650 and I ride a DR650: bullet-proof bikes if ever there were any. A breakdown is not impossible, but it isn’t likely.

But I agree that he can post an invite on the group, and soon there are a bunch of whiny wishicoulda’s and 2 more takers. I feel a tingle of excitement. I’m going to face Old Postal, following in the tyre tracks of my girl rider crush, [member=15496]Minxy[/member].

Too late on Thursday night I start packing, and notice Blue’s recently thrice-patched front tube is flat again. I swear under my breath. Clearly we did a bang-up job - not - but at least it got me home. If I’d washed the bike, as I solemnly undertake to do after every ride, I might have noticed sooner. Thankfully [member=11951]Jehan[/member] , who car pools with me and is now also riding his bike to work, is bringing chain lube in the morning. I fire off a late SOS, drag a few stumps of wood into the garage, and go to sleep.


Friday

Friday morning at 4:30 I drag my unrested body out of bed. At 05:00 I grumpily open the garage door to a chirpy Jéhan. He tips Blue while I position the wooden stumps under the bash plate for support. We do the same with Gentleman, the wheel donor bike. With Jéhan’s help, I wrestle the front wheels off of both bikes and swap them around. I’ve never appreciated having donor DR650’s more than this morning, no need to mess around with the guts and the tubes.

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I struggle to get the axle through the wheel and aligned to the other fork to grab the thread, but with some manhandling and woman swearing, it finally tightens. Despite my tiredness, I’m delighted - I love spannering.

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Soon we are on our way, heading down the N2 into town.
 
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