Hemel in Memel

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Race Dog
Joined
Feb 16, 2006
Messages
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Location
Gauteng 1150ADV
Bike
BMW R1150GS Adventure
Lyndhurst organised an offroad weekend for 18 - 20 August in Memel. Aptly named "Hemel in Memel".
What follows is a recollection of a fantastic weekend of DS riding thanks to a collection of pics from all the riders that were there.

The group was made up of 16 bikes (1 very mean KTM, 3 real Adventures, 2 new adventures, 1 650 with lady rider! and the rest 1200's). Ironically it was the KTM showing the way for the beemers (local knowledge)!!

Friday afternoon the group gathered at Lyndhurst for a mix bag ride down to Memel in the heart of the Eastern Freestate.
Along the route:
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Only in a small town:
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Memel really is small, the mandatory church,
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bottel stores, petrol station, hotel and butcher. We stayed at the very vibey Cliffdale hotel!
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Late Friday night, the local talent pulled in for the caberet and provide an interesting break in the drinking session for about 20 minutes, then promptly left!
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After a couple of hours sleep, it was saturday morning and time to ride. Outside the hotel it looked like a bmw showroom
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Out of town and straight onto the gravel for a route that would would take us down an awesome pass and then back up another. The pictures and thoughts don't do the area any justice. There is nothing like riding in an area that has such great views! Unlike most of the recent posts on this forum, the Freestate has a different beauty to it, even though it lacks some colour.
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Saturday lunch was in a small spot called Verkykerskop. Here a young couple have turned a rather dull corner of the freestate into a very interesting stop with part of the shop their actual house for the time being.
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They put on a awesome spread for lunch for the group.
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We were then joined by the local butcher on his 1200GS for the afternoon ride which took us through more passes and awesome country side
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with a puncture along the way
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and a couple of water crossings
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KalahariBen having fun!
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and then the ride back to Memel with the sun setting behind us.
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So back to the bar in the dorpie where all the pics for the day were displayed on a big screen for a bit of refelction of the days riding and to prove to the others that Memel really does come to life after dark!.

Sunday morning we packed up and got ready for the ride home. First the wheelies in the main drag while the locals go to church.
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For those eager to get home, they hit the tar roads and the quickest route. For the rest we did some very intersteing dirt roads to bring us to the railway tunnels.
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After some obstacles to get to the tunnels, we passed through the old tunnel which is approx. 400m long and seriously dark and damp inside.
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We continued along the railway service line road through the bush,
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back to the tar road. Up the twistys to the closest town to start our way home.
Unfortunately, we had a man down due to some oil on the road. Fortunately the rider was OK and with some fantastic team work, both rider and bike were back on the road. ATGATT!!!!!!
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At the last stop, the mood was good, everyone had had a good time and it was time to head on home.

Thanks to all that participated, what a group to ride with. Almost like a mini GS challenge without bike restrictions.

Cheers!!
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