- Joined
- Jan 24, 2006
- Messages
- 5,159
- Reaction score
- 345
- Location
- Brakpan, South Africa
- Bike
- BMW R1200GS HP2
The Buff has always been one of my favourite rallies, but since it moved away from Aliwal, life & work has seems to work against me attending it. This year I decided come hell or high water, I?m going to attend. Cause I have so many other ?must do? trips planned for this year, I had to cut my leave application to an absolute min, therefore I decided to take off two days prior to the weekend, ride down in a day, spend two days getting motherlessly, then suffer back home on another long one day ride.
I managed to sell my plan to life long partner in crime, Excalibur, yea this year we will celebrate 26 years of friendship, and so off to Mosselbay we went.
We left the blockhouse fuel station on the R59 at around 05:30 and decided our first stop would be Ventersburg where he?s bike would need some fuel.
It certainly is a joy to ride early morning with the sunflowers waking up to the rising sun, all showing their yellow faces towards the sun. We were in a hurry, my camera was in a pannier, so I didn?t take any photos.
Soon we were munching on a burger while enjoying a coke, before we set off towards Bloemfontein. We opted to stop in Bloem, as we were using more fuel than expected, and Excalibur?s bike wouldn?t make Colesburg. We stopped, and waited a while for Andre & Stef who said they would catch us, as they only left at 06:00, but as it turned out, they never caught up with us. They had to get to Beaufort by that evening.
We stopped in Springfontein-noord for fuel, as the pace was hot, and the bikes were loaded, so fuel consumption was hectic.
When I made my time and map appreciation I came to the conclusion that if we could get past Beaufort West by 1 pm, we would have enough time to ride Swartberg pass, as Excalibur dearly wanted to ride there.
My office for the day
Freestate plains
Since the days I served in the army in Bloem, crossing this point, the Orange river, I felt, now we?re going southbound again.
Remember that song by Dire Straights ? Southbound Again. Still a favourite.
As the day was dragging on, we decided to stop at a well known butchery for some biltong. Needed to fuel the need for lotsa fluids
Freak of nature Koedoe in the butchery.
Well despite our best efforts we were running outta time, so we would have to do the Swartberg pass some other day. Sorry Excalibur.
Close to Three sisters, with a pic of the Three Sisters in the back ground. Ever heard that saying by Casper de Vries about the Three Sisters he dates as a young man:
Ek het uitgegaan met ?n nooi ?Laan?. Haar suster was ?Doodloop? en die derde ene was ?Stofstraat?. Hulle was soos strate, jy wou hulle net oorsteek !!
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Between Oudtshoorn & Mosselbay the pass had this to offer???.. stop and go controls as the entire pass was being re-tarred
We pulled into the campsite at around 5.10pm and although there were lotsa people, the queue wasn?t too hectic. R40 extra for the extra night as the rally was actually only opening on Friday morning 08:00. Met up with fellow club members who had pulled in earlier in the day, and what a lovely spot they had kept for us
We hit the sack quite early as we were pretty knackered from the days riding. Needless to say, because I didn?t ?pass out? I slept very little. Won?t repeat that mistake in the near future, valuable lesson confirmed Sunrise Friday morning
Soon the campsite was getting absolutely packed. All sorts of characters pulled in, on nice bikes, not so nice bikes and real fcuked up bikes. This oke wanted to make sure we knew it?s not a harley
Excalibur and I headed to The Point where we nibbled on some breakfast. While sipping a zamaleck we overheard the delightfully looking lady at the table nexto ours chatting to someone on a boat. Out of the harbour pulls this monster?..
Turns out it?s on its way to Cape Town, to be used in a movie. Apparently the owner paid R43m for this little beauty. After breakfast we headed back to the camp to see what was happening. This oke is obviously a KTM fan
When we got back to the campsite all hell had broken loose?people everywhere.
Wont see this from the rally tent at any other rally
Some okes from the Think Bike forum had also pulled in, along with the famous DaCat, with his priller on 88000 km?s. Not many sports bikes see that kind of mileage
Our next-door neighbours were from the Cape. Here?s ARR?s nephew
??.. and his bike
Some of the CT okes had already taken too much ?papsak?
Friday night was a continuation of the days drinking and some Bull riding
It was also when Miss Buff was selected.
Another interesting character arrived with only an army sleeping bag strapped to his bike. This is how he slept??.. real hardcore
Another site housed this Motley crew...
Yea the tank is covered with army cammo net
I asked the owner of this bike what the MOT is all about??.. apparently Men On Tablets
I guess you gotta be quite the fan to do this to your bike
Meanwhile we were drinking breakfast at the same joint we did on Friday morning
Eventually the mass ride passed
..while we decided it was time to get some solids into the body
It started pissing down, so we couldn?t really ride, so we had to stay in one spot fro most of the day. Eventually later the afternoon we moved to the Koi pub where they had a Richileu promo going. This place was buzzing
Even Excalibur had some mates there..
We weren?t drunk enough so we headed to the centre of town which was absolutely cooking. This was around 4?ish, and we?ve been going since 08:00?ish.
Eventually bumped into some forum members. Clockwork Orange and his new missus, together with Davy Sprocket were going flat-out, so we joined in?
Excalibur and Davy Sprocket sorting out chain tensions, etc
Late afternoon, some of us looked decidedly tired
While this oke entertained us with his shenanigans
?.not sure what Stef was trying to demo
?.the DJ played music which made our feet itch, CO and missus obviously had done this before
?while Andre was doing the Guinness thing
Well from here on all went pear shaped. We kinda missed the lucky draw, and all the other events on Friday night, and had to content with TB on Sunday morning back to Gauteng.
The ride back, apart from being very loooong was freezing cold. I rode with my heated grips on till somewhere between Hopetown and Kimberley, where the temp meter on my bike rose to 17 degrees. Up until then I had seen nothing more than 13.5 degrees. Not sure what the Capetonians had sent us. I pulled into home around 6 pm, well and truly gatvol for bike riding.
In case you were wondering Renier, we seldom went below 140 km/h except for the 3 occasions we were warned about KK?s hiding with their cameras!
A great time was had by all, but next year I?ll make it a two day trip there and two days back. No sense in riding like we did.
Sorry we missed LS and KiLerSa, apparently they came twice to our spot looking for us. Maybe next time.
Thanks Excalibur for a great ride, you?re a mate.
I managed to sell my plan to life long partner in crime, Excalibur, yea this year we will celebrate 26 years of friendship, and so off to Mosselbay we went.
We left the blockhouse fuel station on the R59 at around 05:30 and decided our first stop would be Ventersburg where he?s bike would need some fuel.
It certainly is a joy to ride early morning with the sunflowers waking up to the rising sun, all showing their yellow faces towards the sun. We were in a hurry, my camera was in a pannier, so I didn?t take any photos.
Soon we were munching on a burger while enjoying a coke, before we set off towards Bloemfontein. We opted to stop in Bloem, as we were using more fuel than expected, and Excalibur?s bike wouldn?t make Colesburg. We stopped, and waited a while for Andre & Stef who said they would catch us, as they only left at 06:00, but as it turned out, they never caught up with us. They had to get to Beaufort by that evening.
We stopped in Springfontein-noord for fuel, as the pace was hot, and the bikes were loaded, so fuel consumption was hectic.
When I made my time and map appreciation I came to the conclusion that if we could get past Beaufort West by 1 pm, we would have enough time to ride Swartberg pass, as Excalibur dearly wanted to ride there.
My office for the day
Freestate plains
Since the days I served in the army in Bloem, crossing this point, the Orange river, I felt, now we?re going southbound again.
Remember that song by Dire Straights ? Southbound Again. Still a favourite.
As the day was dragging on, we decided to stop at a well known butchery for some biltong. Needed to fuel the need for lotsa fluids
Freak of nature Koedoe in the butchery.
Well despite our best efforts we were running outta time, so we would have to do the Swartberg pass some other day. Sorry Excalibur.
Close to Three sisters, with a pic of the Three Sisters in the back ground. Ever heard that saying by Casper de Vries about the Three Sisters he dates as a young man:
Ek het uitgegaan met ?n nooi ?Laan?. Haar suster was ?Doodloop? en die derde ene was ?Stofstraat?. Hulle was soos strate, jy wou hulle net oorsteek !!
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Between Oudtshoorn & Mosselbay the pass had this to offer???.. stop and go controls as the entire pass was being re-tarred
We pulled into the campsite at around 5.10pm and although there were lotsa people, the queue wasn?t too hectic. R40 extra for the extra night as the rally was actually only opening on Friday morning 08:00. Met up with fellow club members who had pulled in earlier in the day, and what a lovely spot they had kept for us
We hit the sack quite early as we were pretty knackered from the days riding. Needless to say, because I didn?t ?pass out? I slept very little. Won?t repeat that mistake in the near future, valuable lesson confirmed Sunrise Friday morning
Soon the campsite was getting absolutely packed. All sorts of characters pulled in, on nice bikes, not so nice bikes and real fcuked up bikes. This oke wanted to make sure we knew it?s not a harley
Excalibur and I headed to The Point where we nibbled on some breakfast. While sipping a zamaleck we overheard the delightfully looking lady at the table nexto ours chatting to someone on a boat. Out of the harbour pulls this monster?..
Turns out it?s on its way to Cape Town, to be used in a movie. Apparently the owner paid R43m for this little beauty. After breakfast we headed back to the camp to see what was happening. This oke is obviously a KTM fan
When we got back to the campsite all hell had broken loose?people everywhere.
Wont see this from the rally tent at any other rally
Some okes from the Think Bike forum had also pulled in, along with the famous DaCat, with his priller on 88000 km?s. Not many sports bikes see that kind of mileage
Our next-door neighbours were from the Cape. Here?s ARR?s nephew
??.. and his bike
Some of the CT okes had already taken too much ?papsak?
Friday night was a continuation of the days drinking and some Bull riding
It was also when Miss Buff was selected.
Another interesting character arrived with only an army sleeping bag strapped to his bike. This is how he slept??.. real hardcore
Another site housed this Motley crew...
Yea the tank is covered with army cammo net
I asked the owner of this bike what the MOT is all about??.. apparently Men On Tablets
I guess you gotta be quite the fan to do this to your bike
Meanwhile we were drinking breakfast at the same joint we did on Friday morning
Eventually the mass ride passed
..while we decided it was time to get some solids into the body
It started pissing down, so we couldn?t really ride, so we had to stay in one spot fro most of the day. Eventually later the afternoon we moved to the Koi pub where they had a Richileu promo going. This place was buzzing
Even Excalibur had some mates there..
We weren?t drunk enough so we headed to the centre of town which was absolutely cooking. This was around 4?ish, and we?ve been going since 08:00?ish.
Eventually bumped into some forum members. Clockwork Orange and his new missus, together with Davy Sprocket were going flat-out, so we joined in?
Excalibur and Davy Sprocket sorting out chain tensions, etc
Late afternoon, some of us looked decidedly tired
While this oke entertained us with his shenanigans
?.not sure what Stef was trying to demo
?.the DJ played music which made our feet itch, CO and missus obviously had done this before
?while Andre was doing the Guinness thing
Well from here on all went pear shaped. We kinda missed the lucky draw, and all the other events on Friday night, and had to content with TB on Sunday morning back to Gauteng.
The ride back, apart from being very loooong was freezing cold. I rode with my heated grips on till somewhere between Hopetown and Kimberley, where the temp meter on my bike rose to 17 degrees. Up until then I had seen nothing more than 13.5 degrees. Not sure what the Capetonians had sent us. I pulled into home around 6 pm, well and truly gatvol for bike riding.
In case you were wondering Renier, we seldom went below 140 km/h except for the 3 occasions we were warned about KK?s hiding with their cameras!
A great time was had by all, but next year I?ll make it a two day trip there and two days back. No sense in riding like we did.
Sorry we missed LS and KiLerSa, apparently they came twice to our spot looking for us. Maybe next time.
Thanks Excalibur for a great ride, you?re a mate.
