Doornrivier to Middelpos via Stonehenge and much more RR! Warning: Photo's of sc

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

JacoM

Race Dog
WD Supporter
Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
2,213
Reaction score
172
Location
Somerset West
Bike
BMW R1200GS HP2
I do not get enough time to do to a sleep over trip. So when everything else falls into place with back-up for the wife Suzanne  and kids, no bad weather forecast will keep me at home.

So, my ridring buddy Jacques (1150GS) and myself (1200GS) were the only ones standing after 4 others had to pull out. (Yes, the mentioning of who ride which bike is important for later reference!

The plan was simple. Sleep over Friday night in Ceres for early start on Saturday into Cederberg, over Eselbank and Wupperthal. Then follow Biedouw, into Tankwa KAroo and then take Ganaga PAss to Middelpos. Sleep over in Middelpos and Sunday down Ganaga, play in to dry sandy river bed 20k south of Ganaga en then back home (Somerset-West)

Saturday morning was icy cold in Ceres. Were on the bikes 08h00 sharp and were pushing for Opdieberg to fill up. Met some guys from Durban on 690's and 800GS fully loaded enquiring about the road to B/West. We passed many white frosted patches on our way.

Die rit tot in Eselbank was flippen lekker. MEt twee manne met dieselfde skill level vloei die afstand lekker vinnig. Die oppervlak was stewig en die bietjie sand glad nie a faktor. (Nat sand is mos nie 'n monster!) Die paar stroompies wat ons moes oor
het nie sterk gevloei en sommer gou was ons in Eselbank.


Hoofstraat in Eselbank - moes maar op die uitkyk wees vir hoenders en honde!


Local Defy in die hoofstraat - Ek vermoed die brood wat hier gebak word is baie lekker!

Deur Wupperthal en toe in Biedouw vallei (Die Report skrywe werk nie so lekker, so ek gaan nou bietjie versnel voordat ek te veel skryf en dan alles verloor!)

Nog nooit voorheen in Biedouw gery. Nogal baie plaashekke om oop die maak. Die pad is lekker nou en baie stil. Baie afgesonderd - maar van afgesonderdheid sou ons later baie meer ervaar!
LAmtyd in Biedouw - blykbaar is 30 boklammertjies al die oggend gevang - die boer was nie lus vir gesels en ons was bekommerd hy wil ons ook 'n streep gee met die rooi verfkwas (sien, ooie wat gelam het word so gemerk!)

OK - This is not working as planned - the photo's do not open at the text. I carry on......... photo's at the bottom into more than one post

What we did not know, was the fact that the Biedouw is basically a dead end this time of the year. Road "ends" at the Doornrivier. An awsome sight greeted us at the river. We were convinced that the SAS Willehond will not carry the bikes. After 30 min of "weighing up" our options, we were faced with the fact that we did not have enough petrol to go back, the long way round, to Middelpos. Best would be to aim for Clanwilliam and re-route our trip. After speaking to the farmer (Manus Hough), we climbed on the SAS Willehonne, rocking it to determine the "toppling over angle" .

I was still not convinced, but decided to put my bike on the raft in the shallow water and then slowly "rock" it again side ways to see if it will stay upright. I was very amased to see that it was acctually very stable!

Dressed with only "onderbroeke en brille", we took the first bike over. Water depth to my waiste. Needless to say the "men" that entered the water were two totally different "men" that were getting our of the water at the other side! (Leeu koud, jy sien...!)

Getting up the embankment on the other side, riding my bike in think sand dressed only in underpants, glasses and plakkies must have been a scary sight!

After about 90 minutes (of which we took more than 30 minutes to make up our minds wether to cross or not!) we were back on the bikes. The "road on the other side of the river, taking us to the higher levels, may be described as "red" due to the extensive soil erosion. Rocky "slate" inclines made it a challenge. I was very impressed with the Heidenau tyres in this terrain. No cuts or punctures!

30 miunutes later I noticed a strange sound coming from my bikes engin - from underneath the petrol tank, not from the "potte". Immediately stopped, shut down the engine and started again. Again the sound like "stones" in the engine. Something was definately "loose". I dismantled all covers to get to the air filter in the hope to find a stone in the intake. No stone found...

Luckily JAcques had a bike tow rope with him (The first thing I am getting when I get to a shop!) The 1150GS, with a leaking front fork seal in front, towing the 1200GS. (ja..ja, ek hoor al die kommentaar).

Reaching the R355(Calvinia to Ceres), we decided to turn towards Ceres. Middelpos was not even on our radar at this stage. JAcques had enough petrol for about 120km;s and we thought we would just carry on untill we reach a farm/guest house and sleep over.

JA--JA. How difficult can it be? At six o clock the sun set and it was dark. Again, no panic, we just had to get towards the closest distant light, I thought. Well, after three ours we stil had no signs of any light. It was completely dark with not even a hint of any light in the distant. Amazing! No cell phone cover, no electricity, no tel. lines, nothing!

The towing was not without its moments. At some stage we were doing about 70km/h when I stood up to improve vision. (look out for rabbitts , goats, or what ever wonders around in this part of the world). As I was feeling around for the tow rope around the left footpeg, my foot touched the gear lever and I put the bike into first gear. To put it mindly. BOth JAcques and myself was very "surprised". By this time my hands were close to being frozen, (and my brain as well!), and my reaction time was somewhat slower than normal. We used the whole width of the road, and some bits more, to get the bikes under controlled again. (Not recommended.) This happened twice and kept us wide alert - again staring into this black hole in front of us, looking for any aproaching sign of light.

Eventually we got to a signboard "Stonehenge, 5km", indicated camping facilities, etc . The road to the main house was also a challenge in itself. Sandy, very steep rocky climb and a rabitt on suicide mission. Again, not recomended for in the middle of the night without any power on the back wheel.!

Best to come. At Stonehenge we found this amazing party. (Lucky again as it is only a week-end stay over house. We were offered blankets, a tent and food. Red wine is still the best tasting substance for getting any life into limbs.

The one man band was playing a few Eric Clapton songs - songs I know well so I asked him if I could join in (there was a second ghitar ). This was most probably the highlight of the trip as we jammed in the middle of nowhere.

We got to bed way past 12h30.

The next day, Sunday (13June), we loaded all our luggage onto the 1150GS and both of us mounted this amazing piece of German Engineering. With badly leaking front fork oils seal, we reached Ceres about 150km's later in icy cold rain + wind.

There was some other issues as well with the family .(Remember we did not sleep over at Middelpos and not even the Police had any information of our whereabouts in this icy cold mid winter conditions - need I say more?)

I took the day off Tuesday and fetched my bike with a rented trailor. Still waiting on the verdict from Donford BMW
 

Attachments

  • Hoofstraat 1.jpg
    Hoofstraat 1.jpg
    107.4 KB · Views: 814
  • Lamtyd in Biedouw.jpg
    Lamtyd in Biedouw.jpg
    100.6 KB · Views: 806
Top