560 kays of Cape Riding: 12 Feb 06

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Joined
Jan 19, 2006
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CArpStad KTM950 - Black Beast
So the organiser of last weekends GS meeting, Adriaan called Leon up (newest member here and my biz partner and maatjie) to go and recce a route for the GS group this coming weekend. I invited myself (I have never been told I am pushy :roll: ) and secured a place on the ride.

I was to meet up with Leon who is a BMW training instructor, at 620am on the highway. Now the previous day, I had for the first time suffered an almost black out from dehydration after spending a good 4-5 hrs with the boyz and girlz in 34degree heat. I am unfit, fat, unused to the bike, and still have me ankle wrapped up like a baby. There ya go. So my first words in reply to Leons greeting was - ek voel nie goed nie. It was a lekker fog to ride in that early in the morning and we quickly found ourselves in Wellington.

I met Adriaan who seems to be a nice chap, and introductions were made. He then informed us that his riding buddy who also rides a KTM was going to come with. Cool! Its split down the middle, half German, half Austrian. 8)

We set off at a pace up the Bainskloof Pass that I am just not ready for. Leon on his TKC's outstripped us all, and particularly me, and I only caught them on top where they were waiting for me. :D I then tried to pull myself towards myself (had by now drunk 2 energades in 1hr to replace electrolytes and stuff) and tried to keep pace with them down BainsKloof to Tweede Tol. This I managed to do, at a pace that was not comfortable for me at all, and I even managed to boil my back brakes.

That shows you how crap I was riding. Suffice to say the rest of the guys were brilliant and could have left me anytime they wanted to. I nearly had a :evil: :oops: :evil: moment when my handlebars were just about ripped out of my hands as I started the dirt section at 90 kh/h as I went through some corrugations and potholes that my Dakar would have handled sweetly. Damn KTM. Leon who rode next to me at a higher speed said my suspension was "kus" because of the way it was reacting over the road. It wasnt easy, and I didnt feel confident at all.

Heres some pics

and - oh - my KTM modded seat was perfect, I like the harder rear end of the seat and the softer are where I normally sit to adjust. But - dont - ever think of wearing rugby shorts underneath without some sort of scants, I think I rubbed something raw in there... :oops:


This route included some slower technical stuff which I relish and the rest was high speed dirt and tar riding. The Little Karoo is a blerry hot place for those who dont know..


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