Report One - Only 4 months late

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SACK

Race Dog
Joined
Dec 17, 2006
Messages
535
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0
Location
Southampton, UK
Bike
Zero (all models)
As promised, here follows my first ride report on my first proper road trip with the new machine. You?ll notice that towards the end of the report the reporting stops. This is mainly because I am a lazy s.o.b. who gets bored easily. Hopefully the pics are still entertaining.

The purpose of the trip was twofold. To visit my parents in Centurion and to spend as much time in the saddle as possible. The N1 was to be avoided at all cost.

Thanks to the wonderfully helpful response to my previous post (in the Planning a Tour/Trip section of the site) I felt confident that I would be able to handle anything (barring a massive crash) that the route could throw at me.

The first section of the trip (to Centurion) was done over a period of three days with the emphasis squarely on the journey, not the destination.

Day One consisted of the following.

Bellville ? Wellington ? Ceres ? R46 to Hottentotskloof ? Sutherland via Verlatekloof ? Fraserburg ? Carnarvon. This may seem like a bit of a detour but if you take a map and draw a straight line from Cape Town to Pretoria this is the route you end up on.

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Stopped on a farm somewhere outside Ceres to take photos of the Pelicans in the dam. Unfortunately they didn?t like the sound of the GS and took off before I could get the camera out. They were there. Really.

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Hit the dirt just after Ceres and saw very little tar for the rest of the day.

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Ended up being overly cautious for the first hour or so on dirt and spent a lot of time wobbling about and coming up with novel ways of combining expletives. I was still thinking of the bike as a road bike. The turning point for me was when I realised that I should just relax and ride the brute exactly (almost) as I would a big MX bike. My speed increased from a steady 80km/h to a much more surefooted 90/110km/h. Apart from the odd ?drif? where one should always expect the unexpected this approach worked beautifully. German engineering when you need it the most.

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The Karoo is barren (but strangely calming), empty and hot as hell. I went through four litres of water on day one alone. NOTE TO SELF: Must invest in a tank bag. It?s a schlep digging around in the panniers for a camera, water, smokes, etc. Here?s a tip folks, so pay attention. When travelling with panniers only, put items you will need regularly in the right-hand pannier. If the bike is on the kickstand and you open the left-hand pannier your underwear (along with the entire contents of the pannier) ends up in the dust. ?Nee regtig meisie, daai streep is Karoo grond?.

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Stopped for a cold one (Appletizer) at Sutherland. Unfortunately I was there on a public holiday (Boxing Day) so the observatory was closed. Dammit. I?ll be forced to return.

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I don?t think we?re in Bellville anymore Dorothy.

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At first I couldn?t figure out why I took this photo, until I realised it was because of the first greenery in however many kilometers. In the Karoo green means stop.

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Paused here for a lovely lunch of Brazil nuts and lukewarm Energade (the orange kind).

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My accommodation in Carnarvon. (The Carnarvon Hotel) A bargain at R170 per night.

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Dorothy?s accommodation for the night. (The ?saal? of the Carnarvon Hotel)

Yeah, yeah, I?m working on a better name for her. My current favourite is ?Miss GS?. Of sommer net ?Misgis?. The voting polls open NOW!

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The ?Blikkies Bar? in Carnarvon is famous for having blikkies. Go figure.

Not only do they have blikkies, they also have an alcoholic parrot and locals who play even worse pool than me. (Possibly because they tried to keep up with the parrot). I also met a couple heading in the opposite direction (towards the coast) on their first bike trip. Marius and Maryna (I think they were from Thabazimbi) were riding a V-Strom 1000 and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their first tour. Compared notes with them over a few drinks and headed off to bed.

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?Polly wants a Brandy!?

Day Two

Carnarvon ? Prieska ? Douglas ? Kimberley ? Warrenton ? Christiana ? Bloemhof ? Wolmaransstad.

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Somewhere on the longest stretch of nothing. (Between Carnarvon and Prieska)

A good hour of singing long forgotten Meatloaf songs. Still trying to figure out why Meatloaf.

An unexpected meeting (or two).

A 152km stretch of dirt and I only saw two vehicles (both stopped for a chat). First up was an ISUZU filled to the brim with family. The driver (Dad) wanted to show the kids the beautiful Karoo. Only Dad and son got out. I think the rest of them didn?t quite get it.

My next encounter was with another Marius (or Marinus, I forget). He was doing the exact same thing as me only in the opposite direction. Same bike, but he seemed to be better prepared. He immediately saw that I was a greenhorn. ?Do you ride much standing up? Your bars are too low.? ?What tyre pressure are you running?? ?Are you mad?? ?You should do the introductory off-road course?.

I am booked for the 3d of Feb. Thanks Marius.

(UPDATE: Since I started putting this report together the 3d of Feb has come and gone, as has the course, which turned out not only to be great fun but also extremely informative and a great confidence builder. Many thanks to my instructor Lourens, and ?howzit? to all who attended the course with me. Looks like I will be doing the 3 day course before the end of March. Will try to report back on that.)
(UPDATE 2: 3 day course has also come and gone. Great fun, and much more challenging than the introductory course. Many thanks to Hamman Motorrad for sponsoring part of the course and for their excellent service over the past couple of months)

My photographic skills completely failed me at this point, but it should give you some idea of how hot and bright/dry/harsh the surrounding landscape is.

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What is the collective noun for wind pumps?

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Crossing the Orange River just before Douglas.

Day Three

Wolmaransstad ? Klerksdorp ? Potchefstroom ? Centurion.

I spent the previous night in Wolmaransstad in a horribly overpriced lodge next to the main road. Next time I?m traveling with a tent.

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Road kill. From here on I always rode with the visor down at speeds above 60. Call me a small kitten but I don?t much care for the pirate look.

The rest of the way to Centurion was a fairly boring section of the N12. When I arrived at the folks? place I was duly impressed to note that my gran had also bought herself new wheels for Christmas.

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These things are actually a lot of fun (if a bit on the slow side). I spent a good twenty minutes trying to ride in circles on two wheels. You?ve got to love the genuine imitation wood panels.

After a relaxing couple of days with the parents (and gran) it was time to head back and to be honest I couldn?t wait to hit the open road again. (No offense mom & dad).

The Return Trip

Originally I thought I?d retrace the original route back to Cape Town but that seemed pretty pointless so a new route was chosen.

Day One

Edenville ? Steynsrus ? Marquard ? Clocolan ? Ladybrand ? Hobhouse ? Smithfield ? Gariep Dam.

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R720

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Day Two

Gariep Dam ? Steynsburg ? Middelburg ? Graaff Reinet ? Aberdeen ? Willowmore ? De Rust ? Oudtshoorn.

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I spent the night the night at the Gariep dam. The hotel has room service but strangely enough no phone in the room. This means that in order to order a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich one has to wander around the hotel until you spot someone who looks like they are familiar with the fine art of sandwich making, place an order, return to your room, wait 20 minutes, and then enjoy a delicious chicken mayo sandwich.

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Tables like this one make me yearn for blue eggs and biltong sarmies.

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The route I took didn?t go through Meiringspoort but I decided to take a detour and ride it. Three times. Beautiful.

Day Three

Oudtshoorn ? Van Wyksdorp (via the Rooibergpas) ? Barrydale ? Montague ? Robertson ? Worcester ? Bellville.

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Near the start of the Rooibergpas on route to Van Wyksdorp.

Generally the road was good but a few of the hidden hairpins (with lots of loose rocks and sand) caught me by surprise, resulting in a collection of rather ungainly attempts at reducing speed on the loose surface.

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Close to the top of the Rooiberg pass.

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A memorial at the same rest stop.

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Van Wyksdorp is not exactly a bustling Metropolis.

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The main road.

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Vanwyksdorps? version of suburbia.

After van Wyksdorp it was onto the last stretch of dirt for the trip.

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The obligatory stop at Ronnies Sex Shop (my first time there).

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Back in my valley. The end of a great ride.

The next few pictures were taken about two weeks later during an excursion to the Robertson area. Bonus points for anyone who knows where these were taken.

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Well that pretty much wraps up my first (hopefully not the last) ride report.

Let me know what you think.

Like I could stop you hooligans.
 
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